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Originally Posted by GlassCity
Obviously there's a limit, but a little bit extra wouldn't affect it too much. I'm not saying Hamilton should have built a 60,000 seat stadium, but a 30,000 seat stadium wouldn't have been too far out considering they averaged 26,000 last year. Same for Regina, if they consistenly sell more than 33,000 seats a game, I see no reason for them not to go to 40,000.
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I agree with you that Hamilton's stadium is underbuilt. They have generally averaged more than 22,000 fans for the better part of the last decade, so to me the seating capacity of Tim Horton's Field is well under what it could be. I think 26,000 would have been better (basically filling in one endzone)... 30,000 may have been a bit much but certainly realistic.
Ottawa's stadium size of 24,000 is also on the smaller side of what's acceptable, but in fairness with the CFL's spotty track record in that city I think they're prudent to go with a lower number of seats. That said, 26,000 would have been reasonable considering the Rough Riders and Renegades still drew well even when those franchises were in a state of free fall.
For Regina, 33,000 is a pretty good number. I sure wouldn't go much higher than that...maybe 36,000 maximum. Remember, Regina is a small city by pro sports standards and you don't want to face scads of empty seats if the team hits hard times.
On the whole though, I think the sizes you propose are realistic. I'm just saying that the days of the huge new 55,000 seaters for CFL teams are pretty well gone, much as MLB teams no longer build 55,000 seat monsters anymore. Smaller and more intimate are the keywords now.
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To counter your Leafs argument, I doubt it feels good to fans in Toronto that it's near impossible to be able to go and see a game. Especially since the CFL doesn't have the unconditional support that the NHL does, making it accessible would be a big help.
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It may not feel good for fans, but it sure feels good for MLSE's shareholders. Toronto is practically a perfect pro sports supply and demand storm... a small number of tickets for a huge, fairly wealthy market means that the club will play to capacity crowds for many years, and the fact that there are many well-heeled people in line means that the ticket prices can get jacked up year after year. Whenever an individual ticketholder gets priced out of the market, there's a 100% chance that a corporate client will step up to take those seats. The Leafs couldn't ask for more.
For proof of how good the Leafs have it, check this out:
http://mapleleafs.nhl.com/v2/ext/2011-2012LeafsPricingMapPrices.pdf
It's a Leafs seating map with prices for the 2011-12 season. The cheapest nosebleed that year was $55. Lower bowl seats started at $165 and went up to $450. I'm sure those numbers must be at least 5% to 10% higher by now. You need some real scarcity to get away with prices like that.
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