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Post by Jack Bauer on Feb 6, 2020 17:27:05 GMT -4
I've paid closer attention since my team is demanding more people. But our last home stand we had 5 games in 10 days. Including a game vs Moncton which is our main competition but they didnt even market it as such they marketed the game vs Bathurst for a 4 for $44 deal which isn't even new just a re-hashed item that never moves the needle as few families come out as it is due to cost. For non-season ticket holders it's almost impossible to expect them to take in more then 1-2 of those 5 games. And when the team comes back from Quebec it's 3 in 4 with game 3 being vs Rimouski. Even if you heavily market the marquee matchups you're still dealing with too many games in too short of a period of time to expect casuals to heavily support your product. So to encourage more people you need to market better and offer people incentives beyond a potentially good hockey game. You guys just had Bathurst in for 2 home games, and you have that occur fairly often with SJ doing it also. Do you find that improves attendance or harms attendance having 2 games vs the same team on back to back nights ? Personally I never want to see that in Moncton except playoffs of course. I prefer variety if I have to go 1 nights in a row. I understand why it is done ... keeps the costs down for teams like Bathurst. Pretty sure the numbers say that unless you have something like a minor hockey night for one of the games they're both kind of treated no different then any other game in terms of interest but like you I think that barring an absolutely stellar first game the draw isn't at all the same 24 hours later and it's more of a "oh, right, these guys again" attitude. I feel like where the teams are missing out is by looking at 10-15 years of solid numbers using this type of scheduling and realize that contending Cape Breton vs rebuilding Bathurst isn't a draw in CB so you can at most expect 3500 with a lower end around 2200. So either way you have at least 1000 unsold tickets. And since we have an upper bowl that most nights might have 20 people sitting there there's opportunity completely wasted to say buy a walk up ticket the week of the back-to-back and get a free ticket for the upper bowl for the other game. Even a 6-5 back and forth barn burner with 13 fights, 4 ejections, and a legendary story coming out of it doesn't encourage huge walk ups 24 hours later in this league. So why there's so much fear out of trying to encourage more people to come out and support the team blows me away. Especially when I think most fans would agree they'd rather not see the same teams the following night and attendance figures prove it. The more we've discussed this on the CB board...and the more we see the team try absolutely nothing new and just using old promo's that never worked previously...the more it seems like the teams themselves think they just need to open the door and let people know there's a hockey game and the rest is on us. They don't take that approach at almost any other level or any other sport relying on ticket sales yet Q teams are acting like these ideas are just impossible or illogical to attempt. I took a friend with me who is a hockey fan but not a Q fan to the Moncton game. First thing he notices are the empty seats and the complete lack of any promotions/announcements/encouragement between whistles to try and entice fans to get into the game a bit. Considering 2 top teams with so many prospects...as I pointed out guys in the warmups who he'd recognize from the World Juniors...he was shocked more wasn't done locally to promote a game featuring 2 contenders. That's just 1 story from 1 guy who likely won't go back until playoffs. But someone who if the marketing was targeting properly may have decided to see a game featuring Rimouski or another good team before the end of the season. But instead the only thing he seen promotion wise was during the intermission to come back 3 nights later and pay $44 for 4 tickets to see Bathurst. The team is killing itself in this market through its own apathy and disinterest in promoting their own product. And as we seen in Bathurst...1 good run doesn't bring back many fans...and I think we all agree that if Bathurst stalled in round 2 or 3 that year that last 2 years would have been close to seeing the end of the team. |
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Post by SteveUL on Feb 7, 2020 8:59:46 GMT -4
For the casual fan, there really is no way to find out who the top teams are without seeking it out online. Not a big deal really if you want to know, but if you had the standings in front of people regularly they'd see that Rimouski is coming to town and Rimouski is one of the better teams in the Q. In our local paper, there are no more standings to view ... they took that all out more than a year ago. No NFL, NHL, MLB, NBA, QMJHL, MHL standings to be found, and no schedule of upcoming games. There are ads by the Wildcats that show upcoming games but that's it. But I guess if you are relying on the newspaper to get your word out you have already failed.
So then the casual fan really has no idea who the good teams are and who the rebuilding teams are unless they have enough interest to seek out that info online.
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Post by SteveUL on Feb 7, 2020 9:09:17 GMT -4
Also interesting to note:
Moncton has 10 home games left ... 11 Road games left
Chicoutimi has 10 home games left ... 9 Road games left
Cape Breton has 7 home games left ... 13 Road games left
Rimouski has 7 home games left ... 10 Road games left
Sherbrooke has 9 home games left ... 9 Road games left
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Post by jimmy on Feb 7, 2020 10:18:00 GMT -4
Perhaps most interesting to note in the debate of whether the Cats or Chicoutimi are likely to finish higher in the standings is that the Sags are currently missing 7 players to injury ... which would explain why they have dropped a few of late as the injuries pile up.
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Post by lirette on Feb 7, 2020 11:08:19 GMT -4
Perhaps most interesting to note in the debate of whether the Cats or Chicoutimi are likely to finish higher in the standings is that the Sags are currently missing 7 players to injury ... which would explain why they have dropped a few of late as the injuries pile up. Their defense was already their weak point and now they've lost Kyte until the playoffs by the looks of it. Its really showing in the goals against lately.. SJ - 5-4 Loss (Shootout) Sherbrooke 6-1 Loss Sherbrooke - 8-6 Win Shawnigan 7-5 Loss The Cats have a fully healthy roster and need to avoid any unforced errors to take 1st. |
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Post by SteveUL on Feb 7, 2020 13:55:08 GMT -4
Perhaps most interesting to note in the debate of whether the Cats or Chicoutimi are likely to finish higher in the standings is that the Sags are currently missing 7 players to injury ... which would explain why they have dropped a few of late as the injuries pile up. Their defense was already their weak point and now they've lost Kyte until the playoffs by the looks of it. Its really showing in the goals against lately.. SJ - 5-4 Loss (Shootout) Sherbrooke 6-1 Loss Sherbrooke - 8-6 Win Shawnigan 7-5 Loss The Cats have a fully healthy roster and need to avoid any unforced errors to take 1st. Actually ... according to Hodge today, the Cats have a very sick roster right now with several illnesses, including the flu, making their way through the dressing room. They aren't sure who is in tonight and who is out. Some just have colds but we won't be at 100% this weekend. |
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Post by hockeylaw on Feb 9, 2020 14:13:39 GMT -4
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Post by WildcatMapleLeafs on Feb 9, 2020 19:02:10 GMT -4
First place , 10-0-1 streak I don’t think we missed out on anyone |
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Post by lirette on Feb 9, 2020 19:23:54 GMT -4
17 pts for McKenna in his last 9 games. Don't think he'll be going to the 4th line anytime soon.
Regardless of the strength of the teams winning all 3 games of a 3 in 3 when the team is sick is very impressive.
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Post by hockeylaw on Feb 9, 2020 20:38:30 GMT -4
First place , 10-0-1 streak I don’t think we missed out on anyone 👌👌👌 |
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Post by Captain Obvious on Feb 10, 2020 10:41:44 GMT -4
Taking 3 in 3 on this upcoming road trip will be tough. They should beat Quebec Sunday but we all know it will be a tough game on tired legs. I have a feeling Moncton plays consistent down the stretch and Chicoutimi drops a couple bad ones to allow the Cats to finish 1st. Side note: Billy hasn't posted in a long time. I hope he is alright, and just on vacation or taking some time off from the board. Missing the consistenty he brings to the Cats page. Vacation, just got back yesterday, but thanks for asking!  |
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Post by hockeylaw on Feb 10, 2020 11:37:07 GMT -4
Taking 3 in 3 on this upcoming road trip will be tough. They should beat Quebec Sunday but we all know it will be a tough game on tired legs. I have a feeling Moncton plays consistent down the stretch and Chicoutimi drops a couple bad ones to allow the Cats to finish 1st. Side note: Billy hasn't posted in a long time. I hope he is alright, and just on vacation or taking some time off from the board. Missing the consistenty he brings to the Cats page. Vacation, just got back yesterday, but thanks for asking! Welcome back. Hope you had a good vacation. |
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Post by SteveUL on Feb 10, 2020 11:38:27 GMT -4
Taking 3 in 3 on this upcoming road trip will be tough. They should beat Quebec Sunday but we all know it will be a tough game on tired legs. I have a feeling Moncton plays consistent down the stretch and Chicoutimi drops a couple bad ones to allow the Cats to finish 1st. Side note: Billy hasn't posted in a long time. I hope he is alright, and just on vacation or taking some time off from the board. Missing the consistenty he brings to the Cats page. Vacation, just got back yesterday, but thanks for asking! Did you visit China ... are you posting from CFB Trenton right now ? |
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Post by Captain Obvious on Feb 10, 2020 12:06:32 GMT -4
Vacation, just got back yesterday, but thanks for asking! Did you visit China ... are you posting from CFB Trenton right now ? Nope! |
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Post by pinkbeaver on Feb 10, 2020 12:13:49 GMT -4
I see L'Heureux had his first fight yesterday. Anyone watch the stream and know how he made out?
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