Two games in and Esks QB Harris has yet to be sacked
Is it June football?
Has moving the CFL regular season schedule ahead resulted in the highly concerning drop in CFL average attendance of 1,515 per game from 23,831 to 22,316 through the first two weeks of play?
In the case of the Edmonton Eskimos, has spring football resulted in announced attendance totals of 25,263 and 24,016 in Commonwealth Stadium, nowhere near all of whom actually showed up?
Has it been a combination of cold, wet weather and the air quality of the wildfires that preceded the two games?
Has it been a result of the Alberta economy and the oil pipeline problem?
Has the loss of beloved players like quarterback Mike Reilly, middle linebacker J.C. Sherritt, receiver Derel Walker and so many others in the off-season played a part?
Is it the 53 players from last year’s team picture that are gone? Is it the 27 new players on the 46-man roster?
Is it the time it takes to transition getting to know and appreciate new stars like Trevor Harris, Greg Ellingson, Larry Dean, Don Unamba and others?
Has it all been the fallout of missing the playoffs for the 12th time in the past 70 seasons and doing it on the occasion of hosting a Grey Cup?
Has the now six-month delay in replacing Len Rhodes as president and CEO been a primary reason for the dramatic drop? Is it all of the above? None of the above?
As the Eskimos hit the road Thursday for the Bombers’ home opener in Winnipeg to kick off Week 3 in the CFL, all eyes aren’t on the football, but on the fans in the stands.
In Edmonton, where the Eskimos don’t play their next home game until July 25, there has to be concern.
If you go back to 1998, the Esks have had average yearly attendance of: 33,120, 34,241, 33,912, 35,510, 38,161, 41,228, 39,032, 41,933, 37,873, 36,843, 36,968, 37,164, 35,025, 34,626, 34,318, 32,096, 33,465, 31,517, 30,998, 32,435 and 31,107.
In most of those years, Edmonton has led the league in attendance. Off the first two weeks, you can’t help but wonder if the flagship might be sinking.
It’s not the crisis it was when Janice Agrios’ dad Jack was made a member of the board of directors, when they had to put up their houses as security in the 1960s and become known as the Nervous Nine. But the new board chair suddenly finds herself captain on her maiden voyage as the first female chair of what looks like a listing ship without a navigator.
Agrios said it was never the intention of the board to get the new CEO hired much prior to this point.
“We’re looking at it as the most important decision we’ll be making as a board,” she said. Now more than ever. Agrios said the challenges involved in the league and pro sports in general are the main reasons the board is taking its time to get this decision right.
“We’ve had a committee in place working with a search firm. We’ve had a very high level of interest with what we believe has been a number of great candidates. We started with close to 80. We’ve had candidates from Edmonton, from out of town and we have candidates from out of country. We’ve narrowed it down considerably and our plan is to have a decision in the next few weeks.”
Agrios said she believes the answer is “all of the above” when it comes to the low attendance at the Eskimos’ first two home games.
“The first one is that we can’t minimize the impact of the weather. When it is raining, as it was before both of those games, the sales just stop. But after having said that, we do recognize that those numbers were low and that we can’t just sit there and do nothing.
“And when you look at it, it’s not just us. There’s a leaguewide issue. There’s a pro sports-wide issue in terms of attendance at live sporting events.
“We have had feedback about affordability. Our staff is working extremely hard at coming up with initiatives that will help us sell more tickets. For example, we’re introducing $5.25 beer and $2.25 hotdogs.”
Why not $5 beer and $2 hotdogs? If you’re going to do it, do it.
“I can’t tell you the answer to that. But I can tell you they are working on some more affordable ticket options and the expectation on that is there will be an announcement on that shortly.”
There’s no crisis here. The community-owned Edmonton franchise has a heritage fund of $13 million and another $4 million in the bank from last year and the Grey Cup.
Rhodes left the franchise in great shape from a sponsorship standpoint. Not so much in other areas.
“We understand that it’s very important to market, promote and sell tickets and one of the things we’re definitely looking at is hiring somebody who is strong on promotions and, most importantly, selling tickets,” Agrios said.