Als exec doesn’t expect ticket price hike
Focus is on selling more, especially to groups
This piece of news will be embraced by every Alouettes fan: Mark Weightman, the team’s chief operating officer, said he doesn’t anticipate an increase in ticket prices next season.
And Weightman, forced to pick up the pieces after president Ray Lalonde resigned for personal reasons last May, barely three weeks before the start of training camp, vowed the days of the 25,012-seat Molson Stadium being filled to capacity will yet return.
“Let’s put something into perspective: For 15 years, this team was selling out and we were the talk of the town — when we had 20,000 seats,” Weightman told The Gazette. “Now we sell 23,000 and it’s seen as a negative. Why are we doing less better? I don’t think that’s true.”
Heading into Monday afternoon’s home game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, the Als have attracted a total of 155,578 spectators to their seven home games. The team’s averaging 22,225.
The turnstile count was slow in July, despite a warm and dry summer, the Als generating attendance of barely more than 21,000 for each of their first two home games. But the team’s attendance has slowly been increasing in its last four games — a season-high crowd of 23,209 witnessing Montreal’s convincing 31-10 win against Toronto on Sept. 23.
Nonetheless, it’s virtually certain owner Robert Wetenhall will lose money this season, although Weightman refused comment. It would help Wetenhall’s cause if the Als finish first and host the East Division final at Olympic Stadium. The last time that occurred, in 2010, more than 58,000 watched Montreal defeat the Argonauts en route to its second consecutive Grey Cup.
That also marked the last season in which the Als sold out their venue at McGill University, a string of 104 consecutive regular-season games. That was the first year of expanded seating capacity. That, combined with the euphoria following the 2009 championship, made selling tickets an easier proposition.
Last season, the one and only year of Lalonde’s tenure, the Als averaged 24,060. They finished second in the division, with a 10-8 record, and drew 33,051 to their semifinal playoff.
“I’m not going to say we took things for granted,” Weightman said, “but selling tickets was new to us again. We needed to shift the way we do business and how we approached sales. We needed to be more active. We have 25 per cent more capacity. Five-thousand is a big number.
“We need to do a better job of letting people know tickets exist. It has taken time for people to realize tickets are available. People still come to me and ask for help getting tickets, thinking our games are sold out. That’s the perception.”
Although Lalonde, the former marketing genius with the Canadiens, was brought in to increase the Als’ visibility, uncertainty re- mains over how much the organization prospered under his stewardship. The team’s merchandising has probably increased. But seasonticket sales, once in the 18,000 range, have dipped by about 1,000.
Corporate sponsorship, believed to be as high as $6 million in 2007 — well before Lalonde’s arrival — has decreased to about $3.5 million, although those figures are kept private by Wetenhall. The owner would require something in the range of $5 million to break even, it’s believed.
The team’s suites and end-zone tents have generally been occupied this season, Weightman said, and are sold out for the remaining two regular-season home games.
Weightman and his staff have, and will continue to, forge ahead, working diligently on customer service and its sales perspective. In August, he completed a total restructuring of the team’s sales and ticket services. Weightman hired a new vice-president of corporate sponsorship, Jean Couvrette, and people are in place to work in specialized roles throughout the year.
“We’ll make sure we’re ready next year for all of our ticket-selling initiatives,” he said. “Realistically, compared to where we stood in June and the work we had to do and rebuilding how we do things, especially selling tickets to groups, I knew it would take a little time. We’ve put the building blocks in place now to be successful.
“I can’t say that I’m disappointed.”