Canada has football. They have the Canadian Football League and at its worst, the CFL is still very fun. There were rumors a few years ago that the NFL was considering Toronto as a home for an NFL team — or a split site for the Bills — but that idea went by the wayside. Still, the NFL wants to expand its influence to America’s neighbor to the north so the league decided a preseason game in Winnipeg may be a good idea. Apparently, it was not.
The first thing the league and IG Field needed to consider is that $191.50 for a preseason game is absolutely outrageous. We don’t even know if big-name players will get into the game. Preseason tickets are discounted — that needs to be in sarcastic quotes — for a reason. No one wants to go to preseason games. The league is already talking about the quality of the product on the field. Fans don’t want to attend. Preseason tickets are hard enough to give away.
Canadian fans are thinking like American fans. There’s no reason to go to a game if it’s going to be bad. Even the novelty of the NFL in Canada isn’t working. If they aren’t guaranteed Aaron Rodgers for four quarters it’s tough to shell out $191.50 — even if it’s in Canadian dollars — for a game. That’s almost $800 for a family of four.
The NFL will figure this out. They will either subsidize ticket costs, drop prices, or give away tickets to local organizations. Right now, the game in Canada could look like an AAF game.
