Stampeders' home opener marks lowest Calgary attendance in 27 years
The Calgary Stampeders had a very disappointing turnout for their home opener on Thursday night.
An announced attendance of just 17,942 fans showed up for Thursday’s season-opening game against the BC Lions in Calgary. That’s approximately 50% of McMahon Stadium’s capacity.
While Stampeders attendance numbers have been decreasing in recent seasons, this marked the team’s lowest turnout in 27 years, when only 17,693 fans showed up to the 1996 Western Final against Edmonton.
The Stampeders even managed a higher turnout for last year’s preseason outing, with 18,440 in attendance.
Even more concerning is that Thursday was one of the hottest days Calgary has had so far this year, as it was 28Ā°CĀ and sunny at kickoff. On top of that, the Stampeders are coming off of an impressive season in which they put together a 12-6 record.
This may be a sign of fans’ discontent with McMahon Stadium, which opened up in 1960. The building has been criticized for some time due to being old and outdated, and it appears that after averaging 27,000 in attendance from 1998 to 2017, fans are finally fed up.
The unusually small turnout may have hurt the Stamps, who looked flat in their 25-15 loss to the Lions. They were unable to get much of anything going offensively, throwing for just 166 yards while rushing for 95.
The Stampeders’ next home game on Saturday, June 24, versus the Saskatchewan Roughriders, should give us a better idea of whether or not that was the case. While it’s unlikely they will get anywhere close to the 36,502 fans they averaged throughout the 2009 season, the organization will be hoping for a much better turnout than they saw on Thursday night.
If the numbers continue to remain down, they may have to take a page out of the Lions’ book and look to bring in LL Cool J to put on a pregame show.
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