SportsFootballUrbanizedBC Lions

Why BC Place lineups are so brutal and what to do for next time

Rob Williams
Rob Williams
|
Jun 9 2025, 9:40 pm
Why BC Place lineups are so brutal and what to do for next time
It was a mess outside (Rob Williams/Offside)

If you’ve ever been to BC Place for a major event, this is something you’re probably already well aware of.

And if you attended Saturday’s BC Lions game, featuring a pre-game Snoop Dogg concert, it’s fresh in your memory.

BC Place doesn’t handle big crowds well.

It’s great when it’s full — you can’t beat the roar of the crowd when over 50,000 fans pack it. But getting into the stadium? Well, that’s another thing.

 

Fans described a chaotic setting outside BC Place, with it taking 45 minutes to an hour to get in.

It was so bad that the Lions posted a message to fans outside, who were no doubt concerned that they would miss the show.

“We see you, Lions fans! If you’re in line, hang tight,” the official BC Lions account posted to X. “You’ll be inside in time to catch the show.”

The Lions told fans to be in their seats by 5:45 p.m. to check out the show, but through no fault of their own, the stadium wasn’t even half full at that time.

 

Eventually, 52,837 fans filled BC Place, and the vast majority of them caught the Snoop Dogg show, start to finish. Snoop didn’t begin his performance until 6:25 p.m., however.

BC Place is run by PavCo, a Provincial Crown Corporation, which provided a statement to Offside on Monday.

The take-home message appears to arrive early, and avoid the Terry Fox Plaza entrances.

“Whenever attending a large sold-out event, we recommend people arrive as early as possible,” BC Place advised. “At Saturday’s game, we received a large influx of people approximately 30 minutes before the advertised start time for the Snoop Dogg pregame concert.

“While our teams worked hard to get fans safely into the building and as efficiently as possible, there were wait times at certain gates that averaged 10 to 20 minutes. By the time Snoop Dogg went on stage, 95 per cent of attendees were in the building. As we do receive high volumes of fans arriving through Terry Fox Plaza, we encourage fans to use gates around the building to avoid congestion points.

“We understand that lineups can be frustrating and thank fans for their understanding and patience.”

Great advice, but it’s unreasonable to put the onus on fans to figure out which gates are busy and which ones aren’t. It was also so congested on Saturday that fans would have had great difficulty walking around the building.

Perhaps more can be done in terms of crowd control, with stadium staff keeping people moving by directing fans to go to less busy gates.

There are eight gates for entry into BC Place, though they’re not always all open. The busiest ones are near Terry Fox Plaza, facing Beatty Street: Gate A, Gate B, and Gate H. Those are the ones you want to avoid.

Judging from responses from fans, the two gates that face the Parq Casino (Gate F and Gate G) had shorter lineups on Saturday. Gates C, D, and E off Pacific Boulevard were also presumably better ways to get in.

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