CFL Attendance Down With Tiger-Cats At Temporary Venue; Roughriders Take Top Spot

The CFL saw average attendance decline 4% during the ’13 regular season, pushed down in large part due to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats having to play temporarily at a much smaller venue. The Ti-Cats averaged a league-worst 13,298 fans per game in ’13, as the team played home games at Alumni Stadium on the Univ. of Guelph campus while construction is completed on the team’s new Tim Hortons Field. The Ti-Cats’ figure was down 48% from the attendance at Ivor Wynne Stadium in ’12. That venue was torn down following last season. Had the Ti-Cats averaged anywhere near the club’s figure from ’12, the CFL would have likely seen an attendance boost. Meanwhile, the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who will play the Ti-Cats in Sunday's Grey Cup, led all CFL clubs with 37,503 fans per game, up 16% at Mosaic Stadium. Coming into ’13, the Edmonton Eskimos had led the league in attendance for 11 straight seasons. The Eskimos were down 6.5% at home this season. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers also saw a good increase in ’13 at the new Investors Group Field (+9.5%) (THE DAILY).

NOTE: * = Team played '13 season at smaller Alumni Stadium at the Univ. of Guelph while construction is finished at Tim Horton's Field. The team's Ivor Wynne Stadium was demolished after the '12 season.