Grey Cup organizers won't release attendance numbers, but revenue expected to be high
CBC
The buzz is beginning to die down in Regina as out-of-town Grey Cup attendees head home. But despite the game being over, fans were in great spirits Monday morning.
"I'm still standing, so it was a great time and I'm very happy to be still standing," said Paul Valentine, as he and his brother John, decked out in cowboy hats, prepared to head home to Calgary.
"The parties were fantastic. The game was unbelievable. I was cheering for the Argonauts, so that was good for me. But it was a lot of fun, met a lot of good people, a lot of great music, a lot of great dancing, a lot of beer, a lot of nachos. It was a great weekend."
Craig Reynolds, co-chair of the Grey Cup Festival, echoed Valentine's enthusiasm.
The Toronto Argonauts narrowly beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 24-23 at Mosaic Stadium in Sunday night's championship. It was the type of drama-filled game Grey Cup organizers say they were hoping for.
"That was sort of the cherry on top. You know, you always want the Grey Cup game to be to be outstanding. And it was. It was an instant classic," Reynolds said.
The Grey Cup took more than three years of planning and 1,200 volunteers, says Reynolds. But while energy levels were high and the game was sold out, many seats at Mosaic were left empty.
"We saw thousands of people on the concourse ... we had tremendous turn out. To be quite honest with you, when you have a cold weather game like that with some people maybe not as invested in the score ... they don't spend as much time in their seats," said Reynolds.
Thousands of tickets previously hit the resale market as many Roughriders supporters were disappointed their beloved team didn't make the championship.
Reynolds wouldn't provide any attendance numbers, saying they're not reliable. He says volunteers were scanning people, but many didn't get scanned. He also couldn't provide the number of season ticket holders who didn't show up to claim their seats.
"There's hundreds of reasons why somebody would not come to the game, whether it's cold or they just weren't interested in the two teams participating and they changed their plans," said Reynolds.
"Or they're out-of-town fans who just, you know, bought tickets expecting a certain team to be in and when they didn't, they cancelled their plans, tried to sell the tickets and perhaps weren't successful at that."
As for revenue, Reynolds says it will take a number of months to do the final tabulation on how much the festival made. However, he says they did "outstanding" due to the game being sold out and vendors running out of alcohol and food, which he says was a good sign.
Meanwhile, many hotels across Regina are saying goodbye to swarms of CFL members and fans.
In the four years Chelsey Simmonds has worked at the Eva Rothwell Centre, she has seen the need increase every year at the centre’s community food pantry.
CBC is once again looking to make the holiday season kind in Windsor-Essex.
Acute Care Alberta has extended its contract for another year with a private surgical facility at the centre of probes into health procurement and contracting.
As food bank use continues to climb across the province, front-line workers in Thunder Bay, Ont., are working to improve both food security and education.
More ads could soon be coming to Toronto’s subway system.
The driver wanted in connection with a fatal hit and run on Highway 401 earlier this week has been identified, police say.
There are mixed feelings about the proposed Grays Bay road and port project, among people who live in nearby communities.
WARNING: This story details allegations of child abuse and includes graphic content.
Provincial police in Lambton County have charged a 23-year-old man with second degree murder following a death investigation that began this past Saturday.
The Newfoundland and Labrador government is forming a working group to tackle what it calls systemic issues in the justice system, but answers or solutions could still be months away.
A woman has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death in a 2024 fatal hit and run in Truro, N.S., where the victim was dragged down the street, a case that went unsolved for more than six months.
A stream of people showing up to a brightly lit front porch, each holding up a bottle of wine, spirits, or beer.
Sona Lakhoyan Olivier has been excluded from Quebec’s Liberal caucus for the duration of an investigation led by the National Assembly’s ethics commissioner, the party announced Thursday.