The dismal collapse of the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Sunday's CFL West Final more than just dashed the Grey Cup hopes of the team's legions of fans, it also made the goal of a sellout for this weekend's championship game a little more elusive.
``We probably wouldn't have had enough seats if Saskatchewan got in,'' Lyle Bauer, president and chief executive of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, said Monday.
Before the start of Sunday's matchup between the B.C. Lions and the Riders, many supporters of the green and white had their fingers at the ready to buy online tickets and make the six-hour drive east to Winnipeg for Sunday's Grey Cup.
But the game was out of reach long before the final buzzer marked the merciful end to the 45-18 rout.
As as result, there were still about 2,000 tickets available Monday.
``You've got sentimental favourites and I'm sure half the country was rooting for Saskatchewan,'' said Bauer, who grew up in Saskatoon but remains loyal to the Bombers after being a mainstay of the team's offensive line through the 1980s.
``However saying that, how can you complain about a championship that features the two first-place teams (in their division) matching up?''
The B.C. Lions will take on the Montreal Alouettes on Sunday (CBC, 6 p.m. ET).
A total of 44,784 tickets were available for the game at Canad Inn Stadium, including temporary seats installed in the south end zone.
Even with a sellout, attendance will fall below recent crowds in bigger markets such as Montreal (65,255 in 2001) and Vancouver (59,157 in 2005) but also smaller outdoor stadiums such as Regina, which had 50,909 fans attend the city's first ever Grey Cup in 2003.
In 1998, the last year Winnipeg hosted the event, there were 7,000 unsold seats at the kickoff despite a last-minute ticket discount blitz.
The CFL says it's too soon to talk of disappointment with Winnipeg's effort this year.
``There's any number of reasons why people may all of a sudden want to buy tickets,'' said Perry Lefko, director of communications. ``The CFL is cautiously optimistic that by game time all the seats will be accounted for.''
The league learned long ago the importance of moving its biggest game around, even though it runs counter to the warmest, driest option of rotating the hosts among the league's three indoor stadiums for the mid-November game.
``We have to move the game to every market to give these people a true appreciation and an affinity for what the game is,'' said Lefko.
Bauer is quick to point out that interest in the six-day Grey Cup festival, featuring concerts, breakfasts, and the annual player awards and Grey Cup parade, is high, with many events already sold out.
The party will also carry on into the wee hours as bar hours have been extended to 3 a.m.
And the Bombers are financially healthier than they've been in more than 25 years, meaning any Grey Cup profits can be banked for future stability.
Seven years ago, the franchise was
