The CFL regular season attendance was up 3% in 2023, but still less than before the pandemic.The league-wide average attendance averaged 22,393 in 2023, down 2.4% from 2019. The CFL season was cancelled in 2020. Total attendance over 81 games was 1,813,837.Toronto had the highest percentage growth at 20.5%, yet its average crowd of 14,311 was the lowest. The Argonauts have had the worst CFL attendance for a decade, even though this year saw its highest home averages since 2016. Last year’s East Final drew a crowd of 21,331 and this year’s may do just as well. The Argonauts are the defending Grey Cup champions and led the league with a 16-2 record, matching the 1989 Edmonton Eskimos for the only two teams to ever have 16-win seasons.The 12-6 BC Lions enjoyed 13.8% higher attendance than last year. The average home crowd was 23,208, the team’s highest since 2014 and a 30.4% bump from 2019 under former owner David Braley. The club drew a crowd of 30,114 to the West semi-final in 2022 when it hosted Calgary for its first home playoff game in six years. The 6-12 Stampeders will be in Vancouver for this year’s rematch on Saturday.Attendance in Calgary fell 7.5% this year to an average of 21,698, its worst numbers since 1985 when the team went 3-13. Jay McNeil, vice-president of business operations, revealed before the season the Stamps had lost 25% of their season ticket base since 2019. The team has not had this poor a record since it went 4-14 in 2004.Winnipeg, home of the league’s loudest fans, was all cheers again this year.The Blue Bombers enjoyed the highest home attendance in the league at 30,449, a ten-year high and up 6.3% from last year. The 14-4 team, which went to the Grey Cup final last year and won in 2021 and 2019, will host the west final November 11.Saskatchewan was second in average attendance at 27,846, a 0.8% increase over the previous year. The Roughriders had the league’s highest-single game attendance this year of 33,350 during the Labour Day Classic sellout against Winnipeg. Its lowest attendance was 24,158 during its final game against Toronto.The 4-14 Edmonton Elks claimed an average crowd of 24,774 this year, a 4.1% rise over last year, larger than its empty stadium might suggest. Attendance numbers by all teams are self-reported and can’t be independently verified beyond the information that’s publicly available on Ticketmaster and what observers see themselves. On August 28, the team beat Ottawa to end a professional record streak of 22 straight road losses that stretched back to 2019.The 8-10 Hamilton Tiger-Cats had the East’s best attendance at 22,877, 2.8% more than last year. The Montreal Alouettes had the second-best record in the east at 11-7, but the second-worst league attendance at 17,670, down slightly from last year. Montreal hosts Hamilton for the east semi-final on Saturday.The Ottawa Redblacks averaged just 18,902 fans, their worst attendance in franchise history and lowest for the city since the final season of the Renegades in 2005. This year’s attendance was down 6.3% as fans were less than eager to watch the 4-14 team. The team has gone 14-54 over the past four years and missed the playoffs each time.Full stats are available at CFLdb.
The CFL regular season attendance was up 3% in 2023, but still less than before the pandemic.The league-wide average attendance averaged 22,393 in 2023, down 2.4% from 2019. The CFL season was cancelled in 2020. Total attendance over 81 games was 1,813,837.Toronto had the highest percentage growth at 20.5%, yet its average crowd of 14,311 was the lowest. The Argonauts have had the worst CFL attendance for a decade, even though this year saw its highest home averages since 2016. Last year’s East Final drew a crowd of 21,331 and this year’s may do just as well. The Argonauts are the defending Grey Cup champions and led the league with a 16-2 record, matching the 1989 Edmonton Eskimos for the only two teams to ever have 16-win seasons.The 12-6 BC Lions enjoyed 13.8% higher attendance than last year. The average home crowd was 23,208, the team’s highest since 2014 and a 30.4% bump from 2019 under former owner David Braley. The club drew a crowd of 30,114 to the West semi-final in 2022 when it hosted Calgary for its first home playoff game in six years. The 6-12 Stampeders will be in Vancouver for this year’s rematch on Saturday.Attendance in Calgary fell 7.5% this year to an average of 21,698, its worst numbers since 1985 when the team went 3-13. Jay McNeil, vice-president of business operations, revealed before the season the Stamps had lost 25% of their season ticket base since 2019. The team has not had this poor a record since it went 4-14 in 2004.Winnipeg, home of the league’s loudest fans, was all cheers again this year.The Blue Bombers enjoyed the highest home attendance in the league at 30,449, a ten-year high and up 6.3% from last year. The 14-4 team, which went to the Grey Cup final last year and won in 2021 and 2019, will host the west final November 11.Saskatchewan was second in average attendance at 27,846, a 0.8% increase over the previous year. The Roughriders had the league’s highest-single game attendance this year of 33,350 during the Labour Day Classic sellout against Winnipeg. Its lowest attendance was 24,158 during its final game against Toronto.The 4-14 Edmonton Elks claimed an average crowd of 24,774 this year, a 4.1% rise over last year, larger than its empty stadium might suggest. Attendance numbers by all teams are self-reported and can’t be independently verified beyond the information that’s publicly available on Ticketmaster and what observers see themselves. On August 28, the team beat Ottawa to end a professional record streak of 22 straight road losses that stretched back to 2019.The 8-10 Hamilton Tiger-Cats had the East’s best attendance at 22,877, 2.8% more than last year. The Montreal Alouettes had the second-best record in the east at 11-7, but the second-worst league attendance at 17,670, down slightly from last year. Montreal hosts Hamilton for the east semi-final on Saturday.The Ottawa Redblacks averaged just 18,902 fans, their worst attendance in franchise history and lowest for the city since the final season of the Renegades in 2005. This year’s attendance was down 6.3% as fans were less than eager to watch the 4-14 team. The team has gone 14-54 over the past four years and missed the playoffs each time.Full stats are available at CFLdb.
