CEO urges fans to stick with Bombers despite abysmal season

The CEO of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers is urging fans to stick with the team despite posting the worst record in the league this year.

“I would say stick with us, and our fans do stick with us. We have the best fans in the CFL, and they deserve better, and we’ll ensure that happens,” Chief Executive Officer Wade Miller told CBC on Tuesday.

But some Winnipeg fans are just fed up. Perry Gilmour has been a season ticket holder for 20 years and gave up on the team this week.

What added insult to injury was getting a voicemail recording asking him to leave a message when he finally decided to cancel.

The team has had a tumultuous year on and off the field. The organization lost its top quarterback, upped prices, banned noisemakers, introduced a new policy around outside food and security screening and saw the number of parking spots available for fans shrink drastically.

A load of problems for Miller to deal with, who has only been around since August, when the former general manager Joe Mack was fired and the former CEO Garth Buchko resigned.

To top it all off, the team’s performance has been abysmal, with three wins and 15 losses. 

“You started getting angry to go to games,” said Gilmour. “I don’t pay good money to get angry!”

Gilmour isn’t the only one walking away angry.

Fan Brian Harder has also ditched the team.

“It all boils down to management and the coaching, you know. You can’t fire the entire team!”

It’s a bad time for the team to lose fans. They just moved into a new stadium this season, and need an average home attendance of 31,000 fans to keep the books balanced.

 “We’re on target to meet [our financial goals] so the 31,000 number isn’t a number that we’re focused on,” he said.

Miller added there are new experiences for fans on the horizon next year but wouldn’t elaborate on exactly what those are.

Those new experiences will come at a cost though, the team has already announced plans to hike the cost of season tickets next year.