Unbought Grey Cup tickets may be given to Canadian Forces members in a move recalling 1999

Tickets for Sunday's Grey Cup still aren't sold out, with around 4,300 remaining as of Wednesday afternoon. While part of that's thanks to the huge venue, empty seats do pose a problem for atmosphere and perception, and there isn't an easy way to deal with that. If you deeply discount tickets or give them away normally, it offends the fans who already shelled out $175 to $445 for seats. Grey Cup committee chair Jamie Pitblado appears to have found an ingenious solution, though; he told Lowell Ullrich of The Province that if tickets aren't sold by the weekend, the committee's contemplating giving them away, perhaps to Canadian Forces members, as they did at the 1999 Grey Cup:

That could be a smart move. It might help fill up the building and improve the atmosphere, but in a way that doesn't cause an uproar with most of the paying customers; who's going to gripe about Canadian Forces members getting special treatment? Moreover, it could help expose some new fans to CFL football. That's never a bad thing, either. We'll see if this is necessary, but it would appear to be a better potential solution than either keeping the building part empty or just handing out tickets to whoever wants them and alienating the paying customers.

What about the larger questions raised by the attendance issues? On the one hand, they're not necessarily a huge deal; keep in mind that B.C. Place is massive compared to most CFL stadiums (at 54,500 seats, it's bigger than everything except Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium). Last year's Grey Cup in Regina only had room for 44,170 (and a lot of that was temporary seating), so the league's already got over 6,000 people more coming to this game than they did last year.

On the other hand, though, this speaks to some of the challenges the CFL currently faces. There have been enough complaints about the lack of offence this season that many are convinced the product's not that high-quality (although there's a good case to be made that it's as strong as normal, just favouring defence instead). It can also be tough to drum up interest in a crowded sports marketplace like Vancouver (especially with the Lions not in the game), and not everyone's willing to pay such premium prices for tickets when they can watch in high-definition at home for free.

This year is highly unusual in one way, though, and it shouldn't necessarily be viewed as a trend. That's because the Lions hosted the Grey Cup just three years ago. When B.C. was announced as the 2014 destination, the decision was criticized from this corner thanks to the host fatigue element (plus the lack of opportunity for other cities and owners; David Braley's now getting three Grey Cups in four years with the Lions and Argos), and it appears officials are realizing that's a problem. Here's what Pitblado told Cam Cole of The Vancouver Sun:

And CFL commissioner Mark Cohon told Metro Vancouver's Cam Tucker recency likely played a role here:

So, this year shouldn't necessarily be seen as "No one wants to go to the Grey Cup" (more people will watch it live than last year if no further tickets are sold) or "Grey Cup interest is declining" (returning to the same market twice in four years may play a big role here). It does pose an issue, though, and it's something that should be watched going forward. Giving away tickets to members of the military could be a good idea this year, but the CFL would undoubtedly rather not have to deal with unsold tickets in Grey Cup week.