TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - May 27, 2015) - Four in five adults (77 per cent) living in Southern Ontario say they have no plans to purchase tickets to the upcoming Pan-Am Games in Toronto this summer, while the Blue Jays are now a more popular attraction than the Maple Leafs. However, Canada's Wonderland remains the number one attraction, according to Field Day's 4th Annual Toronto Entertainment Survey.
Field Day Inc. polled 1,600 adult residents of Southern Ontario regarding 120 attractions asking them to identify which attractions they attended in 2014 and which attractions are their all-time favourites. The full survey findings are available for download here.
"Roughly three per cent of Southern Ontario adults said they have purchased a ticket to attend any event at the Games," said Andrew Arntfield, President, Field Day Inc. "While these findings align with what organizers have reported, the survey revealed there is a lot of work to do in a short amount of time to sell all 1.4 million tickets available," he added.
The Toronto Maple Leafs slipped from 3rd place to 5th place on the "All-Time Favourite" list of attractions. The Blue Jays climbed from 5th place to 2nd place, passing the Leafs for the first time since the annual survey first began four years ago.
"The Blue Jays are doing a lot of things right to make the ballpark fun again," added Arntfield. "The Leafs have been selling hope for decades, and this past season we finally saw proof that fans have given up."
Meanwhile, Ripley's Aquarium placed 9th overall on the "All-Time Favourite" list after opening just 18 months ago.
Top-20 All-Time Favourites
| 1. | Canada's Wonderland |
| 2. | Toronto Blue Jays |
| 3. | Ontario Science Centre |
| 4. | Air Canada Centre (concerts) |
| 5. | Toronto Maple Leafs |
| 6. | Toronto Zoo |
| 7. | Royal Ontario Museum |
| 8. | CN Tower |
| 9. | Ripley's Aquarium of Canada |
| 10. | Toronto Raptors |
| 11. | Distillery District |
| 12. | African Lion Safari |
| 13. | Art Gallery of Ontario |
| 14. | Toronto International Film Festival |
| 15. | Mirvish Productions |
| 16. | Rogers Centre (concerts) |
| 17. | Canadian National Exhibition |
| 18. | Massey Hall |
| 19. | Molson Canadian Amphitheatre |
| 20. | Stratford Shakespearean Festival |
Declining Attendance
Field Day's survey corroborates the recent Art Newspaper report that found attendance is declining for many of Toronto's museums and theatres. Unique visitors to the Art Gallery of Ontario and Ontario Science Centre dropped by more than 15 per cent in 2014. Attendance to Mirvish Productions also decreased by more than 20 per cent last year.
Geography Matters
Luminato, which recently had its annual provincial funding of $2.5 million extended for three more years, appeals almost exclusively to City residents. Only 20 per cent of Luminato's audience comes from outside postal code M. The survey also found most of Toronto's smaller theatre and performing arts organizations and music clubs attract few attendees from 905 or beyond. However, consumer shows, family activities, football and lacrosse draw heavily from the Greater Toronto Area surrounding the City of Toronto.
Source of Info
Participants were also asked for their sources of information for entertainment and attractions. Across all age groups, Facebook and "word of mouth" were the most popular resources.
Despite some research claims that Facebook is being abandoned by younger users in favour of platforms like Instagram and Snapchat, it still had the greatest appeal for respondents aged 18-24. Traditional media (newspapers, TV and radio) fared best with the oldest age categories.
| 1. | 48.43% | |
| 2. | Word of mouth | 44.56% |
| 3. | TV | 35.48% |
| 4. | Online advertising | 35.34% |
| 5. | Online articles | 33.15% |
| 6. | Radio | 29.47% |
| 7. | Email from the attraction | 29.13% |
| 8. | Newspaper advertising | 24.28% |
| 9. | 20.18% | |
| 10. | Newspaper articles | 17.00% |
| 11. | Other social media | 16.56% |
About Field Day Inc.
Established in 1989, Field Day Inc. is a leading full service Toronto-based marketing and branding firm that drives measurable ROI for clients such as the Aga Khan Museum, the Canadian National Exhibition, Quesada Burritos & Tacos, and Warner Home Video. Knowing what makes consumers tick is at the root of its success. Whether it's driving consumer lifestyle spending, motivating B2B channel sales, or engaging franchise partners, Field Day follows a streamlined brand building process.
About Field Day's 4th Annual Toronto Entertainment Survey
The survey was conducted online and examined eight categories of live entertainment: theatre and performing arts; galleries and museums; festivals, fairs and events; destinations; sports; concert or arts venues; music clubs; and consumer product shows. Survey invitations were distributed via email to Field Day's database of 4,000 Southern Ontario residents. Field Day gathered over 1,600 responses from adults living in Southern Ontario. Respondents provided basic demographic information including the first digits of their postal code, age, household income, education and gender. The demographic data was used to weight responses to accurately reflect StatsCan demographics. The survey has a margin of error of +/- 5 per cent with a confidence level of 95 per cent.
Contact Information:
with Andrew Arntfield to discuss the findings,
please contact:
Victoria Kirk
416.558.4507
victoria@vandco.ca