Will LL Cool J enhance B.C. Lions dwelling opener crowd greater than OneRepublic did final 12 months?

“It should be an excellent week, however we nonetheless must guarantee that we maintain our enterprise,” Lions head coach and co-general supervisor Rick Campbell mentioned Sunday.

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OneRepublic helped the B.C. Lions to a CFL season-high introduced crowd for final 12 months’s dwelling opener. What help can LL Cool J deliver for an encore this time round?

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The hip hop icon is the musical visitor for the Lions on Saturday once they tackle the Edmonton Elks at B.C. Place.

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B.C. kicked off the 2023 CFL common season Thursday with a 25-15 win over the host Calgary Stampeders.

The workforce isn’t saying the place ticket gross sales are at as of Sunday, however they introduced final week that they’re promoting seats within the higher bowl for Saturday, with membership president Duane Vienneau explaining then that “lower than 1,000 tickets stay within the decrease bowl.”

“I do know our guys keep in mind how nice the ambiance was whenever you get the higher deck open. It’s going to be enjoyable. It’s going to be thrilling. It’s going to be an excellent week, however we nonetheless must guarantee that we maintain our enterprise,” Lions head coach and co-general supervisor Rick Campbell mentioned Sunday.

bc lions rick campbell
B.C. Lions co-general supervisor/head coach Rick Campbell. Photograph by Francis Georgian /PNG

The Lions final opened up the higher bowl for final 12 months’s West Division semifinals, when an introduced crowd of 30,114 watched them beat the Stampeders. It was additionally open for the house opener, once they had an introduced crowd of 34,082, which was bolstered by a pre-game present from OneRepublic, the band that includes frontman Ryan Tedder.

That was the most important crowd of the common season within the CFL, marking the primary time since 2011 that the Lions topped that class. The Lions introduced attendance common for final season was 20,387, which was up from 17,803 in 2019, which was the final non-COVID season.

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Campbell says he believes that they got here out of the Calgary sport with none vital accidents. B.C. resumes practising tomorrow, so he’ll be taught extra about any illnesses then.

Receiver Fortunate Whitehead did go away the sport for a time with a foot harm, however he returned.

Receiver Keon Hatcher (foot) missed Thursday’s sport and is on the six-game harm record. The Lions may take him off that record early, however Campbell has mentioned that they particularly need to make certain he’s wholesome for the second half of the season, so he’ll undoubtedly follow their present plan in the meanwhile.

Recapping Thursday, Campbell mentioned that “I appreciated our compete degree and the way exhausting we performed,” but additionally admitted “there are at all times issues we may get higher at.”

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B.C. received out to an early 14-0 lead, however their offence stalled for a time. They wound up holding a 421-250 edge in offensive yardage.

“There’s a bunch of issues to scrub up,” Campbell mentioned. “There’s room for enchancment. It’s a excellent news/unhealthy information factor, since you received the sport however there’s tons to work on nonetheless.”

Vernon Adams, Jr., who’s was named the beginning quarterback after Nathan Rourke moved to the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars within the low season, seemed sharp, going 27-of-35 for 288 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. He additionally ran 10 instances for 35 yards.

“He’s been superb at observe and it’s translated into video games,” mentioned Campbell. “He’s motivated. He actually desires to get higher each day trip.”

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Originally posted 2023-06-11 23:25:48.