A simple inquiry about ticket sales for the 103rd Grey Cup led to some interesting discoveries, and some frenzied spin-doctoring, Friday.

First, the discoveries.

The game, right here in River City, will be the poorest attended CFL championship in at least 17 years.

And if ticket sales, currently at a snail's pace, don't pick up significantly over the next 12 weeks, the crowd could be the smallest for a Grey Cup in four decades.

The Winnipeg Sun learned the host Blue Bombers have quietly reduced capacity for the Nov. 29 classic to just 36,634, down from the original plan to have 40,000 seats.

It's the smallest Grey Cup capacity since the 1970s.

The temporary seating planned for the north-end concourse has been scrapped, leaving a temporary grandstand only on the south concourse. Construction on the seating began this week.

The reason for the reduced capacity is unclear, and this is where the P.R. machine was revving into the red line, both with the Bombers and the league.

The Bombers said president Wade Miller was out of town this week and not available for comment.

But a team spokesman told the Sun the pre-game and half-time entertainment will set up on the north-end concourse instead of the usual location at mid-field.

That decision appears to have been a hasty one: Ticketmaster on Friday continued to sell seats that don't exist in temporary stands in that north end.

The team spokesman says fans who've bought or continue to buy tickets in the north end will be relocated to the south end. We're not sure when they were going to find that out.

The Bombers eventually issued a Friday afternoon press release saying the decision was made after a recent tour of the stadium by CFL commissioner Jeffrey Orridge.

The release says the relocated stage will ensure fans have “the very best experience,” but did not explain how the switch is an improvement.

Asked for an explanation, a league spokesman said the end-zone location means fewer fans have to look at the backs of the performers. Seriously.

All those Grey Cup and Super Bowl half-time shows in the past, and suddenly we've figured out the end zone is the place for the main attraction. Right.

The other news the Bombers were reluctant to release: with ticket sales at 25,576, Friday, or around 70% of capacity, some 11,000 unsold seats remained.

Winnipeg's season-ticket base is around 22,000, and those fans could buy as many discounted Grey Cup seats as they wanted. And they're still only at 25,576?

Even a sellout of 36,634 would be the smallest crowd to attend a Grey Cup since 1998, when Winnipeg, wallowing in the Jeff Reinebold years, hosted the game and drew just 34,157.

The reasons for this year's lack of buzz once again revolve around the performance of the home team.

The Bombers have a losing record (3-5) after dropping four of their last five games, and have missed the playoffs the last three years.

It's not all the blue and gold's fault.

Saskatchewan is so far out of the playoff picture, fans there, usually a rabid bunch, aren't buying up seats like they otherwise would.

If Winnipeg doesn't reach capacity this year, the crowd count could sink to mid-1970s levels. Calgary attracted 32,454 in 1975.

Last year's game in Vancouver didn't sell out, either, but it still drew better than 50,000, albeit with some late price cuts and giveaways.

The previous four Grey Cups, in Regina, Toronto, Vancouver, again, and Edmonton: all sold out by mid-summer, at the latest.

This isn't just about optics on a national television broadcast. It's about cold, hard cash.

Using an average of $350 per ticket, every 1,000 unsold tickets means a $350,000 loss in revenue. Plus concession sales.

The Bombers guaranteed a profit of $4.3 million to the league, and need to make a mortgage payment of $4 million this year.

Another $1.5 million in Grey Cup profits go to Triple-B, the team's quasi-landlord.

Miller told us back in April the big game would generate profits of between $4 million and $7 million.

He wasn't talking this week, other than through a hastily prepared statement.

“We are encouraged by the ticket count to date,” he said. “And look forward to selling out the rest to our great Blue Bomber and CFL fans in the months to come.”

He can only hope.

GREY CUP, OR BUST?

Smallest crowds in recent history

44,710 , Regina, 2013

, Regina, 2013 43,822 , Calgary, 2000

, Calgary, 2000 38,595 , Hamilton, 1996

, Hamilton, 1996 34,157 , Winnipeg, 1998

, Winnipeg, 1998 32,454 , Calgary, 1975

, Calgary, 1975 *36,634, Winnipeg, 2015 (if sold out)

paul.friesen@sunmedia.ca

Twitter: @friesensunmedia