Despite BC Place's newly-completed $563-million renovation, many sports fans at Friday night's grand reopening were left frustrated and underwhelmed amid long lines and service problems.

More than 50,000 excited football fans crowded the stadium to watch the BC Lions battle the Edmonton Eskimos, but by half-time the complaints were already piling up.

"We waited 45 minutes in line for a beer, 45 minutes," one irate fan told CTV News. "It's a joke."

"We went to a food stand, they didn't have any food. We went all the way to the other side of the stadium, no food," said another. "I'm never going to a Lions game again."

Some blamed both the management of the stadium and the unionized workers, who took a strike vote last week. Voting closed on Friday, however, and results have yet to be tallied.

Karen Tankard, spokeswoman for the BC Government and Service Employee's Union, said the possible job action has nothing to do with Friday night's problems.

"Those issues are management issues in terms of the staffing that they hired for the event," Tankard said. "We took no action last night at all during the game… it had nothing to do with our workers."

BC Place general manager Howard Crosley said the last-minute renovations meant staff training was cut short, and that a high level of absenteeism also played a role.

"Two thirds of our staff are new and about 20 per cent of the new staff that were called into work did not show," Crosley said. "We've addressed the service issues and are confident that we will have a better show tomorrow."

The Vancouver Whitecaps will play the Portland Timbers in the stadium Sunday afternoon.

But even if the kinks are worked out, the threat of job action still looms. CTV News has learned that the President of the BCGEU will address results of the union vote Monday, possibly suggesting a strike is on the horizon.

If that's the case, a 72-hour strike notice could be delivered any time in the next 90 days – potentially impacting the sold-out Grey Cup event in November. But Tankard said the union members don't want a strike, particularly heading into the holiday season.

"What we want to do is go back to the bargaining table and get a fair deal for our workers," she said.

Workers are not looking for more money, but for job security, Tankard said.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Penny Daflos