Stadiums & Arenas of Canada, Part 3

[MalcolmTucker]

IF a billionaire wanted a sweet tax benefit, and a stable lease, and a party that could access capital markets with minimal fuss, a university is the perfect place for a stadium.



All of a sudden a $200 million contribution is actually a gift to the university! You'd have to sign a lease that would pay maintenance and the capital cost over 30 years though, but I bet the government could justify going in for some of it.

[Djeffery]

Some rudimentary google earth measuring would suggest that in addition to the obvious part of demolishing all of the existing stadium, you would also need to remove the buildings on the east side (sports complex it says on elly63's post), the rounded building and the one to the south of it. Home plate would be in the northwest corner of the site with the diamond oriented to the south. The right field line would essentially follow where the west sideline is, left field line basically the north goal line going east to about midway across that sports complex building. Build the seating around that, and figure out how many outfield bleachers you want to add to left field. Does that say those buildings that curve around the south end zone are a hospital? Imagine being stuck in a room with the World Series happening right outside your room.

The other option would be home plate on the north east side of the site, with left field running down Pine. But I think that creates more sun issues later in the day, and would also need more buildings removed.

Obviously this a very costly exercise. Those university buildings would also need to be replaced. I think they already have their eyes on a piece of land for the stadium anyway, presumably needing less prep work ahead of time.

[JHikka]

re: CFL in Halifax/Stadium

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-...-smu-1.5468395

"The Canadian Football League is asking for $200,000 from the Halifax Regional Municipality to help it stage a game in Halifax at the end of July.

The regular-season game between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Toronto Argonauts is planned to take place at Saint Mary's University, which has a seating capacity of 3,500.

The CFL wants to bring in enough seating for 10,000 people, but said doing so will require additional funding. The CFL official responsible for events made a presentation to the city's special events advisory committee on Wednesday.

"It's more than just building seats there, you have to build food and beverage outlets, you have to put in porta-potties and fencing," said Duane Vienneau. "We're really building a stadium out."

Vienneau told the committee that total stadium costs are expected to be $400,000 and the CFL is not trying to make a profit, but just break even and maintain reasonable ticket prices. He also said the CFL plans to make this an annual event over three years, but will not be asking for a grant for the next two games."

...

"During the presentation, the CFL said it will be asking for $100,000 from the province to help stage the Touchdown Atlantic event.

Committee members asked about ticket prices, which will range from $30 to $95. They also asked about the cost of beer at the game, which is expected to be the same as what is normally charged when the Saint Mary's University Huskies play.

The CFL expects a sellout crowd, with half of the 10,000 attendees being visitors from away, many of them Roughrider fans."

[Berklon]

^ Where's Leblanc? Not that I was paying much attention, but I haven't heard anything for a long time. Is he still begging Halifax to build him a stadium? If so, isn't this something he should be footing the bill for if the intention is to gauge and spark interest for a team there?

[EpicPonyTime]

JFC the Schooners are desperate for some good will in Halifax and instead of swallowing the cost to put this game on, they go back to asking for public handouts? Does anyone involved with this team know what they are doing at all?

[jonny24]

Originally Posted by EpicPonyTime

JFC the Schooners are desperate for some good will in Halifax and instead of swallowing the cost to put this game on, they go back to asking for public handouts? Does anyone involved with this team know what they are doing at all?

Pretty much how I look at it. I have no experience at all and feel like I wouldn't have made half the PR blunders this group has.

[craner]

I agree, this Schooners ownership group is cringe worthy. It’s ridiculous they’re asking the City of Halifax for $200k to stage TD Atlantic.

[thurmas]

Originally Posted by craner

I agree, this Schooners ownership group is cringe worthy. It’s ridiculous they’re asking the City of Halifax for $200k to stage TD Atlantic.

I had doubts the minute I read they used to be part owners of the Phoenix Coyotes alarm bells ringing right away. Still don't know why local Maritime Companies won't partner up with them on this as they could be the Roughriders of the Maritimes being the sole big time sports team in the region it should be a slam dunk.

[VANRIDERFAN]

Originally Posted by craner

I agree, this Schooners ownership group is cringe worthy. It’s ridiculous they’re asking the City of Halifax for $200k to stage TD Atlantic.

The cash flush NHL asked the city of Regina to pony up 150k for the outdoor game last fall.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saska...gina-1.4976803

So its not unprecedented.

[VANRIDERFAN]

Originally Posted by thurmas

I had doubts the minute I read they used to be part owners of the Phoenix Coyotes alarm bells ringing right away. Still don't know why local Maritime Companies won't partner up with them on this as they could be the Roughriders of the Maritimes being the sole big time sports team in the region it should be a slam dunk.

The Irvings especially but I'm assuming that the McCains are not much different but they are interested in making money for themselves and not giving money to other entities.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by VANRIDERFAN

The cash flush NHL asked the city of Regina to pony up 150k for the outdoor game last fall.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saska...gina-1.4976803

So its not unprecedented.

Speaking of Regina, I was looking at Grey Cup ticket pricing and I noticed that it appears the 2020 Grey Cup at Mosaic Stadium won't have any temporary seating in place. I guess the CFL has gone all in on the "fewer seats but more expensive" model so beloved by North American leagues nowadays.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by esquire

Speaking of Regina, I was looking at Grey Cup ticket pricing and I noticed that it appears the 2020 Grey Cup at Mosaic Stadium won't have any temporary seating in place. I guess the CFL has gone all in on the "fewer seats but more expensive" model so beloved by North American leagues nowadays.

Is the design of the stadium even conducive to a big block of temporary bleachers being added?

[EpicPonyTime]

Originally Posted by thurmas

I had doubts the minute I read they used to be part owners of the Phoenix Coyotes alarm bells ringing right away. Still don't know why local Maritime Companies won't partner up with them on this as they could be the Roughriders of the Maritimes being the sole big time sports team in the region it should be a slam dunk.

Prior to this, weren't they part of the ownership group that wanted a big chunk of the Coyotes' home games to be played in Saskatoon? I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt at first, but it's clear the proposed owners are snake oil salesmen.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

Is the design of the stadium even conducive to a big block of temporary bleachers being added?

It can only add 5-10K temporary seats, right? Up to 40K?

It's probably not worth the cost to install versus the revenue they would generate, or as esquire pointed out the scarcity created by having 33K tickets as opposed to 40K tickets.

Still, surprising they're not trying to add any. McMahon didn't add any temporary stands last year, either.

Originally Posted by EpicPonyTime

Prior to this, weren't they part of the ownership group that wanted a big chunk of the Coyotes' home games to be played in Saskatoon? I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt at first, but it's clear the proposed owners are snake oil salesmen.

I've had this same feeling for quite a while.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by EpicPonyTime

Prior to this, weren't they part of the ownership group that wanted a big chunk of the Coyotes' home games to be played in Saskatoon? I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt at first, but it's clear the proposed owners are snake oil salesmen.

Yes, LeBlanc was CEO of Ice Edge. I think the proposal was only 5 games a year in Saskatoon though.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by JHikka

It can only add 5-10K temporary seats, right? Up to 40K?

It's probably not worth the cost to install versus the revenue they would generate, or as esquire pointed out the scarcity created by having 33K tickets as opposed to 40K tickets.

Still, surprising they're not trying to add any. McMahon didn't add any temporary stands last year, either.

I think in Regina, if they could add that many, they would. I don't think they would have any trouble selling them there. They are adding the temporary seating to Hamilton for next year, which admittedly, has fewer permanent seats anyway. I just don't know if Mosaic has room to add that many, it's a pretty closed in place, unlike Hamilton which is wide open at both ends. But if they say they can add them, but just aren't (yet) then what do I know? lol

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

I think in Regina, if they could add that many, they would. I don't think they would have any trouble selling them there. They are adding the temporary seating to Hamilton for next year, which admittedly, has fewer permanent seats anyway. I just don't know if Mosaic has room to add that many, it's a pretty closed in place, unlike Hamilton which is wide open at both ends. But if they say they can add them, but just aren't (yet) then what do I know? lol

I'm fairly sure that one of the selling points of Mosaic Stadium was the ability to expand to 40,000 seats by putting temporary stands in the endzone with the scoreboard. I don't ever recall seeing a diagram of what that would look like so I can only guess... I would assume there is room for seats on either side of the scoreboard, as well as possibly in front of it.



I know with Winnipeg in 2015 they ended up adding temporary seats in only one endzone despite both ends being capable of accommodating temporary stands. The setup worked and it looked OK inside the stadium, but I recall the outside was like a big awkward labyrinth of scaffolding. Here's a picture of the temporary stands:

[esquire]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Still, surprising they're not trying to add any. McMahon didn't add any temporary stands last year, either.

They did add temporary stands, it's just that it was in the form of private suites instead of bleacher seating.

[Hackslack]

Originally Posted by esquire

I know with Winnipeg in 2015 they ended up adding temporary seats in only one endzone despite both ends being capable of accommodating temporary stands. The setup worked and it looked OK inside the stadium, but I recall the outside was like a big awkward labyrinth of scaffolding. Here's a picture of the temporary stands:

For what event did Winnipeg put up temp seats? Heritage Classic?

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Hackslack

For what event did Winnipeg put up temp seats? Heritage Classic?

Grey Cup. That was the only time IGF had temporary seats installed.