Quote:
Originally Posted by thurmas
Endzone seats are usually the cheapest and bring in very little revenue. Sideline seating has much better sightlines and where most fans want to sit.
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It's interesting, when you look at old newspaper clippings from the 60s and 70s when CFL stadiums were going through a major growth phase, there was often reference made to the percentage of seats being between the goal lines... teams would boast that 90% of seats or whatever were between the goal lines, to the point where most CFL stadiums of that era were almost entirely seats along the sidelines - the only exceptions were the stadiums that were designed to handle MLB, so basically Montreal, Toronto (Exhibition) and Vancouver. It wasn't surprising considering that endzones in those days were still 25 yards deep which put seats back there pretty far from the action.
Things changed over the years, and I'm pretty sure the influence of the NFL had a lot to do with it. With bigger stadiums in general and smaller endzones, seating sections in that area were typically much bigger in NFL stadiums. So the wrap around type seating became the gold standard. It was to the point that when the new Winnipeg stadium was first pitched in the mid 2000s, the main proponent David Asper specifically mentioned a full bowl as a selling point - gone were the days of trying to cram in as many seats as possible between the goal lines.
Personally I think some endzone seating is good to provide some atmosphere, but seating in both endzones is excessive. The best model IMO is Commonwealth Stadium where the vast majority of seats is between the goal lines, but there is at least some end zone seating to make the place feel enclosed. The Hamilton model with club seating/patios in the endzones is also fine.
I don't know how realistic the Halifax rendering is, but I think it's decent... having two grandstands along with something in one end zone (either a small grandstand or some kind of patio deck) should prevent it from looking too wide open.
(On another note, interestingly, end zone seats in Winnipeg are not the cheapest despite having IMO the worst views and being pretty well the only unsheltered seats in the entire joint...)