Stadiums & Arenas of Canada, Part 3

[elly63]

Looks like the new widened, unlined artificial turf field at McMahon Stadium is already paying dividends.

Whereas before, even though soccer was played there at a local level there was always a question about holding big international events there because of the width.

Not only have they secured the women's NSL franchise but they will also open Canada's Rugby World Cup qualifying against the US on August 22, 2025 in the Pacific Nations Cup.

The Canadian men are currently ranked 24th in the world, compared to No. 15 for the U.S. Eagles.

The six-team Pacific Nations Cup, which also features No. 9 Fiji, No. 13 Japan, No. 14 Samoa and No. 19 Tonga, will send three sides to the 2027 World Cup in Australia. But given Fiji and Japan have already qualified by virtue of their performance at the 2023 tournament, a top-five finish would do it for Canada if Fiji and Japan finish above it.

[elly63]

• Video Link

[Hackslack]

Originally Posted by elly63

Looks like the new widened, unlined artificial turf field at McMahon Stadium is already paying dividends.

Whereas before, even though soccer was played there at a local level there was always a question about holding big international events there because of the width.

Not only have they secured the women's NSL franchise but they will also open Canada's Rugby World Cup qualifying against the US on August 22, 2025 in the Pacific Nations Cup.

The Canadian men are currently ranked 24th in the world, compared to No. 15 for the U.S. Eagles.

The six-team Pacific Nations Cup, which also features No. 9 Fiji, No. 13 Japan, No. 14 Samoa and No. 19 Tonga, will send three sides to the 2027 World Cup in Australia. But given Fiji and Japan have already qualified by virtue of their performance at the 2023 tournament, a top-five finish would do it for Canada if Fiji and Japan finish above it.

I wish they could do something about the infrastructure of McMahon, like making the bathrooms more efficient, larger concourse, better more accessible concessions… they have the space on the perimeter of the stadium. It’sa great place to watch the games, and when at or near capacity is an awesome atmosphere… even reduce the capacity to make for larger more space for sitting room. They have to do something to make it a better experience for fans.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by Hackslack

I wish they could do something about the infrastructure of McMahon, like making the bathrooms more efficient, larger concourse, better more accessible concessions… they have the space on the perimeter of the stadium. It’sa great place to watch the games, and when at or near capacity is an awesome atmosphere… even reduce the capacity to make for larger more space for sitting room. They have to do something to make it a better experience for fans.

I predict it and I think you will see it, artificial turf lasts 10-13 years and is usually replaced at eight. The head of the McMahon Stadium Society Steve Allan said “You get about eight years out of the turf,” Allan told Global News. “I hope that this is the last time we put artificial turf down at McMahon.”

Upgrades are currently underway at McMahon, including a new artificial turf field (completed), and Stamps President Jay McNeil said there are plans to expand the concourse for the championship game in two years.

It would actually be a cool looking stadium if all the seats were the same colour of red and the outside cladding was renewed and although I've never been I always heard it had some of the best sightlines in the league.

But I'm not the biggest fan of refurbishing (mostly for cost certainty reasons) and its possible that the stadium itself will make the decision. whether a new one is built. Sooner or later that building will show its age structurally, if it already hasn't.

At the moment we only have one all weather stadium functioning in Canada for football and soccer (BC Place). Olympic Stadium won't be available for two more years and SkyDome is baseball only, so I would love to see another one built.

A 25-30k stadium with a roof along the lines of US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis would be nice. This would be a nice infrastructure bone for the feds to show some love to Alberta. They have been out of the stadium funding game for a while but I am sure a good excuse could be provided if the will was there. They could get funding if there was an international multisport event or if the stadium was part of the university infrastructure as those were the old ways to get funding, or a P3 program.

Similar to Ivor Wynne, this is quickly going from a wish list item to a necessity. Now that the Event Centre is on its way it's time to start having the new stadium discussions again.

• Video Link

[Djeffery]

I wonder if the actual number of chairs plays a role in ticket sales at McMahon? And are those comfortable to sit in? Maybe if they replaced them with slightly wider chairs and then replaced the benches with chairs as well, it might help with sales. Maybe even replace the benches with the existing chairs and replace the chairs with better chairs, since the location I'm sure already calls for a higher price anyway. I know for me if I was looking at a game and only saw benches available, I'd tune in from home or do something else.

I also wonder if rebuilding this stadium half now half later would be feasible, kind of like Ottawa but in a much shorter time frame lol. I don't know enough about the area, is this the preferred location to keep the team or is there a "if we had it to do again, it would be nice to move them over here" desire? Of course, I would personally like to see more Regina and less Hamilton in a new stadium so that would mean demo and rebuild on site (where do they play for a couple seasons?), or build new elsewhere.

[MalcolmTucker]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

I wonder if the actual number of chairs plays a role in ticket sales at McMahon? And are those comfortable to sit in? Maybe if they replaced them with slightly wider chairs and then replaced the benches with chairs as well, it might help with sales. Maybe even replace the benches with the existing chairs and replace the chairs with better chairs, since the location I'm sure already calls for a higher price anyway. I know for me if I was looking at a game and only saw benches available, I'd tune in from home or do something else.

I also wonder if rebuilding this stadium half now half later would be feasible, kind of like Ottawa but in a much shorter time frame lol. I don't know enough about the area, is this the preferred location to keep the team or is there a "if we had it to do again, it would be nice to move them over here" desire? Of course, I would personally like to see more Regina and less Hamilton in a new stadium so that would mean demo and rebuild on site (where do they play for a couple seasons?), or build new elsewhere.

It isn’t just the width— im sure that matters for some. The stadium wasn’t designed for chairs with backs so the leg room is nonexistent. The sight lines are pretty good as stated. But the stadium is uncomfortable due to its origins.

It would be possible to do a half rebuild. The question is, if that is what you think is best, Calgary already has another half stadium that hosts 20 ish events a year that is 50 years old — the stampede grandstand. If the sports teams and fans the chuck wagon committee figure out how to play nice together you can renovate the grandstand and replace the infield with a football optimized infield, saving a lot of money on both needed renewals.

This was studied during the abortive 2026 Calgary Olympic Bid.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by MalcolmTucker

It isn’t just the width— im sure that matters for some. The stadium wasn’t designed for chairs with backs so the leg room is nonexistent. The sight lines are pretty good as stated. But the stadium is uncomfortable due to its origins.

It would be possible to do a half rebuild. The question is, if that is what you think is best, Calgary already has another half stadium that hosts 20 ish events a year that is 50 years old — the stampede grandstand. If the sports teams and fans the chuck wagon committee figure out how to play nice together you can renovate the grandstand and replace the infield with a football optimized infield, saving a lot of money on both needed renewals.

This was studied during the abortive 2026 Calgary Olympic Bid.

This article talks about the similar issues that surrounded the design and build of the new Hamilton stadium. It answers why building new is often better (cost certainty), discussing how the old stadium had a grading where seats with backs couldn't be installed and why they didn't want to build half of the stadium new and refurbish the other half. It also has an interesting look into finances.

[elly63]

You can catch how the new artificial turf looks at McMahon Stadium as the NSL's Calgary Wild will play Ottawa starting soon at 7pm Eastern on TSN 2

[Coldrsx]

Edmonton








https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update...1761981251584/

[jonny24]

Great photos!

[blueandgoldguy]

Is the second photo showing basketball in Edmonton from the Shaw Conference Centre?

[EpicPonyTime]

Originally Posted by blueandgoldguy

Is the second photo showing basketball in Edmonton from the Shaw Conference Centre?

Edmonton Expo Centre, up near Rexall Place.

[trueviking]

Playing international rugby union on plastic is embarrassing.

If Pacific Nations has to be in Calgary it should be at that Spruce Meadows stadium. Better than 20,000 empty seats and a plastic pitch.

[trueviking]

Speaking of embarrassing. Calgary’s stadium is embarrassing. You’re a big, rich city. Be better Calgary.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by trueviking

Playing international rugby union on plastic is embarrassing.

Baloney, Saracens, one of the most famous rugby clubs in the world play on artificial turf.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by trueviking

Speaking of embarrassing. Calgary’s stadium is embarrassing. You’re a big, rich city. Be better Calgary.

Yes, they do need a new stadium but McMahon is actually kinda cool looking if they redid the outer face and replaced all the benches and chairs with one colour. The concourses need widening but the overall design of the place is pretty good, especially for viewing a game.

I'm not a big fan of refurbishing and would love to see another dome in Canada (24-30k) especially in Alberta where teams could play year round. Even though the feds are kinda outta the stadium funding business I think they could throw a few favours Alberta's way, even Doug Ford said they were ignored for the past decade.

• Video Link

[elly63]

Originally Posted by trueviking

Playing international rugby union on plastic is embarrassing.

By coincidence, Canada's women's dramatic first win over New Zealand at last year's Pacific Four Series at Apollo Projects Stadium in Christchurch New Zealand, came up on my Youtube feed. It was on artificial turf, so if it's good enough for the Kiwis...

• Video Link

[Calgarian]

Considering we are spending over $1B on a new arena, I doubt we will be getting a new stadium any time soon. Best case for McMahon is to tear it down to it's bones and do a massive renovation. Even then, I have little faith it will happen any time soon.

[blueandgoldguy]

Considering how expensive even basic medium-sized stadiums would be nowadays, maybe Calgary could tear down one of the grandstands at McMahon and build a 4 or 5 level replacement similar to Hamilton but perhaps with a slightly higher capacity of 13,000. Lower deck, suite level, club level and upper deck and pressbox. Combine that with a modest refurbishment of the opposite side of the stadium and you have half a new stadium and a total capacity around 30,000.

If you don't have a canopy, perhaps you could accomplish that for $150 - $175 million as opposed to likely spending around $300 million or more just to build something like Hamilton's current stadium. Of course, even financing that smaller amount would be a challenge given the city is already putting hundreds of millions of funding into the new arena. I doubt you could count on private financing for more than a few million. Maybe naming rights could nab you a few million more over several years?

[elly63]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

Considering we are spending over $1B on a new arena, I doubt we will be getting a new stadium any time soon. Best case for McMahon is to tear it down to it's bones and do a massive renovation. Even then, I have little faith it will happen any time soon.

As I posted earlier, the head of the McMahon Stadium Society said he hopes the recent artificial turf replacement will be the last. That's because he knows the building (like Ivor Wynne) is nearing EOL and will have to be replaced.

I know of all the plans and schemes of the past in Calgary, I've posted them, but each day passed gets closer to reality, something will have to be done. In all those plans, they infer the stadium is lacking, well it's not getting better in a major way. Temporary fixes will only work until they don't anymore.

Also some big event will come along and will provide a convenient kill two birds with one stone decision, host a big event, build a new stadium, with all levels of government on board.

It will happen but like most projects of this type it needs a champion who will drive through and ignore the naysayers as all projects have them, champions and naysayers.