Stadiums & Arenas of Canada, Part 3

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by someone123

One big difference between Halifax and Ottawa is that the CFL would be the biggest game in town in Halifax, and the biggest in the whole region. Ottawa has a lot more alternatives competing for CFL dollars locally plus more within easy driving distance.

If the CFL promoters do their job right it's very possible that going to a CFL game will be the thing to do in the Maritimes for sports fans.

That sounds a lot like Saskatchewan (but with a larger captive audience) and we all know how the Roughriders make out in Regina. It might take 2-3 generations but the same environment exists for a team to do extremely well over the long term.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by someone123

One big difference between Halifax and Ottawa is that the CFL would be the biggest game in town in Halifax, and the biggest in the whole region. Ottawa has a lot more alternatives competing for CFL dollars locally plus more within easy driving distance.

If the CFL promoters do their job right it's very possible that going to a CFL game will be the thing to do in the Maritimes for sports fans.

This is no doubt true. Just a few days ago a few friends and relatives who live in NE NB reacted to a Facebook posting of the latest CFL Touchdown Atlantic game slated for Moncton with a bunch of "I'm in" posts.

Season tickets would probably be a stretch for these guys given the distance, but I'd definitely see them going to at least a game a year in Halifax, and making a weekend getaway out of it.

[someone123]

Another aspect of this that doesn't get mentioned much is that there's a lot of demand in the Halifax area for a larger event space and stadium. The city has lost events like the Uteck Bowl over time because there is no suitable venue. Sport NS estimates that the stadium could be used 300 days a year. It is not just about funding a stadium to get a CFL team.

[Calgarian]

Sounds like a promising proposal for a stadium in Halifax. Really excited to have 10 teams in the league!

[elly63]

Originally Posted by someone123

It is not just about funding a stadium to get a CFL team.

It never was, and I don't know where that idea came from, except for the naysayers who used the usual moronic argument of being used 10 times a year. It is needed infrastructure that's at least 40 years overdue and this looks to be an ideal solution, although I wish the design was a little nicer. But it's still early days and a lot will change, including, I assume, the final design from the concept drawings.

[esquire]

Philadelphia is getting a $67 million, 3,500 seat esports arena in the same complex as their main sports stadiums and arena. How long until we see one of these go up in Canada?

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by esquire

Philadelphia is getting a $67 million, 3,500 seat esports arena in the same complex as their main sports stadiums and arena. How long until we see one of these go up in Canada?

There's already a facility kind of like this in Richmond. Obviously not on the same scale:

Originally Posted by CBC

Aspiring professional gamers in Richmond, B.C., will soon have a training facility to help take them to the next level.

Capitalizing on a growing base of people playing and watching competitive video games like Overwatch, Fortnite and Starcraft, the Gaming Stadium, a business catering to esports events, is taking over a former car dealership on No. 3 Road to build a showcase venue billed as the first of its kind in Canada.

The temporary facility, which is set to open in June, will feature seating for 110 spectators, concession stands, and a large stage and screen to watch players compete.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...mond-1.5057664



Looking forward to replies from people ripping on video games

[Oilkountry]

Originally Posted by esquire

Philadelphia is getting a $67 million, 3,500 seat esports arena in the same complex as their main sports stadiums and arena. How long until we see one of these go up in Canada?

Better be never. I would be absolutely pissed off if my city/province spent a dime on an arena for 12 year old kids who want to watch their favorite youtuber play video games. That's all E Sports is streamers who are good at video games who want to sell T shirts

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Oilkountry

Better be never. I would be absolutely pissed off if my city/province spent a dime on an arena for 12 year old kids who want to watch their favorite youtuber play video games. That's all E Sports is streamers who are good at video games who want to sell T shirts

It's a legitimate thing, though. I was channel surfing on the weekend and I stumbled on a game between San Francisco and Vancouver. And it wasn't on some obscure cable channel no one watches, it was on the main ABC network.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by esquire

It's a legitimate thing, though. I was channel surfing on the weekend and I stumbled on a game between San Francisco and Vancouver. And it wasn't on some obscure cable channel no one watches, it was on the main ABC network.

It is a legitimate thing and it's amusing to see people scoffing at it as if it's just kids playing video games. It's entertainment no different from any other sport.

The eSports arena in Philadelphia isn't even the first to be built in the US, although it's probably going to be the highest quality. The thing with the video game industry is that there's already more money attached to it than the movie industry and it doesn't really show much sign of slowing down. Corporate partners are jumping on board, viewership 30 and under is pretty massive, and there's variety in the games and events.

[esquire]

^ I guess the networks are eager to find anything that can pull the under 30 viewers away from their phones.

This is one of those areas where there is a very pronounced generation gap... to a 13 year old, esports are the most normal thing in the world while anyone over 35 is completely baffled by the mere existence of such a thing.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by JHikka

It is a legitimate thing and it's amusing to see people scoffing at it as if it's just kids playing video games. It's entertainment no different from any other sport.

The eSports arena in Philadelphia isn't even the first to be built in the US, although it's probably going to be the highest quality. The thing with the video game industry is that there's already more money attached to it than the movie industry and it doesn't really show much sign of slowing down. Corporate partners are jumping on board, viewership 30 and under is pretty massive, and there's variety in the games and events.

I can see this for sure, but in terms of public investments in facilities it's more defensible that they go to stuff that will allow kids to be more physically active (with more than just their thumbs).

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ I guess the networks are eager to find anything that can pull the under 30 viewers away from their phones.

A lot of sports viewership and marketing is moving towards two screen experience. Watch the sport on one screen and interact with the sport on another. Twitter, reddit, online forums, friends, whatever. Maximizing space and time on screens whenever possible. eSports feeds easily into that on a platform like Twitch because there is a built-in chat (although the chat is mostly useless when there's 500K people in it ).

Originally Posted by esquire

This is one of those areas where there is a very pronounced generation gap... to a 13 year old, esports are the most normal thing in the world while anyone over 35 is completely baffled by the mere existence of such a thing.

It's pretty jarring. I guess there must be a massive difference between sitting on my couch watching people run around and sitting on my couch watching people also sitting down.

Originally Posted by Acajack

I can see this for sure, but in terms of public investments in facilities it's more defensible that they go to stuff that will allow kids to be more physically active (with more than just their thumbs).

Who is asking for public money for eSports venues?

[esquire]

^ It's hard to imagine esports venues being publicly subsidized. Pro sports teams tend to have large followings and they are often fairly well ingrained in civic identity and pack some economic punch, so they have a bit of sway. esports are nowhere near that point, although who knows... in 30 years, they certainly could get there.

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by esquire

It's a legitimate thing, though. I was channel surfing on the weekend and I stumbled on a game between San Francisco and Vancouver. And it wasn't on some obscure cable channel no one watches, it was on the main ABC network.

I saw that too, was kind of in disbelief at first haha. Personally I have zero interest in watching people play video games (I'm barely interested in playing them myself), but there's people out there who hate watching regular sports so who am I to judge... lol

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Who is asking for public money for eSports venues?

Well, the discussion about the value of eSports on here actually began with someone saying there'd better not be a dime of public money going into these facilities.

I realize that so far, that's not what is happening.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Well, the discussion about the value of eSports on here actually began with someone saying there'd better not be a dime of public money going into these facilities.

I realize that so far, that's not what is happening.

The discussion began with someone pointing out that an eSports arena is being built in Philadelphia and asked how long it would take to have one built in Canada. Then I pointed out we already have at least one facility in Canada.

Then someone else responded moaning about one getting funding as if it were being proposed or discussed. As far as I can tell that hasn't been the case whatsoever.

Originally Posted by esquire

^ It's hard to imagine esports venues being publicly subsidized. Pro sports teams tend to have large followings and they are often fairly well ingrained in civic identity and pack some economic punch, so they have a bit of sway. esports are nowhere near that point, although who knows... in 30 years, they certainly could get there.

eSports teams tend to represent nationalities more than cities. Teams need to be able to communicate quickly and efficiently, so a lot of high-end teams are made up of single nationalities with shared languages. One strong Danish team, one strong Chinese team, one strong Brazilian team, etc. Canadians can play on teams with Americans/Brits/Australians because of shared language. The nature of eSports splits teams more among continents and countries than anything else.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by JHikka

The discussion began with someone pointing out that an eSports arena is being built in Philadelphia and asked how long it would take to have one built in Canada. Then I pointed out we already have at least one facility in Canada.

FWIW I meant a purpose-built, multi-thousand seat esports arena on the scale of Philadephia's, not just a renovated store with a bunch of seats and a screen thrown into it. I mean, by that definition, my family room could be an esports arena.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by esquire

FWIW I meant a purpose-built, multi-thousand seat esports arena on the scale of Philadephia's, not just a renovated store with a bunch of seats and a screen thrown into it. I mean, by that definition, my family room could be an esports arena.

Does your family room serve concessions?

Obviously the US is going to be ahead of Canada on any sort of venue. An actual eSports stadium in Canada? Probably in Vancouver or Toronto eventually but it's a few years off at the very least.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Does your family room serve concessions?

Obviously the US is going to be ahead of Canada on any sort of venue. An actual eSports stadium in Canada? Probably in Vancouver or Toronto eventually but it's a few years off at the very least.

I can whip up some pretty good nachos

Part of the reason I asked my question was because I was wondering if there were any plans for something like that in Toronto or Vancouver. If it's already happening in North America, it can't be long before those cities get their own venues.