Stadiums & Arenas of Canada, Part 3

[vanatox]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Big O hosting OSM symphony concert this evening. Looks like 20-30,000 people there. Yes there are many other sites in the city that could host this.

And most of the pride festivities during the last week plus two Metallica concerts last weekend (the two concerts had a total of 125 000 spectators). Plus the planetarium, the biodome, the botanical garden, saputo stadium, a cinema, an observation tower with offices, a very big gym, training facilities, the aquatic center, food trucks. Many festivals during the year. This is far from a dead zone and the location is absolutely not in a rough area of the city.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by vanatox

And most of the pride festivities during the last week plus two Metallica concerts last weekend (the two concerts had a total of 125 000 spectators). Plus the planetarium, the biodome, the botanical garden, saputo stadium, a cinema, an observation tower with offices, a very big gym, training facilities, the aquatic center, food trucks. Many festivals during the year. This is far from a dead zone and the location is absolutely not in a rough area of the city.

Olympic Village has many big destinations, but nothing to keep people around before or after an event or visit.

If they redeveloped parking lots and Saputo (should MLS move to the Big O or elsewhere), it could bring support to these destination beyond what's offered.

[thurmas]

What happened at olympic Park last weekend was a once in almost 50 year occurrence thats not a typical week there. If it was that busy a place the Alouettes and expos would never have folded in 87 and 04

[ScreamingViking]

Someone who lives there would know this much better than I, but Montreal is not the same as it was a couple of decades ago. So something that didn't work out back then may have a very different outcome today.

That said, Olympic Stadium as it is would make for a horrible atmosphere for the CFL and any other "smaller" attendance sport even if they were to rejig the seating and create a stadium-within-a-stadium. A replacement for Saputo shared by the Als and CF Montreal may not be a bad idea, if financing can be agreed.

I've loved watching some CFL games at Molson, but it's far too limiting for a pro football franchise and its fans.

[MalcolmTucker]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

Someone who lives there would know this much better than I, but Montreal is not the same as it was a couple of decades ago. So something that didn't work out back then may have a very different outcome today.

That said, Olympic Stadium as it is would make for a horrible atmosphere for the CFL and any other "smaller" attendance sport even if they were to rejig the seating and create a stadium-within-a-stadium. A replacement for Saputo shared by the Als and CF Montreal may not be a bad idea, if financing can be agreed.

I've loved watching some CFL games at Molson, but it's far too limiting for a pro football franchise and its fans.

I wonder if an intimate stadium could be 'built' within, with bridges to the old main concourse. The out of season, the 'stadium' could be tucked away, or taken outside, and the stadium used for trade shows and such.



I guess somewhat like the concept of the old Autostade!

[thurmas]

Best just to leave big o alone and invest elsewhere. Big o can host the 2 or 3 big shows a year it does but its just so expensive impractical and too big in so many ways that it makes no economic sense when a suitable new stadium can be built for half the price.

[J.OT13]

Is Olympic Stadium so different than BC Place and Commonwealth? If CFL (and MLS in Vancouver) can work in those large stadiums, why not Olympic?

Note - I know there's talk of moving MLS and maybe CFL out of BC Place, but I don't know how serious that is.

[thurmas]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Is Olympic Stadium so different than BC Place and Commonwealth? If CFL (and MLS in Vancouver) can work in those large stadiums, why not Olympic?

Note - I know there's talk of moving MLS and maybe CFL out of BC Place, but I don't know how serious that is.

Look at pictures of how far the stands are from the field compared to bc place. The sheer enormity of it just really requires large 30k plus crowds to create atmosphere. Bc place is big but stands are close to the field

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by thurmas

Look at pictures of how far the stands are from the field compared to bc place. The sheer enormity of it just really requires large 30k plus crowds to create atmosphere. Bc place is big but stands are close to the field

You mean the dead space?


https://montrealgazette.com/sports/f...ouettes-future


https://www.sportstravelmagazine.com...enues-in-2022/

While BC Place is right up to the field?


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BC_Place

Commonwealth seems to have some of that dead space as well where the track was, though maybe not quite as pronounced based on the pics.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Stadium

[thurmas]

Yes the dead space due to the former running tracks at big o and Commonwealth

[Hackslack]

The Big O looks like a beauty stadium.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Is Olympic Stadium so different than BC Place and Commonwealth? If CFL (and MLS in Vancouver) can work in those large stadiums, why not Olympic?

You want to create ticket scarcity, where fans will buy STs. In the olden days, before the TSN TV contract, you could break even at 24k, which most teams could do. The came the five million per team from TSN and you could cut that down to 21k maybe less.

At one point several years ago CFL greatest cheerleader SN's Arash Madani said the Argos could be profitable at 18k which I thought was a very strange thing for him to say.

Fans demand a far greater stadium experience today than they did ten years ago. That means seats as close to the action as possible, party decks, huge screens etc 50k stadiums when you can do very well at 30k are surplus to requirements for both CFL and MLS. You will likely never see a new permanent seat stadium built in Canada above 35k seats

[thurmas]

Originally Posted by elly63

You want to create ticket scarcity, where fans will buy STs. In the olden days, before the TSN TV contract, you could break even at 24k, which most teams could do. The came the five million per team from TSN and you could cut that down to 21k maybe less.

At one point several years ago CFL greatest cheerleader SN's Arash Madani said the Argos could be profitable at 18k which I thought was a very strange thing for him to say.

Fans demand a far greater stadium experience today than they did ten years ago. That means seats as close to the action as possible, party decks, huge screens etc 50k stadiums when you can do very well at 30k are surplus to requirements for both CFL and MLS. You will likely never see a new permanent seat stadium built in Canada above 35k seats

Arash also thought Taylor Cornelius would be a breakout star qb this year for the Elks. I still believe 22 k is breakeven point from looking at the Elks posted numbers last year as their cost is 25 million which would be the CFL average and the private teams don't post their numbers.

[craner]

Perhaps Montreal should just let the Big O become a ruin given the high cost of demolition. It could become a tourist destination like the Roman Coliseum.

[thurmas]

Olympic Park works the tower can now house office workers the biodome is cool to visit and the aquatics facility is very good and serves for the national swim team. The stadium has not been able to find a purpose post expos. Its just too big alouettes and cf montreal average around 17 to 20 k most nights they don't need 40 k extra empty seats and kill the atmosphere even more.

[Oilkountry]

Every time I see commonwealth I just think how much it could thrive with a smaller scale levi's stadium type renovation, Would solve every issue that stadium has. Loge seats, club levels, modern suites, additional bathrooms, seating reduction, field to stand proximity. Would basically be a brand new modern stadium for around $300M

[Dalreg]

God no. That stadium is the ugliest one in the USA, even uglier than that thing in Atlanta....

[elly63]

Originally Posted by Oilkountry

. Would basically be a brand new modern stadium for around $300M

How about Alberta throwing that $300 million to Calgary and get a new stadium there. Please note the proper use of the quote function.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by craner

Perhaps Montreal should just let the Big O become a ruin given the high cost of demolition. It could become a tourist destination like the Roman Coliseum.

Some countries have "national track & field stadiums." Maybe we should designate Olympic Stadium as Canada's national stadium and throw some federal money at it for upkeep. I would actually be cool with this.

It would at least give the "Big Owe" a reason for existence.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Some countries have "national track & field stadiums." Maybe we should designate Olympic Stadium as Canada's national stadium and throw some federal money at it for upkeep. I would actually be cool with this.

It would at least give the "Big Owe" a reason for existence.

I believe BMO Field in Toronto is technically Canada's national stadium, or at least Canada's national *soccer* stadium. That was the justification used to get federal money for it.