The stadium proposal for by the airport in Halifax opens up an interesting debate over whether any prospective CFL team will be a Halifax team or a Maritimes team.
A stadium on the Halifax peninsula complicates things for football fans elsewhere in the region. The peninsula is relatively inaccessible (only five points of entry), already has insane traffic congestion, and has extremely limited parking. Urban purists will of course argue that people should be taking transit to go to events like this anyway, but, this argument only works if you are already a resident of Halifax (and preferably a peninsular Haligonian). Fans from outside Halifax have very little option to attend games other than taking their own personal automobile. Intercity public transportation in the Maritimes is virtually nonexistent.
An airport location opens up the football market to arguably an additional 400,000 people or so. For greater Moncton (200,000 people in the CMA), an airport location means the regional (if it is regional) football team would now only be a two hour drive, and, with the prospect of abundant parking available when you get there. Such ease of access might even let some Monctonians consider the possibility of being seasons ticket holders. This is not a small thing for a franchise that otherwise might have borderline profitability.
A peninsular Halifax team would mean that for a Monctonian, the drive would increase to at least 2.5 hours, followed by a nightmarish drive on the peninsula and no guarantee of finding a parking spot in reasonable distance from the stadium. It makes one think twice about attending games on a regular basis, and means that on average, you would be looking at making it a "special event", staying overnight at a downtown hotel and boosting the cost of attending the game by at least several hundred dollars. This would be a non-starter for many fans.
For non-Haligonians, an airport location is much more convenient. So, what is it Halifax? Will this be a Halifax team or a regional team? Enquiring minds would like to know.
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