Stadiums and Arenas of Canada part 2

[osmo]

Minus the dodgy history it is very easy to make the case from a Cost-Benfit view to simply just rip the roof of the Big O.

Playing devils advoate, even Skydome only gets barley 20 extra event days a year after mainstays of Baseball. So even after the Argos it barley gets 15 other events per year and it is in far better shape than the Big O. There are not many events to fill these massive venues up anymore, but this does not discount thier need to be around. The venue is there so you make it work but a decsion has to be made to see if it is worth it to pump $500 million into a roof system to host moster truck shows in Febuary. It may just be a reality of Canada and its climate that we need retractable roofs on all are premier stadiums but it is a easy debate to have for both sides.

You could easily renovate the Big O with no roof and have a grand facility much like the renovatred Berlin Olympic Stadium or the Maracana in Rio. Yeah you would loose out on the Moto-Cross and Circus in the winter but who cares.

[le calmar]

Monster trucks and motocross are one thing, but I can't see how Montreal would be able to host a CONCACAF Champions League match in February without the Olympic. There is no way they could play outside at this time of the year.

[Villaggio]

[Coldrsx]

New video inside Rogers Place with some of the 'young guns'.

http://video.oilers.nhl.com/videocenter/console?id=831722&catid=4

[king10]

Originally Posted by le calmar

Monster trucks and motocross are one thing, but I can't see how Montreal would be able to host a CONCACAF Champions League match in February without the Olympic. There is no way they could play outside at this time of the year.

They do it in germany, russia, netherlands, denmark, finland, sweeden for february champions league/ europa league games.

[blueandgoldguy]

Originally Posted by king10

Mosaic stadium actually has a capacity of 33,437. The new mosaic will be smaller at 33,000.

No need for a bigger stadium in calgary. 33,000 would be a solid number to drive up ticket demand. And when needed it can be expanded to 50,000 for major events as planned.

BC place and commonwealth reduced capacities with the new seats installed. THF and TD place were smaller than their predecessors. The argos are downsizing to bmo. Molson stadium just removed 2000 endzone seats. Such is the trend in the CFL, increase premium seating, reduce total seating to ramp up demand and ticket prices.

Winnipeg moving to the larger stadium was the exception.

5000 of those seats at Mosaic are glorified temporary seats though.

With Calgary it's tough to say if the slight decline in attendance the past 6 years is due to a decline in interest in football among the residents (good portion not from Calgary) or if many football fans are sick and tired of the substandard stadium and its lack of amenities. If it's the latter, a stadium of similar capacity to McMahon would be ideal.

[tomthumb2]

Originally Posted by blueandgoldguy

5000 of those seats at Mosaic are glorified temporary seats though.

With Calgary it's tough to say if the slight decline in attendance the past 6 years is due to a slight decline in interest in football among the residents (good portion not from Calgary) or if many football fans are sick and tired of the substandard stadium and its lack of amenities. If it's the latter, a stadium of similar capacity to McMahon would be ideal.

As a season ticket holder, I can tell you it's the latter. I know lots of people who feel the same way too. Gonna be a lot of jealousy here when new Mosaic and Rogers Place in Edmonton open up and Ken King still telling us that he's almost ready to make an announcement.

[Oilkountry]

Originally Posted by elly63

I almost never agree with him and still don't

I'm the old guy who keeps posting the information on future stadium and fan retention practises (ie downsizing the number of seats, increasing party decks). I think it's the kids who keep posting things like TFC will be attracting 50K fans in the next few years.

You would disagree with your own shadow on which way it should go next, So who cares. You're an old man picking a fight with a guy in his 20's. I've already won

[GreaterMontréal]

Originally Posted by king10

They do it in germany, russia, netherlands, denmark, finland, sweeden for february champions league/ europa league games.

here in America, we have the NHL winter classic, but soccer is not there yet.

[HomerSPC]

Originally Posted by king10

They do it in germany, russia, netherlands, denmark, finland, sweeden for february champions league/ europa league games.

Winters are MUCH more mild in Europe than they are here. They barely get snow in Berlin, and it's more North than most of the Canadian cities.

[DLLB]

Originally Posted by elly63

Blast from the past

Olympic Stadium to get $300M roof
June 29, 2010

Quebec's Olympic Installations Board is moving ahead with a project to replace the decrepit roof covering Montreal's east-end stadium.

On Monday, the board filed a notice of intent to seek approval from Quebec's Liberal government to hire SNC-Lavalin for the $300-million job.

The new steel roof will be rigid, fixed, and more durable than the current retractable fibreglass membrane that rips frequently, requiring expensive repairs.

Who is funding that?

SNC-Lavalin submitted its bid on the Olympic Stadium roof job three years ago, after the OIB issued a tender request in 2005.

"We know that it's an excellent project that has passed all tests, all trials, analysis, etc..." affirmed Sylvie Bastien, communications director at the Olympic Stadium. "It's an excellent project."

The current retractable structure will be dismantled to make room for the new steel structure.

The project also includes major repairs and maintenance over the next 25 years.

The roof of the stadium known as the Big O is in such rough shape that Montreal's fire department threatened this year to shut the building completely.

The membrane has lost almost 50 per cent of its tear resistance and requires repairs as often as 50 times a year.

The membrane roof, installed by U.S. company Birdair in 1998, cannot handle snowfalls of more than eight centimetres.

City reacts to news

Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay said the project is encouraging, and that he would like to see the stadium fixed as soon as possible.

"We've been waiting for three years, so why can't we wait another month," said Tremblay. "The good news is that the Quebec government is willing to invest close to $300 million to enhance the value of that important asset for Montreal."

Who is funding the repairs?

[DLLB]

Originally Posted by blueandgoldguy

5000 of those seats at Mosaic are glorified temporary seats though.

With Calgary it's tough to say if the slight decline in attendance the past 6 years is due to a decline in interest in football among the residents (good portion not from Calgary) or if many football fans are sick and tired of the substandard stadium and its lack of amenities. If it's the latter, a stadium of similar capacity to McMahon would be ideal.

McMahon stadium is a disgrace to Calgary. The concession area under the seats is right out of the 60's and not much better than a slum.

[king10]

Originally Posted by HomerSPC

Winters are MUCH more mild in Europe than they are here. They barely get snow in Berlin, and it's more North than most of the Canadian cities.

Russia Finland Sweeden Norway

[king10]

Originally Posted by DLLB

McMahon stadium is a disgrace to Calgary. The concession area under the seats is right out of the 60's and not much better than a slum.

Lmao you should have seen Ivor Wynne. It WAS a slum.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ Pouring all that money into the roof in 1987 and 1998 didn't work, so why not pour even more money into the roof a third time and hope that it works this time?

A lot of people said that about Ottawa football, all you need is smart people to do it right.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by Oilkountry

You would disagree with your own shadow on which way it should go next, So who cares. You're an old man picking a fight with a guy in his 20's. I've already won

Well if making moronic posts gives you the title, hey congrats Champ.

If you're in your 20s I guess I can understand why your posts contain so many inaccuracies and lapses of logic, you don't have any history to guide you. Picking a fight? Get serious, you're unarmed.

[Nicko999]

Originally Posted by ButterMcFattyPants

Big O definitely gets loud. 20K can sound like 50 easily at times.

Video below is worth a full watch, but skip to 3:44 for a small snippet. I was at this game. Loudest place I'd ever been.

(I may have messed up the video embed)

• Video Link

Fixed the video, you don't have to put the full link just the video's digits.

[Migs]

Regina stadium

[Horus]

Originally Posted by HomerSPC

Winters are MUCH more mild in Europe than they are here. They barely get snow in Berlin, and it's more North than most of the Canadian cities.

Originally Posted by king10

Russia Finland Sweeden Norway

Are you sure they play in the winter in Scandinavia and Russia? I don't know for sure, but it seems unlikely.

A quick Wikipedia search:
Veikkausliiga (Finnish Premier League)

As with certain other cold-climate European countries (including parts of Norway and Sweden), league matches in Finland are played in summer, with a schedule usually from April to October.

Russian Football Premier League

Under the current autumn-spring calendar, the league takes a three-month winter break from mid-December until mid-March.

In any case, places like Stockholm and Oslo, despite being much further north than Montreal, still have more mild winters on average.
Stockholm (Jan Hi -1, Low -5)
Oslo (Jan Hi -3, Low -7)
Montreal (Jan Hi -4, Low -14)

Source: www.holiday-weather.com

All that said - back to the original point. There's absolutely no need to throw 100's of millions of dollars at renovations to the Big O simply for the ability to host 1-3 CONCACAF Champions League games per year.


As an aside - I've often wondered why CSA doesn't use our climate to our advantage for World Cup qualifying. Central American countries show no restraint for scheduling games (against us) at the most repressively hot times of year or times of day, so why don't we do likewise?

Thanks for hosting us in that 1pm game in August that time, Honduras. You're right, it was pretty hot. We welcome you for the return match in our country. In December. In Edmonton. Bring a blanket.

[king10]

^^^^^ The scandanavian and Russian leagues take a break during the Winter.

However if their clubs are playing Champions League its a set schedule and they play in February. Thats the same deal as MLS, they dont play until March but if you make the Champions league QF's you play in February.

And people forget that our Canadian national team member don't necessarily play in cold weather. A lot of them play in Europe and the States or Canada when they dont play in the Winter. Whose to say we would have an advantage in the Winter. Many of these Canadian soccer players leave Canada in their teen years and aren't even part of our harsh Canadian Winters.

Another obvious factor is that International matches can only be played on FIFA scheduled dates. For example CONCACAF world cup qualifying this year is in September, November and March. The dead of winter is skipped over.