Stadiums & Arenas of Canada, Part 3 - Page 66

elly63 · #**1301** Posted **Jan 22, 2018, 5:06 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ivegotaname

Skating rinks are vital to our country but hockey is not

New to this country?

Dalreg · #**1302** Posted **Jan 22, 2018, 12:37 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ivegotaname

Skating rinks are vital to our country but hockey is not and that's all I have to say on this topic

many people in small towns and villages in my province all meet at the rink each and every year not just to play hockey but to socialize and make friends. We need newer and better skating rinks

Why are skating rinks vital? You can go skate outdoors on a lake or river to socialize.....

FrankieFlowerpot · #**1303** Posted **Jan 22, 2018, 12:53 PM**

https://www.cp24.com/news/tory-suppo...-cup-1.3769766

Quote:

Mayor John Tory says he is throwing his support behind a bid to co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

A staff report, which will be discussed by the city's executive committee at a meeting later this week, recommends that city council ask the federal and provincial government to agree to provide financial support to Toronto to host the international sporting competition.

The report says national soccer associations in Canada, the U.S., and Mexico are leading a joint bid to host the World Cup in North American cities.

“Canada would automatically qualify for the tournament by virtue of being a host nation. Based on current discussions, Canada and Mexico would host 10 games each, with the remainder being played in the United States. The only other country bidding to host the Cup is Morocco,” the staff report read.

“Toronto has been named as one of four Canadian host city candidates, along with Vancouver, Edmonton and Montreal. 28 other candidate cities in Mexico and the United States are also being considered. It is anticipated that Toronto would host 3-5 games if the bid is successful, and if Toronto is selected by United Bid Committee and Fédération Internationale de Football Association as a host city.”

According to the staff report, the host nation will be named in June 2018 and individual host cities will be chosen in 2021.

“Hosting the FIFA World Cup is a once in a generation opportunity to showcase Toronto to the world,” Mayor Tory said in a news release issued Monday.

“Coming off the success of the Pan Am/Parapan Am Games and the Invictus Games, it is clear that Toronto and Torontonians are ready to be one of the host cities for this iconic event.”

Exhibition Place’s BMO Field is being put forward as the stadium that would be used for the event and city staff says the price tag is estimated to be between $30 million to $45 million to co-host the competition.

The costs, according to staff, would be shared between the city and the provincial and federal governments.

WhipperSnapper · #**1304** Posted **Jan 22, 2018, 4:02 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

A timely update on our CRL...

'The downtown levy is the city’s most recent and best performing development play. City officials already approved spending $487 million on Rogers Place, a new park and drainage upgrades. They estimate private projects complete or under construction since 2015 are worth $4 billion.'

http://edmontonjournal.com/news/loca...f-the-quarters

$4 Billion now all attributed to dumping $500 million into a stadium. Cold, you don't even spin things that far. Are people really that gullible?

WildCake · #**1305** Posted **Jan 22, 2018, 7:19 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by FrankieFlowerpot

https://www.cp24.com/news/tory-suppo...-cup-1.3769766

This is slightly off-topic but I find it funny that they say Canada would automatically qualify. I find it hard to believe FIFA would allow Canada, US, and Mexico to automatically take up three spots at the World Cup and THEN allow the 3 additional North American (CONCACAF) teams to participate in the world cup. That would cut out other better teams from making it, especially given that only Mexico qualified for the 2018 competition in Russia

JHikka · #**1306** Posted **Jan 22, 2018, 7:47 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by WildCake

This is slightly off-topic but I find it funny that they say Canada would automatically qualify. I find it hard to believe FIFA would allow Canada, US, and Mexico to automatically take up three spots at the World Cup and THEN allow the 3 additional North American (CONCACAF) teams to participate in the world cup. That would cut out other better teams from making it, especially given that only Mexico qualified for the 2018 competition in Russia

The field is being expanded from 32 to 48 for the 2026 World Cup - ~25% of FIFA countries will qualify.

Neither Canada qualifying automatically or not would surprise me at this point. I would rather Canada host a full tournament itself and qualify automatically than host a sliver of one and get in for free.

HomeInMyShoes · #**1307** Posted **Jan 22, 2018, 7:54 PM**

^At number 95 in the world, Canada is still outside being a deserving entrant in the tournament, but with 6 qualifiers from CONCACAF it starts to look reasonable and not out-of-the-ordinary to include Canada automatically.

The US, Mexico and Costa Rica are probably in no matter what and Canada needs to be in the top three from:

Panama, Jamaica, Honduras, Trinidad and Tobago, Curacao, Haiti, El Salvador, Canada, Nicaragua, Guatemala

To be one of the three from that group is fairly reasonable. Still sad that we have to talk about it, but that is the state of the men's Canadian team.

Wpg_Guy · #**1308** Posted **Jan 22, 2018, 8:28 PM**

Michael Pratt‏ @MikePrattPhotos https://twitter.com/MikePrattPhotos · 20 Sep 2017
Bell MTS Place looking good with new lighting and signage.

HomeInMyShoes · #**1309** Posted **Jan 22, 2018, 8:39 PM**

^Very shiny. It strikes me as satirical with Rogers looming in the background with Bell/MTS in the foreground.

WhipperSnapper · #**1310** Posted **Jan 22, 2018, 8:57 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JHikka

The field is being expanded from 32 to 48 for the 2026 World Cup - ~25% of FIFA countries will qualify.

Neither Canada qualifying automatically or not would surprise me at this point. I would rather Canada host a full tournament itself and qualify automatically than host a sliver of one and get in for free.

The chances are extremely slim we'll host a tournament in any our lifetimes. Still, I rather go with those odds than tag along on a US bid.

JHikka · #**1311** Posted **Jan 22, 2018, 9:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

^At number 95 in the world, Canada is still outside being a deserving entrant in the tournament, but with 6 qualifiers from CONCACAF it starts to look reasonable and not out-of-the-ordinary to include Canada automatically.

I would take the FIFA rankings with a dump truck of salt. They're not really representative of a country's ability, IMO.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

The US, Mexico and Costa Rica are probably in no matter what and Canada needs to be in the top three from:

Panama, Jamaica, Honduras, Trinidad and Tobago, Curacao, Haiti, El Salvador, Canada, Nicaragua, Guatemala

Indeed. Eventually we'll see a day where Canada can consistently compete with these countries. Some day. Eventually.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

To be one of the three from that group is fairly reasonable. Still sad that we have to talk about it, but that is the state of the men's Canadian team.

I think there's been improvement. I think we're closer to qualifying than 10 or 15 years ago. There are bright young stars coming up and we're doing a better job of developing homegrown players. I just wish FIFA hadn't expanded the tournament. 32 was a nice number and a good level of exclusivity.

HomeInMyShoes · #**1312** Posted **Jan 22, 2018, 9:48 PM**

^Sure, FIFA rankings are quite volatile really. I tend to look at the ranking, but also at the last year and a half of results of which Canada has been not very good. But, we have been somewhat competitive in the group of countries I listed that we actually have to beat when it comes to qualifying. I'd give us a 40% chance to advance against that group right now. Given the expectations that Soccer Canada has tossed out the lasst few years I would expect a bit of a jump in our play over the next two years. It's almost been long enough to start to see some consistent results on that front.

Would Canada be a mockery at a World Cup right now. Yep, I'd say yes. But there would be other countries in that boat too given the change from 32 to 48 teams.

osmo · #**1313** Posted **Jan 23, 2018, 1:07 AM**

I am not sure how this Frankenstein expanded FIFA WC survives past runs. You will need cross border bids and not many groups of nations can tackle it.

This announcement by Toronto is a non-story. Very slim odds Toronto does not host at least one game. BMO Field is not up to standard but there is money and space to make it happen. Tory is all in board when it's other people's money of course (all levels of Government are paying).

JHikka · #**1314** Posted **Jan 23, 2018, 2:11 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by osmo

I am not sure how this Frankenstein expanded FIFA WC survives past runs. You will need cross border bids and not many groups of nations can tackle it.

That's probably the point. Main FIFA countries and potential shared bids...2030 is almost assuredly Uruguay/Argentina/Paraguay.

Quote:

Originally Posted by osmo

This announcement by Toronto is a non-story. Very slim odds Toronto does not host at least one game. BMO Field is not up to standard but there is money and space to make it happen. Tory is all in board when it's other people's money of course (all levels of Government are paying).

Agreed. Tory's announcement today changes literally nothing one way or the other. Toronto is likely the only sure thing in Canada's 2026 United Bid proposal and BMO can easily be brought up to requirements.

EpicPonyTime · #**1315** Posted **Jan 23, 2018, 2:19 AM**

Toronto's a strange case. They're the closest thing to a guarantee for a host city in Canada, but they arguably have the worst-fit stadium out of all the candidates left, and definitely the smallest. I assume BMO would be the smallest World cup stadium in the bid if it made it?

elly63 · #**1316** Posted **Jan 23, 2018, 3:17 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JHikka

BMO can easily be brought up to requirements.

Doesn't look like any real upgrades to BMO aside from what may or may not be temporary seating.

That investment is estimated to be between $30 to $45 million, but none of that money will go toward a new stadium.

“We’re not going to build a new stadium, we’re going to put additional seating in BMO Field,” Tory said.

BMO Field has added extra seats before, for events such as the Grey Cup and the NHL Centennial Classic, which expands capacity to just more than 40,000. That capacity is dwarfed by many stadiums in other Canadian cities hoping to host games, like BC Place in Vancouver, Olympic Stadium in Montreal and Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton.

The Rogers Centre, which has about 10,000 more seats than an expanded BMO Field, would not be used if Toronto won its bid.

However, Tory is in favour of more soccer fields being built in the city.

“We are still quite short of really high quality soccer pitches in the GTA generally, not just in Toronto,” he said.

“In order to put on the World Cup, you need not just a place for the games but you need practice facilities for the teams, and I’m very hopeful this will stimulate, on a private-public partnership basis, the construction of additional facilities.”

sdimedru · #**1317** Posted **Jan 23, 2018, 3:27 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

$4 Billion now all attributed to dumping $500 million into a stadium. Cold, you don't even spin things that far. Are people really that gullible?

All? No... do you have figures to share with us of what projects are/aren’t as a result of the arena development?

JHikka · #**1318** Posted **Jan 23, 2018, 1:04 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by elly63

Doesn't look like any real upgrades to BMO aside from what may or may not be temporary seating.

“We’re not going to build a new stadium, we’re going to put additional seating in BMO Field,” Tory said.

Temporary seating is fine. BMO has been large enough in the past and can easily be large enough in the future for WC. I've no idea why people think it's unsuitable. Anyone expecting BMO to be permanently expanded to something like 50K for 2026 are kidding themselves.

Quote:

Originally Posted by EpicPonyTime

Toronto's a strange case. They're the closest thing to a guarantee for a host city in Canada, but they arguably have the worst-fit stadium out of all the candidates left, and definitely the smallest. I assume BMO would be the smallest World cup stadium in the bid if it made it?

Yes, which again is fine and isn't the end of the world. BMO shouldnt be comparing itself to mega large NFL/NCAA stadiums. The current state of soccer specific stadiums in the US has a long way to go but it would have been nice to see Orlando's stadium considered as a similar example to BMO. Most US soccer stadiums aren't designed to be temporarily expanded like BMO.

The most important thing is that Rogers Centre won't be used.

FrankieFlowerpot · #**1319** Posted **Jan 23, 2018, 1:40 PM**

40,000 at BMO looks like this

EpicPonyTime · #**1320** Posted **Jan 23, 2018, 4:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JHikka

Yes, which again is fine and isn't the end of the world. BMO shouldnt be comparing itself to mega large NFL/NCAA stadiums. The current state of soccer specific stadiums in the US has a long way to go but it would have been nice to see Orlando's stadium considered as a similar example to BMO. Most US soccer stadiums aren't designed to be temporarily expanded like BMO.

The most important thing is that Rogers Centre won't be used.

Wasn't even thinking about NFL/NCAA stadiums with regards to my comment (BMO is smaller than NCAA stadiums, but I'd say it's nicer because it has more amenities). I was thinking specifically in regards to the other three Canadian stadiums. BC and Commonwealth are superior stadiums, and if Olympic gets renovated like some claim it will, I would argue it'd be nicer as well.