Stadiums & Arenas of Canada, Part 3

[MonctonRad]

Fredericton would be very similar to TR. The main arena in town is the Aitken Centre, which is on the UNB campus. It's occupant is the university hockey team, which, like TR has quite a following in the community. They're very good and have won several national U-Sports championships in the last decade.

The presence of the UNB team is a major impediment in Freddy getting a Q-League team.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Fredericton would be very similar to TR. The main arena in town is the Aitken Centre, which is on the UNB campus. It's occupant is the university hockey team, which, like TR has quite a following in the community. They're very good and have won several national U-Sports championships in the last decade.

The presence of the UNB team is a major impediment in Freddy getting a Q-League team.

I am not sure if the UQTR Patriotes are still as big a deal or a powerhouse. It seems to me that I haven't been hearing as much about them in the Quebec sports media in recent years.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Indeed. TR is absolutely large enough to have a very successful Q-League team.

The league currently has 18 teams in three divisions.

There are other cities that could easily justify a team, like Trois Rivieres, Fredericton and maybe a south shore suburb of Montreal like Ste. Hyacinthe.

Ste. Hyacinthe had a QMJHL team for years. They folded/moved in the mid-90s.

[JHikka]

Longueuil is always the rumour for a south/east Montreal team but it never really develops into anything beyond pure speculation. Blainville manages to survive, for now, and that's the best Montreal can do right now.

Like I said, the Q already has too many teams. Eventually if TR/Fredericton are to become a thing the league will have to shed one of the Maritime teams and likely one of Rouyn-Noranda/Val-d'Or. My guess would be Cape Breton or Acadie-Bathurst in the Maritimes but that's a few years out. For TR, the existence of Shawinigan is always at the forefront, as a team in TR would surely spell the end of Shawinigan. If the Cataractes didn't have a brand new arena I could envision them simply relocating to TR.

Both TR and Fredericton have strong hockey programs (UQTR and UNB, respectively) who will fight the Q entering their market.

[Franco401]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

The presence of the UNB team is a major the only impediment in Freddy getting a Q-League team.

Lewiston almost moved here in 2009.

[blueandgoldguy]

The old arena in Trois Rivieres looks comparable to one in Humboldt minus the
nice HD scoreboard.

[Dalreg]

Originally Posted by blueandgoldguy

The old arena in Trois Rivieres looks comparable to one in Humboldt minus the
nice HD scoreboard.

Really? Nothing like it. Flat roof vs barrel vault. Support posts inside the seating are vs not.

They are both small arenas, that's about the end of it.

[blueandgoldguy]

Originally Posted by Dalreg

Really? Nothing like it. Flat roof vs barrel vault. Support posts inside the seating are vs not.

They are both small arenas, that's about the end of it.

Just referring to the seating bowl. Humboldt has...10,000 people? Three Rivers has 30,000? My comment was more directed towards the apparent seating capacity which appears surprisingly similar. I wouldn't have expected that considering one arena plays host to a CHL team while the other hosts a junior A provincial team.

[Dalreg]

Humboldt is siting around 5500. Far from 10,000. Elgar Petersen Arena has a capacity of just under 2,000 with standing room tickets. It is not a full bowl around as the one end is a bit chopped off.

[JHikka]

Manitoba government writes off Blue Bombers stadium loan
Posted on September 26, 2018 by 3Down Staff // 0 Comments

The Manitoba government is writing off the second of two loan segments that helped finance a new stadium for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League.

Premier Brian Pallister says there is no reasonable chance that the Bombers and others in the consortium that own Investors Group Field can repay the $82 million.

The province has already written off another $118-million loan portion, set up by the previous NDP government, that helped get the stadium built in 2013.

http://3downnation.com/2018/09/26/ma...-stadium-loan/

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by blueandgoldguy

Just referring to the seating bowl. Humboldt has...10,000 people? Three Rivers has 30,000? My comment was more directed towards the apparent seating capacity which appears surprisingly similar. I wouldn't have expected that considering one arena plays host to a CHL team while the other hosts a junior A provincial team.

Trois-Rivières has about 150,000 people in the CMA. It has not been home to a CHL team in about 25 years, though.

[Berklon]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Manitoba government writes off Blue Bombers stadium loan
Posted on September 26, 2018 by 3Down Staff // 0 Comments

The Manitoba government is writing off the second of two loan segments that helped finance a new stadium for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League.

Premier Brian Pallister says there is no reasonable chance that the Bombers and others in the consortium that own Investors Group Field can repay the $82 million.

The province has already written off another $118-million loan portion, set up by the previous NDP government, that helped get the stadium built in 2013.

http://3downnation.com/2018/09/26/ma...-stadium-loan/

Taxpayers on the hook for bailing out a bad private investment. Big shock.
Does that mean the Province now owns the stadium? You know, since they paid for it.

Another stadium/arena scam where big promises of repayment and an economic boost are made, only to be proven otherwise.

Yet another lesson for Calgary and Halifax to avoid these scams.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Berklon

Taxpayers on the hook for bailing out a bad private investment. Big shock.
Does that mean the Province now owns the stadium? You know, since they paid for it.

Another stadium/arena scam where big promises of repayment and an economic boost are made, only to be proven otherwise.

Yet another lesson for Calgary and Halifax to avoid these scams.

The provincial government at the time was trying desperately hard to make it look like this was not a government-led project for political reasons, but it was only a matter of time before the window dressing came off.

It is what it is, it's a government-funded stadium like pretty well every other pro stadium in Canada. In fact, are there any pro stadiums built in Canada in the last 50 years that weren't predominantly government funded? The only one I'm not certain about is maybe Saputo Stadium.

[DoubleK]

I thought the Vancouver and Toronto NHL rinks were privately funded.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by esquire

It is what it is, it's a government-funded stadium like pretty well every other pro stadium in Canada. In fact, are there any pro stadiums built in Canada in the last 50 years that weren't predominantly government funded?

Stadiums? No. Arenas? Yes.

From the Conference Board of Canada:

Originally Posted by CBoC

NHL arenas in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver were financed privately in the 1990s. (Ottawa’s arena was also privately financed, but went through bankruptcy proceedings before being acquired for a fraction of its original cost; Winnipeg’s arena was largely privately-financed). In other Canadian cities, the local market may be too small and the potential number of events hosted at the venue too few to attract strictly private-sector investment.

https://www.conferenceboard.ca/press...ookieSupport=1

Originally Posted by esquire

The only one I'm not certain about is maybe Saputo Stadium.

The Saputo family paid for/financed the initial stadium build ($17M). The QC government funded the subsequent expansion ($23M).

[esquire]

^ Yes, arenas are a different story. Much better business case for those given that you have far more event dates. MTS Centre hosts over 80 hockey nights a year before getting into playoffs, and then you have all the other concerts and shows on top of that. By contrast, IGF would be having a great year if it hosted 15 events with more than 20,000 people in attendance. (Amateur sports really don't count.)

Arenas are one thing, but I'm not sure how you'd get a stadium built in Canada without substantial government subsidies.

[wave46]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ Yes, arenas are a different story. Much better business case for those given that you have far more event dates. MTS Centre hosts over 80 hockey nights a year before getting into playoffs, and then you have all the other concerts and shows on top of that. By contrast, IGF would be having a great year if it hosted 15 events with more than 20,000 people in attendance. (Amateur sports really don't count.)

Arenas are one thing, but I'm not sure how you'd get a stadium built in Canada without substantial government subsidies.

The only place that might get a stadium built without government funds is Toronto, just due to the Blue Jays, who as a MLB team have the benefit of 81 home games per year. Even then, the cost of a MLB stadium is spiralling upwards.

The CFL and other leagues are simply too cash-poor to afford the huge funds required for stadiums, given the few actual times it is used per season (<10 games per year).

As long as we don't go down the NFL/MLB road of expecting new stadiums every 10-20 years (looking at you Atlanta!) and these are viewed as one in a couple of generations gifts, I'm ok with this.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by wave46

As long as we don't go down the NFL/MLB road of expecting new stadiums every 10-20 years (looking at you Atlanta!) and these are viewed as one in a couple of generations gifts, I'm ok with this.

Yeah, that's where I'm at with this. I can live with government building a stadium once every 50+ years as a civic amenity. No one can really say that the new CFL or MLS stadiums built in Canada are extravagant or built to replace perfectly functional venues. The 3 totally new CFL stadiums built this decade replaced very old, badly worn out stadiums. CanadInns was the newest of the bunch (built 1953, expanded in the 70s) and it was in pitifully sad shape.

[MonctonRad]

Last night was the home opener for the Moncton Wildcats at the new downtown Avenir Centre.









The game was a "technical sellout" at 8,800, but the final ass-in-the-seat attendance was 8,488 as some ticket holders didn't shop up (presumably season ticket holders with something better to do). Regardless, this was still the highest attended hockey game in NB history.

The building is state of the art. Brilliant lighting, impressive audio, a big ass jumbotron scoreboard, and the ability to project moving images on the ice surface (as seen in the third image above during the opening ceremony - native drummers and singers at centre ice, standing on the MicMac flag).

Roomy seats, wide concourses with a wide variety of food concessions, each with a specialty - pizza, donair, poutine, etc. There is even "show kitchen" serving more exotic fare - the arena has a Cordon Bleu chef FFS! Lots of beer concessions, including one selling only craft beer, and a second concourse concession selling only wine and spirits. There's a Goji's frozen yogurt concession but curiously, the Tim Horton's concession is not yet open.

The place is truly a mini-NHL calibre arena. There is no comparison between this place and the old Moncton Coliseum.

As I texted to my son last night while seated in the arena - "Toto - I don't think I'm in Kansas anymore.....".

And, oh by the way, the Wildcats put the icing on the cake last night by defeating the hated Saint John Sea Dogs 5-2.

[DLLB]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Last night was the home opener for the Moncton Wildcats at the new downtown Avenir Centre.









The game was a "technical sellout" at 8,800, but the final ass-in-the-seat attendance was 8,488 as some ticket holders didn't shop up (presumably season ticket holders with something better to do). Regardless, this was still the highest attended hockey game in NB history.

The building is state of the art. Brilliant lighting, impressive audio, a big ass jumbotron scoreboard, and the ability to project moving images on the ice surface (as seen in the third image above during the opening ceremony - native drummers and singers at centre ice, standing on the MicMac flag).

Roomy seats, wide concourses with a wide variety of food concessions, each with a specialty - pizza, donair, poutine, etc. There is even "show kitchen" serving more exotic fare - the arena has a Cordon Bleu chef FFS! Lots of beer concessions, including one selling only craft beer, and a second concourse concession selling only wine and spirits. There's a Goji's frozen yogurt concession but curiously, the Tim Horton's concession is not yet open.

The place is truly a mini-NHL calibre arena. There is no comparison between this place and the old Moncton Coliseum.

As I texted to my son last night while seated in the arena - "Toto - I don't think I'm in Kansas anymore.....".

And, oh by the way, the Wildcats put the icing on the cake last night by defeating the hated Saint John Sea Dogs 5-2.

Very nice. Well done Moncton!