LONDON: Sports thread - Page 7

jammer139 · #**121** Posted **May 13, 2026, 5:45 PM**

Sorry to be the shunk at the picnic. But the CFL is one mistake or bad decision away from folding as a league. It's had close calls in the past which would not give me any confidence it will survive. Having said that a new stadium large enough for pro sports with all the amenities required is going to be north of $300M. Heck just the renovations to Hamilton's Hockey arena was well over $200M.

Finally who is going to pay for it? If all private money then by all means get out the shovels. The reality is no team owner is going to built a stadium so you know who is going to be asked to pay for it. That is a SHOW STOPPER.

Having said all that, the Western Fair District would be one of the best locations for a stadium in London.

jammer139 · #**122** Posted **May 14, 2026, 11:56 AM**

London Majors kickoff season in relabeled CBL this Friday.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/london/article/we...irst-season-in-canadian-baseball-league/

cjones2451 · #**123** Posted **May 14, 2026, 8:01 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by jammer139

Sorry to be the shunk at the picnic. But the CFL is one mistake or bad decision away from folding as a league. It's had close calls in the past which would not give me any confidence it will survive. Having said that a new stadium large enough for pro sports with all the amenities required is going to be north of $300M. Heck just the renovations to Hamilton's Hockey arena was well over $200M.

Finally who is going to pay for it? If all private money then by all means get out the shovels. The reality is no team owner is going to built a stadium so you know who is going to be asked to pay for it. That is a SHOW STOPPER.

Having said all that, the Western Fair District would be one of the best locations for a stadium in London.

If anything, I think the CFL is in a way better position than it has been in a long time, with stable ownership and revenues up. The biggest determining factor is what will the new TV contract be worth per team. If it is significantly more than current deal at 50M per year and includes a provision for more games via a 10th team, then you have the demand and need to find an owner. I don't think it would take $300M to get a stadium built, especially if you are looking at 15K to start. A CFL and CPL team sharing makes it a better investment too.

jammer139 · #**124** Posted **May 14, 2026, 9:20 PM**

7 teams didn't make a profit. Not looking good.

https://globalnews.ca/news/11263497/cfl-commissioner-league-financial-struggles/

Quote:

Originally Posted by cjones2451

If anything, I think the CFL is in a way better position than it has been in a long time, with stable ownership and revenues up. The biggest determining factor is what will the new TV contract be worth per team. If it is significantly more than current deal at 50M per year and includes a provision for more games via a 10th team, then you have the demand and need to find an owner. I don't think it would take $300M to get a stadium built, especially if you are looking at 15K to start. A CFL and CPL team sharing makes it a better investment too.

jammer139 · #**125** Posted **May 15, 2026, 3:44 PM**

The finanical analysis behind the Western Fair District and the City for the ice pads and what will likely be the plan for the 3 gyms.

https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/anal...-offers-glimpse-of-citys-gym-partnership

cjones2451 · #**126** Posted **May 15, 2026, 5:04 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by jammer139

7 teams didn't make a profit. Not looking good.

https://globalnews.ca/news/11263497/cfl-commissioner-league-financial-struggles/

I think some like BC, Hamilton and Montreal are close to break even or making a slight profit. Edmonton will bounce back. in MLS up to 19 of the 30 teams lose money.

Again, it is not a money maker, but it would be nice to see a Canadian League that has been around for over 100 years grow and prosper. We seem to love our unique Canadian identity except when it comes to sports and then if its not the involved with the US, we don't seem to care

MrSlippery519 · #**127** Posted **May 15, 2026, 8:31 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by cjones2451

I think some like BC, Hamilton and Montreal are close to break even or making a slight profit. Edmonton will bounce back. in MLS up to 19 of the 30 teams lose money.

Again, it is not a money maker, but it would be nice to see a Canadian League that has been around for over 100 years grow and prosper. We seem to love our unique Canadian identity except when it comes to sports and then if its not the involved with the US, we don't seem to care

If BC, Hamilton and Montreal cannot make money London would seriously struggle. If they could somehow put it downtown (like the Knights did) you could maybe find a way to make it work but I cannot see it as there is no room, the Western Fair takeover of the half mile horse track would be about the best case scenario.

The bigger issue is viewership, my kids play football (which is CFL rules basically...though grade 9 is a mess and the younger ages is a mix as well) the game is so much different than the NFL and while that is great because it is Canadian its also the reason hardly anyone follows it enough to the point of teams being profitable.

jammer139 · #**128** Posted **Jun 20, 2026, 8:45 PM**

Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame events weekend both in London and St Marys.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/london/article/ha...ucted-in-canadian-baseball-hall-of-fame/

jammer139 · #**129** Posted **Aug 7, 2026, 11:48 AM**

Work on rebuilding Thames Park recreation facilities begins.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/london/article/visitors-optimistic-as-thames-park-redevelopment-moves-ahead/

ldoto · #**130** Posted **Aug 7, 2026, 10:47 PM**

POTENTIAL CPL
EXPANSION CITIES

I seen this on social media somewhere!!
canadian soccer league

London, ON
Windsor, ON
Kitchener, ON
Niagara Falls, ON
Barrie, ON
Sarnia, ON
Oshawa, ON
Peterborough, ON
Brampton, ON
Kingston, ON
Montreal, QC
Quebec City, QC
Trois-Rivieres, QC
Kelowna, BC
Edmonton, AB
Winnipeg, MB
Saskatoon, SK
St. John's, NL
Moncton, NB
Cape Breton, NS

ldoto · #**131** Posted **Aug 7, 2026, 10:51 PM**

I think there would be potential for Southside group development to take over since they got rid of their basketball team the London lightning!!!

I’m just not sure where they would play maybe westerns mustangs field???

What do you guys think about it????

Cantilever · #**132** Posted **Aug 7, 2026, 11:53 PM**

I've long thought the perfect setup for a 38,000 modern stadium (like Winnipeg's) would have been in the triangle that is Wonderland Rd S - 401 - 402. Build on and off ramps to both the 401 and 402 and you have a very accessible easy commute which increases the geographic catchment and potential fan base.

Location would also be a no brainer for stadium level touring acts.

FWIW, someone should get the city to allow someone to build a 12,000 state of the art, triple level grandstand with private boxes in Labatt Park. Then get the Blue Jays AAA to play there (and let the Majors remain too). The view, especially after 50 King and the York St towers would become iconic. Those downtown developments build up in a walk up crowd on a nice summer evening...

London COULD be so great if vision + money + a supportive city hall were all aligned.

Djeffery · #**133** Posted **Aug 8, 2026, 12:50 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cantilever

London COULD be so great if vision + money + a supportive city hall were all aligned.

That sounds like one of those "pick 2, you can't have all 3" things, and mostly around here, you're lucky to get 1.

As for CPL, I think that list is just a list of every population centre in the country that could potentially have a team. There was brief talk years ago of a soccer stadium at Horton and Ridout. Western would be the logical place to put a team out the outset but I think that's still a pretty crappy stadium and not really conducive to pro soccer. It was built as a multi-sport athletics stadium for the Canada Games, I think if Western had their way and paid for it entirely themselves, it would be a football stadium without a track. But it's hard for Canadian universities to justify that for 4 or 5 games a season and no other uses. I think a CPL team would only succeed here in a 5000-6000 soccer specific stadium, something like Starlight Stadium in BC would be awesome here.

A Winnipeg size stadium would be a "sure that would be cool if someone else was paying for it" kind of thing, but there is no logical reason for London to have one. Even if we were looking at a CFL team here, that would be larger than needed, but I don't think London is even on the CFL radar.

GreatTallNorth2 · #**134** Posted **Aug 8, 2026, 3:35 PM**

I personally would love to see a CPL team in London. The biggest issues are ownership and stadium. Who would purchase the franchise and where could they play? With the basketball team I get the feeling that Vito would not have paid much or anything for the London Lightning. And the arena was already in place.

As far as venues go, I would like to see a music amphitheatre in London that could host concerts, etc. Something bigger than the Canada Life Place, maybe 15,000. There was mention of that at the Byron gravel pit at one point but I don't think that can happen now as it is zoned for housing. 401/402? No thanks.

ericmacm · #**135** Posted **Aug 8, 2026, 4:48 PM**

The rumours right now surrounding CPL are that Quebec City and possibly Windsor will be home to the next teams. Quebec City is supposedly going to happen at the same time as a CFL expansion, and both will play at a new stadium that will be built on the site of the old Colisée, but they will use PEPS at Université Laval for a couple of seasons. For Windsor, a state-of-the-art FIFA field has recently finished construction at McNaughton Park, it doesn’t have permanent seating so it will probably see temporary seating construction like what we have seen for HFX Wanderers and Vancouver FC.

I would love to see London dip its toes into CFL or CPL in the near future but it seems pretty far off. We don’t really have a stadium plan or any known financial backers that would own a team. I remember the city was talking about looking into a downtown soccer stadium pre-pandemic but that went nowhere. I am more confident it is a lot more feasible now though, one of the big roadblocks in stadium construction has been an incompatibility between soccer and Canadian football field sizes, requiring retractable lower-bowl seating which increases cost, and either a lack of or crappy end zone seating. This has changed with the recent CFL rule changes and now every stadium built for soccer is also compatible with Canadian football. Now you can have 3 tenants for an outdoor stadium (CPL, NSL, and CFL) which vastly improves the economics. I am seeing little nuggets of info that the CFL may expand to 12 if Quebec City ends up being a success, which would justify the changes to the playoff structure, but it seems that the next eastern slot will probably be Halifax (based on the news of another stadium proposal surfacing earlier this year), so I doubt London will have the opportunity for some time.

ldoto · #**136** Posted **Aug 10, 2026, 1:22 PM**

AI-powered soccer training centre backed by Cristiano Ronaldo coming to White Oaks Mall

FOOTLAB World will open its first Canadian location in the former Hudson's Bay space at White Oaks Mall

An AI-powered soccer training and entertainment facility co-owned by soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo is set to open its first Canadian location in London, Ont.

FOOTLAB World announced Tuesday it will open a 37,000-square-foot venue at White Oaks Mall, becoming one of the major attractions planned for the former Hudson's Bay space as the south London shopping centre undergoes a significant redevelopment.

The company describes FOOTLAB as the world's first soccer performance and entertainment franchise powered by artificial intelligence and advanced performance technology. The concept combines training, e-sports and real-time performance tracking, allowing players to measure and compare their skills through a digital platform.

According to the company, the London facility will feature multiple high-tech training stations designed to assess and improve players' technical, physical and psychological abilities. Users will receive real-time data and performance feedback through the platform's AI-powered technology.

White Oaks Mall general manager Tarik Kasem said landing the first Canadian FOOTLAB location is another milestone in the mall's ongoing transformation.

"Bringing the world's first football performance and entertainment franchise to Canada, and planting our flag right here in London, is something we're incredibly proud of," Kasem said in a news release.

The London facility joins existing FOOTLAB locations in Portugal, Dubai and Kazakhstan.

An opening date and details about programming have not yet been announced.