CFL in the Maritimes

[CFL-EXPANDER]

My, my, my things seem to be hopping on this site. The main reason Halifax is on the radar with the CFL is St. Mary's U. The ideal site to join forces with the University to build a Stadium which will meet the CFL needs and.....
Like in Winnipeg, U of Manitoba.
A stadium (DOME) yes I said dome in Halifax would realistically be used to host 42 attractions average per year. Main events, maybe 25 community events.
67 dates, 3 days per event average meaning a total of 201 days in use leaving 164 days empty (5 1/2 months)
Like every where Government money is used for these big ticket items, look at the spin offs. Construction jobs to build it, Staffing Jobs, suppliers for goods used there, transportation jobs. In any city this is put the benefits are good to that City and q12 needs to learn economics 101.
Look at Regina the economic spin off of having a CFL Team brings into the city around 15,000,000 min per season in revenue to local business and government. 2,500,000 in an entertainment tax alone, direct to the government.
There is money to be made and lost.
If a CFL team can sell 30,000 tickets per game (10 games per season) exhibition and a play-off home game (300,000 fans average price for a ticket is $20.00 taking into consideration senior, student, youth and season ticket discounts over all - $6,000,000 ticket sales, 500,000 in sponsorship advertising in stadium, 1,500,000 in concession profit, 250,000 in VIP Boxes, 100,000 in TV revenue from the league, 10,000 from local radio and to be nice maybe 50,000 in souvenirs profit.
That adds up to around $8,400,000.00 per season. Taxes equal around
2,500,000 per season. 5,000,000 to run the team preseason, making a profit for any owner of maybe 900,000. Which is taxed also.
Owners in the CFL rarely take money out of a team, one bad season attendance and the losses are great, that is why fan base is important unless the team is community owned. Ideally in Canada if the owner of a CFL team owned the Stadium he can draw income from other events, Concerts, ect........ (the list is long of things to bring in to attract paying customers)
But then again other facilities in the City suffer revenue loss, not everyone will be happy.)
CFL will come to the Maritime, and the owner will own all or part of the stadium. Who ever gets this stadium, the community will benefit as will the whole region and province.

[CFL-EXPANDER]

hello

[CFL-EXPANDER]

finally figured out how to load pictures. enjoy

[Haliguy]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I'm the first to admit that Halifax has certain advantages over Moncton, not the least of which are it's greater size, national stature, prestigious universities and that tremendous (if a little stinky) harbour. I am an ex-Haligonian, still love Halifax very much and wish it well.......

I currently live in Moncton however and hence my allegiance (currently) has to be here. Moncton has it's own advantages including central location, rapidly improving educational and healthcare infrastructure and inherent entrepreneurial dynamism.

The playing field here in the Maritimes therefore does not belong to Halifax alone; no matter how dearly the Haligonians wish that it did.

Montreal used to be the economic engine of Canada. There was a time when Alberta's premiere city was Edmonton. Regina used to be bigger than Saskatoon. Things can change with time.

Now, I am certainly not suggesting that Moncton will ever be bigger, richer and more powerful than Halifax..........the political and demographic reality of New Brunswick will never let that happen. Moncton however will never stop trying to improve itself and being the best that it can be.

Just get used to us being that yappy little chihuahua nipping at the heels of the rottweiller. Occasionally, just occasionally, we might just be able to steal the rottweiller's bone.

There is no doubt about it Moncton as well as any other city should try and be all they can be. Moncton is doing it very well and I hope they continue to do so. It is good to have competing cities to keep everyone on its toes. However, Monton goes a bit beyond this and continuely trys to trash other cities and knock other cities down and all that does is create bad feelings between them which I think is counter productive and in the long run can do more harm than good.

[Nashe]

Originally Posted by Haliguy

However, Moncton goes a bit beyond this and continuely trys to trash other cities and knock other cities down and all that does is create bad feelings between them which I think is counter productive and in the long run can do more harm than good.

Where did they do that?

[thehip]

You look at the way Moncton is preparing and doing whatever they can to get their ducks in a row to make this happen. From the they mayor, mla, Premier, and now a MLA Mike Murphy trying to get some business leaders together. I love they way Moncton thinks big. As for Halifax you have a clown by the name of Roger Taylor who writes negative stuff about the CFL and wouldn't go to game if there was a team in his city. I hope Moncton gets their CFL team and becomes a huge success.

[CFL-EXPANDER]

Roger Taylor only writes negative stuff in his writings. Thats his style.........
create a stir thats all. Besides one mans opinion means nothing.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Haliguy

However, Monton goes a bit beyond this and continuely trys to trash other cities and knock other cities down and all that does is create bad feelings between them which I think is counter productive and in the long run can do more harm than good.

I'm from Halifax, and I never noticed Moncton doing that. I think it's more a case of Halifax being complacent in its dominant position and not taking kindly to another city daring to steal some of Halifax's limelight. If this is what it takes to get Haligonians motivated and more ambitious, I'm all for it.

GO MONCTON. I wish your determination would rub off on Halifax. Good going.

[Wishblade]

Originally Posted by isaidso

I'm from Halifax, and I never noticed Moncton doing that. I think it's more a case of Halifax being complacent in its dominant position and not taking kindly to another city daring to steal some of Halifax's limelight. If this is what it takes to get Haligonians motivated and more ambitious, I'm all for it.

GO MONCTON. I wish your determination would rub off on Halifax. Good going.

Actually he's right, there is a lot of that that comes out of Moncton. But it isnt so much the residents as it is their media. The media in Moncton is just awful for it.

[kwajo]

Originally Posted by Wishblade

Actually he's right, there is a lot of that that comes out of Moncton. But it isnt so much the residents as it is their media. The media in Moncton is just awful for it.

This. Saint John felt the brunt of that attitude from the Moncton media for years, luckily now they've moved on to targeting Halifax and have left us alone for the most part.

[MonctonRad]

There was a time not too long ago when Moncton was a severely psychologically depressed community.

In the 1980's, thousands of jobs were lost when the CN shops, CFB Moncton and the Eaton's catalogue warehouse all closed in short order. On top of this, the internecine language wars were at their height. The city was shell shocked and there was a real fear that the community would not survive.

The best the city could do for a promotional slogan was "Moncton, we're OK".

Shortly after this, Frank McKenna came on the scene and using a little Irish blarney, convinced the city (and the province) that you had to believe in yourself in order to succeed.

He turned the linguistic dilemma in Moncton into a (relative) strength and introduced the call centre industry. He used the city's central location and promoted the community as a retailing and commercial distribution hub. He insisted that the city could do anything that it wanted to.

There were surprising initial successes with this strategy and the city did begin to believe in itself.

The Times & Transcript realized how successful McKenna's strategy was and started to get on the self promotion bandwagon, sometimes displaying embarassing excesses in hyperbole and indeed occasionally knocking other communities, especially when trying to promote Moncton in direct head-to-head comparisons.

I understand that this could cause hurt feelings in the other communities and really, this sort of strategy should be abandoned by the T&T. It isn't necessary anymore. Moncton no longer has an inferiority complex.

The intercity competition for entertainment and sporting events as well as immigrants and new industries however will go on.

The new dynamism I see in the Maritimes is quite intoxication for a lad who grew up in the 1960's. I really enjoy seeing the entire Maritime community beginning to assume that anything is possible. This is so much preferable to the "goin' down the road to T.O." philosophy which was rampant during the 1960's and '70's.

So let the competition continue. The relative attributes of each Maritime city will have to be expressed when competing for any worthwhile prize. I just hope that this promotional activity can be conducted in a civil fashion.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Wishblade

Actually he's right, there is a lot of that that comes out of Moncton. But it isnt so much the residents as it is their media. The media in Moncton is just awful for it.

Assuming you're correct, Halifax could do with a dose of ambition. Moncton exuberance may be irritating, but Halifax indifference and lethargy is more damaging.

[fenwick16]

How about basic stands with a roof or roofs to protect the spectators. Domes are usually dark and confined. For concerts the stage could also be covered on a temporary basis. I have also wondered why stadiums can't be build with the ends open so that the roof just covers the side field stands and field area (sort of like an aircraft hangar). This would give protection from the rain but also give a more open feel. Maybe the end stands could be left open to the environment to allow for expansion or temporary stands for Grey Cups.

I think the the biggest advantage to Halifax being in the CFL is that it will promote the city and maritime provinces throughout Canada. Maybe the province of NS and the city should consider it to be an advertising expense.

[MonctonRad]

Ditto for Moncton.

One of the greatest handicaps that Moncton has is that we have virtually no national stature or recognition. One of the best ways to combat this would be by having a CFL team.........All of a sudden we would be a "major league city".

That kind of national exposure would be priceless...........advertising money well spent indeed!!!

[kirjtc2]

Originally Posted by fenwick16

How about basic stands with a roof or roofs to protect the spectators.

Sounds a lot like the Olympic stadium in Sydney or Qwest Field in Seattle. I'm surprised more stadiums haven't gone that route.

[Wishblade]

If they want to hold events year round, wouldnt a domed roof be ideal? Especially in our climate I would think.

[drpgq]

I think the advertising is a good point. Hamilton rarely gets in the national news, but for around 20 weeks per year it is front and centre on TSN.

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by kirjtc2

Sounds a lot like the Olympic stadium in Sydney or Qwest Field in Seattle. I'm surprised more stadiums haven't gone that route.

The Olympic Stadium in Sydney, Australia is the the sort of structure that I had in mind except using more basic type construction to keep the cost down.

[fenwick16]

How about a more modern version of this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anfield in Liverpool, UK but with CFL football dimensions and leave the end zones open.

[isaidso]

I'm not a fan of Anfield.

Originally Posted by Wishblade

If they want to hold events year round, wouldnt a domed roof be ideal? Especially in our climate I would think.

No, because a football team will find it tough sledding building up a fan base in a dome. Domes almost killed football in Montreal, and is doing a good job of killing the Argonauts in Toronto. Wisdom would dictate that people learn from mistakes made in other cities.

The NFL have extremely stringent stadium requirements because they understand the importance of creating a great atmosphere within the stadiums. Domes kill the atmosphere, and athletics tracks create horrible sight lines. The NFL has moved away from domes, and I don't think there's one NFL stadium left with an athletics track. They're investing in the future of their sport by insisting on certain design characteristics.

You build a facility to maximize the experience. That's what soccer stadiums, opera houses, cinemas, theatres, churches, shopping centres, and virtually every other type of building does. Why should a football stadium be any different?

The whole rationale for a stadium goes up in smoke if you end up killing the football team it was primarily built for.