CFL in the Maritimes

[roccerfeller]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Interesting analysis re: CFL expansion with an emphasis on the Maritimes and Moncton in particular.

This is found on a website called CFL database. This appears to be an unofficial analysis, but I think it is quite thorough and thoughtful. It outlines the challenges ahead; for Moncton, Halifax and Quebec City.

The report is unbiased, which I find refreshing......

http://cfldb.ca/2011/08/depth-moncton-market-unclear/

Btw thanks for this link

It was a great read, definitely better than TSN's less researched version

[MonctonRad]

Updated weather forecast for the weekend is much improved!!

A mix of sun and clouds with only a chance of showers today and tomorrow and for gameday Sunday, it will be partly cloudy with a temperature of 25C and a humidex in the low 30's

[MonctonRad]

from today's T&T

CFL ponders Maritime future
Published Friday September 23rd, 2011

Commissioner says there's a possibility more games could be held in Moncton
By Craig Babstock
Times & Transcript Staff

CFL Commissioner Mark Cohon pays a compliment to Moncton football fans when he compares them to Saskatchewan Roughriders fans, known around the league for their enthusiasm for the green and white.


The Calgary Stampeders cheerleaders give a cheer from the sidelines during a high school football game between L'Odyssée Olympiens and Mathieu-Martin Matadors at Rocky Stone Memorial Field on Thursday. VIKTOR PIVOVAROV/TIMES & TRANSCR

"When I walked through the stadium in Moncton last year, it felt like being in Saskatchewan," says Cohon. "People were really enthusiastic about showing off their pride in their city."

And also their love for the Toronto Argonauts and Edmonton Eskimos, who played in the first Scotiabank Touchdown Atlantic game at the Stade Moncton 2010 Stadium last September. Many fans, both local and from out of town, wore Argos and Eskis jerseys.

"We know there's a culture of football in the Maritimes," says the commissioner.

Cohon arrived in Moncton last night and will spend three days here, taking in the pre-game festivities and the regular season match-up between the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Calgary Stampeders on Sunday.

For sports fans in the Maritimes, the CFL's presence is an opportunity to get a first-hand look at the highest level of football in Canada. But the league also gets something out of it, which is why they came back this year.

"This is an opportunity for us to expand our reach across this country and create life-long fans," says Cohon.

It's also a chance to examine whether or not the league has a future in this part of the country.

Cohon says people have been speculating about the league expanding to Atlantic Canada for decades. In the 1980s Halifax was granted a conditional franchise, named the Atlantic Schooners, but the ownership group couldn't secure financing for a new stadium, so the team never came to be.

When the commissioner visits stadiums across the country, the two questions he's asked most often are when will Ottawa be back in the league and how soon after that will a 10th team be added. The first question is easier to answer than the second question. Cohon says the new Ottawa team will likely debut in 2014. As for expansion after that, the league is in no rush. The commissioner describes the CFL as "methodical" when it comes to exploring big issues like drug testing, new stadiums and awarding expansion teams. For example, the Ottawa ownership group was awarded the franchise in March 2008.

When asked about the chances of Moncton one day getting its own team, Cohon says he won't speculate on the chances of that. But he says last year's game in Moncton and this Sunday's game are opportunities to do some research.

"It's allowing us to evaluate what the future holds for us in the Maritimes," he says.

The league is already familiar with what Moncton has to offer.

"The fan base is there, but there are some challenges with the stadium, it wouldn't be big enough," says Cohon, adding they also need to look more closely at whether or not the business community support is there.

As for plans in the immediate future, the CFL will meet with the City of Moncton and assess the outcome of this weekend's game, "the financials" and see if everything worked out well for both sides. No agreement will be signed, but they will talk about next year and 2013.

While the city would no doubt love to have another game in 2012, 2013 is the season on everyone's minds because the Ticats will be without a home. Hamilton's Ivor Wynne Stadium is being replaced and the Ticats' new field opens in 2014, so the team needs to find a place to play one preseason game and nine home games in 2013.

Moncton has no chance of landing all those games because it would be unfair to Hamilton fans to take away their team for the entire season.

"We need to make sure the fans in Hamilton still get their Ticats," says Cohon.

The league is looking at holding games at neutral site CFL stadiums and other suitable venues and Cohon says they are considering the possibility of Moncton hosting two games.

"We're looking at if Moncton could fit into those plans," says the commissioner.

personal note - not much new here, but now we know they are discussing the possibility of hosting two Ti-Cats games in 2013

[MonctonRad]

Touchdown Atlantic Weekend is Here!

Here are some pictures from this evenings "future stars" game between BMHS Highlanders and the MHS Purple Knights. My son plays safety for MacNaughton and they won the game 12-7.


Rocky Stone Field was packed. I would say that there were easily over 2,000 people in attendance.


The BMHS cheerleaders were giving it their all!


The Calgary Stampeder and Hamilton Tiger-Cat cheerleaders were there too!


Spirit demonstration at halftime.

Tomorrow is the Mount Allison/Saint Mary's game. The big game (Calgary/Hamiton) is Sunday afternoon. The weather forecast hasn't changed. 25 glorious degrees Celsius and sunny, with a humidex in the low 30's

[MonctonRad]

Touchdown Atlantic 2011 is History

Well, Touchdown Atlantic 2011 has come and gone.

The "hometown" Tiger-Cats defeated the visiting Calgary Stampeders by a score of 55-36. This is the highest scoring game so far in the CFL this year.

With so much offence, it was a very entertaining game to watch. In particular, a Hamilton punt return for 115 yds and a touchdown, as well as a couple of key Hamilton interceptions and several end zone passes come to mind.

The attendance was 20,300 which is just shy of the Moncton Stadiums capacity of 20,750. This constitutes 98% of a sellout. The only empty seats were in the upper outer corners of the end zone bleachers.

The weather was glorious; 28C and sunny. I got a sunburn at the end of September.

Here are a few pictures taken from our seats in the south end zone bleachers:

[fenwick16]

Great looking pictures MonctonRad. I think that Moncton should consider putting the endzone temporary seats in the corners. In my opinion, I think it would give a better viewing perspective.

The attendance of 20,300 is more than was at the Argonauts/Blue Bombers game at the Rogers Centre the day before. Good for Moncton since neither team is really the home team.

[-Harlington-]

Great game, watched it on TV

there was a lot of optimism about the east coast

gotta love it, even if it is Moncton, lol

[C_Boy]

My guess would be that most of those seats would be empty for two reasons: Last minute schedule changes to people who bought the tickets and scalpers because I know several of my Facebook friends were looking for tickets to buy and could not find any. I also saw last minute people trying too sell some. So unless you are in the right place at the right time, your screwed!

But by any means that is awesome attendance!

[Jstaleness]

Good Job Moncton for having another successful Touchdown Atlantic. I forgot to watch the game but the outcome made me happy. Scratch another notch in the headboard for Moncton. I hope to attend the next game as there will be another game.

[MonctonRad]

Thanks for the positive feedback!

It should be noted however that a third Touchdown Atlantic next year is not a slam-dunk.

There are several reasons apparently:

1- next year is the 100th anniversary Grey Cup and Commissioner Cohon suggested that the league may be too busy with events surrounding this milestone to consider another game in the Maritimes.
2- Toronto likely wouldn't want to give up a home game as they will be the host for the 100th Grey Cup and would want to feed off of the hype for this event all year.
3- Hamilton likely wouldn't want to give up a home game because this will be their last season in Ivor Wynne before the stadium is demolished.

Cohon didn't shut the door completely, but I would say the chances for professional football in the Maritimes in 2012 are pretty dim.

On the other hand, Hamilton seems amenable to playing part of their 2013 campaign out of Moncton (while Ivor Wynne is being rebuilt). I would say we have better than even odds of having 2-3 Tiger-Cat games in Moncton in 2013...

[Jstaleness]

No reason Montreal and BC couldn't play a game though.

[MonctonRad]

They interviewed Mark Cohon and Jan Carinci (ex-CFLer, Moncton resident and member of the Touchdown Atlantic organizing committee) on CBC Moncton radio this morning.

Commissioner Cohon seemed a little more positive about the idea of another Touchdown Atlantic game next year during the radio interview. Also, the CFL and the Tiger-cats seem fairly open to the idea of the Hamilton team playing 2-3 games in Moncton during the 2013 season.

Also, Carinci feels that the east grandstand of the Moncton Stadium can be increased to 15,000 capacity from the current 6,000. With permanent endzone seating, this would boost the seating to 28,000 if Moncton were to be awarded a permanent franchise. Carinci feels that the parking situation at the stadium however is a major obstacle and needs to be addressed if this project is to move forward.

Apparently the Premier and the Mayor are both enthusiastic supporters of the idea of additional Touchdown Atlantic games. The Mayor at least is also a strong booster of the idea of a Moncton franchise. Also, there is apparently a "council" of NB business leaders who have had talks with Cohon. I don't really know what this means.....

[q12]

Rick's Rants
[Professional Blog] Rick's Rants Tuesday September 27th/2011

http://www.halifaxnewsnet.ca/Blog-Ar...ember-27th2011

Is the CFL done with Moncton??

It wasn't a sell out. Even though Sunday's CFL game in Moncton was only some 800 tickets short of a full house, word is eyebrows were raised around the league because the game did not sell out. Publicly anyway, CFL Commissioner Mark Cohon says he was pleased with the over 20,000 fans who did attend the game that saw the Hamilton Tiger Cats down the Calgary Stampeders but he wouldn't commit yesterday to a third regular season game in Moncton next year. While most attending the game enjoyed the experience, I've heard there was some grumbling with the temporary end zone seats. During a chat on my News 95.7 radio show yesterday afternoon, Cohon seemed to indicate an issue with the stadium in Moncton, a 10,000 seater that was expanded to 21,000 for Sunday's game. It may be the opening Halifax needs to lure the CFL here if the city can only get its act together on a stadium. Council's awaiting a consultant's report before it decides its next move. A Moncton-sized stadium won't cut it. If Halifax is to have a stadium it must seat at least 25,000 to upwards of 45,000.

Here is a tweet from how a Saskatchewan Roughrider fan saw it:

“@CFL: Official attendance at #TDAtlantic is 20,153 (capatcity is 20,973). #CFL” No sellout? That's weak!

tweeted by saskryan
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-br...-cfl-game.html

I don't think the rest of the country was impressed this year that they were not able to sell-out one game to 21,000.

[roccerfeller]

Originally Posted by Jstaleness

No reason Montreal and BC couldn't play a game though.

Well, one thing to consider is the financial situation.

Look at the teams that have played the "home" team these last two years. Hamilton, while they have solid fan support, the current stadium isn't making money for the owners, so it isn't necessarily a hit on one home game for them.

Toronto? I mean, Moncton had more ticket sales than Toronto. That should speak for itself.

But as mentioned above, next year Toronto would want to focus on using the "100th Grey Cup" as hype for the year...Grey Cup will always sell out...and you want that building packed for the Grey Cup...plus Toronto should focus on building their market. Its not like the Argo's have never been popular...they were relatively popular in the 90's, and ultimately are a historied franchise .. the league is only stronger with a strong Argonaut fanbase.


Regarding BC and Montreal, well, BC will have their first FULL year back at the newly renovated BC Place, and financial support for the BC Lions has never been an issue; they are well supported.

Obviously, the Al's are a well supported team in Montreal.

There is simply no way that these teams would make more money from a home game in Moncton, especially with a temporary 20 000 seat arena, than from at home in larger stadiums with butts in the seat, in addition to the corporate support.

Its not as simple as "well what about another team?" unfortunately, because the financial side is what teams look at in the long run. Its why Toronto was the home team last year, and why Hamilton was the home team this year.

Trust me, ideally, the CFL would love to put a franchise in Atlantic Canada - be it Moncton (the likeliest contender currently) or Halifax but next year is going to be tough especially since a team has to give their consent in the first place.

Dave Naylor brings up some good points about this, and I agree overall with his analysis for next year looking unlikely - but not because the CFL doesn't want to be there: http://www.tsn.ca/blogs/dave_naylor/?id=376870


That said, at least fans can look forward to 2013...when the TiCats will need a "home"

They certainly had nothing but positive things to say about Moncton, so they might land not one but two (highly unlikely anything more) games for that year...That would be Moncton's biggest chance to shine.


That said, for expansion, as the CFL commish said, the area needs a proper CFL stadium, which currently does not exist in Atlantic Canada. But the future looks very good for future touchdown Atlantic games....passionate fans live there.

[roccerfeller]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

They interviewed Mark Cohon and Jan Carinci (ex-CFLer, Moncton resident and member of the Touchdown Atlantic organizing committee) on CBC Moncton radio this morning.

Commissioner Cohon seemed a little more positive about the idea of another Touchdown Atlantic game next year during the radio interview. Also, the CFL and the Tiger-cats seem fairly open to the idea of the Hamilton team playing 2-3 games in Moncton during the 2013 season.

Also, Carinci feels that the east grandstand of the Moncton Stadium can be increased to 15,000 capacity from the current 6,000. With permanent endzone seating, this would boost the seating to 28,000 if Moncton were to be awarded a permanent franchise. Carinci feels that the parking situation at the stadium however is a major obstacle and needs to be addressed if this project is to move forward.

Apparently the Premier and the Mayor are both enthusiastic supporters of the idea of additional Touchdown Atlantic games. The Mayor at least is also a strong booster of the idea of a Moncton franchise. Also, there is apparently a "council" of NB business leaders who have had talks with Cohon. I don't really know what this means.....

Really good to hear....once this happens, things get real serious.

[roccerfeller]

Originally Posted by q12

Here is a tweet from how a Saskatchewan Roughrider fan saw it:



I don't think the rest of the country was impressed this year that they were not able to sell-out one game to 21,000.

Not necessarily, a lot of people were happy to just see Atlantic Canada get its chance to shine...we all want another two teams at least in the CFL.

That said, if Halifax gets its act together, there will certainly be some tension between the two cities...and if I understand correctly, there already is some!

Moncton has been a great host, but it really boils down to whoever gets a stadium that makes Mark Cohon happy, and has an ownership group/plan in place.

[q12]

Originally Posted by roccerfeller

Not necessarily, a lot of people were happy to just see Atlantic Canada get its chance to shine...we all want another two teams at least in the CFL.

That said, if Halifax gets its act together, there will certainly be some tension between the two cities...and if I understand correctly, there already is some!

Moncton has been a great host, but it really boils down to whoever gets a stadium that makes Mark Cohon happy, and has an ownership group/plan in place.

They had perfect sunny warm weather, everything you needed to sell-out, yet it didn't happen. It's a red flag. The novelty is wearing out in Moncton and there is just not the population there to fill the needed 25,000 permanent seats for 10 games a year.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by q12

They had perfect sunny warm weather, everything you needed to sell-out, yet it didn't happen. It's a red flag. The novelty is wearing out in Moncton and there is just not the population there to fill the needed 25,000 permanent seats for 10 games a year.

Your clear bias aside: i'll agree with you.

However, there's a difference between Regular Season games featuring out of town teams and having a hometown team of their own. If there was a Moncton franchise on a regular basis i'm sure the attendance would be fine. The novelty of out of town teams previewing and teasing over and over again does wear thin. Like a "we're going to care less about this until we get an actual team" motion. I'm sure if Halifax hosted a game similar to this it would sell out the first year, but it would get more difficult after that if there were no clear signs of a franchise coming.

Speaking of Moncton, though, I went to a Bruins/Islanders preseason game there a few years back and the Coliseum was probably half-full for that. Really disappointing. Something to chew on, anyhow.

Personally, I wouldn't go to a Touchdown Atlantic game, but I would support a team in Moncton if one ever exists. I'd definitely go to a game or two of that a season. Halifax is twice the drive for those of us in Saint John, and there's a few football fans in this part of the province.

[roccerfeller]

Originally Posted by q12

They had perfect sunny warm weather, everything you needed to sell-out, yet it didn't happen. It's a red flag. The novelty is wearing out in Moncton and there is just not the population there to fill the needed 25,000 permanent seats for 10 games a year.

Hmm while you raise some relevant points, its tough to say what impact it had...keep in mind they still outsold the Argo's on the weekend, and neither team is a home team.

Its like in Winnipeg here and the NHL...we never sold out every preseason game since the MTS Centre opened, but now we have the next 5 years of the building sold out as its "our team".

Its tough to compare a Moncton game in this respect, when they were missing less than a thousand people in the seats, and they don't have a team to call their own.

I still maintain, regardless of whether Moncton or Halifax being a more ideally suited place (on paper, Halifax is better suited), it will boil down to who has their cards in order.

Again, to use a Winnipeg example; roughly the same size as Quebec City or Hamilton but we had our cards in order when the NHL needed to move a team.

Commissioners have their standards that they require, and they know what is needed for a CFL franchise to operate in the long term (forever); it is doubtful there will be more than one CFL team in that region, so whoever has their cards in order will get the expansion awarded.

[mmmatt]

Couple things to keep in mind.

- The game was 97% sold out...not shabby for a 2nd year "luster worn off" game

- The teams were from 1200km (Hamilton) and 5000km (Calgary) away. Not exactly "root for the home team" material.

- There was a pre-season NHL game in Halifax on the same day (I have a friend who attended that who said he would have been at the CFL otherwise).

- The remaining seats were in the nosebleeds of the end-zones.

- The cost per ticket was higher than that of a larger, regular CFL stadium game due to less seats available and the cost of the temp seats.

- The product (2 away teams) and the venue (1/2 temp seats in end zones) are not enough of a draw in relation to the higher cost of a seat for some fans.

All in all I would say it was a great turnout and I think people are just grasping at straws to try and prove that Moncton cant handle a team (Please dont quote Rick Howe as he is the most biased pro Hali journalist out there!)../It may be true that we cant handle a team I don't know, but this years game certainly is not proof of that. We had a TON of football activities (high school and AUS games) and they were all well attended in the week leading up to this. Fan support is the least of my worries at this point.

The main detractors at this point are:

- Not enough permanent seats at stadium.

- No corporate support has come forward (this likely wont happen until
things get more serious)