CFL in the Maritimes

[MonctonRad]

Good news. I believe they wanted about 12,000 season ticket holders. Does it look like this will be achieved??

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Good news. I believe they wanted about 12,000 season ticket holders. Does it look like this will be achieved??

They are seeking 12K deposits on season tickets in this drive. I believe they were aiming for 16K in total season tickets (a quarter of which from outside of Halifax). 16K would put them above Hamilton & Ottawa IIRC.

[q12]

Anthony is on a media blitz this am.

@TheRickHoweShow
"Thousands have already submitted their deposit," says Anthony LeBlanc of @MaritimeFtball about a season ticket drive as part of a push to gauge interest for a #CFL franchise in Atlantic Canada. Fans who pay the deposit will be able to participate in a name-the-team contest.

https://twitter.com/TheRickHoweShow/...23787433570304

I have no doubt they are going to achieve their goal of at least half the seats of the stadium having season ticket deposits.

I've got my tickets.

[CodiacCanuck]

Originally Posted by stephan.richard

The key for success for this team will be to build a loyal maritime fanbase and not make it the "HALIFAX" team.

We need only look as far away as a car drive south to see how to do this right. In 1971, when the Boston Patriots moved to Foxborough (a suburb of Boston), they were a new team struggling to find an identity and hadn’t really established themselves yet. The states in New England are not very large, just like the provinces in Atlantic Canada, so claiming the region made good business sense: the Pats staked a claim not just to Boston, but to other parts of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. And in fact, once the team became regularly good in the 1990s, they became the most popular football team in every part of New England and even parts of upstate New York.
The new Atlantic CFL team can take this same approach. The Patriots identify and are supported by the entire region, and everyone understands that it makes perfect sense that they would play near the largest city in that region.

[MonctonRad]

CFL to host regular-season game in Atlantic Canada in 2019
Argonauts, Alouettes to play 1st game in region in 5 years
CBC Sports · 3 hours ago
https://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/c...2019-1.4953991

No comment on where the game will be played though.

The largest stadium available by far (at the current time) is the Moncton Stadium, but the game will be hosted by the Atlantic Schooners, so I imagine their first preference will be to host the game somewhere in the HRM. There is however no acceptable facility present in Halifax. It will be interesting to see where this leads.......

[MonctonRad]

According to CTV News, there are three potential host communities for the 2019 CFL Touchdown Atlantic game.

1) - Halifax (SMU)
2) - Moncton (UdeM)
3) - Antigonish (SFX)

Moncton is the perceived frontrunner (according to CTV)

1) - Experience (previous three iterations of Touchdown Atlantic)
2) - Location (central in the Maritimes)
3) - Stadium size (10,000 expandable to about 21,000)
4) - Potential to "test the waters" regarding the possibility of the Schooners playing a season (or two) in Moncton while the Halifax stadium gets built.

[L'homard]

Sign me up. I went to the first three and I'll be happy to go again.

[CodiacCanuck]

It would be fantastic to have another Touchdown Atlantic game here in Moncton.
I went to the first three and I would definitely be there this time as well.

[MonctonianSentinel01]

Originally Posted by CodiacCanuck

It would be fantastic to have another Touchdown Atlantic game here in Moncton.
I went to the first three and I would definitely be there this time as well.

I went to the first two but couldn't make the third one but I would gladly go again as well.

[CodiacCanuck]

This looks encouraging.

https://www.tsn.ca/schooners-have-so...kets-1.1229847

[CodiacCanuck]

Preliminary logo for next year's Touchdown Atlantic.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touchd..._2018_logo.jpg

[MonctonRad]

Comments by CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie at the second annual Jake Thomas Celebrity Curling Classic (in Fredericton)

CFL boss: 'Moncton is an impressive city'
https://www.telegraphjournal.com/tel...e=daily-digest (paywall)

Canadian Football League commissioner Randy Ambrosie said the drive to bring a Canadian Football League franchise to Atlantic Canada "is advancing," but he refused to say when - or where - it might land.

Ambrosie said "politicians in Halifax are hard at work" to deliver the 10th CFL franchise.

"The central is: 'Can we get the ball in the end zone?'" he said. "That's the ultimate prize."

That end zone, of course, must be in a suitably-sized CFL stadium.

But that town may not be Halifax.

"I don't think you can rule out Moncton as a potential city for the CFL," he said, to applause from the audience. "Everything is two hours from Moncton in Atlantic Canada. And having spoken to politicians in Moncton, and the province, there is a real keen interest in being part of it."

He suggested it could be similar to Saskatchewan's relationship with the Roughriders, where Saskatoon hosts the team's training camp, but the club plays the regular season CFL schedule in Regina.

"Moncton is an impressive city. The people I've met have really blown me away with how progressive they are and how thoughtful they've been about the role Moncton can play in a CFL team."

Interpretation - the CFL continues to use Moncton as a stick to prod Halifax along in the quest for an east coast team. The implication is that if Nova Scotia is reluctant to acquiesce to the CFL's demands, they'll move on to the next most likely candidate - Moncton.

I rather doubt this will happen. There is a game of brinksmanship going on between the CFL and the politicians in Halifax and Nova Scotia. It's just a matter of who blinks first.

I think Moncton's role in any future east coast franchise will be as the home of the teams training camp and maybe a preseason game or two each year. There could even be a regular season game in Moncton every few years. The CFL really wants the team in Halifax. Moncton is just being used as bait.

[VANRIDERFAN]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Comments by CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie at the second annual Jake Thomas Celebrity Curling Classic (in Fredericton)
Interpretation - the CFL continues to use Moncton as a stick to prod Halifax along in the quest for an east coast team. The implication is that if Nova Scotia is reluctant to acquiesce to the CFL's demands, they'll move on to the next most likely candidate - Moncton.

I rather doubt this will happen. There is a game of brinksmanship going on between the CFL and the politicians in Halifax and Nova Scotia. It's just a matter of who blinks first.

I think Moncton's role in any future east coast franchise will be as the home of the teams training camp and maybe a preseason game or two each year. There could even be a regular season game in Moncton every few years. The CFL really wants the team in Halifax. Moncton is just being used as bait.

Agree.

[L'homard]

Totally agree.
And I'm fine with it.
I'm a big fan of the Canadian game but it would never fly here without massive tax dollars, so that's a no go for me.

[q12]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Interpretation - the CFL continues to use Moncton as a stick to prod Halifax along in the quest for an east coast team. The implication is that if Nova Scotia is reluctant to acquiesce to the CFL's demands, they'll move on to the next most likely candidate - Moncton.

I agree as well, but just to be clear nowhere in his comments, if they are accurate does he state they would move on to Moncton if they can't make it work in Halifax.

The reporter is the only one suggesting that.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by q12

I agree as well, but just to be clear nowhere in his comments, if they are accurate does he state they would move on to Moncton if they can't make it work in Halifax.

The reporter is the only one suggesting that.

There is a lot of noise around this but I think it basically comes down to how much money Halifax regional council is willing to put toward a stadium. If they put up something like $100M it's got a good likelihood of happening. If they put up $0, Atlantic Canada won't have a CFL team for the foreseeable future. They have committed $30-70M in the past but that is not enough.

I don't believe that Moncton is an alternative or there is meaningful competition for this CFL team. I also don't believe that the stadium can get built in Halifax without using public dollars (maybe through a scheme like TIF but that's just an accounting trick; it's still public funding).

[elly63]

Originally Posted by someone123

There is a lot of noise around this but I think it basically comes down to how much money Halifax regional council is willing to put toward a stadium. If they put up something like $100M it's got a good likelihood of happening. If they put up $0, Atlantic Canada won't have a CFL team for the foreseeable future. They have committed $30-70M in the past but that is not enough.

I don't believe that Moncton is an alternative or there is meaningful competition for this CFL team. I also don't believe that the stadium can get built in Halifax without using public dollars (maybe through a scheme like TIF but that's just an accounting trick; it's still public funding).

Totally agree, Moncton is not being used as a threat, no one in Halifax would buy that narrative. Moncton is just one piece of the the puzzle that is a total Maritime initiative as much as can be possible.

[stephan.richard]

Having been in Saskatchewan for one football season This is how I would see the CFL franchise go.
-Host the 10 regular season games in Halifax
-Host the Pre-season game in Moncton
-Alternate the training camp between the universities thatdo have a football program in the Atlantic provinces.
-To have a sence of community the team could offer shares at 100-250 bucks a piece,

In Saskatchewan thats how the team works.

[MonctonRad]

From Global News:

Atlantic Schooners could begin their CFL tenure playing in Moncton
By Dan Ralph The Canadian Press
February 5, 2019 3:53 pm
https://globalnews.ca/news/4927479/a...medium=Twitter

If all goes to plan, the CFL’s Atlantic Schooners will begin play in 2020 in Moncton, N.B., while a new stadium is being built in Halifax.

Anthony LeBlanc, one of three founding partners of the group, said Tuesday talks continue with the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) regarding a 24,000-seat stadium proposed for Shannon Park.

LeBlanc said in a perfect world the Schooners would begin play in 2020. They’d stage their home games at Moncton Stadium until a new facility was completed in Halifax.

Moncton Stadium has 10,000 permanent seats but could be expanded to 20,725 via temporary seating.

“We’ve indicated to the city that our desire would be to play our first, and if need be our first couple of seasons, in Moncton while we have the stadium being built.”

LeBlanc said his group has established a self-imposed deadline of the end of June to determine either to go ahead with the project or move on.

“We’ve kind of put a line in the sand,” he said. “We want this thing either on its way or we’ve decided to pack up and go home by the end of June.

So, LeBlanc wants an agreement with HRM & NS by the end of June or else he will take his marbles and go home. If he concluded a successful negotiation, the Atlantic Schooners will play the 2020 season, and maybe the 2021 season in Moncton while the new Halifax stadium is constructed.

[JHikka]

So basically LeBlanc is waiting until the end of HRM's staff 3-6 month window for the feasibility study from the city's side. It was put to staff in late October...

Leblanc had this to say following the Naylor story on TSN:

@TheRickHoweShow
"TSN is reporting Maritime Football LTD has scaled down the size & is reconsidering the location of a potential #CFL stadium in Hfx. "The report was 50% accurate" says the group's Anthony Leblanc. "The aspect of the site is not factual. We are continuing to work with Canada Lands"

It seems the report of them scaling down the stadium is confirmed. The longer this plays out the more I get the feeling that Halifax's ownership group is banking on government funding for the vast majority of the stadium funding. Has the ownership group put forward their business plan yet?