CFL in the Maritimes

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by someone123

Hopefully this isn't seen as inflammatory. I feel like I'm just pointing out the obvious here. Imagine if we had people constantly talking about how Regina is the hub of the Prairies or Ottawa is the hub of the Windsor-Quebec corridor.

Regina does have a CFL team though.

Just kidding..........

[elly63]

^^Amen.

My post was never meant to be anti Moncton. In fact, Moncton has done some great things, (arena and stadium) but Halifax is the place. And now if LeBlanc can stick to a realistic schedule (because this is a long haul) and keep his trap shut things will turn out. He seems to be learning that lesson.

[MonctonRad]

I agree that it was always the CFL's intent to put a team in Halifax, even at the beginning 10 years ago before the first Touchdown Atlantic.

They never really seriously wanted a team in Moncton, but at the beginning, when they wanted to use the Moncton Stadium as a marketing tool for an Atlantic CFL team, Cohon misleadingly gave the impression that they wanted an "Atlantic" team, but were still evaluating where they wanted to put the team. By staging TDA1 in Moncton, this gave a lot of Monctonians the false impression that we were in the running, and a lot of excitement developed around the event. The city bought in, and Ian Fowler organized a lot of great events around the game which were tremendously successful. It was exciting times.........

This carried on the following year into TDA2, but by the time that TDA3 rolled around, you could tell that the CFL brass weren't into the events any more, and the change in atmosphere around the game was quite noticeable. Many Monctonians wondered what had happened.

Shortly thereafter, the CFL let it be known that they were only interested in Halifax, and many Monctonians were quite disappointed about this. This disappointment has fed a bit into some apathy over TDA4, and the absence of marketing and hype around the game has only worsened things. Only the hardcore football fans are really interested now, which explains why they will only have 10,000 people at the game.

For the first two TDA's, there was a lot of Moncton civic pride involved in the event. There isn't the same type of emotional investment anymore.

It's just a football game now.............

Regardless, I am a CFL fan, and I will be there with my sons, and I plan to have a good time anyway.

[elly63]

^That's a pretty good take on the situation but to think Moncton would get a team, regardless of who said or insinuated what, was still fairly naive.

That's like people saying they should add a team here or there or even sadder another team in the GTA. This league has basically run out of suitable markets. Regina is truly a special and historical place, their situation would have to be almost duplicated in a new market and I don't see that happening.

Edit: Just thought of Quebec as a suitable market but there is no push there with Laval having the spotlight, so it's a nonstarter.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by elly63

This league has basically run out of suitable markets. Regina is truly a special and historical place, their situation would have to be almost duplicated in a new market and I don't see that happening.

Edit: Just thought of Quebec as a suitable market but there is no push there with Laval having the spotlight, so it's a nonstarter.

I suspect the reality is that Halifax is marginal and Moncton is way too small. If Halifax were 2-3x larger it would have gotten a CFL team decades ago.

If we are being honest it's obvious that football is unlikely to be as popular in the Maritimes as it is in Regina or Saskatchewan. The Maritimes are not that sports crazed in general.

I wonder if the window of opportunity is closing since the popularity of the CFL doesn't seem to be growing in general and there is the concussion issue. I could also see soccer getting more popular and the Wanderers stealing some potential CFL support, if that hasn't already happened.

On the other hand Halifax is growing so it will become a better market for sports teams as time goes on.

[isaidso]

A Nova Scotia - New Brunswick CFL rivalry would be fantastic although New Brunswick will need to develop a 400,000 - 500,000 metro first. To me it doesn't matter if it's Moncton or if Saint John manages a miraculous resurgence, as long as one develops eventually. Who knows, maybe it will be Fredericton in 2080?

[elly63]

Originally Posted by someone123

If we are being honest it's obvious that football is unlikely to be as popular in the Maritimes as it is in Regina or Saskatchewan. The Maritimes are not that sports crazed in general.

I wonder if the window of opportunity is closing since the popularity of the CFL doesn't seem to be growing in general and there is the concussion issue. I could also see soccer getting more popular and the Wanderers stealing some potential CFL support, if that hasn't already happened.

On the other hand Halifax is growing so it will become a better market for sports teams as time goes on.

Agreed with most of your post except the quoted above. I'm not sure how a team will go over, Maritimers are sometimes strange: loyal and insularly (if that's a word) parochial. They tend to find each other when away from home which leads me to believe it will tend to be more fanatic than quiet. Where I have the concern is in the numbers: who will travel, how will Halifax buy in?

I disagree with the notion that soccer will be more popular than it is and football will begin to die. I think I can make a good case for why that myth is being perpetuated and how you are finally seeing some pushback.

I'd rather not get into why I think the concussion issue will lessen because it involves debating the cultural wars and people's agendas but I think I can make a good case for why it has come more to the forefront and seeming primarily to be involving hockey and football and not certain other sports.

Soccer in Canada has the problem of not having the best calibre of the sport available. While many in Canada can see the Jays or Leafs or Yankees, with not too much difficulty, seeing Liverpool or ManU or Barca is a major deal. Like the NFL loving CFL haters, Canadian soccer suffers from the same thing. Also MLS suffers from a lack of cross country appeal which gives me hope for the CPL but will they be treated as dismally by moronic soccer snobs as the CFL is by its water cooler QBs.

[MonctonRad]

Here's a photo I took from my seat at Touchdown Atlantic:



The attendance was announced at 10,125, which for a stadium of 10,000 seats is a "technical" sellout, but I'm sure there were at least 1,500 empty seats in the grandstands. The surplus fans were located in the Family Zone and Fan Zones at either end of the stadium. The capacity of the venue for this game was probably 12,000.

Regardless, Anthony Leblanc pulled off his gamble in Moncton, thanks to lowered ticket prices and lots of last minute walk up ticket sales, probably due to the fact the weather was glorious in the Hub City today.

The fans were treated to a great game. The first half was slow, but the second half, especially the fourth quarter was very entertaining, especially the last minute run by the Argos to win the game which fell just short with the ball on the Alouettes three yard line with 0.3 seconds left on the clock.

Aside from disgracefully long lineups to get through ticketing and security onto the site at the beginning of the game, the rest of the event was well organized. Most fans seemed happy at the end.

Anthony LeBlanc is still talking about holding the first 1-2 seasons for the Schooners in Moncton while the stadium in Halifax gets built. If this does indeed turn out to be the case, I will certainly purchase season's tickets while the team is located in Moncton.

[L'homard]

Yeah that line up to get in was painful. All in all a wonderful afternoon. I would be in for two season tickets if Mr. LeBlanc has to set up shop in Moncton for a year or two.
I taped the game and kind of zipped through it. The coverage was very complimentary to our fair city.
Not so much for the Halifax tv news at suppertime, which again made the focus of their coverage the "rocky road" to putting the game in Moncton and the horrors of having to park at the Coliseum and, gasp!, be bused to the game, even though the fans they interviewed all didn't care at all about the off-site parking. Man, ctv sure hates Moncton.

[MonctonRad]

CTV loves to create controversy over rivalry between Moncton and Halifax. This is getting pretty old.

Regarding parking, there was lots of on street parking available in Lewisville in easy walking distance. I parked in front of my sons house and walked to the stadium in less than 10 minutes.

[L'homard]

LOL I parked in Sunny Brae. Just a hop, skip and a jump from the venue. Parking allowed on both sides of almost all neighbourhood streets, and very few people parked on them.

[CodiacCanuck]

Today's event was awesome !!!
My son and I went early for the pre-game tailgate party where a couple thousand fans enjoyed some music, got their pics taken with the Grey Cup, and there were bouncy castles and face painting for the kids.
The game was outstanding, a nail biter right down to the final 0.3 seconds. 10,125 screaming fans made it seem like alot more.
I parked near the Georges-Dumont Hospital and had a 10 minute walk to the stadium.
Also got into the stadium very quickly. Coming out of the tailgate party area, we went around back, as the back gate (Gate 4) is hardly ever used... only about 50-70 people in that line (I don't think many people even know that gate exists).
All in all, another great Touchdown Atlantic experience.
And, I for one, will make the drive to Halifax for the chance to see my Atlantic Schooners play.

[NewIreland]

More than enough to support a team imo... graphic by me.

[BlackYear]

Here's my take/experience/feedback on the game.

Keep this in mind, kick off was schedule for 1:00pm.

Buddy and I started our walk to the stadium at 11am from my downtown home. 15 minute walk gets us to the entrance of the tailgate party zone.
Tailgate party zone was a complete joke. Although we got complimentary passes from our sponsored radio friends, the admission here was $10. That gets you inside the zone with a free hot dog & pop. The Grey Cup was on display for photo op, the Moncton Magic tent was there with the NBL trophy on display, a few other displays including a band on stage, and a small beer garden. No other food was available within the whole tailgate zone. Around 11:30, they started letting people in for free. The whole zone started to shut down at 12 noon with security asking folks to drink up and leave in 5 minutes.

Sorry CodiacCanuck I didn't see couple of thousand here, maybe 200-300 people.

Leaving the Tailgate zone at 12:30, see photo below. The one gate entrance on the left had a line up as far as the eye can see. Probably as far as Wheeler blvd overpass. All joking aside, THEY ONLY OPENED THE GATES AT 12 NOON! Yes, 60 minutes to try and get 10k inside before 1pm. Remind you of something? Avenir Centre? We decided to go right, because there's an entrance via the north side behind the main grandstand.

We get there and another long but not so bad long line up. We jump in line and it's taking FOREVER to move. They are having problems scanning QR ticket codes on people's mobile phones because of the sun. RCMP are getting impatient, fans are getting impatient, staff are getting frustrated, staff with radio communication are running around in panic. By this time, the National Anthem is about to begin. I hear chitter chatter on radios to let the people in. RCMP which were watching the fiasco 20 feet away come back over and say, "let them all in". Fans are now rushing in without security or ticket checks.



Finally got to our seats and the game was 2 minutes in.



View to the west end party zone.



View of the east side family zone.



Final thoughts, the game itself, it was a great game. Argonauts lost a tough one. As for everything else, it was definitely not like TDA 1 & 2 as far as atmosphere. It was just a football game with the bare minimum outside of the game itself. Heck, the team's cheerleaders were not even there. Would I go again, yes.

[gehrhardt]

We parked at CF Champlain and took the 11:05 bus directly to the UdeM entrance on Morton ave. By the time we got there, we joined the line on the opposite side of the CEPS. We expected a line up, but figured it would be moving at that point.

It was ridiculous to not open the gates until 12pm. 11am or even 11:30 would have been much better. Once the line got moving and we figured out there was actually 2 lines at the front, we got through in a reasonable amount of time. By then, though, practice was over. Awnings over the ticket scanning area is a cheap solution to the bright sun. I'm sure they had some stashed somewhere.

We roamed around the concessions a bit and just got back to our seats before the anthem. It felt really rushed and we didn't get much of a chance to talk to our friends who were in another section.

Overall, it was a good game. There was even a fair amount of player interaction after touchdowns and after the game.

After the game, instead of waiting for the bus, we just walked back to the mall. It was a nice day and didn't take much longer than waiting for the bus anyway.

Another note:
I'd support the Schooners if they do come to Halifax by going to a couple of games per year. As of right now though, I'm not spending $40 on a hat that just has "Atlantic Schooners" written on it.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by someone123

I suspect the reality is that Halifax is marginal and Moncton is way too small. If Halifax were 2-3x larger it would have gotten a CFL team decades ago.

Yep.

Originally Posted by someone123

If we are being honest it's obvious that football is unlikely to be as popular in the Maritimes as it is in Regina or Saskatchewan. The Maritimes are not that sports crazed in general.

Also yep.

Originally Posted by someone123

I wonder if the window of opportunity is closing since the popularity of the CFL doesn't seem to be growing in general and there is the concussion issue. I could also see soccer getting more popular and the Wanderers stealing some potential CFL support, if that hasn't already happened.

Also also yep.

Originally Posted by someone123

On the other hand Halifax is growing so it will become a better market for sports teams as time goes on.

We'll see how Halifax manages to handle QMJHL/NBL/NLL/CPL simultaneously next year. That'll be a good indicator of where things stand in the market and how much excess supply there is to support new products.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Yep.

Obviously no proof yet as to how popular football will be in Halifax and ZERO proof about soccer getting more popular and the Wanderers stealing some potential CFL support. You can't steal from something that isn't there no matter how much you wish it to be true.

[J81]

I wonder what the attendance goal will be for regular season games when the Schooners establish themselves finally? Seeing how the Als and Argos are averaging around 17-18k per home game id say 10k for this game in our city is pretty respectable. Just not sure what the end goal will be.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by J81

I wonder what the attendance goal will be for regular season games when the Schooners establish themselves finally? Seeing how the Als and Argos are averaging around 17-18k per home game id say 10k for this game in our city is pretty respectable. Just not sure what the end goal will be.

The actual end goal is to get a 10th team in the league by the 2021 season, in time for the renegotiation of the broadcast agreement with TSN. Ten teams means a balanced league schedule, with more games available for broadcast, so that a higher price for the broadcast rights can be negotiated with TSN (or Sportsnet). At least this was the story told on the CFL thread in the Canada section several months ago.

Actual bums in the seats in some ways is secondary to the TV broadcast rights.

This is the main reason why Anthony LeBlanc is so set on having a team up and running by 2021. This is why he would be willing for the team to be located in Moncton for the first 1-2 seasons while the stadium is built in Halifax.

I'm sure he would be quite pleased to get 8-10,000 fans out to the games in Moncton while the team is here. I'm sure the goal in Halifax would be at least 20,000 fans per game.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by J81

I wonder what the attendance goal will be for regular season games when the Schooners establish themselves finally? Seeing how the Als and Argos are averaging around 17-18k per home game id say 10k for this game in our city is pretty respectable. Just not sure what the end goal will be.

Here is a gauge from Eric Lapointe (aspiring owner of Als) "He guaranteed the league they could turn a profit by the third season, simply by averaging 18,000 spectators at Molson Stadium while selling the 21 private loges, each with a three-year contract."

Arash Madani had also used the 18k figure for the Argos breaking even.