Une équipe de la CFL à Québec ?

[digitboy]

La LCF à Québec: Bellemare contactera Saint Marché

Ian Bussières
Le Soleil

(Québec) Promoteur de la venue d'une équipe de la Ligue canadienne de football (LCF) à Québec, l'avocat Marc Bellemare a l'intention d'entrer en contact avec la femme d'affaires Christina Saint Marché, qui a réitéré cette semaine son intérêt à amener la LCF dans la capitale.

Originaire de l'État américain du Montana et ayant déjà résidé à Calgary et en Ontario, Mme Saint Marché est propriétaire de la maison de haute couture qui porte son nom et dont le siège social est situé à Londres ainsi que de la maison de production montréalaise Signature Entertainment.

Ce n'est pas la première fois que Christina Saint Marché, qui compte parmi ses amis l'ancien secondeur des Alouettes de Montréal et actuel directeur général et entraîneur des Lions de la Colombie-Britannique?Wally Buono, s'intéresse à la LCF.

En 2001, elle avait offert 10 millions $ pour acheter les Stampeders de Calgary, puis, en 2006, elle avait manifesté de l'intérêt pour les défunts Renegades d'Ottawa, qu'elle souhaitait relocaliser à Québec.

«J'entrerai en contact avec Mme Saint Marché d'ici la fin du mois. C'est la moindre des choses pour moi étant donné qu'elle a manifesté de l'intérêt pour Québec», a expliqué Me Bellemare au bout du fil.

L'avocat assure qu'il n'aurait aucun problème à travailler de concert avec Mme Saint Marché si ses prétentions sont sérieuses. «C'est peut-être une excellente initiative de sa part et elle pourrait être une excellente collaboratrice, car c'est une femme d'affaires qui a eu beaucoup de succès avec ses entreprises.»

Me Bellemare souligne cependant qu'il a rencontré une dizaine d'investisseurs de Québec, de Montréal et des États-Unis en vue d'établir une franchise de la LCF dans la capitale depuis 2004. «C'est facile de dire qu'on veut mettre de l'argent là-dedans, mais souvent, quand on pousse un peu, ça tombe», fait-il remarquer.

D'autre part, Marc Bellemare continue de craindre que Moncton ne dame le pion à Québec pour une éventuelle expansion de la LCF. «La priorité de la LCF est de ramener une équipe à Ottawa. Pour ce qui est de la suite des choses cependant, le maire de Moncton, Georges Leblanc, est en contact constant avec le commissaire Mark Cohon et il aura un nouveau stade de 20 000 places en 2010», explique-t-il.

Amertume

L'avocat est toujours amer quant à l'échec des démarches visant à construire un stade qui pourrait accueillir la LCF au PEPS de l'Université Laval. «On n'a pas eu de coup de pouce ni du maire Labeaume, ni du recteur Denis Brière. Plusieurs ont perçu là un signal que Québec n'était pas intéressée. Il ne faut pas que ça arrive trop souvent.

«La Ville de Québec est capable de mettre 52 millions $ sur cinq ans pour le Moulin à images et le Cirque du Soleil. C'est une bonne idée, mais c'est également ce que ça coûterait pour bâtir un stade de 39 000 places capable d'accueillir la LCF, les Jeux du Commonwealth et les Jeux panaméricains! Qu'on ne vienne pas me dire qu'il n'y a pas d'argent à Québec pour un stade», poursuit-il.

Me Bellemare travaille dorénavant avec le maire de Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, Marcel Corriveau, qui se serait dit ouvert à laisser un terrain pour la construction d'un stade d'un football par un bail emphythéotique.


Source : http://www.cyberpresse.ca/le-soleil/...int-marche.php

[Rico Rommheim]

Une equipe CFL a QUebec! Non seulement que c'est logique, mais c'est un crime qu'y en deja pas un! Rivalite Montreal-Quebec!!!

[Matrix19]

absolument

[Nicko999]

Ma prediction: Quebec aura une equipe de la CFL et de la NHL en 2012.

[Presswood]

Miam , une bonne nouvelle , c'est toujours plaisant , souhaitons que çà se concrétise.

[gilpel]

Ca serait super que Québec et Montréal revivent la rivalité Canadiens-Nordiques.

Je trouve que d'une certaine facon ca créait un lien entre les deux villes qui n'existe plus maintenant....domage...

Je crois que l'on les gens de Montréal et Québec aimaient se détester....ou plutôt se taquiner....

[ErickMontreal]

The Sad Story of the CFL and Quebec City

By Steve Thompson
Written on October 21, 2009


There was joy for Quebec hockey fans last week when Mayor Regis Labeaume announced that a feasibility study was being conducted for a proposed new 18,000 seat arena which he enthusiastically endorsed, not only for a returned Nordiques but for a possible bid for the Winter Olympics.

Slowly, the pieces are being put in place; civic support; a major investor, Quebecor; encouragement, though not a commitment from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.

If only the CFL could join in. Quebec sports fans are talking hockey, not CFL football.

Quebec is the best Canadian city for CFL expansion but there is no feasibility study being done for a less-expensive CFL stadium. The CFL is paying for its lack of roots in Quebec and in other non-CFL cities with the exception of Moncton which is building a half-size CFL stadium.

This event and the Jim Balsillie Hamilton hockey adventure show how far down the list CFL football is compared to hockey in Canada.

If Balsillie and Quebecor had announced they were seeking CFL franchises for London and Quebec, there would be no obstacles placed in their way by the CFL.

There was a petition signed by 80,000 fans for the return of the Nordiques; none for getting a CFL franchise.

When I typed into the Internet, I have discovered petitions for getting NHL franchises for Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Kitchener, and two for the return of the Hartford Whalers. There was even a petition for the firing of Gary Bettman.

I could not find one for any city wanting a CFL franchise. The best I could do was find an old one asking that Michael Bishop be made the starting quarterback for the Toronto Argonauts.

Clearly the CFL has got to start putting down more roots in Canada. I know it has limited resources, but as I've indicated in the Stimulus To CFL Expansion series of articles I have written and which I will continue to add to, there is much the CFL could do to get increased interest and investment in its league.

Having the Commissioner and other CFL luminaries make occasional visits to non-CFL Canadian cities to talk about the feasibility of a franchise is not enough.

There is no grass roots support or any corporate interest. The CFL has got to do a better job.

Right now, the CFL is congratulating itself on getting a team back in Ottawa and playing a regular season game in Moncton. Let's give them a laurel wreath.

It doesn't hide the fact that they are down 4-0 in petitions to the NHL, which snubs Canada for getting new franchises here.

All the steps that I have listed above that are happening in Quebec City are not happening for the CFL there or any other place in Canada.

Football will never take the place of hockey in Canada but at least the CFL could run a close second instead of trailing near the rear.

Post Script:

This section is addressed to my fellow writers of FANS OF THE CFL, the new on-line CFL magazine which will certainly help stimulate more interest in the CFL in Canada and elsewhere. Should the magazine start an on-line petition for new CFL franchises, new stadiums, and if so where?

Should there be more than one? Giants would probably want a Syracuse franchise and our publisher Jonathan, Saskatoon. And I would favour Quebec, London, and Kitchener. I'll leave it up to my fellow writers, and readers if they want to take up the project.

CFL: If I Were Montreal Alouettes President Larry Smith...

Steve Thompson
Written on December 07, 2009
Rackmultipart

These are good times for Larry Smith, ex-CFL commissioner and current president of the Montreal Alouettes.

His football team finally won the Grey Cup (with a little help from the officials), his football stadium is being expanded by 5,000 seats, and he had an impressive crowd of over 53,000 to see the Alouettes in their last home game in the Eastern Final.

But Larry, if I were you, I know how I could make things even better. Start networking with Quebecor (or any other sports-minded rich Quebecer) who is interested in getting Quebec City into the CFL permanently.

As CFL commissioner, you tried to take the boldest step the CFL has ever taken in my lifetime by trying to expand into the United States.

It was a good try and succeeded in Baltimore where the CFL still has some friends, but the great experiment proved to be a failure.

The only good thing that came out of it was that it got Montreal back into the CFL permanently after the Concordes went out of business a few years ago.

Subsequently, you quit as commissioner and became the relocated Baltimore team's new president where you have had a successful team ever since.

And yet curiously for a man who took the boldest risk in recent CFL history, you have been extremely conservative since.

Instead of trying to bite off more than you can chew like you did as commissioner, you've played it cozy to the vest.

To save expenses and make a profit, your team plays in the smallest stadium in the CFL—with 5,000 seats less than the CFL minimum requirement of 25,000.

You live within your means. The second biggest market in the CFL plays in a stadium that seats 10,000 less than the stadium in the smallest CFL market in Regina.

That's extreme austerity considering the population of Montreal is over 3 million and Regina still hasn't cracked the 200,000 mark.

But Larry, even you have to be impressed with the 53,000 who came to the Eastern Final. You must have made a good profit even playing in the Olympic Stadium. Do you want more?

You always sell out for your home games, but that is because you are playing in a tiny stadium where you can't help but sell out.

You need rival teams from cities who will be a better draw in Montreal. In the eastern conference, you have Winnipeg, Hamilton and Toronto.

The first two cities are an OK draw in your little stadium, but you won't play a regular season game against them in a venue like the Olympic Stadium. Toronto is your only natural rival.

You were supposed to get Ottawa back next year, but the indifference shown by the city council to get stadium plans under way has delayed things for a while.

Ottawa would certainly be a better draw than Winnipeg and Hamilton.

But the real prize is Quebec City, and sports fans there have been making noise recently.

Quebec seems to be the coming city in Canada. In the last census, they pulled ahead of Winnipeg in population and outgrew Hamilton becooming the seventh-largest city in Canada.

Last year, they successfully staged their 400th anniversary celebration and this year they are looking for new fields to conquer.

Unfortunately, most of the hunt seems to be for the return of the Nordiques to the NHL and staging the Winter Olympics. The mayor has thrown his support behind a $400 million arena and a major investor, Quebecor, has been recruited as principal franchise owner.

Nobody is talking CFL.

But there is football interest. This year, Quebec staged the college level Vanier Cup and sold out all the tickets, over 18,000, at the Laval University Stadium. That's better than what they do in Toronto.

Now if that interest could be transferred to a professional team in the CFL—that would mean good business prospects for you.

When Quebec was in the NHL, there wasn't a better draw or more bitter rival for the Canadiens than the Nordiques. Imagine if that rivalry could be transferred from hockey to football.

Quebec would be a permanent good draw in Montreal—no matter how lousy each team was and the championship of the province would be at stake.

Imagine an eastern conference of Montreal, Quebec, Ottawa, Toronto, and Hamilton. That's far more attractive than the way things are now.

The only two problems are that there is no CFL-size stadium in Quebec and no impressive investor has stepped forward.

But you could help matters by starting to network with some rich sports-minded Quebecers.

Persuade Quebecor to enlarge its concept into a multi-sport arena stadium combination or find someone else in the province who would like to own a football team.

Point out that impressive 53,000 and the sold-out Vanier Cup. Remember how you convinced the CFL Board of Governors to expand with visions of sold-out American stadiums?

Now do the same with Quebec investors. Fire up their imaginations with the money Quebec will make by staging the Grey Cup.

Convince them of the glory there will be if their team wins the Grey Cup and there is a victorious parade through the Plains of Abraham before thousands of cheering fans.

Tell them that the expansion fee is a measly $7 million as opposed to the NHL entry fee, and that they could start immediately by expanding Laval Stadium by a few thousand seats for a temporary home until a permanent stadium is built.

As commissioner, you were eager to go into far more risky territory. But here is a permanent great draw for Montreal right on your own doorstep.

A few games each year against Quebec and Ottawa will be more attractive to Montreal fans and could probably draw more than the 20,000-25,000 you get now.

Who knows, with Quebec and Ottawa in the eastern conference, you might be able to scrap that 5,000 seating expansion and move back to the Olympic Stadium. Permanently.

[ErickMontreal]

Originally Posted by digitboy

L'avocat est toujours amer quant à l'échec des démarches visant à construire un stade qui pourrait accueillir la LCF au PEPS de l'Université Laval. «On n'a pas eu de coup de pouce ni du maire Labeaume, ni du recteur Denis Brière. Plusieurs ont perçu là un signal que Québec n'était pas intéressée. Il ne faut pas que ça arrive trop souvent.

«La Ville de Québec est capable de mettre 52 millions $ sur cinq ans pour le Moulin à images et le Cirque du Soleil. C'est une bonne idée, mais c'est également ce que ça coûterait pour bâtir un stade de 39 000 places capable d'accueillir la LCF, les Jeux du Commonwealth et les Jeux panaméricains! Qu'on ne vienne pas me dire qu'il n'y a pas d'argent à Québec pour un stade», poursuit-il.

Voila une erreur stratégique du maire Labeaume, comme quoi personne n'est parfait. Si jamais Moncton ou Halifax dament le pion à Québec, ceci serait en effet très gênant. Je soupçonne qu'il sera difficile de voir la CFL à Québec sans l'implication direct des Tanguays.

[ErickMontreal]

Football canadien à Québec: Marc Bellemare ne lâche pas

Pierre Pelchat
Le Soleil

(Québec) L'ex-ministre de la Justice et ex-candidat à la mairie de Québec Marc Bellemare persiste dans sa démarche d'avoir une équipe de la Ligue canadienne de football (LCF) à Québec ou, devrait-on plutôt dire, à Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures.

À la suite du refus de l'Université Laval d'agrandir son stade pour accueillir plus de 20 000 spectateurs et un club de LCF, Me Bellemare tente toujours de convaincre des investisseurs de construire un nouveau stade à Saint-Augustin près de l'autoroute 40.

«Nous étions prêts à payer la totalité des coûts d'agrandissement du stade du PEPS que l'on avait évalués à 12 millions $. Nous étions prêts également à payer un loyer de 1 million $ par année pendant 15 ans à l'Université. Nous sommes ouverts à verser ce même loyer pour un nouveau stade à Saint-Augustin qui coûterait de 35 à 40 millions $», a-t-il affirmé, hier, au cours d'un entretien avec Le Soleil.

Ce passionné de football rejette carrément l'argument voulant que la venue d'une équipe de football professionnel à Québec nuirait au Rouge et Or. À preuve, il a cité les résultats d'un sondage qui montre que 82 % des partisans du club de l'Université iraient plus souvent ou aussi souvent voir le Rouge et Or si une franchise était accordée à Québec.

De plus, selon ce même sondage réalisé au printemps 2007, la venue d'un club professionnel à Québec inciterait davantage d'amateurs de football professionnel à assister aux matchs du Rouge et Or. Par ailleurs, près de la moitié d'entre eux sont d'accord pour acheter des abonnements combinés pour les parties de l'équipe de la LCF et du Rouge et Or.

Me Bellemare s'explique mal le refus du recteur d'appuyer le projet d'agrandissement du stade. «Les Alouettes ont utilisé le vieux stade de l'Université McGill pendant plusieurs années. Moncton veut faire la même chose avec son stade universitaire de 20 000 places. Un club de LCF aurait donné un rayonnement important à l'Université Laval», a-t-il dit.

Il y a deux ans, le recteur Denis Brière avait expliqué son refus par la crainte de voir les gouvernements fédéral et provincial ne plus vouloir financer le projet de Super PEPS si des modifications devaient être apportées au stade de football. Pour l'agrandissement du stade des Alouettes, le gouvernement du Québec a accordé une subvention de 19 millions $.

[digitboy]

Sans vouloir discréditer la validité du projet de CFL à Québec, je n'ai pas une grande confiance envers Marc Bellemarre, on dirait que tous les projets qu'il a piloté à Québec durant les dernières années ont été des échecs...

[Matrix19]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/3...art-networking

CFL Expansion Stimulus, Number Six: Start Networking

In order to expand, the CFL needs strong investors that believe in the league.

If you go to the CFL Web site and other Internet articles, the CFL believes it has found such investors in its "group of four" in order to expand to Ottawa.

However, if the CFL wants to expand beyond its traditional nine-team base, it is going to have to find such investors for other Canadian cities.

So the question arises: How much networking among investors does the CFL do?

It would be an interesting question to pose Commissioner Marc Cohon and members of the CFL Board of Governors.

In regards to CFL expansion, Cohon has always maintained that the two main factors are stadiums and investors.

My question for him would be: How much does the CFL actively search for new investors to start new franchises in Canada?

We can't really judge, because this topic is shrouded in mystery, confined to the backrooms and boardrooms of Canada.

It's when you compare the CFL to the NHL that questions arise.

In the cities considered for NHL expansion, Hamilton, Quebec, Saskatoon, and Winnipeg, there are investors of various degrees of involvement.

For Saskatoon, the Ice Edge group wants to get the city's toe wet by bringing the Phoenix Coyotes to play for a minimum five games a year.

Hamilton has or had Jim Balsillie, who made an active, determined effort to transfer an existing team, and instead wound up antagonizing Gary Bettman and the Board of Governors.

Winnipeg claims to have a member of the rich Thomson family associated with a return of the Jets.

The most active investor to watch at present is Quebecor, a Canadian media giant which failed to buy the Montreal Canadiens and then fronted an effort to build a new arena and get the Nordiques back to Quebec City.

All these investors could easily own and operate a CFL franchise in Canada, especially when you compare the small franchise fee of $7 million and the supposedly small cost of building football stadiums ($17 million in Moncton and $14 million for a "temporary" stadium in Vancouver.)

But you never read about the CFL hobnobbing with any of these people.

In contrast, last year the press was filled with the many talks/clashes between Balsillie and Bettman.

Quebecor and the mayor of Quebec have had behind-the-scenes discussions with Bettman who has certainly been encouraging the city to find $400 million to build a new arena.

And Bettman also invited Ice Edge to make a renewed bid for Phoenix-Saskatoon.

In contrast, all you read about for the CFL is the opposition of the Ottawa city council which has delayed the return of football to the city.

I've been told there are a couple of people interested in getting a CFL franchise for Quebec, but the CFL regards them as financially unstable. The investors with the deep pockets are nowhere to be seen.

Other possible investors could be the Weston family (Loblaws) and the Bronfmans (Seagrams) who once owned the Montreal Expos. Also, there are other investors in Canada and foreign owners.

When there are no investors like that, the results can be costly.

Ottawa and Montreal lost their franchises, and the second time for Ottawa cost former commissioner Tom Wright his job, as well as his failed attempt to add a fifth Eastern Conference team before 2010.

So when Commissioner Cohon decides to open the CFL Web site to questions again, somebody should ask him how much networking the CFL does with investors for expansion and with who.

For now, it is all a mystery.

[Vulcain]

Saskatoon considéré pour une expension de la LNH ? t'en qu'à ca pourquoi pas Halifax ... la ville de Québec est limite pour faire vivre une équipe de la LNH alors imaginez Saskatoon

[-Harlington-]

Je consens, j'ai mis sais pourquoi saskatoon est considéré sur les lieux comme winnipeg ou comme halifax ou comme Québec qui est, qui tous est plus que deux fois la taille. Mais quant à une équipe à Québec NHL est qu'ils devraient aller après qu'ils ont besoin de lui de retour. L'obtenir à 10 équipes dans le CFL commençant avec Ottawa alors maritimes que le ce sera moncton ou halifax.