[Stormer]

Originally Posted by Welkin

Nobody knows if this project is going to revitalize downtown Regina or not. It is all going to depend on the number of big events this stadium brings downtown. After a Riders games, sure the Warehouse District bars and restaurants will be packed, but what do they do the other 28 days of the month and all winter long? The area Nationwide Arena in Columbus is successful because not only are there way more NHL games than CFL games, the arena is also packed with concerts and other events.

If Regina's new stadium is also packed with concerts and other events, it will be successful at revitalizing downtown. If it is only booking a couple of events each month in addition to Rider games, it will be a colossal failure. Arenas have been shown to revitalize downtowns, baseball stadiums have worked, football stadiums have not, multi-purpose football stadiums with retractable roofs are less clear. They clearly don't have the number of events that arenas have, but they do have more events than just regular football stadiums.

Here is the list of upcoming events scheduled for Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Keep in mind that Indianapolis is about 7 times bigger than Regina. This downtown, multi-purpose entertainment football stadium is only being used 3 times in Feb, 4 times in March, 1 time in April (for a high school prom), 2 times in May (one for a wedding rehearsal), 2 times in June, 2 times in July, 1 time in August, 0 times in September (thank god for NFL football to start filling the seats) and so on. Where are the mega concerts? If this is all the activity going on in this stadium, no wonder it is losing millions upon millions every year. Will a stadium in downtown Regina host more events than a stadium in downtown Indianapolis? I guess that is the half a billion dollar question we are all trying to decide.

Tue Feb 8 2011 BASF
Thu Feb 17 2011 Ideation Workshop
Fri Feb 25 - Mar 1 2011 NFL Scouting Combine
Fri Mar 4 - Mar 6 2011 Indianapolis Home & Flower Show
Mon Mar 7 - Mar 8 2011 Mitsubishi Fuso Expo and Ride & Drive
Sat Mar 12 2011 Supercross
Thu Mar 24 - Mar 26 2011 Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC-LOS)
Sat Apr 30 2011 Plainfield High School Prom
Fri May 13 - May 15 2011 NexStar National Talent Competition
Fri May 20 2011 Franson/Laviolette Rehearsal Dinner
Tue Jun 7 - Jun 9 2011 Indiana Funeral Directors Convention
Sat Jun 11 2011 Aspen Farley/Ryan Selch Wedding & Reception
Sun Jul 17 2011 The CSG Midwestern Legislative Conference
Sat Jul 23 2011 Herff Jones Conference Opening Evening
Thu Aug 11 - Aug 13 2011 DCI World Championships
Thu Oct 20 - Oct 22 2011 National FFA Convention 2011 (LOS)
Sat Oct 29 2011 ISSMA Marching Band Finals
Sat Nov 5 2011 BOA Regional Competition
Wed Nov 9 - Nov 12 2011 BOA Grand Nationals

Indianapolis also has several large arenas to host concerts and events. In Regina, anything that might draw more than the Brandt Centre's 7000 seat capacity could be held at the new facility.