Stadiums and Arenas of Canada part 2

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Acajack

How many FIFA events have there been in Montreal or Canada though?

In the past fifteen years, four:
2002 U20 Women's World Cup
2007 U20 World Cup
2014 U20 Women's World Cup
2015 Women's World Cup

Montreal hosted matches for the latter three.

Originally Posted by Acajack

You keep focusing on the WWC but I had a look at Montreal's attendance and it wasn't that bad considering it didn't have games involving Canada to pack in 50k people like Vancouver did.

Olympic also had three sets of games that had attendances of 10,175, 13,862, and 15,518. Moncton was putting up numbers similar to those. When the tournament was finished Montreal ended on an average of 25,381 over nine matches, less than Vancouver, Edmonton, and Winnipeg. Montreal's average was also less than Edmonton and Toronto during the 2014 Women's U20s.

Montreal did have good attendance for the World U20s in 2007; 40,876 average over nine matches. Ottawa and Toronto were at capacity in their stadiums (25K & 20K respectively). Victoria and Burnaby sold out all matches in their (much) smaller stadiums.

Originally Posted by Acajack

Attendance in Montreal wasn't dramatically different from Edmonton where there were also games with sub-20k attendance in the 15k range.

Indeed, but nobody really says anything about Edmonton having to host matches as some sort of baseline requirement like they do for Montreal.

Originally Posted by Acajack

BTW I am almost positive that international friendlies in Montreal at the Big O over the years have drawn consistently better than friendlies in Toronto at Skydome.

There hasn't been an international friendly in either stadium in the past twelve years.

Originally Posted by Acajack

Saying that Montreal does not support soccer (club or international) is a strawman.

Montreal supports club teams and the occasional international match that usually doesn't involve Canada.

Originally Posted by Acajack

Soccer is well supported in all three of Canada's biggest cities. That's the reality.

Absolutely. It's a shame the stadium situation doesn't currently reflect that (at least to the extent of hosting WC matches go, anyway).

[SaskScraper]

The elephant in the room is that BC place, Commonwealth, NMS, IGF and the Big Owe (depending on its structural integrety) would be the top 5 stadiums in the running to host for WCup in Canada based on the actual acceptability of stadiums themselves. But based on popular opinion in the 3 largest CMAs of who should be entitled, it's Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver though.

Frankenstein-ing BMO by shoehorning the bare minimum seats required would be a huge national embarrassment, especially in comparison to all the stadium offerings in the USA.

As far as city infrastructure goes, only Vancouver has regular rail transit to & from airport etc. Edmonton & Montreal don't have rail transit to their downtown's from airport & it's a 30 minute drive to stadium from each of their airports, which isn't bad considering transit/drive time to stadium in USA cities.
Interestingly, NMS has the best & newest on site training rooms/pools/physio/press area of all stadiums that would be most looked for by the world soccer teams.

[GreaterMontréal]

Edmonton & Montreal don't have rail transit to their downtown's

Montréal will have the REM by then, rapid transit express YUL-downtown 18-20min
frequency 6-12min

transfer at Mcgill on the Green Line.

[FrankieFlowerpot]

Originally Posted by SaskScraper

The elephant in the room is that BC place, Commonwealth, NMS, IGF and the Big Owe (depending on its structural integrety) would be the top 5 stadiums in the running to host for WCup in Canada based on the actual acceptability of stadiums themselves. But based on popular opinion in the 3 largest CMAs of who should be entitled, it's Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver though.

Frankenstein-ing BMO by shoehorning the bare minimum seats required would be a huge national embarrassment, especially in comparison to all the stadium offerings in the USA.

Both NMS and IGF would have to be "frankensteined" in order to meet the bare minimum seats required as well.

How embarrassing would that be?

[thenoflyzone]

Originally Posted by SaskScraper

As far as city infrastructure goes, only Vancouver has regular rail transit to & from airport etc. Edmonton & Montreal don't have rail transit to their downtown's from airport.

YYZ has regular rail transit to Union Station since June 2015. UP Express.
YUL will get it's light metro service by 2022. It is top priority for ADM, the provincial and municipal governements are on board, and the project is being spearheaded by the CDPQ.

The 3 host cities will be Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. There will not be a fourth. To think anything else is lunacy.

The WC final will be held in LA, NYC, Washington or Dallas.

[Coldrsx]

^you don't think that Edmonton/Commonwealth will be thrown into this mix?

Also, there is LRT from Downtown to Century Park (south terminus) with the 747 connector bus to YEG. I take it regularly, 50-55mins door to door for $7.50 with the buses every 30mins during peak times. For larger events they simply could add capacity and frequency.

[Bluenote]

Originally Posted by SaskScraper

The elephant in the room is that BC place, Commonwealth, NMS, IGF and the Big Owe (depending on its structural integrety) would be the top 5 stadiums in the running to host for WCup in Canada based on the actual acceptability of stadiums themselves. But based on popular opinion in the 3 largest CMAs of who should be entitled, it's Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver though.

Frankenstein-ing BMO by shoehorning the bare minimum seats required would be a huge national embarrassment, especially in comparison to all the stadium offerings in the USA.

As far as city infrastructure goes, only Vancouver has regular rail transit to & from airport etc. Edmonton & Montreal don't have rail transit to their downtown's from airport & it's a 30 minute drive to stadium from each of their airports, which isn't bad considering transit/drive time to stadium in USA cities.
Interestingly, NMS has the best & newest on site training rooms/pools/physio/press area of all stadiums that would be most looked for by the world soccer teams.

IGF will have its BRT line to the staduim done in a few years. The IGF BRT station was just finished this year. Now they are on to all the bridges and tunnels from downtown to the staduim.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by SaskScraper

Frankenstein-ing BMO by shoehorning the bare minimum seats required would be a huge national embarrassment, especially in comparison to all the stadium offerings in the USA.

All that really needs to be done is for a North Stand to be added to the current configuration along with the South temporary seating that was up last year. BMO had a capacity of around 41K for the NHL Outdoor game. It wouldn't look frankenstein'd at all because the stadium configuration (see: SSS) allows for it.

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by SaskScraper

The elephant in the room is that BC place, Commonwealth, NMS, IGF and the Big Owe (depending on its structural integrety) would be the top 5 stadiums in the running to host for WCup in Canada based on the actual acceptability of stadiums themselves. But based on popular opinion in the 3 largest CMAs of who should be entitled, it's Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver though.

Frankenstein-ing BMO by shoehorning the bare minimum seats required would be a huge national embarrassment, especially in comparison to all the stadium offerings in the USA.

As far as city infrastructure goes, only Vancouver has regular rail transit to & from airport etc. Edmonton & Montreal don't have rail transit to their downtown's from airport & it's a 30 minute drive to stadium from each of their airports, which isn't bad considering transit/drive time to stadium in USA cities.
Interestingly, NMS has the best & newest on site training rooms/pools/physio/press area of all stadiums that would be most looked for by the world soccer teams.

Toronto has rail to airport not that it matters. I'm not surprised the aesthetics of the stadium is of utmost importance to you over the game and player experience. Everyone has on site facilities. So what if one is slightly better than the other. You'll see a much wider range between best and worst for off site facilities. I would imagine that would put MLS cities far ahead of others. They are much more likely to have soccer specific off site training, practice fields and, corporate centres that could be leased out for the World Cup

[mistercorporate]

One thing I'm noticing in this thread is the obvious lack of soccer knowledge amongst most of the anti-BMO naysayers. Some of the stuff bandied about here is sheer lunacy.

[Franco401]

Originally Posted by mistercorporate

One thing I'm noticing in this thread is the obvious lack of soccer knowledge amongst most of the anti-BMO naysayers. Some of the stuff bandied about here is sheer lunacy.

Example? For the record, almost nobody here is anti-BMO, just pro-Skydome.

[elly63]

If we had to rank the top five stadiums in which to represent our country would BMO be on that list? Personally my answer would be no (my opinion only).

The TFC people are saying that BMO is the best soccer specific stadium in the country. A few points on that, one, is it the best in a race of what, two horses (Saputo)? Is BMO actually now still classified as soccer specific, whatever that means.

I'm finding my definition of soccer specific seems to be coming down to a few thousand zealots who want to sit close behind the goal. What other definition is there to soccer specific? Every new stadium built in Canada is up to FIFA "standards".

Will the Americans be using soccer specific stadiums, I can't think of any at the moment.

Edmonton should be a player for its past success with big events but the decision will likely go to the big three cities.

What I would really like to see is the movers and shakers in Calgary get their shit together and make a run for this. They need a new stadium, and the question arises if they can win an Olympic bid where will the opening and closing ceremonies be held, in a 20k seat hockey arena or 30k seat stadium

They can get fed money for this. If this was involving the university they qualify for fed money for educational infrastructure and also for an international sporting event, the two things that the feds will give money towards.

Unfortunately I can't see anyone having that kind of foresight in Calgary right now which is a real shame.

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by Franco401

Example? For the record, almost nobody here is anti-BMO, just pro-Skydome.

Correct.

Doesn't it make you think the people pro Skydome are mostly from outside of Toronto while those prop BMO tend to live in the city?

[elly63]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

Doesn't it make you think the people pro Skydome are mostly from outside of Toronto while those prop BMO tend to live in the city?

And that matters how?

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by elly63

If we had to rank the top five stadiums in which to represent our country would BMO be on that list? Personally my answer would be no (my opinion only).

The TFC people are saying that BMO is the best soccer specific stadium in the country. A few points on that, one, is it the best in a race of what, two horses (Saputo)? Is BMO actually now still classified as soccer specific, whatever that means.

I'm finding my definition of soccer specific seems to be coming down to a few thousand zealots who want to sit close behind the goal. What other definition is there to soccer specific? Every new stadium built in Canada is up to FIFA "standards".

Will the Americans be using soccer specific stadiums, I can't think of any at the moment.

Edmonton should be a player for its past success with big events but the decision will likely go to the big three cities.

What I would really like to see is the movers and shakers in Calgary get their shit together and make a run for this. They need a new stadium, and the question arises if they can win an Olympic bid where will the opening and closing ceremonies be held, in a 20k seat hockey arena or 30k seat stadium

They can get fed money for this. If this was involving the university they qualify for fed money for educational infrastructure and also for an international sporting event, the two things that the feds will give money towards.

Unfortunately I can't see anyone having that kind of foresight in Calgary right now which is a real shame.

It's quite simple. The stands were designed and are still designed around a soccer pitch; not baseball or football.

Have you considered how many millions would have to dumped in Skydome to make it work for world cup soccer? It's much easier to expand BMO to 40,000 and harmonize the exterior to make it look prettier and impressive for the 1 minute of airtime. I've watched my share of international sporting events on TV as well. The irony is Skydome will get more coverage just because it's fromt and centre to the ubiquitous CN Tower skyline shot.

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by elly63

And that matters how?

Well... locals are more likely to be familiar with the ins and outs of both facilities and therefore have a more indepth opinion than, "it's sooo embarrassingly small and asymmetric"

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Franco401

Example? For the record, almost nobody here is anti-BMO, just pro-Skydome.

Hmm...

Originally Posted by Jammon

I've been to BMO field and am inclined to agree with some of the other posters that it's not a great stadium. If you had a choice between BMO and Skydome, what would you pick?

Originally Posted by isaidso

We here in Toronto like to think BMO is the country's premier soccer stadium but it's not even in the top 5.

Originally Posted by wave46

The biggest knock against BMO is that it has relatively low seating capacity compared to Skydome/other facilities that usually host World Cup games.

Originally Posted by elly63

BMO could only host by default, practically every other stadium in Canada is better (however one wants to interpret that)

Originally Posted by elly63

I'd be embarrassed if we had games at BMO with Winnipeg and Regina not represented. This isn't a shot at Toronto, it's a shot at the facility.

Originally Posted by esquire

Toronto is a bit more complicated. It's a slam dunk for location and fanbase. But neither BMO or Rogers are really A+ venues for an event like this. BMO is nice given that it's oriented to soccer, but let's face it, it's just not that big.

Sure seems like some people don't like BMO at all.

Only in Canada could we have a chance to host the biggest soccer tournament in the world and not use our (very spare) soccer stadiums as a chance to build upon them for the future.

[Franco401]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Hmm...



Sure seems like some people don't like BMO at all.

Only in Canada could we have a chance to host the biggest soccer tournament in the world and not use our (very spare) soccer stadiums as a chance to build upon them for the future.

Even those comments you quoted are from people who prove my point: not hating BMO, but preferring Skydome because they think it's better.

None of the venues in this country are really perfect (no, not even BC Place). There's a big difference between openly hating BMO and pointing out that it has flaws, one of them being that it's a bit small by world cup standards.

Skydome is the better option in my opinion but I have no delusions about any perfect venues. I just think the problems of Skydome (turf, Jays) don't outweigh the problems of BMO (size, amenities, location). If Skydome can't happen, BMO is a perfectly acceptable fallback.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

Have you considered how many millions would have to dumped in Skydome to make it work for world cup soccer?

Adding 10k seats to BMO is gonna be free?

[elly63]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

It's quite simple. The stands were designed and are still designed around a soccer pitch; not baseball or football.

So basically that's it, the end seats are closer, that's all the hullabaloo is about a soccer specific stadium. I have to make that assumption because no one seems to be able to tell me what an SSS is. Boy, are the Americans ever gonna look Mickey Mouse judging by the horror of THF here but then again their fields are shorter. But they`re still not a SSS as vital as that has to be.