CFL 2023 season

[elly63]

Originally Posted by esquire

I have had Bomber season tickets through some pretty miserable seasons but I never resorted to not going and effectively throwing out the tickets. Win or lose, I still had a good time!

I was a Leafs fan in the 70s and 80s. Losing and losing in the worst way was a part of life and made the winning run in 78 all the sweeter. Haven't been a fan of any team to that extent since.

[q12]

Saint Mary's to host CFL's Touchdown Atlantic 2023



HALIFAX — The east coast's biggest celebration of football – Touchdown Atlantic – will return to the region on Saturday, July 29, 2023 as the defending Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts will take on the Saskatchewan Roughriders at Huskies Stadium in Halifax, N.S.

Touchdown Atlantic RETURNS ⚓

The @TorontoArgos and @sskroughriders ship off to Halifax on July 29th, 2023 at Saint Mary's University.

CFL Weekly newsletter subscribers get early access to tickets before general on-sale in the Spring.



MORE ➡️ https://t.co/u1Jolsgi3q #CFL pic.twitter.com/NoqaKoZ6sK

— CFL (@CFL) December 20, 2022
"Saint Mary's University is pleased to welcome the Toronto Argonauts and Saskatchewan Roughriders to Huskies Stadium in Halifax this summer," said Scott Gray, Saint Mary's Director of Athletics & Recreation. "This is a wonderful opportunity for our campus and community, and in particular, our football program, to experience the excitement of professional football. We are very grateful to the CFL for this incredible opportunity to play host to this event."

The regular season match-up is set for Huskies Stadium on the campus of Saint Mary's University, with kick-off at 5 p.m. in Halifax (Atlantic Standard Time), which is 4 p.m. in Ontario (Eastern Time) and 2 p.m. in Saskatchewan (Central Standard Time).

"Touchdown Atlantic brings our fans together in a fun and exciting way," said Randy Ambrosie, Commissioner of the Canadian Football League (CFL).

"It's our way of showing our friends in Atlantic Canada that they're an important part of the CFL family – and inviting our fans from across the country to 'come for the game and stay for a vacation.'"

Next year's edition builds on the success of Touchdown Atlantic in 2022. Last summer's game, also played between Saskatchewan and Toronto, sold out in less than 24 hours and featured a packed house of 10,866 at Raymond Field on the campus of Acadia University in Wolfville, N.S.

Through job creation and wages, event expenditures and spending by out-of-town travellers, the event supported more than $12.7 million in overall economic activity across Nova Scotia. Tourism operators say Halifax is ready for CFL football – and another strong contingent of visiting CFL fans.

The Saint Mary's University football program is one of the most successful in the country and one of the most popular in the region. The Huskies have reached the Vanier Cup nine times, winning the national championship of Canadian university football on three occasions (1973, 2001 and 2002).

"Saint Mary's University has a proud tradition of excellence for student-athletes – including in Huskies' football," adds Dr. Robert Summerby-Murray, President and Vice-Chancellor of Saint Mary's University. "The opportunity to host the CFL's Touchdown Atlantic football game in July 2023 is an opportunity to demonstrate this proud tradition to a national audience. We are delighted to partner with the Canadian Football League in this initiative to bring superior athletes to our campus and to Atlantic Canada."

Ticket details for Touchdown Atlantic 2023 will be announced in the new year. Fans can subscribe to the CFL Newsletter for the latest updates and information.

QUOTES

"I am thrilled to welcome the CFL back to Halifax for the 2023 Touchdown Atlantic game. This past season we hosted several events that re-introduced fans from across the region and the country to our Atlantic hospitality as a sports city. Halifax is excited to be the host city for the rematch between the Roughriders and the Argonauts. Having the game in Halifax will allow us to give the CFL and its fans an experience that will have them coming back for more."
​– Mayor Mike Savage, Halifax Regional Municipality

"There are few, if any, places on the planet I enjoy visiting more than Atlantic Canada. You've opened your arms to us in the past and welcomed us like family members and I celebrate your formidable history of embracing others. We once again are looking forward to your unique hospitality; a combination of warm hearts, down home music and some of the most delectable food imaginable. We look forward to being the home team on July 29, and to being the visiting team in the future when the CFL permanently calls Atlantic Canada home."
​– Michael "Pinball" Clemons, General Manager, Toronto Argonauts

"We are thrilled to have the opportunity to return to Halifax after an incredible visit for Touchdown Atlantic in 2022. The people of Nova Scotia welcomed us with open arms and it was so special to see how many of our fans traveled thousands of miles to join us. I know I speak for all Rider Nation when I say we can't wait to go back and share that amazing East Coast experience again in 2023!"
​– Craig Reynolds, President and CEO, Saskatchewan Roughriders

"Halifax was host to many successful Touchdown Atlantic related events last year, so we're very pleased the CFL is bringing the game itself to our region. Halifax has a reputation as a great sports city, from hosting international sporting events to supporting our local teams, and the tourism sector is ready to showcase our region and hospitality to CFL fans and visitors."
​– Ross Jefferson, President and CEO, Discover Halifax

https://smuhuskies.ca/general/2022-2...20221220gfah34

[jonny24]

Does the Schooners group still exist?

[thurmas]

They should move the game around to places like London Quebec City Kitchener Saskatoon and Kelowna. Atlantic Canada obviously just has no desire to build a stadium.

[esquire]

Will the Argonauts ever play an entire full season at home again?

[q12]

Originally Posted by jonny24

Does the Schooners group still exist?

They have a website on cfl.ca

Originally Posted by thurmas

They should move the game around to places like London Quebec City Kitchener Saskatoon and Kelowna. Atlantic Canada obviously just has no desire to build a stadium.

Well they had a plan then something called a pandemic hit along with inflation.

[EpicPonyTime]

Riders again, eh? Risky move. I feel like it should have been the Argos and Bombers.

Originally Posted by jonny24

Does the Schooners group still exist?

Ambrosie's comments during Grey Cup Weekend suggested the old ownership group is dead, but there are prospective new owners interested. Who they are remains a mystery, though.

[thurmas]

Alouettes hired Jason Mass as head coach and are not renewing their President's contract even though he has improved their attendance and corporate cash flow. Not sure what's going on there but seems the internal ownership squabbles have not been sorted yet.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by thurmas

They should move the game around to places like London Quebec City Kitchener Saskatoon and Kelowna. Halifax obviously just has no desire to build a stadium.

Fixed that for you. Moncton has a 10,000 seat stadium, expandable to 20,000.

[thurmas]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Fixed that for you. Moncton has a 10,000 seat stadium, expandable to 20,000.

They do but its not suitable as a long term stadium too bare bones

[q12]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Fixed that for you. Moncton has a 10,000 seat stadium, expandable to 20,000.

It only has 8,300 seats.

http://https://www.moncton.ca/things-do-sports/croix-bleue-medavie-stadium

[esquire]

Moncton's stadium is a nice university facility but there is nothing about it that looks appropriate for pro sports.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by q12

It only has 8,300 seats.

Fixed your link

[craner]

Sad story here:

http://https://www.tsn.ca/cfl/christian-saulsberry-edmonton-elks-wide-receiver-saulsberry-dies-after-being-shot-in-memphis-1.1894616

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by q12

It only has 8,300 seats.

http://https://www.moncton.ca/things-do-sports/croix-bleue-medavie-stadium

Thanks for the link. It also says the ultimate capacity is 25,000, not 20,000.

Meanwhile Saint Mary's Stadium has no usable seats whatsoever. Didn't they demolish the stands a number of years back because they had been condemned??????

The footprint is so tight, I imagine it would be a struggle to bring in any more than 10,000 temporary bleacher seats.

Oh yeah, I wonder where Halifax will find all those bleachers.........

I believe the city of Moncton has 12,000 or so for rent............

I'm only poking the bear because the city of Halifax and the province of Nova Scotia have absolutely no friggin interest in building a decent stadium, and there is no coherent ownership group with deep pockets that could bankroll such a facility. A CFL team in Halifax is as far from a reality now as it was 50 years ago.

[MonctonRad]

This may be the swan song for Touchdown Atlantic in any event:

"There are other markets that we have visited with, who have reached out to us and indicated that they and their tourism groups are very interested in us bringing a Touchdown festival to their community," said Ambrosie.

"We are now looking well into the future at the possibility of expanding our Touchdown program and making it a bigger platform as a way to increase fandom, increase relevance. To make sure we’re in the hearts and minds of Canadians in all corners of Canada."

Touchdown Quebec City has to be a given. Touchdown Vancouver Island? Touchdown Okanagan? "I won't name them all," Ambrosie said.

CFL in Halifax????

[EpicPonyTime]

Touchdown: Pond Inlet or we riot

[q12]

We are most likely going to see a permeant stadium of at least 10,000 seats built on the Wanderers Grounds. The problem with any ownership group trying to get the CFL in Halifax is they are competing with the very popular HFX Wanderers. The Wanderers Grounds is a perfect stadium location for Halifax.

At this point SMU and Dal should be involved with the CFL in building a stadium on the peninsula in a similar situation like the Montreal Alouettes and McGill.



Source: https://twitter.com/AeroVisionUAV/st...30235343732736

Recent pictures of Huskies Stadium:


https://twitter.com/eastlinkmavs/sta...33273930682368

[blueandgoldguy]

How the hell are they even going to cram 10,000 seats at Husky Stadium. That site looks extremely tight! Lots of standing room seats?

Expansion is dead no matter how much Ambrosie tries to sell this silly idea that there are interested groups. Interest doesn't mean much without serious government/private backing for a half-decent stadium.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by blueandgoldguy

How the hell are they even going to cram 10,000 seats at Husky Stadium. That site looks extremely tight! Lots of standing room seats?

Expansion is dead no matter how much Ambrosie tries to sell this silly idea that there are interested groups. Interest doesn't mean much without serious government/private backing for a half-decent stadium.

The neutral site games are great for the league because it gives the illusion of progress on expansion, it makes Ambrosie personally look like he's doing something (even if he's just repeating the same stuff from the Cohon playbook of years ago), and it gives the Argos a shot in the arm from giving up a home game in exchange for a beefed up box office for a game. I mean, there's a reason it's always the Argos in these neutral site games now. Argos haven't played a full season at home since 2017 (!).