Stadiums & Arenas of Canada, Part 3

[HomeInMyShoes]

Originally Posted by esquire

Never say never. Canada could easily accommodate another NHL team or two when circumstances improve. The CAD hit par with the USD and Winnipeg suddenly got a team.

Yeah, but no one wants to play here either.

The Edmonton Oilers offered Radko Gudas a contract in free agency, but he didn’t want to play in Canada

[esquire]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

Yeah, but no one wants to play here either.

The Edmonton Oilers offered Radko Gudas a contract in free agency, but he didn’t want to play in Canada

I wouldn't put too much stock in that. Sure there are the guys who would rather not come to Canada because of some combination of taxes, media/fan scrutiny and cold weather, but at the end of the day they can't all play in Texas and Florida. There are usually at least a couple of Canadian teams among the contenders every year, so there must be enough decent NHLers willing to sully themselves by playing in the Great White North.

[craner]

Alberta pulls support for 2030 Commonwealth Games, bid efforts cancelled

http://https://globalnews.ca/news/9875351/alberta-pulls-support-for-2030-commonwealth-games/

And there goes another opportunity to upgrade McMahon Stadium.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by craner

Alberta pulls support for 2030 Commonwealth Games, bid efforts cancelled

http://https://globalnews.ca/news/9875351/alberta-pulls-support-for-2030-commonwealth-games/

And there goes another opportunity to upgrade McMahon Stadium.

Well that's disappointing. First, it was pulling out of the Olympics, which I can understand a bit more, but now this?

[craner]

And another article about SkyDome 100 level renos.

http://https://www.constructioncanada.net/rogers-centre-to-begin-next-phase-of-300m-visitor-focused-transformation/?en_click=1

[MalcolmTucker]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Well that's disappointing. First, it was pulling out of the Olympics, which I can understand a bit more, but now this?

Cost to the province was higher with the commonwealth games. Don't forget pulling out of world cup hosting too.

This government just doesn't like hosting big sport. I don't know why they let the Bid Committees get so far before rejecting.

Security costs are just out of control and it is really hard to cover them. The Calgary 2026 failed bid had security costs at over $700 per saleable event ticket (with 1.5 million tickets being sold!).

[esquire]

Originally Posted by MalcolmTucker

This government just doesn't like hosting big sport. I don't know why they let the Bid Committees get so far before rejecting.

Honestly it feels like Canadian cities chase these games because this is how you get sports infrastructure built. You get some irrelevant games event and then the province/feds shower the host municipality with money to build gyms, tracks, stadiums, pools, housing, etc.

Time to cut out the middleman (basically the orgs that run these games) and just build the infrastructure without having to go through the increasingly expensive charade of hosting the Pan Am or Commonwealth Games or whatever.

[Ozabald]

Originally Posted by craner

Alberta pulls support for 2030 Commonwealth Games, bid efforts cancelled

http://https://globalnews.ca/news/9875351/alberta-pulls-support-for-2030-commonwealth-games/

And there goes another opportunity to upgrade McMahon Stadium.

It's always puzzled me how Calgary; a city with such wealth and a very large corporate sector, has such poor and dated sporting infrastructure.

[esquire]

Nice IG Field pic from last night's game

[EpicPonyTime]

Originally Posted by craner

Alberta pulls support for 2030 Commonwealth Games, bid efforts cancelled

http://https://globalnews.ca/news/9875351/alberta-pulls-support-for-2030-commonwealth-games/

And there goes another opportunity to upgrade McMahon Stadium.

I can't be the only one who thought the whole bid just seemed like a thinly veiled attempt at justifying a huge renovation to McMahon or a new stadium entirely, right?

Don't really know what it was other than the seemingly Calgary-centredness of the bid. It made no sense not for them to outright say "we expect cost savings for infrastructure because Commonwealth Stadium already exists for the opening/closing ceremonies" otherwise.

[MalcolmTucker]

Originally Posted by EpicPonyTime

I can't be the only one who thought the whole bid just seemed like a thinly veiled attempt at justifying a huge renovation to McMahon or a new stadium entirely, right?

Don't really know what it was other than the seemingly Calgary-centredness of the bid. It made no sense not for them to outright say "we expect cost savings for infrastructure because Commonwealth Stadium already exists for the opening/closing ceremonies" otherwise.

At the price quoted I'd wager that it involved a big affordable housing outlay for housing athletes.

[Coldrsx]

RE/MAX field and the Riverhawks absolutely killing it when it comes to entertainment value and attendance of late.


https://twitter.com/EdmRiverhawks/st...31831%2Fpage-3

[NewIreland]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

RE/MAX field and the Riverhawks absolutely killing it when it comes to entertainment value and attendance of late.


https://twitter.com/EdmRiverhawks/st...31831%2Fpage-3

Wow! They got rid of the astroturf infield. Looks wayyyy better!

[craner]

^Yeah - I was going to mention the same thing.

[Coldrsx]

The Edmonton Riverhawks broke the West Coast League’s attendance record this season, with 104,748 fans showing up to cheer the team on over 27 games. The team’s final game of the season on Aug. 6 saw more than 5,400 in attendance for its 3-0 loss to the Victoria HarbourCats. “It’s been an unbelievable year,” said general manager Steve Hogle. “We’re really touched and we just love feeling the vibe.” The Riverhawks failed to make the playoffs with a disappointing 18-36 record.
​-Taproot

[J.OT13]

The Ottawa Titans Frontier League Baseball club has attendance issues. In fact, the 4 teams have had attendance, folding one after the other. The AAA Lynx, who were originaly associated to the Montreal Expos were doing well, but fell out of favour when the Expos left and they became the farm team for Baltimore and later Philadelphia.

It has gone up slightly from last year, from an average of 1,211 per game to 1,394 per game.

The location of the stadium about 6 kilometers from Downtown, across the Queensway from the VIA Rail station, isn't great. There's nothing of interest in the area. The stadium was only linked to rapid transit just in time for the Transitway to close. The O-Train opened not long before the last team folded.

It's a nice stadium none the less. Still quite nice, even after 30 years. Can't help but wonder if they would do better if the parking lot was redeveloped into a mini-Lansdowne Park.

Last pic is a typical game attendance.





https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymon..._Thornton_Park

[jonny24]

That's a really nice looking little stadium

[thebasketballgeek]

I remember when the Goldeyes use to sell out our DT ballpark regularly with 6,000+ people in attendance per game, but now that number has dwindled down to about 3,500 a game.

It makes sense though because baseball is a declining sport, the AA league (no affiliation with MLB) has had a noticeable dip in quality of play, and the owner is basically nonexistent these days.

But I wish Canada would have at least 1 AA or AAA team in the country. It would help so much to spark some interest in baseball again. Winnipeg’s ballpark is at least AA caliber and location is AAA tier, but the only teams that would be semi-realistic to set up shop would be the Twins and maybe Brewers.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by thebasketballgeek

I remember when the Goldeyes use to sell out our DT ballpark regularly with 6,000+ people in attendance per game, but now that number has dwindled down to about 3,500 a game.

It makes sense though because baseball is a declining sport, the AA league (no affiliation with MLB) has had a noticeable dip in quality of play, and the owner is basically nonexistent these days.

But I wish Canada would have at least 1 AA or AAA team in the country. It would help so much to spark some interest in baseball again. Winnipeg’s ballpark is at least AA caliber and location is AAA tier, but the only teams that would be semi-realistic to set up shop would be the Twins and maybe Brewers.

Forgot to mention, the Ottawa Titans' owner is Sam Katz, the owner of the Winnipeg Goldeyes, along with OSEG, owners of the 67s and RedBlacks. Other groups were interested in buying the Champions, local groups in the tech industry, but I think Katz was chosen as he affiliated himself with OSEG, who had a close relationship with the Mayor of the day.

[craner]

In Calgary we have to travel to the SSP famous Okotoks to watch baseball - just one of the many things to do there.
Seaman Stadium is a great little ballpark (capacity 5200) and the team (Okotoks Dawgs) are always competitive and attendance is always strong.
http://https://dawgsbaseball.ca/facilities/seaman-stadium/

The former AAA ballpark at the U of C north of McMahon has been left to rot as it sits where the City has been planning to build a field house for over a decade.