Quote:
Originally Posted by le calmar
Given the static nature of the league it doesn’t really surprise me that QC doesn’t have a team yet, but I admit I am surprised the idea is almost never discussed. Unlike Halifax, it hasn’t even been given any consideration. At least never in a serious manner.
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Ambrosie talks about Quebec all the time and meets with Tanguay every year. Tanguay himself has stated the stadium is not suitable and cannot be made suitable for CFL. FWIW he also said they would need a stadium around 35k.
Without a new stadium, don't think about the CFL, says Tanguay
Olivier Bossé, Le Soleil June 16, 2023
With fewer than 13,000 seats, the Laval University stadium is not suitable for hosting a professional team. Above all, it turns out to be impossible to add new stands, according to Jacques Tanguay.
Without the construction of a brand new football stadium with around 35,000 seats in Quebec, Jacques Tanguay considers it far-fetched even to mention the possibility of installing a Canadian Football League club in the capital.
The question comes up repeatedly
On Thursday, the commissioner of the Canadian Football League (CFL),Randy Ambrosie, once again expressed the desire of the only professional oval ball circuit in Canada to add new teams to its ranks.
Among the cities or markets targeted, the name of Quebec comes up each time. Because of the success of amateur football, especially that of the Rouge et Or of Laval University. Also thanks to the sporting and economic successes of the region in general. Commissioner Ambrosie calls out by name the chairman of the board of directors of the Rouge et Or football club, of which he is also the main patron since its creation, Jacques Tanguay. The businessman has also just left his position as president of the Quebec major junior hockey club, the Remparts, crowned Canadian champions barely two weeks ago.
Time for politics to speak
All the love for Quebec that the CFL and its commissioner can show does not change the fact that the region does not have a football stadium worthy of a professional team, however, Mr. Tanguay retorts. “In Quebec, we don’t have a 35,000-seat stadium. And without that, no one can even think of being able to carry out a project like that,” summarized Mr. Tanguay at Le Soleil on Friday.
Tanguay and Ambrosie met last November, during the grand final of Canadian university football, the Vanier Cup game, which the Rouge et Or won again. They speak “every year,” agrees Mr. Tanguay.“But above all, we need to know if there is a political desire at the provincial and municipal levels. As for the rest, it’s completely hypothetical, so I’m not going to comment further than that. »
— Jacques Tanguay, businessman and president of Rouge et Or football
PEPS at its maximum
The UL PEPS stadium can accommodate 18,000 spectators, but with only 12,817 seats. Mr. Tanguay specifies that it is impossible to add other stands to what already exists. The place is at maximum capacity. In 2009, a complete section of 2,100 metal seats was installed on the east side of the stadium, behind the wooden stands already in place.
In Quebec, no stadium project is in the pipeline for the Marchand administration. But the advisor responsible for sports on the City's executive committee, Marie-Pierre Boucher, still shows a certain openness towards the CFL. “It’s always a pleasure to see that professional teams want to settle in Quebec. We are a city of champions and it shows. If the phone rings, we will answer, the door is always open,” commented Ms. Boucher in a written statement sent to Le Soleil.