Group makes ‘very credible’ pitch for Halifax CFL franchise

[R.J]

http://www.tsn.ca/group-makes-very-credible-pitch-for-halifax-cfl-franchise-1.917745

Let's see where this goes.

[Mightygoose]

Pointman. Anthony Leblanc, former President, CEO and part owner of the Arizona Coyotes. Former co-owner Gary Drummond also an investor.

These guys didn't have the scratch to own the Coyotes even with a generous subsidy from Glendale and was still very highly leveraged.

Mind you they got bought out by Andrew Barroway (or his bank) over the summer so perhaps a CFL franchise is in their pay grade.

[Scooter McCray]

Here we grow again. A 10 team league is ideal. Keep divisional crossover. 4th place team with better record than 3rd place team. You play a home and away game with each team. Your rivalry games really mean something.

[argotom]

Here we grow again. A 10 team league is ideal. Keep divisional crossover. 4th place team with better record than 3rd place team. You play a home and away game with each team. Your rivalry games really mean something.

Very encouraging news.

[jerrym]

Here's the league's official response:



“We can confirm the CFL has had discussions with a group interested in securing a Canadian Football League franchise for the city of Halifax. While this group has been professional, enthusiastic and impressive, these conversations are relatively new and a very thorough process of due diligence must be put in place and completed before we can fully assess the viability of the project. We want to publicly thank this group for its passion for the CFL and we thank the members of the media for their interest.”


https://www.cfl.ca/2017/11/16/cfl-responds-report-potential-future-expansion-halifax/

[jerrym]

The big question is whether they and/or the city can build a stadium.
However, it's great news as long as they don't name the team the Atlantic Schooners, as in J I Albrecht's 1982 Halifax team proposal. I don't need any reminders of his time with the Argos.

[S.A.C.]

... A 10 team league is ideal. Keep divisional crossover... You play a home and away game with each team...If there's a league with ten teams and an 18 game schedule where all the teams play each other twice a year, isn't that just a single ten-team league with no divisions?

[Scooter McCray]

If there's a league with ten teams and an 18 game schedule where all the teams play each other twice a year, isn't that just a single ten-team league with no divisions?Maintain the divisions and the playoff crossover. The likelihood of a weak team in the playoffs becomes much less. Interlocking schedule eliminates playing on anything less than 6 days rest.

[S.A.C.]

My point is that, in a league that supposedly has separate divisions and gives first round playoff byes to the division winners, part of that type of arrangement is having an unbalanced schedule. They could no longer realistically get away with pretending to have separate divisions if every team in the league is playing each other the same number of times. It would be difficult to justify arbitrarily designating the team that was in 4th or 5th place in the 10-team league to inexplicably be a "division winner" and give them a first round playoff bye and then a home game in the league's semi-final.

[R.J]

My point is that, in a league that supposedly has separate divisions and gives first round playoff byes to the division winners, part of that type of arrangement is having an unbalanced schedule. They could no longer realistically get away with pretending to have separate divisions if every team in the league is playing each other the same number of times. It would be difficult to justify arbitrarily designating the team that was in 4th or 5th place in the 10-team league to inexplicably be a "division winner" and give them a first round playoff bye and then a home game in the semi-final.
I don't think the League would have each team playing each other twice, inter divisional match-ups would still be prominent in the schedule. When people talk about schedule balance it has nothing to do with teams playing each other an even numbers of times, it's to balance out the bye weeks and the time teams have between games. I personally think the whole one division thing is way over blown, and I don't think people really understand how important East vs. West is during the playoffs, also when's the last time we had an all West Grey Cup ? Winnipeg's tenure is the East doesn't count.

The West had been stronger in the NHL and NBA for years, and they didn't change anything.

[argotom]

Absolutely the league will have a balanced schedule of each team playing the other twice.
That is one of the major reasons for bringing in a new team so we can get 5 great games every week.
No one wants to see 3 or 4 games when it used to be an 8 team league against the same team.

[paulwoods13]

My point is that, in a league that supposedly has separate divisions and gives first round playoff byes to the division winners, part of that type of arrangement is having an unbalanced schedule. They could no longer realistically get away with pretending to have separate divisions if every team in the league is playing each other the same number of times. It would be difficult to justify arbitrarily designating the team that was in 4th or 5th place in the 10-team league to inexplicably be a "division winner" and give them a first round playoff bye and then a home game in the league's semi-final.

A completely balanced schedule wouldn't be dramatically different that what we have now, where every team in both divisions plays 10 games against the west and eight against the east. If we ever get to 10 teams, I would still want to see all teams in the league once a year in Toronto, and I definitely wouldn't want to see three games against every team in my division. But I'd still retain the two divisions, and I expect the league will do that despite the current noise emanating out of the west for a single division.

[Bruro]

A 10 team league, one division would be ideal. Top two teams get a bye (as an incentive first place team is automatically awarded the grey cup the following year). Teams 3-6 play the first round. Moreover a 10 team league can have a balance schedule. 5 games every weekend. Maybe a bye at labour day where there are 2 big games and 3 games the next weekend. Season can be shortened as well. Big myth of CFL is fans love the cold weather of November. been proven time and time over the years that attendance actually drops towards the end of the season and into the playoffs. a lot of it has to do with cold! Season should start mid June and grey cup should be in the second week of November, the latest

[Bruro]

I still think Quebec City would be a better fit. Bigger population (same size as Winnipeg) and the current university stadium can be retrofitted to CFL stsndards less costly than a brand new one in Halifax. Plus a Quebec -alouettes rivalry would be great! Like the Nordiques and Habs. Would add life to the Montreal franchise

[AngeloV]

I still think Quebec City would be a better fit. Bigger population (same size as Winnipeg) and the current university stadium can be retrofitted to CFL stsndards less costly than a brand new one in Halifax. Plus a Quebec -alouettes rivalry would be great! Like the Nordiques and Habs. Would add life to the Montreal franchise

Disagree. Halifax would be pulling support from an entire region. It would be similar to Riderville IMO.

[Bruro]

Disagree. Originally from Newfoundland. Thinking newfies would support a team in halifax is like thinking people in winnipeg would support a team in Regina. Ditto for new brunswickers as well. Plus a new stadium will cost 250 mill min. Unless the provincial government ponies up the cash it will not get built period. At least in Quebec City they have that university stadium that can be built up to CFL standards. New and sits 12k. Can be expanded to 25k at 100-150 mil tops.

[Argo57]

A 10 team league, one division would be ideal. Top two teams get a bye (as an incentive first place team is automatically awarded the grey cup the following year). Teams 3-6 play the first round. Moreover a 10 team league can have a balance schedule. 5 games every weekend. Maybe a bye at labour day where there are 2 big games and 3 games the next weekend. Season can be shortened as well. Big myth of CFL is fans love the cold weather of November. been proven time and time over the years that attendance actually drops towards the end of the season and into the playoffs. a lot of it has to do with cold! Season should start mid June and grey cup should be in the second week of November, the latest

The league would also take into account what effect a proposal such as yours would have on TV ratings (particularly the playoffs).
Would Western Canada tune in and watch an Ottawa-Montreal Grey Cup Final or more importantly (by population base) will Eastern Canada tune into a Winnipeg-Saskatchewan Grey Cup game, my guess is ratings would drop to which the network partner wouldn’t be too happy which would have ramifications when negotiating TV rights.
It’s not so simple.

[Argo57]

Disagree. Halifax would be pulling support from an entire region. It would be similar to Riderville IMO.

That makes the most sense to me as well.

[ArgoGabe22]

Disagree. Originally from Newfoundland. Thinking newfies would support a team in halifax is like thinking people in winnipeg would support a team in Regina.

I don't know if anyone really expects Newfoundland to support it since its not geographically connected but I can see PEI, NB support it. Although, I think this was why people were pushing for Moncton, since it's more central to everything.

[paulwoods13]

I obviously would love a 10th team, and Halifax is the most attractive market from a visiting standpoint. But one of the problems with the concept is that it strikes me as unlikely the Atlantic team, wherever it's located, will attract a lot of fans from the "other" province. That is, I don't see a lot of Nova Scotians regularly driving to Moncton, and I don't see a lot of New Brunswickers regularly driving to Halifax. And perhaps more importantly, I don't see the corporate communities in the two provinces lining up to support a franchise located in the "other" province. Would Irving get behind a Halifax-based venture? I'm dubious.

[Argo]

I obviously would love a 10th team, and Halifax is the most attractive market from a visiting standpoint. But one of the problems with the concept is that it strikes me as unlikely the Atlantic team, wherever it's located, will attract a lot of fans from the "other" province. That is, I don't see a lot of Nova Scotians regularly driving to Moncton, and I don't see a lot of New Brunswickers regularly driving to Halifax. And perhaps more importantly, I don't see the corporate communities in the two provinces lining up to support a franchise located in the "other" province. Would Irving get behind a Halifax-based venture? I'm dubious.

Adding a 10th CFL team is a Hard Problem.

[Argo57]

Adding a 10th CFL team is a Hard Problem.

How about Hamilton?
They could support a “professional” football team couldn’t they?

[AngeloV]

Disagree. Originally from Newfoundland. Thinking newfies would support a team in halifax is like thinking people in winnipeg would support a team in Regina. Ditto for new brunswickers as well. Plus a new stadium will cost 250 mill min. Unless the provincial government ponies up the cash it will not get built period. At least in Quebec City they have that university stadium that can be built up to CFL standards. New and sits 12k. Can be expanded to 25k at 100-150 mil tops.

I was talking more New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Quebec city drew like 3k for an Allouettes pre season game. Doesn't exactly scream "give us a team". Both Halifax and Moncton did much better when the hosted games. The Laval crowds could be more about school spirit than actual football fans. The Maritimes would tret a CFL franchise of their own like gold.

[AngeloV]

I obviously would love a 10th team, and Halifax is the most attractive market from a visiting standpoint. But one of the problems with the concept is that it strikes me as unlikely the Atlantic team, wherever it's located, will attract a lot of fans from the "other" province. That is, I don't see a lot of Nova Scotians regularly driving to Moncton, and I don't see a lot of New Brunswickers regularly driving to Halifax. And perhaps more importantly, I don't see the corporate communities in the two provinces lining up to support a franchise located in the "other" province. Would Irving get behind a Halifax-based venture? I'm dubious.

A good little compromise would be to hold camp in Moncton on a yearly basis. A month of camp in a city can go a long way into adding to a fan base.

[R.J]

This is starting to sound similar to what occurred in '82, a willing Owner, but no stadium. This potential ownership group really doesn't sit well with me, and Leblanc reminds me of John Spano.

EDIT: Comparison to Spano is probably too harsh, just rewatched "Big Shot", so had Spano on the brain I guess. The Brad Watters Group (former Owners for the Renegades, Rock, Rebel, and Express) is probably more appropriate.

[R.J]

Disagree. Originally from Newfoundland. Thinking newfies would support a team in halifax is like thinking people in winnipeg would support a team in Regina. Ditto for new brunswickers as well. Plus a new stadium will cost 250 mill min. Unless the provincial government ponies up the cash it will not get built period. At least in Quebec City they have that university stadium that can be built up to CFL standards. New and sits 12k. Can be expanded to 25k at 100-150 mil tops.
Telus stadium has a maximum seating capacity of 19,500, and there's no more room to expand it, so I don't see that working for the CFL. Quebec is also missing a potential ownership group.

[OV Argo]

I was talking more New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Quebec city drew like 3k for an Allouettes pre season game. Doesn't exactly scream "give us a team". Both Halifax and Moncton did much better when the hosted games. The Laval crowds could be more about school spirit than actual football fans. The Maritimes would tret a CFL franchise of their own like gold.


Agreed AV - IMO the entire Maritimes region would travel to support their team - just like in Sask.

They could also hold one or even 2 games a year at that facility in Moncton that has hosted CFL games before.

This needs to happen - IMO about the single biggest thing the CFL could do = get to 10 teams - and Atlantic Canada with a team to make it a true coast to coast CFL; 5 games a week instead of 4 would be huge IMO.

[Wobbler]

Personally, I don't have much interest in the largely symbolic achievement of adding an Atlantic team. Even a healthy new franchise would drive up travel costs for everyone else, and obviously the league has some financial issues. I'd hold out for a sweetheart deal that doesn't involve substantial public money...

[argolio]

Personally, I don't have much interest in the largely symbolic achievement of adding an Atlantic team. Even a healthy new franchise would drive up travel costs for everyone else, and obviously the league has some financial issues. I'd hold out for a sweetheart deal that doesn't involve substantial public money...So you'd hold out for a pipe dream. Great plan.

If this expansion happens, I'd keep the divisions and go to an unbalanced schedule -- ten games within the division and eight against the West. Under this format, West teams would come to Toronto every four years out of five, and one division foe would come here twice every season. There's your saved travel costs. You could also stress regional rivalries by having Edm-Cgy, Ssk-Wpg, Tor-Ham and Mtl-Ott play each other three times every year. More division games would also greatly decrease the chance of a crossover.

[Wobbler]

So you'd hold out for a pipe dream. Great plan.
Precisely. There's no need for expansion, so it shouldn't happen unless the situation is ideal.

[Bruro]

Ideally i think both Halifax and Quebec City would be great additions to the league. However that makes the league imbalanced again. Could we put a sixth team out west somewhere? Everyone says Victoria (Vancouver Island) is too small but doesnt the whole island have 500k people? Cant think of any other city in the west that could support a team. A 12 team league though would have a lot more power and appeal.

[Argo]

Ideally i think both Halifax and Quebec City would be great additions to the league. However that makes the league imbalanced again. Could we put a sixth team out west somewhere? Everyone says Victoria (Vancouver Island) is too small but doesnt the whole island have 500k people? Cant think of any other city in the west that could support a team. A 12 team league though would have a lot more power and appeal.

I lived on Vancouver Island for 10 years in this millennium. A CFL franchise is simply not viable on VI (and that's an understatement).

[argotom]

Disagree. Halifax would be pulling support from an entire region. It would be similar to Riderville IMO.

Agree, don't forget Atlantic Canada do not have another pro team and just like Saskatchewan.
The name must be Atlantic something, I like the Storm!
This could be another Ottawa financial boom.

[S.A.C.]

The name must be Atlantic something, I like the Storm!Destroyers?
Anything, as long as it's not the Halifax Explosion.

[jerrym]

Lots of questions remain to be answered before an Atlantic franchise goes beyond the talking stage.



Advocates and experts acknowledged Friday that sobering questions remain: Does the East Coast have the fan base to support a Canadian Football League franchise? Is the business community interested in sponsoring a team? And, perhaps most importantly, who will foot the bill for a new Halifax stadium?
"The CFL is going to want to see a stable ownership group with deep pockets, which appears to be the case," said Moshe Lander, a Concordia University professor who specializes in the economics of sports. "The fight is going to be who is going to pay for the stadium."
Stadiums hardly ever yield the economic benefits that are promised, Lander said, noting that it would need a minimum of 30,000 seats, but the "sweet spot" is closer to 40,000. You would ideally like to incorporate sponsorship," he said. "Sobeys would be an ideal anchor sponsor."
Halifax Mayor Mike Savage called a potential CFL team an "exciting opportunity," but said the municipality will not be leading the charge. "A stadium is not a capital priority at this time," he said. "Any proposal would need to be private sector led and make economic sense for the municipality. A football stadium would have to be built "without putting taxpayers at risk," Savage said, and the team would have to be an "Atlantic play" to make economic sense.
"The big issue really is the corporate support," he said. "This is the financial centre of Atlantic Canada and I think the CFL sees that if you want to have a franchise that is going to be successful there has to be deep financial roots and commercial support." ...

The key, according to the deputy chairman of the TD Bank Group, is making the "very marginal" economics work. I'd say there are two or three secrets to success," he said. "You would need very strong community ownership. I'm thinking the models in Saskatchewan and Green Bay, for example. And you would need it to be more than just a football play," McKenna added. "It has to be real estate and retail and other things associated with it in order to increase the revenue from the property."
He pointed to the stadium at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa. It's a model Savage called "attractive" after a 2014 tour of the facility, which includes the 24,000-seat TD Place Stadium. The redesign of the park at the southern edge of the Glebe neighbourhood includes retail space, condominiums, and a children's play structure, which was considered critical to securing the Ottawa Redblacks franchise.
Lander said Halifax, with a major international airport, growing population, major universities and development, is a good location for a team. He said the CFL could use a team in the Atlantic region.


https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/football/halifax-mayor-says-city-wont-lead-effort-for-a-cfl-team/article37014542/

[rdavies]

However, it's great news as long as they don't name the team the Atlantic Schooners, as in J I Albrecht's 1982 Halifax team proposal. I don't need any reminders of his time with the Argos.Aside from jarring bad memories for you, it's the only fitting name and still has historical value for east coast fans.

[rdavies]

Disagree. Originally from Newfoundland. Thinking newfies would support a team in halifax is like thinking people in winnipeg would support a team in Regina. Ditto for new brunswickers as well. Plus a new stadium will cost 250 mill min. Unless the provincial government ponies up the cash it will not get built period. At least in Quebec City they have that university stadium that can be built up to CFL standards. New and sits 12k. Can be expanded to 25k at 100-150 mil tops.Lots wrong with this post. The team will likely be called the Atlantic Schooners for many reasons. Atlantic includes Nfld and the one thing we can agree on is there won't be too much Newfie support re: tickets. But that does not preclude down the road building a market (however small) for TV ratings and team gear.

I lived in all three Maritime provinces, it will be a regional team and there won't be any petty squabbles about supporting it, it will mimic the Riders.

As for the stadium costing 250 million that would get the equivalent of something between IGF and Mosaic, that won't happen. THF at 145 million is more like it. I can easily see it getting federal and provincial funding if the ownership can get Dal and SMU on board. You can get federal money for university infrastructure.

Expansion of the Laval stadium is not that easy. Moncton's 10k relatively new stadium would cost up to 100 million to bring it up to snuff (according to Cohon), same would go for Laval. Also Laval has a private backer for the football team and they are very happy with the status quo. If they wanted a CFL team the news would be out there, they don't. They like being a big fish in a small pond.

[rdavies]

I obviously would love a 10th team, and Halifax is the most attractive market from a visiting standpoint. But one of the problems with the concept is that it strikes me as unlikely the Atlantic team, wherever it's located, will attract a lot of fans from the "other" province. That is, I don't see a lot of Nova Scotians regularly driving to Moncton, and I don't see a lot of New Brunswickers regularly driving to Halifax. And perhaps more importantly, I don't see the corporate communities in the two provinces lining up to support a franchise located in the "other" province. Would Irving get behind a Halifax-based venture? I'm dubious.I know this region and yes it will come together just like the Riders.

I've had this debate before, Moncton would be the best place to physically situate the team but Halifax has all the other advantages. Plus Monctonians historically are predisposed to going to Halifax. Most English speaking Monctonians who attended university before the turn of the century went to NS schools, SMU/Dal/X/Acadia/MSV and the rest went to UNB. I don't know what they do now but my best friend's daughter went to The Mount so things probably haven't changed much.

It takes about 2 hours and 30 minutes to go from Moncton to where the stadium will likely be. Will a large amount of Monctonians make the trip for every game, no, but I can see most Maritime fans catching at least one game a year. On this subject there is no regional rivalry, same way as Maritimers often come together when they go out west.

Sobey's are based in NS, McCain's deal around the world and this is all you need to know about Irvinghttps://i.imgur.com/djnqV0u.jpg

[rdavies]

This is starting to sound similar to what occurred in '82, a willing Owner, but no stadium. This potential ownership group really doesn't sit well with me, and Leblanc reminds me of John Spano.

EDIT: Comparison to Spano is probably too harsh, just rewatched "Big Shot", so had Spano on the brain I guess. The Brad Watters Group (former Owners for the Renegades, Rock, Rebel, and Express) is probably more appropriate.Did I just post this? My exact thoughts and last week I rewatched "Big Shot". Can't believe it but my comparison would also be the Brad Watters Group.

The three things that give me hope are: 1. They received money from the sale of the Coyotes, if they didn't have it before (LeBlanc was a part of Blackberry) 2. They went to the table with Ambrosie (a financial guy) who unlike Bettman/Spano, I hope vetted them and 3. Maybe Ambrosie is using them to get some other groups to come out of the woodwork.

[rdavies]

The name must be Atlantic something, I like the Storm!Not bad. It has to be Atlantic so as not to preclude NF even though they would be an infinitesimal part of it. You would be looking to build that market down the road for other opportunities aside from ticket sales. Atlantic also flows off the tongue better with the potential candidate names. They'll pick something that makes sense historically and geographically not like Raptors : ( Apparently lots of fossil finds in the GTA moreso than AB : ) Will likely be Schooners as it ties in with all the provinces shipbuilding history, it's on the dime (still is isn't it?) and of course a good tie in with the beer.

[rdavies]

Destroyers? Anything, as long as it's not the Halifax Explosion.I actually like the sound of Halifax Explosion but it will be a regional name Atlantic ???

Destroyers has a nice ring about it but isn't totally accurate historically speaking. Yup they convoyed destroyers across the Atlantic during the war but the Corvette had much more significance. I'm also not keen on the sound of Atlantic Corvettes.

It's not going to be Maritime anything, especially Marauders which makes no historic sense and even though Privateers has some cachet it is mostly related to NS. Schooners is really the only name that I can think of that could be made acceptable to the entire region and it works on several different levels.

[R.J]

Potential CFL team owners looking at four pieces of HRM land: mayor
http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/potential-cfl-team-owners-looking-at-four-pieces-of-hrm-land-mayor-1.3686309#_gus&_gucid=&_gup=twitter&_gsc=iVWoTdm

Shannon Park and Dartmouth Crossing make the most sense to me. Essentially, if it does happen, it'll be built where everyone (Owners, Business community, Province and City) can maximum revenue.


I hope if this ever does happen: they avoid going with the Schooners name.

[R.J]

http://edmontonsun.com/sports/football/cfl/edmonton-eskimos/jones-halifax-hopes-for-cfl-team-riding-high

A lot of expansion talk at this year Grey Cup Festivities so far, and it sounds as though the Schooners Kitchen party will be the biggest yet.

[rdavies]

Will Halifax join the CFL in 2020? (http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/video/will-halifax-join-the-cfl-in-2020~1270679)
tsn.ca November 25/2017

CFL Insiders Dave Naylor and Farhan Lalji discuss the excitement and bullish feeling surrounding the possibility of a CFL team being granted to Halifax, the future of Wally Buono and is June Jones going to remain in Hamilton? The Insiders have all that and more.

Interesting that the commentators said that some people involved in getting Ottawa up and running will be involved. I'm liking everything I'm hearing about this except for how deep pocketed the ownership group is. Apparently Ambrosie gives them the thumbs up so...

[rdavies]

Ambrosie believes Atlantic Canada is the last piece of the puzzle (http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/video/ambrosie-believes-atlantic-canada-is-the-last-piece-of-the-puzzle~1226524)
tsn.ca November 25/2017

CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie joins Kate Beirness and Derek Taylor to talk about his first Grey Cup as commissioner, explains why he believes Atlantic Canada is the last piece of the puzzle, discusses the Argonauts ongoing attendance issues and much more.

[R.J]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I just spoke to Anthony LeBlanc. He&#39;s one of the leads for the group trying to bring football to Halifax, I was struck by what they&#39;ve done already behind the scenes. Those details in my <a href="https://twitter.com/cbcsports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@cbcsports</a> story tomorrow.</p>&mdash; Devin Heroux (@Devin_Heroux) <a href="https://twitter.com/Devin_Heroux/status/934559519459430400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 25, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">After listening to Anthony LeBlanc talk about what Halifax football group has done to bring CFL to city... whoa. Momentum. Serious. “We just have to finalize the process,” he told me earlier tonight. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CFL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CFL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GreyCup?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GreyCup</a></p>&mdash; Devin Heroux (@Devin_Heroux) <a href="https://twitter.com/Devin_Heroux/status/934594847142490112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 26, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


I hope this is the real deal.

[Tau Ceti]

Here's Heroux's article: http://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.4420090

"...he's hired an architect in Los Angeles to produce a stadium rendering that was presented to Halifax council." Clearly this is farther along than we've realized.

[rdavies]

^'Defining moment': CFL commissioner sparks expansion hope in Halifax (http://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/cfl-commissioner-expansion-halifax-1.4420090)
Randy Ambrosie says it’s the unfilled part of national dream
Devin Heroux, CBC Sports Nov 25, 2017

And now on this go-around, it appears the Schooners name is still as popular as ever.

"The original thought process is we'll do what the Schooners did back in the early '80s and that was go to the people in the Atlantic provinces and find out what people want to call it," LeBlanc said."If the early feedback is any indication it's going to be tough to see it being anything other than Schooners.

[R.J]

[And now on this go-around, it appears the Schooners name is still as popular as ever.

"The original thought process is we'll do what the Schooners did back in the early '80s and that was go to the people in the Atlantic provinces and find out what people want to call it," LeBlanc said."If the early feedback is any indication it's going to be tough to see it being anything other than Schooners.
Ugh. not as bad as REDBLACKS, but close IMO. Not a fan of LeBlanc, but I hope he and the other investors come up with something new and considerably more interesting (team colours included).

[OV Argo]

Schooners is fine with me (bit of a clash or maybe a friendly competition with the mighty ship Argo !;o) ); but I hope they call them the Atlantic what-evers rather than Halifax ***** - just like the Riders are the Saskatchewan Roughriders- representing the whole province (and not called the Regina Riders).

And even if they get a cosy new stadium (modest cost model like in the Hammer ?). I still say they should play one game a year at the facility in Moncton - to help spread the feel of a Maritimes team.

Again - IMO - this is the single biggest thing the CFL could pull-off to build/improve - a 10th team in Atlantic Canada to give a cross country feel to the league and to finally expand (rather than stay same old or else go backwards with a team folding like in the past) And a 10 team league with an extra game per week on the sched. would be huge for profile/interest (say a Thurday nigher, a Friday nighter with some doubleheaders there, and then games on the weekend - CFL games could be on 4 days a week for some or all of the sched), IMO. Gotta work on a way better TV deal for next time - with a 2nd broadcast partner a good idea IMO.

[rdavies]

I don't know why you would change a name that has history (and branding), works on all levels within the region, was chosen by the people once (and may again) and polling suggests is still popular. It would be inane to change that.

[rdavies]

Schooners is fine with me but I hope they call them the Atlantic what-evers rather than Halifax ***** - just like the Riders are the Saskatchewan Roughriders- representing the whole province.

I still say they should play one game a year at the facility in Moncton - to help spread the feel of a Maritimes team.Thy will, will be done They would have to incur some costs playing in Moncton to temporarily expand the stadium unless they only played pre season games there which might be a better idea.

[argotom]

It does appear to be a very serious group, I still like my Atlantic Storm name.

[R.J]

I don't know why you would change a name that has history (and branding), works on all levels within the region, was chosen by the people once (and may again) and polling suggests is still popular. It would be inane to change that.
Lots of reason IMO. Let's take out that I think "Schooners" is a silly name, and look at it objectively...........

- The potential owners have stated that they want a name that represents all the Atlantic, now that could just mean they want "Atlantic whatevers" vs. "Halifax whatevers", but the Schooners name doesn't really represent the whole of Atlantic Canada, as ships have been primarily built in Halifax/Nova Scotia since the 1800's. (1798 was the earliest year I found)

- We already have a team that has ties to boats, ships, etc.

- If they were to use the current logo, they'd be the 3rd team in the East to have the letter A as part of there logo. It's a currently 9 team league, some originality should be required.

- Team colours : I've seen three different set ups as of right now. Bombers Navy Blue and Gold, a black and white combo, and a Dallas Cowboys looking entry. Again, small league, so copying another team's colours, or going with black as the primary or secondary isn't unique or original when 4 other current CFL teams use black.

All I'd like to see is something original and unique, that will bring the region together, the Atlantic Schooners are a team that never was, maybe it should be left that way, and the potential Owners create something new that sticks and actually not only represents all of Atlantic Canada, but sticks and connects with the Region.

[rdavies]

but the Schooners name doesn't really represent the whole of Atlantic Canada, as ships have been primarily built in Halifax/Nova Scotia since the 1700's.Think you better check your history there.

You may think it's a silly name but it's what the people wanted and polling is telling the ownership group it is what they still want. Do you want them to pick a name that means nothing to the area like let's say Raptors? How about Atlantic Justice League? Is that in the theatres now?

[Ron]

Do you want them to pick a name that means nothing to the area like let's say Raptors?

Raptors has meaning in the area. Everyone here knows if you go to High Park you better keep out of the long grass.

[Tau Ceti]

"...the Atlantic Schooners are a team that never was, maybe it should be left that way..."

Well said.

I'd like to see every grade schooler across the four provinces submit a name. Ships, dinosaurs, who cares. I'd like to see naming debates in pubs, and barber shops, and city councils. Atlantic graphic designers should be asked to submit colours and designs. Naming a team is half the fun of getting one and in this case it might be a really important part of creating a regional footprint.

If after all of this is done the Schooners name remains the most popular then so be it. But let's be honest: people are really attached to Schooners because of long-term fans' nostalgia at seeing the name at Grey Cup parties. That's understandable but also reductive and could spike the opportunity for something new and fun.

[rdavies]

I guess if you CFA you don't get it. I would think people from Toronto would understand when they have a team with a 144 year history and more than enough people who would have no problem throwing that history away. The name fits, people like it, it has history and you can't buy that. There has never been any sizeable group in the Maritimes (to my knowledge) who have objected to the name. Maritimers aren't so vacuous that they pick a team name after "characters" in a recent movie. They are proud of their history and cling to it and usually don't give in to the latest trend. Let's give a little credit here.

[R.J]

http://3downnation.com/2017/12/12/atlantic-schooners-name-re-registered/

Looks like it's getting serious. Still wish they would choose a better name, and had other individuals involved with Ownership.

[Mightygoose]

Branding Branding Branding.

Atlantic Schooners is a name that already resonates in the region. Look no futher than the fan group that attends the Grey Cup every year.

Those who don't like the name will get used to it. Many laughed their behinds off when Toronto's NBA was announced as the Raptors. Years later it stuck and now there is a generation who would not know it as anything else

Atlantic Schooners it shall be....should it happen....

[R.J]

Been talk for years about the Raps changing their name, and was seriously looked at when Leiweke was around.

[doubleblue]

Branding Branding Branding.

Atlantic Schooners is a name that already resonates in the region. Look no futher than the fan group that attends the Grey Cup every year.

Those who don't like the name will get used to it. Many laughed their behinds off when Toronto's NBA was announced as the Raptors. Years later it stuck and now there is a generation who would not know it as anything else

Atlantic Schooners it shall be....should it happen....

I think it will be the Schooners. They already have had a fan club going for years, and I don't think the name offends any group.

[paulwoods13]

At least 3DownNation had the decency to acknowledge that the first report on this brand name came from none other than our own Steve Hayman. In contrast to other news sources that credited themselves as "learning" this.

[shayman]

At least 3DownNation had the decency to acknowledge that the first report on this brand name came from none other than our own Steve Hayman. In contrast to other news sources that credited themselves as "learning" this.

It was fun watching this story develop. Anybody can search the Canadian trademark database at http://www.ic.gc.ca/app/opic-cipo/trdmrks/srch/home - you can search for something specific like "Atlantic Schooners", or even something vague like "Halifax and Football" and see what shows up.

A month ago when I heard there was this new Atlantic interest, I took a look to see the status of the 'Atlantic Schooners' trademark. As of a few weeks ago it was listed as registered in 1982 by the original group, but now abandoned - but I took another look on Sunday night (I must admit, I had no idea if this was practical but I had this vague idea of trying to register it myself and giving it to the CFL just to keep it out of the hands of some speculator) and whaddya know, it's suddenly been registered by "3312738 Nova Scotia Limited". Searching another public database of Nova Scotia corporations (https://rjsc.gov.ns.ca/rjsc/search/inquiry.do) you can see that that company is "Maritime Football Limited", incorporated Nov. 28, complete with a list of directors (including that guy from the Arizona Coyotes.)

I tweeted about this and sat back to see what happened - and a few friends retweeted it (thanks paul), then @CFL_News retweeted it, and @3DownNation wrote about it, and then boom, Global Halifax covered it, CBC reports it, and Dave Naylor was talking about it on TSN and it was briefly a top-10 trending-in-Canada twitter topic. That was cool.


There's tons of neat trivia you can learn from the trademark db. Current and abandoned trademarks are all there. For instance, the CFL owns "Ottawa Rough Riders". The CBC owns "Football Day in Canada". FIFA owns "Canada 2026". Somebody in 1998 registered "Le National de Québec" as a football team name. The former NBA Vancouver Grizzlies also registered "Toronto Grizzlies". Team names like "Toronto Tomahawks", "Toronto Bobcats", "Toronto Rex", "Toronto Razors/Terriers/Destroyers/Tarantulas/Thunder" and many more all show up. Most long abandoned. But "Toronto Buffalo" was registered in 2014 by "Fourth And Goal Inc" of Los Angeles for "entertainment services in the form of professional football games and exhibitions". Since abandoned. Hmm.

And I bet if the Edmonton Eskimos get pressured to change their name, you'll find out what they're thinking of by checking the trademark DB.

[rdavies]

Couple of interesting points from this story from last week

Bid for Halifax CFL team steams ahead with Atlantic Schooners trademark (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/atlantic-schooners-gain-steam-in-cfl-bid-with-trademark-1.4446104)
Group behind franchise push registers name
CBC News Dec 13, 2017

A proposed CFL franchise for Halifax continues to gain momentum, with the group behind it trademarking the name Atlantic Schooners.

The trademark was formalized on Dec. 1 and gives the proponents the sole right to use of the team name on a long list of souvenirs and others items, ranging from licence-plate holders to golf umbrellas and even Christmas ornaments.

Included on the list, according to online records, is "wholesale and retail sales of sporting goods, athletic and casual clothing, and novelty items; online retail sale of sporting goods, athletic and casual clothing and novelty items."

Anthony Leblanc, who is part of the group trying to bring a team to Halifax, told TSN the trademark was registered "just for safety, just in case we want that name," but there's still a long way to go before a name is selected.

"We're going through the process now of testing certain names in the market by doing some polling," he told TSN. "What I'd like to do is a name-the-team contest where everyone can be engaged. But based on the feedback I'm hearing today it's going to be tough to go with anything but Schooners because that seems to be about 5-to-1 [in favour]."

LeBlanc, a New Brunswick native who is former president and CEO of the NHL's Arizona Coyotes, is listed as president and CEO of newly registered Maritime Football Ltd., the company that applied for the trademark.

Gary Drummond, the Coyotes's former president of hockey operations, is listed as the vice-president and a director of the proposed franchise. LeBlanc and Drummond left the Coyotes when the team went through a front-office makeover in June.

Bruce Bowser, president of AMJ Campbell Van Lines, is listed as director and secretary.

The trademark documents also deal with copyright protection relating to "broadcasting and re-broadcasting of football games through television, streaming services, satellite, radio and the internet."

The Canadian Football League currently has nine teams, five in the West division and four in the East division. It was revealed just prior to the Grey Cup game in Ottawa that the investor group had met with Halifax council to discuss a franchise coming to the city.

Halifax currently has no stadium for a pro football team to play in.

Canadian beer giant Labatt, which makes Schooner beer, has not been involved with Maritime Football Ltd.'s trademark process, but said it could become a partner down the road if the franchise takes flight.

"If a team came, and they had a stadium to play in, our likely approach would be to try and secure pouring rights in the building," said Wade Keller, the Atlantic Canada director of corporate affairs for Labatt Breweries of Canada.

"We could sponsor certain events at games, or even an entire game, but we leave team ownership to others."

https://i.imgur.com/2BRJicV.jpg

[paulwoods13]

Great summary of your investigative work, Steve Hayman. You shoulda been a reporter!

[rdavies]

CFL in Halifax: A gamble with lots of field to cover (http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1532337-cfl-in-halifax-a-gamble-with-lots-of-field-to-cover)
FRANCIS CAMPBELL The Chronicle Herald December 28, 2017

This is part one of a series on the possibility of a CFL franchise in Halifax.

PART TWO: Stadium talk dominates CFL expansion discussion (http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1532573-stadium-talk-dominates-cfl-expansion-discussion)

Third down and long.

Sports fans could not be blamed for ascribing those odds to a Canadian Football League expansion franchise in Halifax.

Jaded by past failure and sporadic expansion chatter that hasn’t gone anywhere, local fans might be too hasty in relegating the latest CFL expansion bid to the improbable bin.

“We feel that the odds are better than not,” said a guarded Anthony LeBlanc, one of three businessmen who front a company that is keen on pushing CFL expansion to the Maritimes over the goal-line this time around.

“There is a lot of work that needs to be done. We are taking a sizeable financial risk on our part. Business is a deal of risk-reward. We are certainly not at that point that anybody is saying this is approved and it’s moving forward.”

The New Brunswick-born LeBlanc was a longtime executive with Research in Motion and is the former president and chief executive of the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League. Sharing the bulk of the initial financial risk with LeBlanc are Maritime Football Ltd. co-owners Bruce Bowser, a Halifax native who is president of AMJ Campbell Van Lines, and Gary Drummond, a businessman from Regina who was president of hockey operations with the Coyotes during LeBlanc’s tenure there.

The group had recent meetings with new CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie and the league’s board of governors, and an in-camera session with Mayor Mike Savage and the Halifax Regional Municipality’s city council.

“What we wanted this group to know is that we are very interested and excited about the opportunity to bring the Maritimes, the Atlantic region, into the Canadian Football League family,” said Ambrosie, an offensive guard for three CFL teams who was installed as the league’s 14th commissioner in July.

“We will support them to the very best of our abilities while recognizing that they have to drive the bus and, from time to time, we have to get out and push a little to help them move this along.”

If anyone is going to drive a CFL franchise into Halifax, they will require a stadium in which to park it. The lack of a stadium was the stumbling block after a group called the Maritime Professional Football Club Ltd. was granted a conditional expansion franchise in 1982.

That team, officially named the Atlantic Schooners, was to begin play in the 1984 season, but the ownership group was not able to meet the deadline with a financial plan for a necessary $6-million stadium slated to be built in Dartmouth. The franchise bid was withdrawn in 1983.

“The elephant in the room is the stadium,” said LeBlanc, who estimated a facility with a capacity of somewhere in the vicinity of 25,000 would be required.

Ambrosie said the league is committed to collaborating with the ownership group as “they work through a process of working with the city, the province and perhaps the federal government on a facility.”

“Obviously, that is the big question that has to get answered,” Ambrosie said.

But it doesn’t appear as if much of the funding will be coming from public coffers.

“There has always been mixed feelings on the idea of a stadium and even a CFL team,” Savage said. “Interestingly enough, when this one surfaced, many people, including people on council who had been skeptical, said this deserves a chance.

“I think there is a lot of potential for a team and a stadium here, but I don’t think there is much appetite on council for something that we have to sink a lot of capital dollars into right up front. We need to be a little more creative than that. That’s what I have told the (ownership group) and they are working on that.”

LeBlanc said the ownership group has commissioned Deloitte Halifax to prepare a third-party analysis of the benefits a stadium could bring to the city and province.

“We’re being very, very thoughtful in our approach with the city and the province in trying to construct a true public-private partnership,” LeBlanc said. “It’s not just a CFL stadium; it will be a multi-use stadium.”

Potential locations bandied about include Bayers Lake Business Park, the former Shannon Park military community on the Dartmouth side of the MacKay bridge, a Dartmouth Crossing site, and property that is part of the Halifax Commons.

“I think there are a lot of football fans in HRM and I think there are a lot of concert fans in HRM,” Savage said. “I think there are a lot of people who would come to different types of sporting events. By and large, the support could come from here, but I think you do need to supplement that with interest from around the region. It’s there as well.”

Rick Rivers has long been involved in coaching and administration of minor football at the provincial and national level.

“I think there are enough (fans) to make it a go,” he said of a potential CFL expansion franchise. “I think there has to be a starting point. I’ve watched football grow here since I came here in 1969. . . . I think it should definitely have a Maritime flavour because we want to get the people from New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.”

Jeff Cummins, the head football coach at Acadia University for the past 14 seasons, is not convinced of the viability of the CFL in Halifax.

“It would be great, but I don’t know how real it is,” Cummins said.

“There is no stadium and I don’t think there is an appetite from the public to build one. It’s not that people are clamouring for football in the Maritimes. It’s not like people are screaming and yelling that they want football. My concern is the support and, do they find it.”

Ambrosie said the expansion bid is in its infancy, but he remains optimistic.

LeBlanc said in addition to hiring Deloitte and legal representation from McInnes Cooper in Halifax, the ownership group engaged Corporate Research Associates to do detailed polling.

“The results that came back were really positive, that people want to go to a game,” he said.

Earlier this month, the legal team secured the trademark name Atlantic Schooners. The trademark provides Maritime Football Ltd. with control over intellectual property associated with the Schooners name, such as licence plate holders, athletic wear and football figurines.

LeBlanc said the trademark was acquired in case the ownership group decided to use it in future.

“We are getting to the point where we’re ready to spend real money, when you are bringing in companies like Deloitte, law firms, when you are doing serious government relations,” LeBlanc said.

“We at least have the level of comfort that we know we are doing this with 100-per-cent risk of our own personal investment to keep this thing moving along and we continue to do so.”

The best-case scenario would have the league grant the ownership group a conditional franchise as early as next year, with an expansion team on a new stadium field in the Halifax area by the 2020 or 2021 season.

LeBlanc was circumspect when asked about the likelihood of that happening.

“It is so difficult to say. Some days, I feel it’s 100 per cent. Some days, I feel it’s 50 per cent.”

[rdavies]

Stadium talk dominates CFL expansion discussion (http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1532573-stadium-talk-dominates-cfl-expansion-discussion)
FRANCIS CAMPBELL The Chronicle Herald December 28, 2017
Place to play is top of mind in team, city, league officials

This is part two of a series on the possibility of a CFL franchise in Halifax.

PART ONE: CFL in Halifax: A gamble with lots of field to cover (http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1532337-cfl-in-halifax-a-gamble-with-lots-of-field-to-cover)

Professional sports teams need a place to call home.

In the Canadian Football League, that place is a stadium, a place conspicuously absent in the effort to bring an Atlantic regional expansion franchise to Halifax.

“Getting the stadium, that’s the ballgame,” said Mike Savage, mayor of Halifax Regional Municipality. “You can’t have a team, you can’t have an ownership group and you can’t be in the CFL if you haven’t got a stadium. It has to be a multi-purpose stadium that’s realistic and economically viable.”

The stadium stumbling block has scuttled many expansion discussions.

“There is no place to play,” said Jeff Cummins, the American-born former CFL player who has run the Acadia Axemen football program for more than a dozen years. “My concern will be that until it shows up, a stadium, a place to play. You can talk about a team all you want but there is no place to fill 10,000, 12,000, 15,000 seats. There is no place to have that game.”

The necessity of a place to play is not lost on the league or the ownership group, registered under the name Maritime Football Ltd.

If you build it they might come

Anthony LeBlanc, one of three front men for the ownership group, refers to a stadium as the elephant in the room and league Commissioner Randy Ambrosie said a stadium is “first and

foremost” among the expansion requirements that the ownership group must address. The two men agree that the stadium could not be a CFL-only facility.

“We’re conscious that this would not just be about the CFL, this would be about unlocking the full potential of the Maritime region to show their hospitality to people from Canada and from around the world at a world-class facility,” Ambrosie said.

Key questions swirl around a potential stadium. Who would finance it? Where would it be built? What would it cost? Who would own it and what would it look like?

The estimate is that a stadium in the Halifax area would cost well north of $200 million. The Saskatchewan Roughriders moved into the $278-million Mosaic Stadium for the 2017 CFL season. The 33,000-seat facility can be expanded to accommodate 40,000.

A Halifax stadium, according to LeBlanc, would likely be an expandable 24,000- to 26,000-seat facility, falling in line with the size of the stadiums that are home to Eastern Division teams in Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and Hamilton.

Moshe Lander, a professor who specializes in the economics of sports at Concordia University in Montreal, said a publicly funded stadium doesn’t make good sense.

“It is not like there is an unlimited amount of tax dollars out there, so if you are going to put it toward a stadium, then that means there is less money for health care, roads, infrastructure, education or whatever else,” Lander said. “Usually, the benefits that come from a stadium don’t justify that diversion of funds.”

Neither is Lander a proponent of the public-private partnership to build a stadium.

“The city or the province will say, ‘We don’t want to put up any of our money, so you put up yours.’ The owners say, ‘If you don’t put up the money, we just won’t have a team.’

“You will find that these ownership groups are rich to begin with because they made their money elsewhere . . . They don’t need a franchise, it’s not their source of wealth, it’s not their source of income. ‘Give us what we want or we can find another worthwhile way to use our money to benefit us.’”

That sort of squeeze play seems unlikely to move the three levels of government that could be involved with a Halifax stadium.

“From a municipal government point of view, we are saying, if you can come back with a plan that allows us to contribute but to contribute in a way that doesn't drain the resources of the municipality, in other words, do some kind of development around the stadium that brings in tax revenue which could then be used to offset our contribution, then that is the kind of thing that I think there would be an appetite for,” Savage said.

“But it’s just not in our capital budget plan right now. There are a lot of things that we need to put money into that the only way to do it is to just spend the money and do it — a fire station or any other number of projects. If there is a way that everybody wins with a stadium, a private entity with other orders of government, I think that is very attractive.”

Premier Stephen McNeil said earlier this month that it is “exciting to see interest in Halifax and Nova Scotia from a reputable group of businessmen.”

But McNeil said the provincial Liberal government had not received any funding requests.

“If we do, it would be assessed just like other requests and projects that come before government,” he said.

The Lansdowne model

Darren Fisher, a former city councillor and now Liberal MP for Dartmouth-Cole Harbour, said he has been a longtime supporter of having the CFL in Halifax.

Lansdowne Park, located in the heart of Ottawa near the Rideau Canal, encompasses the 24,000-seat TD Place Stadium where the Redblacks play, shopping, restaurants and entertainment venues, a farmers market, courtyards, a playground, heritage buildings and green space.

“I have really fallen in love with the model that is in Ottawa around Lansdowne,” the Liberal MP said. “It’s the model that uses private money and leverages the surrounding areas around the stadium in order to help fund the capital costs.

“I hadn’t really even contemplated the ability to build something with no public dollars,” Fisher said. “I kind of envisioned some public dollars and some private dollars and some leveraging of surrounding lands. I’ve also thought of where you could use the growth in tax dollars around the area just to help support it and that would be the public contribution.”

That is in line with Savage’s vision, too.

“You have the complete experience of hotels, restaurants and shops that would be a natural complement to a stadium,” Savage said. “People come in, say, from out of town, they want to shop at the same time as they want to have their football game and do their tailgating. The old idea of building a stadium outside of town where nobody lives and nobody can get to is not attractive. There has to be almost a village like you see in Ottawa with Lansdowne.”

Lander said a stadium close to downtown would be preferable.

“If you put it right downtown where everybody is, everybody can walk down to Spring Garden or the harbour front,” said Lander, who has become familiar with Halifax while teaching a course at Dalhousie University every May and June.

“You are inviting people down there. It will be part of their day or they will make a day of it. It is much more likely to create a lasting impact than putting it out in the middle of nowhere.”

Lander suggested a property like the Halifax Commons as an ideal site.

There has been speculation about properties at Dartmouth Crossing, back of the Kent Building Supplies store in Bayers Lake Business Park and even the Shannon Park military site, although both Savage and Lander dismissed Shannon Park as an inappropriate location.

“We’re talking to a number of landowners right now,” LeBlanc said. “It’s intriguing. We have some opportunities in and around Bedford.”

LeBlanc said earlier this month that the ownership group is working with all levels of government, the league and private investors.

“That final piece that we need to figure out so that we can truly understand the economic impact is doing a final site selection. That’s something we hope to get done in the next four to six weeks . . . We’ve been very open in saying that the model we are looking to replicate is the model here in Ottawa and it is more than just a stadium. It’s a work, live, play environment with significant retail and residential. We’d like to do the same thing because that is what really drives a lot of the revenue from a provincial, city and federal perspective that makes it reasonable for them to participate in that way.”

[rdavies]

Halifax CFL franchise would make football a coast-to-coast sport, says commissioner (http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1532879-halifax-cfl-franchise-would-make-football-a-coast-to-coast-sport-says-commissione#.WkePvl43svU.twitter)
FRANCIS CAMPBELL THE CHRONICLE HERALD December 30, 2017

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part three of a series on the latest attempt to bring a CFL team to Halifax.

PART 1: CFL in Halifax: A gamble with lots of field to cover (http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1532337-cfl-in-halifax-a-gamble-with-lots-of-field-to-cover)

PART 2: Stadium talks dominates CFL expansion discussion (http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1532573-stadium-talk-dominates-cfl-expansion-discussion)

The Canadian Football League has always fallen short of a true national identity.

“Coast to coast — it’s easy to say,” said Randy Ambrosie, named the league’s president in July.

“This is part of our inclusion strategy that has been missing. Not having that final piece of the puzzle, to a degree, makes us kind of incomplete.”

A franchise on the East Coast would complete Ambrosie’s puzzle and the commissioner sees that last piece coming from a bid by a trio of businessmen to bring an expansion team to Halifax.

“Having a chance over the years to visit the Atlantic provinces and to get to know the people, I can say without hesitation that this would be one of the great accomplishments of all times. To see that 10th team, I personally would like to see it happen.”

An ownership group called Maritime Football Ltd., could hold the missing piece.

“We’re paying McInnes Cooper out of the Halifax office to do all of our legal work, a variety of things, incorporating our new holding company into things like trademark searches, working with various government-related people and then, of course, continuing discussions with the city and the province,” said Anthony LeBlanc, the former president and chief executive of the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League and one of the trio of businessmen behind Maritime Football Ltd.

“The other aspect is working very closely with the league itself, going back and forth with commissioner Ambrosie. It’s kind of the first phase of what a conditional expansion franchise would like and allow us to really go out and gauge the market and see what the support is going to be like.”

Ambrosie said there are a series of steps that must be followed.

“Granting of a conditional franchise and ultimately a franchise is part of the process,” Ambrosie said. “What we have done is made it clear that we are going to work with them and them alone. The most important thing we want them to know is that we want to help this group — they’ve shown the initiative, they are gentlemen of high character and great reputation.”

The men who make up the Maritime Football Ltd. ownership group are LeBlanc, Bruce Bowser, a Halifax native who is president of AMJ Campbell Van Lines, and Gary Drummond, a businessman from Regina who was president of hockey operations with the Coyotes during LeBlanc’s tenure there.

“There are all kinds of things relating to the business model that we will be sharing with them as we go through the process,” Ambrosie said. “We’ve given them a high-level overview of what those requirements will be.

“We’ve made it clear that the business model has to be accretive and positive for the other nine CFL teams. We want to build the business and grow our league so we’ve shared that with them at a high level. That includes all kinds of things, including franchise fees and revenue sharing and all these other parts of our business model that we’ve spoken about. We haven’t gotten into such detail with them because, on a very high level, a very important part of this puzzle is the issue of can we get a facility in place, one that would be great for the Canadian Football League but one that would help Maritimers from the entire region to attract major national and international events.”

The stadium puzzle piece is one that the ownership is working on, an approximate 25,000-seat facility that could be built and maintained under some kind of a public-private partnership.

In the meantime, the ownership group knows that the major hurdle of constructing a stadium at a cost of more than $200 million will be accompanied by other significant franchise costs. First, there would be an expansion fee.

“We certainly don’t get in for free,” LeBlanc said.

The expansion fee for the last awarded franchise, the Ottawa RedBlacks, was $7 million, according to the unofficial CFL database. It has been speculated that the next expansion franchise fee would be in the $10-million range.

And the logistics of how to fill out a roster remains a question for down the road. The expansion Ottawa Redblacks took part in a three-round CFL expansion draft in December 2013, which included one round of import player selections and two rounds for non-import players.

“We haven’t had that conversation,” Ambrosie said of an expansion draft. “Obviously, we want to talk to the players association about that in a very thoughtful and respectful way. It’s too early in the process. We obviously are aware of the issue but we haven’t spent any time on it.”

There has also been intermittent speculation that other locations, namely Quebec City and Saskatoon, are interested in a CFL expansion team.

“Right now, we’re having no such discussions,” Ambrosie said. “From my point of view, I’m not going to speculate on what might happen if a group emerged with a proposal for a different part of the country. As it relates to these gentlemen and to this piece of the Canadian Football League story that has been unfulfilled for far too long, we want them to know that we are committed to working with them and them alone for a period of time.”

A 10th team would also give the league divisional balance.

“There are some practical advantages, to be sure,” Ambrosie said. “One of the great benefits of two balanced divisions would be fantastic. There is lots of potential if you have two balanced divisions. There are lots of reasons for us to want it, not the least of which is to make sure that our Maritime countrymen have a team to cheer on as passionately as Canadians cheer on the teams in the rest of the country.”

[R.J]

$10 million doesn't sound too bad, I thought at best $10-15 million for an expansion fee. $200+ million for a stadium though is another matter, and I think we're in for a long process, if it ever gets done.

[rdavies]

Would Halifax support pro football? (http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1533160-would-halifax-support-pro-football)
FRANCIS CAMPBELL The Chronicle Herald January 1, 2018

‘We feel that we could actually support a stadium that holds upwards of 30,000’

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part four of a series on the latest attempt to bring a CFL team to Halifax.

PART 1: CFL in Halifax: A gamble with lots of field to cover
PART 2: Stadium talks dominates CFL expansion discussion
PART 3: Halifax CFL franchise would make football a coast-to-coast sports, says commissioner
PART 5: Roughriders show that CFL fan support can be province-wide
PART 6: Retired CFL pros want to see Halifax team
PART 7: Could a public-private partnership secure a CFL stadium?
PART 8: Stadium will make or break Halifax’s CFL bid

That is the challenge facing the business group that wants to bring the Canadian Football League to Halifax. If they construct a stadium to house their field of CFL dreams, will the fans come in numbers large enough to make it viable?

Anthony LeBlanc, one of three men who front the Maritime Football Ltd., ownership group, said the bid to bring an expansion team to the Atlantic region is in its first phase, the stage of trying to determine “what a conditional franchise would look like and allow us to really go out and gauge the market and see what the support is going to be like.”

“That’s very critical but very common,” said LeBlanc, a longtime executive with Research in Motion and the former president and chief executive of the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League. “Let them go out and gauge the interest. The league wants to see it, the city, the province and, quite frankly, economic investors want to ensure that our expectations are real.”

LeBlanc said the ownership group hired Don Mills and his Corporate Research Associates to do some detailed polling about fan support for a CFL expansion team.

“The results that came back were really positive, that people want to go to a game” LeBlanc said. “He put some pretty strong factors in (the survey questions) with regards to the results and ensuring that it wasn’t over-inflated, and the numbers were really, really positive. He only looked in a 100-mile radius. We feel that we could actually support a stadium that holds upwards of 30,000.”

A larger audience

The CRA polling extended for only 160 kilometres from the Halifax area, a survey that would reach respondents as far afield as Middleton, Liverpool, New Glasgow, Oxford, Economy and Ecum Secum.

Add another 100 kilometres to the catchment radius and you can reach fans from Moncton, a few more kilometres and you are into the heart of New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

Greg Turner, a Moncton city councillor who was instrumental in bringing major junior hockey to Moncton, said his city has a strong relationship with the CFL. The first regular-season game ever played in the Atlantic region was held on Sept. 26, 2010, at the 10,000-seat Moncton Stadium, a $17-million venue that had opened earlier that year to host the world junior athletics championships. The stadium sold out for the neutral-site game between the Edmonton Eskimos and Toronto Argonauts, a capacity crowd that filled about 10,000 additional temporary seats.

The following year, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Montreal Alouettes played another regular-season game in Moncton. Those games followed league exhibition tilts at Saint John, N.B., and Huskies Stadium in Halifax earlier in the decade.

“When we had those games, we added seats in the endzones that brought us up to 20,000,” Turner said of the regular-season games in Moncton. “We were very successful and it worked out well and the CFL was great to work with, great partners.

“We’ve always been open to working with the CFL and bringing them to Atlantic Canada.”

The hope in Moncton was for a team to locate there but the size of the stadium remained a drawback.

“We knew they were very interested in Atlantic Canada,” Turner said. “Like anything else, you have to find a willing partner and it looks like (Halifax) may have accomplished that. It’s great news for Atlantic Canada. It’s exciting.”

Turner thinks the fans that filled the Moncton Stadium on the campus of Universite de Moncton would also buy tickets for games in Halifax.

“We’ve always thought regionally about a franchise. We’ve all looked toward Saskatchewan and what’s happened there and see the same kind of model working in Atlantic Canada. All of our markets are probably too small but, collectively, we can certainly support a franchise.

“We are optimistic that there might be a role that we could play — exhibition games, training camp, even regular season games. We’ve got a really great stadium and it’s a proven entity. The CFL knows how Moncton embraces the CFL and, with the successes we’ve had, we now have to look toward Halifax and Nova Scotia.”

Turner said a “tremendous” number of Nova Scotia fans attended the two regular season CFL games in Moncton.

“I’m sure the reverse will happen if the team is playing out of Halifax. You will see New Brunswick and P.E.I. supporting it. It’s good for the region, really.”

Worth the risk?

Not everyone is convinced that the league is good for the region or that sufficient regional, or even local support, will materialize.

Derek Martin is president of Sports and Entertainment Atlantic, which plans, delivers and promotes events across the region.

“I grew up in Hamilton going to CFL games,” Martin said. “I played high school football, university football and pro football in Europe. I love the game but I am now a parent and my two sons are not registered in football due to the risks to their brains and bodies.”

Martin said there is no assurance that fans will embrace the league here.

“The future of the sport of football is precarious and we may be a few decades late to the party. The NFL is trending down in all applicable metrics and I fear the CFL is not far behind. Our market size is also small, it’s growing but is still small and there is not a grassroots base in Nova Scotia like there is in markets that have had professional football for decades. I hear the comparison to Saskatchewan often as a similar-sized market that has embraced the CFL but there are decades of cultural immersion at play in that market that can’t simply be replicated here overnight.”

Martin is also lukewarm toward the construction of an expensive stadium to host CFL games.

“Anything is possible and Halifax has certainly been kicking the can on a stadium for a long time but I don’t believe the fundamental issues have changed,” he said. “The business case for a permanent 20,000-plus-seat stadium is difficult to make and will likely require significant public investment one way or another. As a sports fan, it would certainly be nice to have but as a taxpayer, I can appreciate the valid concerns that we have other priorities in our community.”

Martin, who has led the push for a Halifax soccer team in the Canadian Premier League that is to begin play next year with six to eight teams, proposed a 7,000-seat pop-up stadium on the Wanderers Grounds in downtown Halifax. City council signed off on that proposal in June.

“We are committed to our plan to play at the Wanderers Grounds in a privately funded, modular, right-sized stadium,” said Martin, adding that if Halifax is awarded a team, it would likely begin play in 2019. He said the soccer team would not play in the bigger stadium if it were built.

The city will continue to own the four-hectare, natural-grass Wanderers Grounds property and would rent it to Sports and Entertainment Atlantic to host 10 home games. The stands will be removed at season’s end.

While the soccer stadium deal seems to be falling into place, the football stadium debate about financing and ownership is ongoing. But if somebody builds it, Mayor Mike Savage thinks there are enough interested fans to fill it. “I think there are a lot of football fans in HRM, I think there are a lot of concert fans in HRM,” Savage said. “By and large, the support would come from here, but I think you do need to supplement that with interest from around the region. It’s there as well.”

Turner said people would travel from New Brunswick and P.E.I. for CFL games in Halifax, stay overnight and spend their money in Halifax hotels, restaurants, bars and shops.

“Absolutely,” Turner said. “Anytime you have a major professional sports team in your community, it’s good for the economy. That’s what it’s all about. If you can drive your economy, it’s good for everyone.”

LeBlanc agrees, saying a CFL schedule of 10 games a season would spark the local economy.

“Our view of the world is that these types of stadiums obviously need an anchor tenant to get off the ground,” LeBlanc said of his proposed 24,000- to 26,000-seat facility. “Especially with football, they have to be much more than just a football stadium. But those are an important 10 dates. You throw 10 dates in, you’re bringing 250,000-plus people to the stadium on an annual basis. That’s real money, not to mention the benefit to the community.”

[rdavies]

Roughriders show that CFL fan support can be province-wide (http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1533295-roughriders-show-that-cfl-fan-support-can-be-province-wide)
DARRELL DAVIS The Chronicle Herald January 2, 2018

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part five of a series on the latest attempt to bring a CFL team to Halifax.

PART 1: CFL in Halifax: A gamble with lots of field to cover
PART 2: Stadium talks dominates CFL expansion discussion
PART 3: Halifax CFL franchise would make football a coast-to-coast sports, says commissioner
PART 4: Would Halifax support pro football?
PART 6: Retired CFL pros want to see Halifax team
PART 7: Could a public-private partnership secure a CFL stadium?
PART 8: Stadium will make or break Halifax’s CFL bid

REGINA — A brand-new $278-million, 33,000-seat football stadium sits just northwest of downtown and it’s regularly filled to capacity by its primary tenant, the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders.

It’s more than just a stadium though; in reality it’s a testament to the connection between the residents of the province and its capital city, who happily buy season tickets, green-and-white Riders merchandise, team-ownership shares, and tickets in a fund-raising lottery to help keep the 108-year-old, community-owned franchise alive. What’s referred to as Rider Pride has grown so intensely that even though the team is in the CFL’s smallest centre, the Roughriders might be the league’s richest franchise as the nine-team league courts a 10th franchise in the Maritimes. How times have changed.

“NFL bailouts, government loans, debt forgiveness, pay cuts — this team found ways to keep itself alive,’’ said Jim Hopson, a Regina native and former Riders offensive lineman who served as the team’s president/CEO from 2005-14. “Decades ago there was often talk about the franchise folding.

“There’s no talk of that now.’’

Going through a rough patch

Indeed, in the 1970s and 1980s, the Roughriders could barely keep up to the big-city teams and their wealthy owners in Toronto and Montreal. Gate equalization payments propped up the rinky-dink Roughriders, who made it into the 21st century by any means possible.

Known as the world’s bread basket because of its border-to-border farmland, Saskatchewan’s farmers could trade their grain for Rider tickets. The team held telethons, with famous alumni like Ron Lancaster and George Reed answering phones to accept the pledges of diehard fans. A fundraising lottery was established to go along with the team’s annual fundraising dinner, plus the volunteer board of directors was constantly renegotiating terms with governments and financial institutions for life-saving loans. The CFL even attempted expansion into the United States, an ill-fated move in the mid-1990s that netted a few million dollars in expansion fees that kept the league afloat. Despite their best efforts, the Roughriders were threatening to fold in 1997 until the National Football League, in exchange for accessibility in signing their players, offered interest-free loans of $500,000 to CFL teams.

“It’s all about 100 years of history,’’ said Hopson. “The Roughriders have benefited by not having competing sports, like the NHL, in the same market. It’s also a provincial team, not a city team, which has benefited, sort of, from the people who left Saskatchewan. People from Saskatchewan have moved all over the world and the Roughriders have become their lifeline to home. They say, ‘That’s my team!’ And they buy the merchandise and invest in the franchise.

“There’s a perception that every game is attended by people from across the province. Although it’s true that people make five-hour trips from Meadow Lake or Macklin or Prince Albert, the majority of the fans come from within a 100-mile radius. They might not have season tickets, but they’ll come to one or two games a season. It would kind of be like the Maritimes, except on a bigger area. And the challenge, like in the Maritimes, would be the corporate sponsorship. Saskatchewan doesn’t have large, corporate sponsorship available. I suppose, if you look at the facts today, I don’t know if you would start a team here (in Saskatchewan) now. But for the last several years, things have been really good and the Roughriders are doing exceptionally well.’’

Private owners or community effort?

Although most of the CFL’s franchises have been community-owned at some point in their history, only three fit that description now — Saskatchewan, Edmonton Eskimos and Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The other six have private owners with a variety of backgrounds, ranging from individual ownership such as Bob Wetenhall (Montreal Alouettes) and David Braley (B.C. Lions) to the NHL’s Calgary Flames, who own the Calgary Stampeders. The Ottawa Redblacks have a consortium of wealthy investors who most closely resemble the group reportedly interested in starting a franchise in Halifax.

“If there were private ownership in Saskatchewan, it would have to be a unique owner,’’ said Hopson. “In Saskatchewan we own the team. We know the money goes back to the team, not into an owner’s pockets, and in Saskatchewan that generates a pride of ownership. You have to admire (Hamilton Tiger-Cats) owner Bob Young. He calls himself ‘The Caretaker’ because he’s looking after the community’s franchise. Bob has made it clear that he’s not in it for the money.’’

Unlike privately owned teams, community-owned franchises are often registered as non-profit corporations. For the Roughriders, that means they must publicly disclose their financial statements.

In 2013, after playing host and winning their fourth Grey Cup in their history, the Roughriders reported a record-setting profit of $10.4 million. Stabilized by the CFL’s television contract, their profits still rise when the team has a successful on-field season and dip when they struggle. For 2016-17 there were costs associated with moving into the new stadium, yet the Roughriders reported a $33,000 profit despite a 5-13 record. Their football revenues were $37.8 million ($16.0 million in gate receipts) with expenditures of $40.3 million. The Roughriders, who reportedly sell more merchandise than the other eight CFL teams combined, also sold $6.1 million in jerseys, hats, T-shirts, coffee mugs, onesies, sweats, jewelry . . . .

Thirty-one years ago the CFL implemented its first salary cap; it has evolved into a salary management system that allows a team to spend as much as it wants on anything except players’ salaries, which are supposed to be capped at $5.15 million in 2018. The current collective bargaining agreement between the CFL and its players expires before the 2019 season.

The Roughriders also committed to contributing $25 million to help the provincial ($80 million) and municipal ($73 million) governments offset some of the costs for the new stadium. Another $100 million comes from facility fees of $10-$12 attached to ticket sales, such as concerts, outdoor hockey games and Riders games. With a population base of 236,000 in Regina, another 295,000 two hours away in the province’s largest city, Saskatoon, and 1.16 million people throughout Saskatchewan, that payment should be completed in 31.5 years.

[rdavies]

Retired CFL pros want to see Halifax team (http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1533600-retired-cfl-pros-want-to-see-halifax-team)
FRANCIS CAMPBELL The Chronicle Herald January 3, 2018

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part six of a series on the latest attempt to bring a CFL team to Halifax.

PART 1: CFL in Halifax: A gamble with lots of field to cover
PART 2: Stadium talks dominates CFL expansion discussion
PART 3: Halifax CFL franchise would make football a coast-to-coast sports, says commissioner
PART 4: Would Halifax support pro football?
PART 5: Roughriders show that CFL fan support can be province-wide
PART 7: Could a public-private partnership secure a CFL stadium?
PART 8: Stadium will make or break Halifax’s CFL bid

A pair of retired Canadian Football League players would like to see the league touch down in Halifax with an expansion team.

“I think it’s a wonderful idea,” said two-time CFL points champion Terry Baker, a punter and placekicker who played 15 seasons with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the Ottawa Rough Riders, the Toronto Argonauts and the Montreal Alouettes.

“I think it would be just a great addition to the area and it would be inclusion from the CFL, too, from coast to coast, to unite Canada from Halifax to Vancouver and all points in between. It would enable teams and fans to be very appreciative of the fact that it is a Canadian league.”

Bruce Beaton, a Port Hood native who didn’t play football until he arrived at Acadia University, said having professional teams located across the country would help the game.

“In terms of growing the game, the more geographic locations you have at the highest level you have in the country, I think there is a trickle-down benefit there, too.”

Baker agrees.

“I think that certainly it would help the minor football program. If they were able to see a professional football team play on a consistent basis, it would certainly increase the profile of the sport with the younger generation growing up, and it might even inspire them a little more to look at this as a profession that they could try to get into,” said Baker, 55, who played football at Cobequid Educational Centre in Truro, Acadia and Mount Allison universities before going on to win two CFL scoring titles.

The CFL life

Beaton, 49, parlayed his skills on the offensive line into 13 seasons with Ottawa, Montreal, the British Columbia Lions, the Edmonton Eskimos and the Calgary Stampeders. He was named a league all-star three times and was part of two Grey Cup championship teams in Edmonton. But he never got to play pro football in Nova Scotia.

“Playing close to home is special for anybody for a whole bunch of reasons — the fans, the family, the coaches who coached you, ex-teammates,” Beaton said. “In the CFL, you typically are going to make less than $100,000 a year and you have a fairly short career. . . . To me, the two most preferable places to live in Canada are here and British Columbia, and that’s not to say there aren't other nice places but for me, I liked both ends of the country and to have an opportunity to live where you play year round and to develop your career after football without having to live somewhere else is a real positive thing. It just works on every level.”

Baker, too, said it would have been a kick to play as a pro in front of Nova Scotia fans.

“It would have been great to be able to come home and play in front of family and firends,” Baker said. “It just would have been a great opportunity. Unfortunately that never happened, never materialized.”

Baker is confident that the fans would come to see the CFL if an expansion team took root here.

“I do believe there is enough fan support here. The exhibition game that they had at Saint Mary’s in 2000, just after I retired, I was surprised that they had such great support. . . . I do believe that there is support out there for a team in Halifax. Obviously, the biggest stumbling block will be if a stadium can be built.”

As part of the Touchdown Atlantic series, the Argonauts and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats played an exhibition game at Huskies Stadium in Halifax in June 2005. The game, which ended in a 16-16 tie, attracted a sellout crowd of 11,148 to the stadium, that had added temporary seating.

“I think it’s an enjoyable product,” Beaton said. “On a nice sunny day and in the right environment, you are definitely going to want to partake.”

Development league option

Beaton said league expansion to Halifax is a good idea but he is far from convinced that the league’s overall vision is focused in the right direction.

“The question is more around the direction of the CFL as opposed to Halifax as a market,” he said. “If the CFL gets their direction right, Halifax would be a great market. I just mean the NFL (National Football League) is a multi-billion (dollar) league with no development league. Compared to all the other major sports — baseball, basketball and hockey — I would make the argument that football needs a developmental league more than any of the others.”

And that developmental league should be the CFL, he said.

“I think the NFL field is too small. I think we have a great field. I think we should look at things like American rules and becoming a development league similar to the AHL (American Hockey League.) You could still develop Canadian content, develop Canadian coaches. We could do an awful lot of positive things. There is a huge market demand for that, a huge need for that, and if you sort of miss the boat on that and deny people in those hungry 12-month-of-the-year NFL markets to look at potential, future players, then I think you are really missing an opportunity.”

Beaton, a real estate entrepreneur who lives in Kentville, said the NFL’s massive visibility hurts the CFL product.

“If you juxtapose that, when the CFL was on par with the NFL, going back to the 50s before technology changed and exploded the market for elite sports and eroded the market for ticket-driven, gate-driven sports where there was a lot of talent and a lot of ability and an exciting contest, when you could watch that or you could watch the best in the world, you are going to choose the best in the world.”

Baker, too, harkened back to yesteryear when asked if the Maritimes could drum up the support that football-crazed Saskatchewan provides for its Roughriders.

“If Halifax had a team since the 1930s or 1940s or whatever and they could sustain that for the 60 or 70 years since, I think that there would be a loyalty, it would be built into the culture and you could have the same thing here,” said Baker, who lives in Bridgewater and operates his seasonal business, the Admiral Benbow Trading Co., in Lunenburg. “ I don’t know if Nova Scotia would be all on its own. New Brunswick and P.E.I. aren’t too far away and if you could truly generate a Maritime team, that would be the marketing way to go. You’ve got a real possibility of creating a special unity with the three provinces and make it truly a Maritime team.”

[rdavies]

Could a public-private partnership secure a CFL stadium? (http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1533917-could-a-public-private-partnership-secure-a-cfl-stadium)
JOSH HEALEY The Chronicle Herald January 4, 2018

Halifax may want to take some cues from Canada’s capital city

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part seven of a series on the latest attempt to bring a CFL team to Halifax.

PART 1: CFL in Halifax: A gamble with lots of field to cover
PART 2: Stadium talks dominates CFL expansion discussion
PART 3: Halifax CFL franchise would make football a coast-to-coast sports, says commissioner
PART 4: Would Halifax support pro football?
PART 5: Roughriders show that CFL fan support can be province-wide
PART 6: Retired CFL pros want to see Halifax team
PART 8: Stadium will make or break Halifax’s CFL bid

On Nov. 29, 2016, more than 40,000 crazed Canadian Football League fans took to the streets of Ottawa to celebrate their Redblacks winning the 104th Grey Cup.

The Grey Cup win was momentous, given that Ottawa had only rejoined the league in 2014.

But the win also represented the culmination of a project begun in 2007, including the redevelopment of Lansdowne Park and the 24,000-seat TD Place Stadium, the home of the Redblacks.

Roger Greenberg, the executive chairman and managing partner of the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG), said that the task of attracting a CFL team can be all-consuming.

“I could talk about it for hours. This has taken over a big chunk of my life for the last eight or nine years,” he said. “You have to have solid local ownership that is committed to sticking it through.”

And as it’s the most recent expansion in the CFL, there is an opportunity for Halifax to learn from Ottawa’s complicated return to the football world.

No easy task

Greenberg explained that when the idea of bringing a CFL team back to Ottawa was first discussed in 2007, there were a number of setbacks.

Like Halifax, the need for a stadium was the talk of the town.

The idea was that Ottawa, which had previously fielded CFL teams, would play at the old Frank Clair Stadium but it became apparent that the building was in poor shape.

“That was what really led to a very, very different process than what we had anticipated at the outset,” said Greenberg.

This new route involved a joint venture between OSEG and the City of Ottawa and included a complete redevelopment of the 40-acre Lansdowne Park area.

The project, dubbed the Lansdowne Partnership Plan (LPP), encompassed the construction of a football stadium, upgraded sports facilities for soccer and hockey, 360,000 square feet of retail space and another 100,000 square feet of office space.

Greenberg noted that there was some opposition to the project, such as an organization called the Friends of Lansdowne.

Like Halifax, those critical of LPP asked why the city should spend money on a sports facility when the money could be spent on other infrastructure.

“I think a balanced city needs to have priorities but also needs to have a balance of economic opportunities,” said Greenberg when asked how cities should prioritize expenditures.

“Lansdowne has been a huge economic driver for the city of Ottawa, creating many jobs.”

Has the project boosted the local economy?

A recent report from the City of Ottawa’s finance and economic development committee has shown the LPP has generated an increase of visitors and business to the area.

In 2016, 3.4 million people visited Lansdowne, a 41-per-cent increase from 2015. The 105th Grey Cup Festival alone was anticipated to create $100 million in economic activity for the area.

Greenberg explained that the new facilities have also attracted events such as a FIFA game, the NHL 100 Classic and dozens of festivals.

“That never would have happened but for the redevelopment of Lansdowne,” he said. “We’ve created an urban park. I would not look at it as strictly building a stadium.”

Greenberg recommended that Halifax should find an area that can support a lot of commercial development but he said that it comes at a price.

To facilitate the return of the Redblacks and the revitalization of Lansdowne, OSEG and the City of Ottawa paid nearly $600 million.

According to a representative of OSEG, the city invested $240 million to the building and renovation of the stadium and arena complex.

“Sometimes, in my view, you need to invest in order to get a return. You can’t expect cities to grow if the infrastructure is not in place,” said Greenberg.

Glen Hodgson, a senior fellow at the Conference Board of Canada and an expert in macro-economics, said that the most profitable part of Ottawa’s project is not the football team but the property development.

“A CFL team typically has revenues of around $16 million to $18 million. That makes it a fairly small business in a community,” Hodgson said. “That’s where the Ottawa model is interesting because they were able to do some property development along with attracting the CFL team. That’s where they probably made their money back, by building a condo tower and then the commercial space around the stadium.”

Mindful of the message

Ian Lee, an associate professor at Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business, was opposed to the LPP. He was involved in the process as both an analyst and activist, being a member of the Friends of Lansdowne.

Lee explains that Halifax should learn from Ottawa’s expansion and be mindful of how the project is sold to the public.

“You have to ask yourself, can Halifax, as a city, afford to do this? And ought we pay for this?” said Lee.

In previous interviews with The Chronicle Herald, Anthony

LeBlanc, one of the members of Maritime Football Ltd., has said that the question of a stadium, and who will pay, is the elephant in the room.

Estimates for a stadium in Halifax are north of $200 million.

Lee explained that from the beginning of the LPP, the boosters in Ottawa tried to say that taxpayers wouldn’t have to worry about footing the bill.

“Their mantra was it won’t cost the taxpayers a dime. I’m old enough and have enough experience as a business banker to know that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Somebody is paying,” he said.

Moreover, Lee said, he hopes that Halifax’s ownership will have a long, detailed discussion about different options because he feels Ottawa missed an opportunity for debate once the Frank Clair Stadium was ruled unfit.

“We never discussed any alternatives.”

[rdavies]

Stadium will make or break Halifax’s CFL bid (http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1534263-stadium-will-make-or-break-halifax’s-cfl-bid)
FRANCIS CAMPBELL The Chronicle Herald January 5, 2018

New attempt after 1982 bid foundered

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part eight of a series on the latest attempt to bring a CFL team to Halifax.

PART 1: CFL in Halifax: A gamble with lots of field to cover
PART 2: Stadium talks dominates CFL expansion discussion
PART 3: Halifax CFL franchise would make football a coast-to-coast sports, says commissioner
PART 4: Would Halifax support pro football?
PART 5: Roughriders show that CFL fan support can be province-wide
PART 6: Retired CFL pros want to see Halifax team
PART 7: Could a public-private partnership secure a CFL stadium?

The time is now for the Canadian Football League to expand to Halifax.

But the same was said 35 years ago when the Atlantic Schooners were ready to chart a course for the Eastern Division of the CFL. Plans and money ran short, and despite having been granted a conditional expansion franchise in 1982 that was to give rise to a team taking the field two years later, the ownership group eventually withdrew its bid.

Back in the 80’s

“Going back to the ’80s, you had a team that was working with the CFL and the CFL was kind of keen on it,” said Mike Savage, mayor of the Halifax Regional Municipality. “Ever since then, people have kind of popped up and said we should have a team but what they are missing is the business case for a stadium.”

That business case is the rocky shoal on which the Schooners foundered and eventually ran aground. In May 1982, the CFL’s board of governors unanimously approved a conditional expansion franchise for the Halifax area. The team would pay a $1.5-million expansion fee by the next May and take the field for the 1984 season if a 30,000-seat stadium were built in time to host a home opener.

The Maritime Professional Football Club Ltd. ownership group initially included John Donoval, a Toronto-area trucking executive, and J.I. Albrecht, the eccentric former general manager of the Toronto and Montreal CFL teams. Later, Robert Bruce Cameron, a New Glasgow-born industrialist who had served in the Second World War before starting several businesses that included Maritime Steel and Foundries in his hometown, joined the ownership group.

The proposed team, given the name the Schooners by November 1982, planned to hire Acadia Axemen head coach John Huard to guide the franchise in its first season. A league expansion draft was planned and details were worked out for the dispersal of players from existing franchises to staff the Schooners.

The $6-million stadium was to be built on leased land in Dartmouth but the federal and provincial governments were not amenable to providing any funding for the facility. Despite considerable contributions from Cameron, the ownership group was unable to meet league deadlines for a financing plan for the new stadium.

Will CFL hunger set the table for a stadium?

Subsequently, the best bet for a stadium may have been the scuttled bid for Halifax to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Halifax was selected as the Canadian bid city in December 2005 for the 2014 Games but when the bid society was unable to pare the estimate for hosting the Games from $1.6 billion to a preferred $1 billion, the province and the municipality withdrew their support. The Halifax bid withered and the Games were eventually awarded to Glasgow, Scotland.

“The thing that bothers me is that this city does not have the gonads,” said Rick Rivers, who has been a football coach and administrator at the local, provincial and national level since moving to Halifax from Ontario nearly 40 years ago.

“A few years back we won the Commonwealth Games bid; we should have a stadium as a result of that. The federal government, the provincial and local governments, would come together. They got cold feet and left it.”

Savage recalled that, last time, a stadium was seriously considered.

“It was a third federal, a third provincial and a third municipal,” the mayor said. “Basically, the entire capital cost was being borne by levels of government with upfront capital payments. I don’t think there is an appetite for that and, actually, there wasn’t back then either because it didn’t happen.”

Still, another bid for a CFL expansion franchise has surfaced, this time from the Maritime Football Ltd. ownership group, led by New Brunswick-born businessman Anthony LeBlanc, a longtime executive with Research in Motion and the former president and chief executive of the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League. Also on the team are Bruce Bowser, a Halifax native who is president of AMJ Campbell Van Lines, and Gary Drummond, a businessman from Regina who was president of hockey operations with the Coyotes during LeBlanc’s tenure there.

The group has met with the CFL and with the HRM city council. They have spent considerable personal funds on a poll to gauge fan interest, a cost-benefit analysis and legal representation. They hope to soon test season ticket sales and attract corporate sponsors.

“I think it’s fair to say that we need to either get this done or come to a decision that it is not doable,” LeBlanc said. “But we are certainly not looking at it in that (not doable) manner.”

Savage acknowledged that the business group is doing a lot of work behind the scenes.

“There isn’t anything at this point to present to council but we certainly are hopeful and anticipate that when they have formulated a plan, particularly around a stadium, that they’ll come forward. They are a serious group of people, they know what they are doing and I have a lot of faith in their ability to make this happen.”

LeBlanc said the capital structure and ownership of the stadium has not yet been discussed.

“Usually what happens is there is a public-private entity that owns and operates the facility,” LeBlanc said. “That’s kind of getting ahead of ourselves. From our perspective, the perspective of the ownership group of the franchise, we certainly understand that we are going to have to participate in the ownership, or at least the money that goes into building a stadium. Who operates or owns it, those are things that will get figured out.”

Savage doesn’t figure on the city owning it.

“As a municipality, we don’t want to own a stadium,” Savage said. “If you build a stadium, then you have to run it. I don’t think governments are ideally suited to do that. The idea would be that somebody would own it and run it. I think that is where you have your concerts instead of tearing up the Commons. You could have games, whether it is the Indigenous Games, the Senior Games, the University Games, the Commonwealth Games, all those kinds of things.”

If it was built

Moshe Lander, a Concordia University professor who specializes in the economics of sports, said a stadium would have limited use.

“If you end up with a stadium, how else is it going to be used other than the 10 times a year for the CFL?” Lander said. “Are you really going to have outdoor concerts in a 30,000-40,000-seat stadium? Are you going to have an MLS (Major League Soccer) franchise in Halifax? It’s unlikely. That sort of economics is that it’s going to be used 10 times, you might be able to squeeze a few other uses out of it. Other than that, it is going to sit primarily empty. So, who bears the cost if it is sitting empty?

What then, if anything, is different this time around from previous CFL rumblings?

“It’s definitely different,” Savage said. “Whether it’s different enough, we’ll find out.

“Getting an arrangement with the CFL whereby they would come here would take some work but it is very manageable. Putting an ownership group together for a team is a little more difficult but manageable. Getting the stadium, that’s the ballgame. That’s the jackpot right there.”

Lander said the difference from 35 years ago could be the growth of the city.

“Halifax is not going to build itself up to a world-class city but it’s certainly a very respectable Canadian city as an anchor of Atlantic Canada,” Lander said. “You can see the beginning of the high-rise developments that are starting to surface on the skyline, corporate headquarters that are starting to locate to Halifax or locate offices there. Lower Water is becoming more of a younger-trending area. Incomes are rising and it’s moved away from the stereotype old-fashioned fishing town to something a little more modern and dynamic.

“Now is the time to be a professional sports city. This is probably it. You are not going to be an NHL town, you are not going to have an NFL team, you are not even going to have MLS, so this is kind of the last missing piece.”

[rdavies]

POLL: What's in a name for an Atlantic CFL team? (http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1534577-poll-whats-in-a-name-for-an-atlantic-cfl-team)
FRANCIS CAMPBELL The Chronicle Herald January 7, 2018

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part nine of a series on the latest attempt to bring a CFL team to Halifax.

PART 1: CFL in Halifax: A gamble with lots of field to cover
PART 2: Stadium talks dominates CFL expansion discussion
PART 3: Halifax CFL franchise would make football a coast-to-coast sports, says commissioner
PART 4: Would Halifax support pro football?
PART 5: Roughriders show that CFL fan support can be province-wide
PART 6: Retired CFL pros want to see Halifax team
PART 7: Could a public-private partnership secure a CFL stadium?
PART 8: Stadium will make or break Halifax’s CFL bid

The Atlantic Schooners’ 23-year undefeated record could soon be in jeopardy.

The Schooners were granted a conditional Canadian Football League expansion franchise in May 1982. The franchise ownership group, Maritime Professional Football Club Ltd., was unable to attract the financial backing necessary to build a stadium in Dartmouth to host the team that was tentatively scheduled to begin play in 1984.

The franchise application was withdrawn.

In recent years, a Schooners group has held Grey Cup parties during the annual championship game weekend and promoted the trademarked logo with an Undefeated Since 1984 slogan.

The trademark was registered again in early December by a trio of businessmen who are making another bid to bring the CFL to Halifax. When the recently registered Maritime Football Ltd., fronted by Anthony LeBlanc, Gary Drummond and Bruce Bowser, reclaimed the Schooners trademark, it spawned the impression that a successful bid this time around would revamp the Schooners’ name.

“I'm getting lots and lots of feedback on that topic,” LeBlanc, the former president and CEO of the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League, said earlier this month. “Obviously the Schooners is one that's come up a lot.”

LeBlanc said the Schooners trademark was secured for safety reasons in the event that the new team would want to use it, but “this is by no means a confirmation that this will be the name.”

“Personally, I would like to go out and do a name-the-team contest and get people engaged when possibly we do the season-ticket launch. There are a lot of great possible names that have been thrown our way. One thing in particular, it will be a branded Atlantic franchise. I think that is critically important that everyone in the Atlantic provinces feels that this is their team.”

Some aren’t convinced that the sentimental value of the Schooners name is enough to earn a logo on the jersey for an active team.

“I don’t think we can go back to the Schooners,” said Rick Rivers, a retired high school phys-ed teacher and fervent football fan who has long been involved with the game in this province as a coach, clinician and administrator.

“You want some alliteration there,” Rivers said. “I’d go with the Maritime Mariners, something definitely with an Atlantic flavour, but I really don’t want to see a fish in the logo. When I took over as president of Football Nova Scotia, we had a fish on its tail and it looked like hell with a football under its chin.”

The mayor of Halifax Regional Municipality also recommended requesting public input, adding that a wide range of options and opinions would likely be offered.

“The names that are getting bounced around are the Schooners, because we had the Atlantic Schooners 30 some years ago and the Atlantics because of the Atlantic nature of the team,” Mike Savage said. “People have mentioned the Explosion. I’d have to think about that, whether it’s disrespectful of the people who died in the Explosion. I’m not 100 per cent sure that that's the appropriate name but I heard people talk about it.”

Darren Fisher, the MP for Dartmouth-Cole Harbour and a big supporter of the CFL concept, said the Schooners name is ingrained in people’s psyche.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say I’ve always loved the name the Schooners, but if you’d ask me anytime over the last 20 years what the team name would be, I always figured it would be the Schooners,” Fisher said.

He would like to see a name-the-team contest incorporate fans and residents from the entire Atlantic region.

“I think a contest is the best way to go and to have the public have ownership of the team name by coming up with suggestions and having a nice contest and offer a season ticket to the person who comes up with the name. When Ithink of a de facto team, I think of the Schooners. I’m not sure that’s as reflective of Atlantic Canada as it would need to be if the team is going to draw from the entire Atlantic region.”

Terry Baker, the retired two-time CFL scoring leader who lives in Bridgewater and owns a business in Lunenburg, said the Atlantic Schooners name made a lot of sense at the time.

“I like the idea of the Atlantic or Maritime,” said Baker, a former punter and placekicker who grew up in Truro. “Saskatchewan is Saskatchewan, whereas other teams are Winnipeg, Calgary — city names because they can sustain it based on the size of their cities. I don’t think Halifax can sustain it based on the size of the city. I don’t know if it would be the smartest thing to do to make the team name strictly Halifax because that might deter others from coming, getting behind the team and wanting to be part of the football (event) in this area.”

Ultimately, it will be up to the people who sign the cheques, Baker said.

“Who am I to say. The people who are going to put millions of dollars into trying to get this off the design board, they would basically be able to call it whatever they want. They are the ones putting out the money.”

[Downtownfan]

If they get a team, I will go to the first Argos game there, absolutely, and would also go to the Grey Cup when and if they eventually hold it there-- it would be such a blast.

[paulwoods13]

I just hope that whatever the team is called, it does not have a big A in the logo. We have two of those already in a nine-team league.

[rdavies]

https://i.imgur.com/MXiDHSp.jpg
Never cared for this logo, I guess that is supposed to be a porthole? If it has to be an A I prefer what I call the "Theismann A". TTTT, I'm not real fond of many of the Argos logos.

Like this one though.

https://i.imgur.com/AwsfzuS.jpg

I think all Argos merch and logos should be branded somewhere on them, Est 1873

[paulwoods13]

I'm fine with the current logo although I prefer the 1977-88 boat. I never really liked the Theismann-era A; too plain for my taste. The old boat logo shown above is nice and could/should be used as a secondary logo but is too busy to be the primary on the helmets IMO.

[rdavies]

I agree with most of what you posted. Maybe I like the history better than the "Theismann A". If the boat is the one I'm thinking of I'm not sure if I like the busyness of the different colours but I prefer any iteration of the boat to an A, or the porthole, or 1995 Jason, or the the worst IMO, the 89-90 Argos script.

I think it is much ado about nothing about the abundance of As, they are fairly blended into the logos and to me don't scream out "A" (aside from the A only logos). The Als and Argos aren't necessarily tied into an A design either, everybody has options, including the Schooners.

Argos Uniforms and Logos


(https://www.argonauts.ca/uniforms-and-logos)

[Argo57]

I'm fine with the current logo although I prefer the 1977-88 boat. I never really liked the Theismann-era A; too plain for my taste. The old boat logo shown above is nice and could/should be used as a secondary logo but is too busy to be the primary on the helmets IMO.

Agree on all points!
The current “shield” logo looks really good on all Argo merchandise, the 1980’s boat logo always looked great on the helmet.
1991 uniform with boat logo on helmet would suit me fine.

[R.J]

I just hope that whatever the team is called, it does not have a big A in the logo. We have two of those already in a nine-team league.
And in the same division. My biggest concern is potentially having yet another team going with the colour black as either their primary or secondary colour.

[paulwoods13]

And in the same division. My biggest concern is potentially having yet another team going with the colour black as either their primary or secondary colour.

Right -- that is definitely even worse than another A. Black is the scourge of uniform design. It's absurd how it has ruined the once-great Stampeders unis.

[rdavies]

Economics of Halifax's CFL bid hinge on loyal fans (http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/1535633-economics-of-halifaxs-cfl-bid-hinge-on-loyal-fans)
JOSH HEALEY http://thechronicleherald.ca January 10, 2018

Roughly 40 per cent of operating revenue for teams a result of ticket sales

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is part ten of a series on the lastest attempt to bring a CFL team to Halifax.

PART 1: CFL in Halifax: A gamble with lots of field to cover
PART 2: Stadium talks dominate CFL expansion discussion
PART 3: Halifax CFL franchise would make football a coast-to-coast sport, says commissioner
PART 4: Would Halifax support pro football?
PART 5: Roughriders show that CFL fan support can be province-wide
PART 6: Retired CFL pros want to see Halifax team
PART 7: Could a public-private partnership secure a CFL stadium?
PART 8: Stadium will make or break Halifax's CFL bid
PART 9: POLL: What's in a name for an Atlantic CFL team?

At the end of the day, Halifax’s bid for a CFL team will come down to dollars and cents.

And the cost of running a football franchise in Halifax extends beyond building the estimated $200-million stadium.

It is a long-term investment and there are countless coaches, players, bartenders and janitors who will all draw a paycheque if expansion occurs.

Examining the financials of teams around the league, it becomes apparent that the profits of CFL teams depend heavily on loyal fan bases to survive.

Glen Hodgson, a senior fellow at the Conference Board of Canada and an expert in macro-economics, said that the financial success of a Halifax franchise hinges on the team attracting a dedicated audience.

“They really have to appeal to all of Atlantic Canada as a fan base,” he said. “You need a capture area of about a million people to make a team go.”

Annual report trends

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Edmonton Eskimos and Saskatchewan Roughriders all release annual financial reports to the public.

For the 2016 season, Winnipeg and Edmonton reported marginal surpluses of $2.8 million and $2.2 million respectively.

Winnipeg’s operating revenues totalled $27.1 million while Edmonton reported $23.5 million.

Saskatchewan, an outlier in terms of profits in the CFL, boasted operating revenues of $39.3 million but spent $42.7 million on everything from player salaries to extra footballs.

Looking at these numbers, all three teams are basically spending as much as they earn.

And in terms of revenue, roughly 40 per cent of the teams’ profits are based solely on ticket sales.

As Len Rhodes, Edmonton’s president and CEO outlined, the profitability of the team relies on attendance.

“Our primary focus is to attract new fans,” he wrote. “We are a gate-driven league and our largest single source of revenue is ticket sales.”

A gate driven league

Hodgson said that relying so heavily on fan attendance poses a risk.

“You’re obviously more susceptible to not having a winning team or having bad weather for a couple of days,” he said. “In any business, the more diversified you are the more stable your business is going to be.”

He highlighted that growing a dedicated fan base helps protect against a weak team but it takes some time for fans to buy into the system. Ticket prices will be integral to attracting fans in Halifax.

“There will be an effect early on where you’ll sell out for the first year because it’s new in town, but ticket pricing is going to be really important in building a fan base and getting young people to support a team,” said Hodgson.

The variance in ticket prices can be seen in the revenues of Saskatchewan and Edmonton.

Ticket sales compromised roughly 40 per cent of both teams’ revenues but Saskatchewan earned $15.6 million on tickets while Edmonton reported $8.91 million. This is despite Edmonton having more seats available.

“It’s about the popularity of the team. They’re now the hottest ticket in Saskatchewan,” said Hodgson.

Randy Burgess, vice-president of communications and content for the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG), said Ottawa has been successful at attracting fans to Redblacks games as an expansion team. The emphasis has been on attracting peoples aged 18-34.

“Ticket prices are low. You can get in the building for as little as $35 and go wherever you want,” said Burgess. “The focus is on fun. That’s really the business we’re in.”

Costs

The CFL salary cap, which is low when compared to other pro sports, sits at roughly $5 million.

But when compared to the revenues of teams not named Saskatchewan, the cap eats up around a quarter of their operating revenues.

For example, Edmonton spent $7.9 million on player and coaches’ salaries.

Including scouting, medical personnel, travel costs and gear, Edmonton paid out another $11.4 million for football operation expenses.

And there are even more expenses to be added, such as the price of producing merchandise, marketing and more.

Sponsorships would be one way to combat operating costs but sponsorship revenues for teams are slight in comparison to ticket sales.

Edmonton’s sponsors contributed 21 per cent of their revenue while Saskatchewan’s was only 15 per cent.

Like Ottawa, Edmonton plans on capitalizing on a young fan base to cover the cost of business.

“An IMI research study conducted in April 2016 indicates the Edmonton Eskimos have a wide, passionate and growing fan base, led by teens and millennials following the 2015 Grey Cup victory,” reported Rhodes.

For Halifax to boast a fan base that attends the number of games and buys the merchandise and concessions to make a franchise financially viable will take time.

“They would have to build a fan base and that would take, frankly, a generation,” said Hodgson.

A lesson learned

Roger Greenberg, OSEG’s executive chairman and managing partner , has experience growing a CFL fan base.

A strong football culture or lack thereof, was something that was frequently discussed at the beginning of Ottawa’s CFL expansion in 2014.

“Football failed twice in Ottawa,” said Greenberg, arguing that Halifax’s bid is starting off on better footing than his own.

He said he believes the reason the previous renditions of the CFL in Ottawa failed was because of poor ownership.

“It’s like any business. If you don’t have quality leadership and ownership, I don’t care what the business is, it’s going to fail,” Greenberg said.

Now, the CFL is thriving in the nation’s capital.

“We sell out every game. We sold out the Grey Cup. We had the first Grey Cup parade here in 40 years last year,” said Greenberg. “We’ve been successful.”

How much will Atlantic Canadians be willing to support — and pay — to make the same success happen in Halifax?

[ArgoRavi]

Right -- that is definitely even worse than another A. Black is the scourge of uniform design. It's absurd how it has ruined the once-great Stampeders unis.

Agreed with both of you. I absolutely hate that black is part of the Stampeders uniforms. They had great uniforms in the 1970s and early 1980s and then ruined them with black starting in the early 1990s (the Larry Ryckman era).

[jerrym]

The possible CFL expansion to Halifax has created a lot of buzz at the league's winter meetings.


“We didn’t deal with it on the agenda but it was like a constant buzz in the room,” said CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie. “It’s been like the oxygen in the room. I’m committed to the governors and the president that we’re going to keep them updated on our progress and that’s been going on in private conversations since everybody began to arrive,” said Ambrosie at the CFL winter meetings here. ...
“I love hearing all the conversations I’m hearing here,” said Edmonton present and CEO Len Rhodes.

“Forget about having a 10th team and all the benefits that would bring in scheduling. It’s just the idea of the league finally being a true national league going from coast to coast.”

Ambrosie said he met with the three-man ownership group in December and it’s still all systems go. “These are incredibly bright guys,” said Ambrosie. “They are very savvy. They’ve been in sports. They have a strong connection to the community. The three gentlemen that are part of the ownership group — Anthony LeBlanc, Bruce Bowser and Gary Drummond — are getting full support from us. We’re working on a business plan with them that I talked with them about in December. “Anthony and Gary were partners in the NHL in Phoenix and Bruce is a remarkably successful executive. Bruce was born and raised in Halifax. Anthony lived in the Maritimes so he knows the area well. They have a lot of things going for them but ultimately what it comes down to is the stadium." ...
But the great thing is we have this model that Ottawa used for the redevelopment of Lansdowne. There seems to be a lot of interest in Halifax in how that model works. ...
“I think announcing Halifax and the Maritimes and Atlantic Canada as the 10th team would be like the day they pounded the final spike in the national railroad,” he said of that event only 331 kilometres from here at Craigellachie, B.C. ...
“As a CFL fan first, I’m all for it,” said TSN executive producer Paul Graham. “Having 10 teams would balance the league and probably made for better scheduling. One of the issues with scheduling always has been having nine teams.






http://nationalpost.com/sports/football/cfl/jones-enthusiasm-surrounds-possible-cfl-expansion-to-halifax/wcm/5ae7dde2-6ba4-41f8-bcc5-46143fb2cbb0

[rdavies]

Bidder for Halifax franchise in the CFL says 2018 will be a big year for the group (http://ottawacitizen.com/sports/football/cfl/bidder-for-halifax-franchise-in-the-cfl-says-2018-will-be-a-big-year-for-the-group)
Tim Baines Postmedia January 12, 2018

What a few years ago seemed more like a pipe dream, a coast-to-coast Canadian Football League could become an on-field reality by 2020.

While the “stars would have to align” and plenty of hurdles would have to be cleared, a strong Maritime bid for the CFL’s 10th franchise could pay off in the next few months, with CFL shovels in the ground on a new stadium in Halifax before year’s end.

“Everything needs to go right, and I’ve never been involved in a project where that happens,” said Anthony LeBlanc, an Ottawa resident and the front man for the Maritime bid. “Sure, we have desires. Then there’s reality.

“We’ll spend the better part of 2018 doing all the approvals and everything that’s necessary in starting to build a stadium. Best case, in the next six to eight months we have everything wrapped up. By best-case scenario, we have a team on the field by 2020, but that’s a real stretch. I think 2021 is more realistic. Just as long as we get it done. I don’t want it to be 2025 and we’re still talking about this. By the end of 2018, if we don’t have some shovels in the ground or at least real strong approvals, I’d be getting concerned. I’m a realist that these things can take time. Look at Ottawa. It took them (six) years before (the Redblacks) were up and playing.

“The stuff we’re working on right now is twofold: finalizing what I would say is an initial agreement with the league, and we’re getting ready to finalize economic impact analysis to go to the city and to the province with a proposal of how we can work together. We hope to have something to both those bodies in the next four to six weeks.”

LeBlanc knows there will be questions. Is it fiscally responsible for the governments involved? Does it make good business sense?

“There are people questioning if this is the right thing to do,” LeBlanc said. “That’s totally fair. If you’re a taxpayer and you think your taxpayer dollars aren’t being used correctly, you should have the ability to question it. The onus is on us to illustrate this is a good economic driver.”

A bit of background on how this thing got going. LeBlanc was part of a group that owned the Arizona Coyotes from 2013 to 2017 before being bought out by another partner, Andrew Barroway. LeBlanc was the Coyotes’ president, CEO and an alternate governor. When it looked like a solid bet that Barroway would take over the Coyotes, LeBlanc and Gary Drummond, the National Hockey League team’s president of hockey operations, started talking about the CFL.

“He’s from Regina and obviously a big fan of the CFL,” LeBlanc said. “We thought, ‘Where do we start?’ I called Bobby Smith, he owns the (Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Halifax) Mooseheads and is a former GM of the Coyotes. We got together. I wanted to make sure he was cool with it. I didn’t want to do anything that was offensive to the Mooseheads operation. He said, ‘No, this would be great for the region.’

“I asked if he’d be interested, he said, ‘Probably not, but you should talk to my cousin.’ It turns out his cousin, Richard Butts, was the city manager for Halifax. Richard put together a bunch of meetings for me to fly into Halifax. I met with the chamber of commerce, the local economic development group and the mayor (Mike Savage). The mayor said, ‘We’ve had a lot of people come through our doors over the years and they just don’t seem to understand that we can’t just go out and build a stadium. We want to be part of it, but we can’t lead it.’ ”

The mayor hooked LeBlanc up with another businessman, AMJ Campbell Van Lines CEO Bruce Bowser, who had also shown interest in a CFL team in Atlantic Canada.

“We met with the mayor, we met with the premier,” LeBlanc said. “We were pretty successful with keeping it quiet for four months or so. In that period of time, we probably met with the Halifax regional municipality 10 times, the province a handful of times. We met with a bunch of local organizations, we met with the league multiple times, presented to the board of governors. We did a lot of legwork before it became public. It’s just kind of developed its own inertia. There’s still a lot of work to do. The elephant in the room is the stadium. But we seem to have everything coming together.”

What Ottawa Sports & Entertainment Group has done with Lansdowne Park — with condos, bars and restaurants around the stadium and arena — is something of a model for what the Maritime Football group is pushing toward. While nothing is official, there has been a trademark application made on Atlantic Schooners.

“If I could just pick up Lansdowne and move it to a plot of land in Halifax, that’s definitely what we’d want to do,” LeBlanc said. “These guys have hit it out of the park. But it will depend on which site we end up at. Some of the sites are already relatively built up. We have more opportunity for some of that mixed-use development in a couple of the sites we’re looking at compared to some of the others.”

Will football work in Halifax? Can a CFL team find success and maybe extend itself beyond past the boundaries of Halifax and Nova Scotia into neighbouring provinces?

“If we do things right, if we’re sincere and in for the long haul — all things we plan to be — we do think we can replicate that magic you see out in Regina,” LeBlanc said. “I think this will be an absolute success.”

[Tobythor]

Halifax is such a fun city, spent four years there for university, the first Grey Cup there will be such a blast! I hope this group can get this done. 10 teams and Coast to Coast will be great for the league.

[jerrym]

I don't think their timetable for getting the franchise up and running is realistic. Even Ottawa faced significant delays in their original timetable for returning to the CFL despite its previous history in the league. However, I do think it can happen.

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[R.J]

https://cflinhalifax.com/

I like some of these names, concepts and colours.

[KCargosfan]

Without doing much looking into this, how rich is this ownership group?

I would think you'd have to be wealthy enough to sustain losing roughly $5 million for 3-4 years if things went to shit after the first year, which would obviously be wildly popular and financially successful.

But if the team sucks in year 3 and attendance drops to 8K a game, can these guys handle the financial bleeding?

[rdavies]

Without doing much looking into this, how rich is this ownership group?I would say no one in the general public knows for sure. Because of some of the shenanigans in Phoenix, I was inclined to underestimate them. But two factors have assuaged me somewhat: one that they have been endorsed by someone who should be knowledgeable of their wealth, Ambrosie and two they would have had to have met a 60 some million dollar payroll in Phoenix. Running a hockey team is a far larger financial reach than a CFL club. Do I wish they could bring in another big player, yes, but all I've read so far is that they are quietly working behind the scenes getting things done before they are presented to the public.

Everything I have read about the group so far is that they have been diligent and serious in their efforts.

[KCargosfan]

I would say no one in the general public knows for sure. Because of some of the shenanigans in Phoenix, I was inclined to underestimate them. But two factors have assuaged me somewhat: one that they have been endorsed by someone who should be knowledgeable of their wealth, Ambrosie and two they would have had to have met a 60 some million dollar payroll in Phoenix. Running a hockey team is a far larger financial reach than a CFL club. Do I wish they could bring in another big player, yes, but all I've read so far is that they are quietly working behind the scenes getting things done before they are presented to the public.

Everything I have read about the group so far is that they have been diligent and serious in their efforts.

Interesting. Good to know.

Also, is there any talk about going cheaper on a stadium like Hamilton did? I would assume it would be possible to get something respectable for $140-ish million instead of having to go over $200 million like the Riders.

[rdavies]

Also, is there any talk about going cheaper on a stadium like Hamilton did? I would assume it would be possible to get something respectable for $140-ish million instead of having to go over $200 million like the Riders.City council was shown a render of a stadium but how close to a realistic model or how much that would cost are unknown. Really one of the few things made public is a desire to follow the Ottawa model which concerning the stadium holds no relevance at all as Ottawa had something already to work with and the refurb (including the arena) may not have cost over 120 million. That has been a very difficult number to track down from day one and I am going on memory from years ago and a post I made with some rare info.

The Regina stadium BTW was closer to 300 million (it started at 280 IIRC). Also the 145 million dollar number people use for THF originally included a 25 million contingency fund. Had it been done on budget it should have been 120 million, I am not sure what the final cost ended up being.

[rdavies]

Potential CFL team owners working behind the scenes to bring franchise to Halifax (https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/potential-cfl-team-owners-working-behind-the-scenes-to-bring-franchise-to-halifax-1.3777798)
CTV Atlantic atlantic.ctvnews.ca Friday, January 26, 2018

The group that's working to bring a CFL franchise to Halifax appears to be playing the long game.

The potential owners are working behind the scenes to line up funding, sponsorship, a name, and a stadium – all in time for kickoff in 2020 or 2021.

“We're going to spend some time talking with the city, with the province, and even starting conversations with some local organizations that have indicated that they have a desire to talk about a sponsorship,” says Anthony LeBlanc, who is leading the effort.

The potential franchise doesn't have a name, but the group owns the Atlantic Schooners trademark.

“We just saw that there is an awful lot of excitement around that name,” says LeBlanc. “I'm not sitting here today saying that is going to be the name, but we felt that it certainly had a lot of strong potential.”

They also don't have a home, and that's been a major hurdle dating back to the 1980s. Even then, governments have been unwilling to commit large amounts of public money.

"It has to be a large development like you see in other markets like Ottawa, where you see restaurants and mixed use retail and even residential,” LeBlanc says.

As the group hones in on a stadium location, it's also working on economic impact analysis. LeBlanc is pushing for more private investment than other stadiums in Regina, Winnipeg and Ottawa.

“We know that the onus is on us to put together a plan that works for everyone, including and most importantly taxpayers,” he says.

The group hasn't asked the province or municipality for money yet. Both say there are options aside from a direct investment.

“If they can do it where we pay for our contribution through potential future revenues that might not have existed otherwise, then that's a big win for the community,” says Halifax Mayor Mike Savage.

“Ours would have to be, whether it's a payroll remittance or something of that nature,” says Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil.

In the meantime, the ownership group will test the waters in public. A "name the team" contest is likely coming soon, along with a season ticket drive. LeBlanc is aiming for 10,000 fans to buy in in anticipation of the first East Coast kickoff.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Sarah Ritchie.

[ArgoZ]

The Regina stadium BTW was closer to 300 million (it started at 280 IIRC). Also the 145 million dollar number people use for THF originally included a 25 million contingency fund. Had it been done on budget it should have been 120 million, I am not sure what the final cost ended up being.

Hard to believe, but the final cost is TBD, it's still in the courts. Stadium is not complete (mostly deficiencies). The legal issues are also preventing Hamilton from hosting a Grey Cup. I think the stadium is good, especially the seats, but cheapest price doesn't always work out as well as some believe.

[jerrym]

In response to the fan social media group pushing the proposed Halifax franchise ahead quickly, the CFL and those applying for team ownership have issued statements strongly suggesting that these groups not get to far ahead of themselves. I think this is a wise idea as when this happened during the proposed CFL expansion to the US, the league was embarrassed when things did not work out as expected, something that has happened with some other leagues.



The account, CFLinHalifax, had fans dreaming of the possibilities (https://www.cfl.ca/2018/01/25/cfl-halifax-jersey-concepts/) — however, the league has clarified that it has no affiliation with the account:
“We want to make it clear that the Canadian Football League has no affiliation with the social media accounts identifying themselves as CFLinHalifax. While we appreciate the excitement and enthusiasm of the fans behind these accounts, even if some of their suggestions are far more appropriate than others, it is premature to discuss a name for a franchise that has not been awarded. We have been advised by the potential ownership group for Halifax that it also has no affiliation with these fan accounts.”
The CFL confirmed back in November that discussions have taken place with an ownership group (https://www.cfl.ca/2017/11/16/cfl-responds-report-potential-future-expansion-halifax/) that is interested in bringing an expansion team to the city of Halifax. However, the league has maintained that a very thorough process of due diligence will be required.
On Monday, Anthony LeBlanc, Partner, Maritime Football Limited, echoed the CFL’s statement:
“While we love the enthusiasm and some of the creativity being shown by the CFLinHalifax series of social media sites, it is not one that is managed by the potential ownership group. As we have mentioned before, we do like and are considering a name the team contest, however we are not ready to start that process as of yet. We continue to work diligently and expeditiously with the league, various levels of government and local stakeholders, and expect an update to be delivered in the not too distant future.”


https://www.cfl.ca/2018/01/29/cfl-issues-statement-regarding-halifax-team-name/

[R.J]

Pretty clear it was a statement in regards to the name and concept of CFLinHalifax. Some people didn't take too kindly to the Explosion name, which is understandable I suppose. What I think is sad is that the Leblanc Group and the CFL are getting blamed and taking a ridiculous amount of heat for it - CFLinHalfiax is a fan who's coming up with concepts and designs, people need to relax. Way too easy for people to be "outraged' nowadays.

Ferguson nails it.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The <a href="https://twitter.com/CFLinHalifax?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CFLinHalifax</a> concept jerseys &amp; logos are such a great case study in Twitter's tendencies. Plenty of great designs get limited love. One bad idea causes a nationwide tweet storm. It was a bad suggestion. Move on. Try to see the good for once. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CFL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CFL</a> <a href="https://t.co/0atZ3gNjq6">pic.twitter.com/0atZ3gNjq6</a></p>&mdash; Marshall Ferguson (@TSN_Marsh) <a href="https://twitter.com/TSN_Marsh/status/958007190639513601?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 29, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[R.J]

Not sure why, but I really like these three.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="und" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AtlanticOspreys?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AtlanticOspreys</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CFLinHalifax?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CFLinHalifax</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Alternate?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Alternate</a> <a href="https://t.co/mwXTgZpFY4">pic.twitter.com/mwXTgZpFY4</a></p>&mdash; CFL in Halifax (@CFLinHalifax) <a href="https://twitter.com/CFLinHalifax/status/957716146937126912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 28, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">RECAP: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AtlanticFog?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AtlanticFog</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CFLinHalifax?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CFLinHalifax</a> <a href="https://t.co/DqmOf6qKVa">https://t.co/DqmOf6qKVa</a> <a href="https://t.co/rvtsaEejbb">pic.twitter.com/rvtsaEejbb</a></p>&mdash; CFL in Halifax (@CFLinHalifax) <a href="https://twitter.com/CFLinHalifax/status/957708692991954945?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 28, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">RECAP: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MaritimeMarauders?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MaritimeMarauders</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CFLinHalifax?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CFLinHalifax</a> <a href="https://t.co/VU41AYcgqn">https://t.co/VU41AYcgqn</a> <a href="https://t.co/aE2G6WQtxf">pic.twitter.com/aE2G6WQtxf</a></p>&mdash; CFL in Halifax (@CFLinHalifax) <a href="https://twitter.com/CFLinHalifax/status/957709202163630080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 28, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Admittedly, the Fog concept would be really tough for broadcasters, but I think it's unique.

[jerrym]

Yes, I read it. The league will be blamed if it continues to allow speculation to get ahead of actuality. That may not be fair but that's life.

[rdavies]

Proposed 'Explosions' name for CFL team touches off fiery debate online (https://www.halifaxtoday.ca/local-news/proposed-explosions-name-for-cfl-team-touches-off-fiery-debate-online-824957)
On Twitter, CFL in Halifax pitched the idea of calling the football team the Halifax Explosions
Canadian Press January 29/2018

https://i.imgur.com/O95vq06.png

HALIFAX — A group supporting a proposed CFL team in Halifax touched off a fiery debate online when it proposed naming the team after one of the country's greatest Maritime disasters.

On Twitter, CFL in Halifax pitched the idea of calling the football team the Halifax Explosions — a reference to the devastating explosion in the Halifax harbour in 1917 that killed about 2,000 people.

A similar name, the Halifax Xplosion, is used by the city's team in the Maritime Women's Football League.

CFL in Halifax is a creative group that makes fan art to generate discussion, and clarified Monday afternoon that "We are NOT the same people who are bidding for an official Halifax CFL team. That is a different group of business people."

CFL in Halifax enthusiastically promoted the Explosion moniker, saying that 100 years ago "a force was unleashed that made this city stronger, bigger, and more united than ever before. Now we channel that force onto the football field as we flatten all that stands in our way."

It didn't take long for people to register their rebukes.

"You want to profit off the deaths of 2,000 people? It's in really poor taste," said one person, while another tweeted, "I grew up in Dartmouth and this is an absolutely asinine idea."

Others were more creative with their disapproval.

"The Hiroshima Atoms, the Nagasaki Fallout, The California Embers, the Port-au-Prince Quakes," wrote thenormalperson. "I hear the CFL is expanding to the U.S. with the New York 9-11s."

For its part, CFL in Halifax — which is also unaffiliated with the league itself — said it was merely trying to promote a forceful name. It included pictures of a helmet with orange and yellow flames and a logo that looked like an explosive cloud with a skull in the centre.

"The Halifax Explosions team concept is the manifestation of our history and our powerful culture," it tweeted. "A sign to ur opponents that danger is on its way. And history will be made."

Halifax was devastated on Dec. 6, 1917, when two ships collided in the city's harbour and set off an explosion that levelled the city's north end. It's estimated that 2,000 people were killed, while another 9,000 were maimed or blinded.

The group has suggested several other names for the proposed team, including the Atlantic Fog, East Coast Kraken, the Halifax Privateers, and the Atlantic Schooners.

The league confirmed in November it has been in talks with a "professional, enthusiastic and impressive" group of prospective owners rallying for a Halifax franchise.

There are still questions over whether the East Coast has the fan base to support a Canadian Football League franchise, if the business community would be interested in sponsoring a team and who would foot the bill for a new Halifax stadium.

Halifax Mayor Mike Savage has said a potential CFL team would be "an exciting opportunity," but that the municipality would not lead the charge, so as to not put taxpayers at risk over the cost of building a stadium.

The league has said there have been discussions with a group interested in securing a franchise for Halifax, but the talks are preliminary.

The CFL awarded a conditional franchise to Halifax in 1982 — it was named the Atlantic Schooners — but financing for a stadium never came about. The league played regular-season games in Moncton, N.B., in 2010, 2011 and '13.

[rdavies]

Prospect of CFL Team in Atlantic Canada Excites Residents of Halifax (https://insightswest.com/news/prospect-of-cfl-team-in-atlantic-canada-excites-residents-of-halifax/)
Insights West February 1st, 2018
Half of the city’s residents are in favour of using public funds to build a multi-purpose stadium for the new franchise.

Halifax, NS – Many residents of Halifax are looking forward to the Canadian Football League (CFL) establishing a team in the city, a new Insights West poll has found.

In the online survey of a representative sample of Halifax residents, 45% say they are “very excited” or “somewhat excited” about the possibility of having a CFL team in Halifax—including 49% of men and 52% of residents aged 18-to-34.

Having a CFL team in Halifax would require the construction of a new multi-purpose stadium. Half of Halifax residents (50%) support using public funds to build this facility, while 44% are opposed.

Women (53%) and residents aged 18-to-34 (56%) are more supportive of financing the stadium’s construction with public funds, while those aged 55 and over are more likely to oppose the idea (51%).

https://i.imgur.com/Q9ZFqUZ.png

If a CFL team is indeed established in Halifax, half of residents (50%) say they are “very likely” or “somewhat likely” to attend at least one game a year, and over a third (36%) would buy merchandise with the team’s logo.

In addition, two-in-five Halifax residents (40%) are likely to watch the team’s games at home, 23% are likely to watch the team’s games at a bar or pub and 17% are likely to purchase season tickets.

Halifax residents are currently more likely to describe themselves as fans of the National Hockey League (NHL) (56%), Major League Baseball (MLB) (40%) and the National Football League (NFL) (32%) than the CFL (27%). Fewer residents consider themselves fans of the National Basketball Association (NBA) (23%) and Major League Soccer (MLS) (17%).

“At this stage, Halifax residents are not following the CFL at the same level as other North American sports leagues,” says Mario Canseco, Vice President, Public Affairs, at Insights West. “The presence of a CFL team in the city would change the situation dramatically, both in terms of event attendance and merchandise sales.”

About this Release:

Results are based on an online study conducted by Insights West from January 26 to January 30, 2018, among 402 residents of the Halifax Regional Municipality. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age and gender in the Halifax Regional Municipality. The margin of error—which measures sample variability—is +/- 4.9 percentage points for the entire sample, nineteen times out of twenty. View the detailed data tabulations (https://insightswest.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/CFLATL_Tables.pdf).

[Flutie]

These polls don't mean a lot, especially since it's an "on-line" poll of 400 residents. 27% say they follow the CFL? that's pretty low, the people that say they would attend a game probably don't know the price of an average ticket either.

The big obstacle is the stadium, there is very little chance that the Region would put up the $200 million or so for a stadium.
Even if the investors came up with half the money, $100 Million or so is not going to happen.
The Region would also want a commitment for season ticket sales before they funded it.
I think the size of Halifax would be suitable for a NASL soccer or Canadian soccer franchise with attendance of 6k to 9k.
Too bad but I don't think the CFL will ever happen in Halifax.

[jerrym]

These polls don't mean a lot, especially since it's an "on-line" poll of 400 residents. 27% say they follow the CFL? that's pretty low, the people that say they would attend a game probably don't know the price of an average ticket either.

The big obstacle is the stadium, there is very little chance that the Region would put up the $200 million or so for a stadium.
Even if the investors came up with half the money, $100 Million or so is not going to happen.
The Region would also want a commitment for season ticket sales before they funded it.
I think the size of Halifax would be suitable for a NASL soccer or Canadian soccer franchise with attendance of 6k to 9k.
Too bad but I don't think the CFL will ever happen in Halifax.

I don't know if it will ever happen but getting a franchise will be an uphill climb. Even Ottawa, with its long football history, encountered strong opposition, especially from the residents in the immediate vicinity of the proposed new stadium. It took a lot of work, a well laid out plan that included many facilities beyond the stadium, experience in running franchises in other sports, and working past several delays to get the franchise and stadium up and running.
I agree the poll does not mean a lot, especially when many people have just heard about the issue as opinions can be more easily swayed then. However, there are some warnings in the data. Support is weakest among those 55+. Why is that important? Because they vote at 80%+ levels, while the strongest supporters are 18-34, of whom more than one third rarely vote. Politicians know this and act accordingly. Furthermore, Halifax has a high proportion of elderly, the least favourable group, as the young tend to leave for jobs and better pay elsewhere. Even with the support of some political leader(s), other(s) may see an opportunity to build their political career by opposing the stadium on cost and neighbourhood effects. The elderly, many of whom live on fixed incomes, usually like to keep taxes low, and if municipal taxes are used to pay for the stadium, they are the ones most likely to balk as they are more likely to pay property taxes, since they are most likely to own homes. They also have long memories that recall the many cost overruns associated with stadiums, such as the 1976 Olympic Stadium in Montreal that wasn't paid off until the early 2000's.
Getting the franchise is possible but the owners' group will need the skills and determination that led to football coming back to Ottawa and some luck in terms of how effective their opponents are.

[R.J]

An online poll of 400 residents IMO is nowhere near a good enough barometer. While I do think the Maritimes would like to see some pro sports, I think it'll be a struggle to get support for Government funding. It'll be interesting to see what happens in 10-20 years in regards to facilities, and how much Governments are willing to put into them.

[rdavies]

These polls don't mean a lot, especially since it's an "on-line" poll of 400 residents. 27% say they follow the CFL? that's pretty low, the people that say they would attend a game probably don't know the price of an average ticket either.

The big obstacle is the stadium, there is very little chance that the Region would put up the $200 million or so for a stadium.
Even if the investors came up with half the money, $100 Million or so is not going to happen.
The Region would also want a commitment for season ticket sales before they funded it.
I think the size of Halifax would be suitable for a NASL soccer or Canadian soccer franchise with attendance of 6k to 9k.
Too bad but I don't think the CFL will ever happen in Halifax.Why do I get that distinct feeling that you are one of our special CFL "friends" that post here from time to time? Soccer will always succeed but CFL hasn't got a chance.

[rdavies]

An online poll of 400 residents IMO is nowhere near a good enough barometer. While I do think the Maritimes would like to see some pro sports, I think it'll be a struggle to get support for Government funding. Not if SMU and Dal are involved, even in Canada for a city of that size (that isn't really a suburb) to not have a large stadium is not that common.

[rdavies]

I don't know if it will ever happen but getting a franchise will be an uphill climb. Even Ottawa, with its long football history, encountered strong opposition, especially from the residents in the immediate vicinity of the proposed new stadium. It took a lot of work, a well laid out plan that included many facilities beyond the stadium, experience in running franchises in other sports, and working past several delays to get the franchise and stadium up and running.

Getting the franchise is possible but the owners' group will need the skills and determination that led to football coming back to Ottawa and some luck in terms of how effective their opponents are.Unlike Ottawa, there has been very little opposition to this project, in fact, none, that has been organized AFAIK. Unlike Calgary, everyone is getting on and just slowly moving along. The mayor is cautiously optimistic and supportive without commitment, the way he should be.

The fact that the city does not have a decent sized venue may also come into play and also there is no decent venue for either SMU (seats 1100) or Dal football, field hockey, lacrosse, rugby and soccer teams

[rdavies]

Here we go, stadium render was shown during interview (1:45)

How will the CFL come to Halifax? (https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1326527&binId=1.1145518&playlistPageNum=1)

https://i.imgur.com/2gfrGm0.jpg

[rdavies]

Noticed during the interview, LeBlanc commented, "they'll be called the Atlantic something"

[R.J]

Announcement next week ?
https://www.halifaxtoday.ca/local-news/cfl-speculation-ramps-up-ahead-of-commissioner-visit-841457

[paulwoods13]

I wouldn't waste an announcement of a new franchise in the middle of the Winter Olympics. Little chance it makes a big splash with that happening. I will be surprised if he says more than "things are moving in the right direction."

[R.J]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">As for rumours of CFL announcing franchise and stadium plans next Fri, Feb. 23rd in Halifax ... league will be holding a townhall with Commissioner Ambrosie in Halifax but does not anticipate a major announcement. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CFL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CFL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Halifax?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Halifax</a></p>&mdash; David William Naylor (@TSNDaveNaylor) <a href="https://twitter.com/TSNDaveNaylor/status/964558752149012480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 16, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[jerrym]

Anthony Leblanc has denied that the league will be awarding the team a franchise and the Ministry of Transport denies it has been involved in discussion of road infrastructure for a new stadium.



The leader of a group that hopes to bring the CFL to Halifax was succinct on Friday when asked if it’s true the league will award a franchise next Friday.
“No.”
Based on “anonymous sources,” a Halifax radio station reported on Friday a stadium would be located at Dartmouth Crossing, with construction to begin in September. It also said Halifax would be home to a Grey Cup within three years of the still-hypothetical team beginning play, and that the province had agreed to build a connector road between Highway 102 and Highway 118.
Anthony LeBlanc, leader of the Maritime Football Ltd. ownership group, had just two minutes to speak between meetings on Friday afternoon, and needed less time than that to throw cold water on the rumour.
LeBlanc confirmed he and CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie will be in Halifax next week, but cautioned not to read too much into that.
“We plan to listen to his vision, and he wants to hear what people have to say in the region, but we don’t anticipate any form of announcement at that event,” LeBlanc said.
“It is fair to say, and we’ve been pretty public, that we are in ongoing discussions with the league and with a number of landowners in the region. At this time we certainly have not collected a site, we have not negotiated final terms with the league.”
LeBlanc, a longtime executive with Research in Motion and the former president and chief executive of the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes, was even more dismissive of the notion that a new highway has been promised to his group.
“I don’t even know what that is referring to,” he said. “We are looking at a number of locations right now, so to say it’s one particular one would simply not be accurate.”
Marla MacInnis, a spokeswoman with Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal, said the department “has not been engaged in any discussions with regard to road infrastructure to support any potential new stadium project.”
And, as for conjecture about a potential Grey Cup for Halifax, LeBlanc said that is a matter for the CFL’s board of governors.


http://m.thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1546408-rumours-of-cfl-franchise-announcement-nixed?from=slidebox

[Flutie]

I wouldn't waste an announcement of a new franchise in the middle of the Winter Olympics. Little chance it makes a big splash with that happening. I will be surprised if he says more than "things are moving in the right direction."

No announcement at all because it turned out to be "fake news"

http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1546408-rumours-of-cfl-franchise-announcement-nixed

Ambrosie will do his town hall like he has done in other cities and talk about the same things.
A CFL franchise there comes down to a stadium and it's up to Halifax and the investors to come up with funding for a stadium. It doesn't look like the city or region or province will put money towards a $200 MILLION stadium.
I would imagine that the city would want guarantees before it put money towards a stadium. The first would be "show me how many ticket deposits you have" in Ottawa they had thousands put down money before OSEG and the city was involved.

[rdavies]

Wouldn't be a problem at all if it was soccer, right "Flutie"

The "fake news" didn't come from the owners, you can see the interview they gave. The haterz can troll this all they want, this will happen sooner or later. Maybe there are those who are jumping the gun but I'd rather see that than the total non cooperation and communication they have about someday getting a new building in Calgary.

And just to save someone the problem of posting it, there is an issue about the stadium render. Someone is doing something fishy whether it's the designer or the prospective owners whose story has been all along that they had a design done in California and showed it to city council. Maybe the designers gave them a generic render, who knows, but if it is the owners up to shenanigans that were so obvious, I'll be the first to condemn it and as someone who wants to see the project go ahead and not one of the usual suspect trolls who wants the CFL to die because they are under the mistaken belief that suddenly Canada will turn into a nation of soccer lovers..

[R.J]

Wouldn't be a problem at all if it was soccer, right "Flutie"
I've noticed this as well.

[rdavies]

Randy Ambrosie’s Atlantic Town Hall (Full video) (https://www.cfl.ca/live/2018/02/21/randy-ambrosies-atlantic-town-hall/)

Bruce Bowser: "We've got a great ownership group that's well funded that doesn't just include myself and Anthony up here on the stage there's some great local business people and individuals in the region that are part of the ownership group"

Bowser also used the figure of 200 million when discussing the stadium

[rdavies]

Regina’s Gary Drummond On The CFL In Halifax (http://www.620ckrm.com/2018/02/27/reginas-gary-drummond-on-the-cfl-in-halifax/)
620 CKRM Regina Rod Pedersen February 27, 2018

Regina/Phoenix businessman Gary Drummond is one of the driving forces behind landing a CFL expansion franchise for Halifax and getting a stadium built in the Maritime city.

Drummond was the majority owner of the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes, buying the franchise in 2013 with IceArizona, until selling the team to Andrew Barroway last June.

Drummond joined 620 CKRM’s SportsCage on Tuesday to discuss the CFL project, and his partners Anthony Leblanc and Bruce Bowser.

“As you know Anthony Leblanc and I were partners with the Arizona Coyotes for four years and became quite good colleagues and friends,” Drummond Tuesday said from his home in Phoenix. “This was really his initiative and the third guy in our partnership, Bruce Bowser, had been organizing his own group. Anthony took it upon himself and approached Bruce, and we joined forces. When I was asked to be involved, it didn’t take me long to get excited about the project and working on it.”

If the group’s intention was to create a buzz, they certainly did that as the Halifax franchise is the #1 topic in the CFL at this point in the off-season. However Drummond said there’s still plenty of work ahead.

“There’s a logical order or progression and the first thing we need to do is secure a conditional franchise from the CFL, which would be conditional upon us being the catalyst for a new stadium in the Atlantic region,” Drummond advised. “We actually expect to have a proposal from the league in the next week or two. From our side, we’re hopeful that what the league comes up with is something we can accept and move onto the bigger challenge of putting a proposal to the three levels of government, the Province, the City and the Federal Government regarding the financing of a new stadium.”

From media reports tracking the situation, Anthony Leblanc has been doing most of the legwork by meeting with local politicians to gauge interest in financing a stadium.

“It’s gone very positively and it’s a very good climate at the City, the Province and I think at the Federal level as well,” Drummond continued. “The timing is very good but still, in all cases they want the private sector to be the driving force and we understand that. So far it’s been very positive but there’s lots of wood to chop yet.”

Drummond said despite selling the Coyotes, he’s attended all but two of their games this season and he’s eager to get back into pro sports at the ownership level.

“I had a great experience with the NHL and would’ve liked to stayed longer because the team is just starting to show the way the organization has developed the past couple of years,” Drummond explained. “I think the future of the team on the ice is pretty bright. That did whet my appetite for building an organization and the excitement that follows. I really enjoyed working with the hockey operations people and the corporate sponsors. I enjoyed it all. The CFL is different than the NHL but there are a lot of similarities too.”

So while it seems the Halifax franchise is moving forward at a snail’s pace, Drummond made it clear that there’s been lots of work going on behind the scenes. So far, it’s been an enjoyable ride.

“I’m having lots of fun with it!” Drummond laughed. “I want to mention too that the Riders’ Wayne Morsky has been very helpful and supportive and Ottawa’s John Ruddy has been very helpful as well. Commissioner Randy Ambrosie, I can’t say enough good things about him. Even if we weren’t successful in getting the CFL franchise, I’d have nothing but positive things to say about the CFL. Likewise with the City of Halifax, from the Mayor on down and the Premier too, they’ve had open arms for us.

“If we do our job I think there’s a good possibility that we can get this thing going.”

[rdavies]

Eastern Enthusiasm: Exclusive sit down with Maritime Football Ltd (https://www.cfl.ca/2018/03/02/eastern-enthusiasm-sit-down-with-atlantic-ownership/)
cfl.ca March 2, 2018

Sit down with the founders of Maritime Football Limited, an organization working hard to bring a CFL franchise to Atlantic Canada.

[rdavies]

Randy Ambrosie’s Atlantic Town Hall (Full video) (https://www.cfl.ca/live/2018/02/21/randy-ambrosies-atlantic-town-hall/)

Bruce Bowser: "We've got a great ownership group that's well funded that doesn't just include myself and Anthony up here on the stage there's some great local business people and individuals in the region that are part of the ownership group"

Regina’s Gary Drummond On The CFL In Halifax (http://www.620ckrm.com/2018/02/27/reginas-gary-drummond-on-the-cfl-in-halifax/)
620 CKRM Regina Rod Pedersen February 27, 2018

Gary Drummond: "The third guy in our partnership, Bruce Bowser, had been organizing his own group. Anthony took it upon himself and approached Bruce, and we joined forces."There were two groups looking at a franchise, that joined together, I wonder if (below) was the group Bowser was involved in and if Gardiner is also part of the ownership group's local businessmen that Bowser referred to in their recent town hall with Ambrosie.

Field of dreams: Businessman floats idea of private funds to build outdoor Halifax stadium (http://www.metronews.ca/news/halifax/2016/05/18/businessman-floats-idea-of-private-funds-to-build-stadium.html)
Mayor Mike Savage said he'd welcome private investment, seating would be at about 20,000.
Yvette d'Entremont Metro May 18 2016

Don Gardiner - Born entrepreneur took talent from NB to NS (http://thechronicleherald.ca/books/23344-born-entrepreneur-took-talent-nb-ns)
Ian Fairclough Chronicle Herald September 25, 2011

[rdavies]

CFL in Halifax to be Atlantic Canada's team (https://www.telegraphjournal.com/tribune/story/100534363/cfl-atlantic-football-stadium?source=story-top)
ROBERT WILLIAMS Telegraph-Journal March 12, 2018

Touchdown Atlantic packed thousands of fans into the Moncton Stadium to watch CFL action. With a CFL franchise in Halifax gaining steam, the potential ownership group is calling on all of Atlantic Canada to support the team.

Sitting in his room at the Westin Nova Scotian ahead of his last town hall meeting as new commissioner of the Canadian Football League, Randy Ambrosie said history was staring him in the face.

The hotel, built by the Canadian National Railway in 1928, stands as a symbol in Halifax of the railway that connected the country. Now, it's on Ambrosie's shoulders to hammer the last spike on the CFL.

“Before the railway was totally connected east to west, it had a missing track. You couldn’t call it complete," said Ambrosie. "I think not having a team in the Atlantic region is the same thing. I don’t think we call ourselves complete until we get that tenth team in that very special part of Canada.”

And for a 2021 CFL franchise to work, the team will be relying on more than just Halifax.

It's on all of Atlantic Canada's shoulders, he said.

"There's an authenticity to the people, a warmth and a friendliness that is real. It's quite remarkable, really," said Ambrosie. "You can feel that they want this."

From Edmundston to St. John's, this will be everyone's team, said Anthony LeBlanc, frontman of Maritime Football Ltd., the group trying to bring a CFL team to the East Coast.

To quantify it, the group is still waiting on the exact number from their economic impact study, but LeBlanc said he's expecting a need of about 30-50 per cent support from outside of the Halifax census metropolitan area.

'We have the momentum necessary'

LeBlanc has Maritime roots.

His mother was born in Woodstock, his father just outside Moncton. Although LeBlanc grew up in Thunder Bay, Ont., he started his career working in Fredericton.

He is a former RIM executive, and is best known as the former president, CEO, and alternate governor of the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League.

He hopes to become part of the ownership team responsible for bringing a CFL franchise to Halifax.

“We’re coming on nine months now, and we definitely feel we have the momentum necessary to try and get this thing across the goal line,” said LeBlanc from his home in Ottawa.

He is not the first to try. The CFL granted a conditional expansion franchise in 1982 if a 30,000 seat stadium was built in time for the opening day of the 1984 season. The stadium was never built and the team never came.

More than three decades removed from that bid, the same problem exists today.

LeBlanc and founding partners Gary Drummond and Bruce Bowser are working with a number of land developers, but have not yet chosen a stadium location. That will be coming soon.

Working off the successful Ottawa Redblacks model and the 24,000 capacity TD Place Stadium, LeBlanc said 24,000 would be the "sweet spot" for a Halifax stadium.

Both Halifax Mayor Mike Savage and Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil are on the record as saying the stadium has to be private-sector led. LeBlanc said that is the plan moving forward.

Having a CFL franchise as an anchor tenant is critical, said LeBlanc, but he said they also plan on partnering with local universities and high schools, and will also use the facility to hold outdoor concerts.

The team will be putting in a bid to host the Grey Cup, he said.

Atlantic Canada's team

Social media has been abuzz in recent months with possible names for a Halifax expansion team. From the 1984 team name of the Atlantic Schooners to the Halifax Explosions, the name and logo has become a popular conversation for football fans.

"For one, yes, I can confirm the team will not be called the Roughriders," said LeBlanc, with a laugh. The CFL has been host to both the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Ottawa Rough Riders through its 100-plus year history.

"But 100 per cent, the team will be called the Atlantic something."

The reasoning behind that, he said, is the team is meant to represent all of Atlantic Canada. Although his group is called Maritime Football Ltd., he said it was only chosen as Atlantic Football Ltd. had already been taken.

In the past, the Atlantic provinces proved they will show up when the CFL comes to town.

Moncton has played host to three regular season CFL games since 2010. The first year 21,000 people packed Moncton Stadium, with about 20,000 in 2011 and 15,000 in 2013.

Will help grow the sport

For a young kid, there's nothing comparable to the feeling of watching a professional athlete in your own backyard.

They're real, tangible heroes that show if you work hard enough, you too can become a professional athlete.

"There's no question, a CFL team would have a huge impact on football in New Brunswick and registrations for our youth," said Josh Harris, Football New Brunswick executive director. "I think having role models for kids to look up to, and get to have experiences where they meet players and attend games, those experiences will be unbelievable."

That goes for Prince Edward Island as well.

Glen Flood is the executive director with Football PEI, and said if Touchdown Atlantic has taught us anything, it's that there is an interest for the sport in the region.

With the right plan in place for bus trips and hotel stays, he said you can count on the island to support the franchise.

[rdavies]

While I do think the Maritimes would like to see some pro sports, I think it'll be a struggle to get support for Government funding


CFL in Halifax to be Atlantic Canada's team (https://www.telegraphjournal.com/tribune/story/100534363/cfl-atlantic-football-stadium?source=story-top)
ROBERT WILLIAMS Telegraph-Journal March 12, 2018

Having a CFL franchise as an anchor tenant is critical, said LeBlanc, but he said they also plan on partnering with local universities and high schools, and will also use the facility to hold outdoor concerts. This could change the question about federal funding

[AngeloV]

This could change the question about federal funding

This could be a huge boost for the AUS. That league has really struggled to put a competitive product on the field for at least a decade which can compete with Quebec, Ontario and Western Canada. Would be great to see.

[jerrym]

Nova Scotia Premier McNeil has downplayed but not ruled out using $828 million in federal infrastructure spending for a stadium in Halifax because of other critical needs.



Premier Stephen McNeil said the money would assist with water and sewer projects and other provincial priorities, including the twinning of 100-series highways, the expansion of broadband internet in rural areas and construction of a new art gallery in Halifax. ...

Geoff Stewart, president of the Nova Scotia Union of Municipalities, said the program would provide some relief for struggling towns and villages.
“Municipalities have been struggling for many years to try to maintain a level of service that is expected by the public. This announcement can only enhance the opportunities for better waste water treatment and water treatment.”

Reporters also asked McNeil whether there was any opportunity to help fund a Halifax stadium that might attract a potential CFL franchise.
McNeil downplayed the possibility, but said the province would look at all projects brought forward under the program.
“While this is a substantial amount of money the need is great in our province,” he said. “We need to make sure we address the issues that we have no choice but to do. Municipalities are mandated by law to deal with the water and sewer issues and we have to make sure those are our priority.”


https://www.thestar.com/halifax/2018/04/10/nova-scotia-to-get-828-million-in-federal-funding-for-infrastructure-projects.html

[Flutie]

Nova Scotia Premier McNeil has downplayed but not ruled out using $828 million in federal infrastructure spending for a stadium in Halifax because of other critical needs.



https://www.thestar.com/halifax/2018/04/10/nova-scotia-to-get-828-million-in-federal-funding-for-infrastructure-projects.html

I think he has ruled it out. Just too many bigger priorities like roads, bridges, sewers, water treatment. Halifax still dumps raw sewage into the harbour.
The priority is going to be widening the road to Cape Breton and the NFL ferry. It's a cash strapped province and they aren't going to spend money on a CFL stadium when there are so many higher priority projects.

There is no way that a provincial government spends infrastructure money on a CFL stadium, especially after giving approval to the new soccer stadium on the Common, which is being funded privately.
It's going to be up to the ownership group to fund it, that is a huge risk to fund not only the cash for a stadium but the $20 million or so to put together a team and the franchise fee on top of that.

CFL fans have to put this Halifax idea to bed, it's never going to happen.

[rdavies]

CFL fans have to put this Halifax idea to bed, it's never going to happen.No, TFC trolls have to stop pretending they are CFL fans on CFL websites and pretending those that are are too stupid to recognize their insidious trolling, right "Flutie"?

That announcement means nothing towards the funding of the stadium, that was one source of money coming into the province where we still have no news of a funding model or scope of the project.

[rdavies]

Halifax still dumps raw sewage into the harbour.Hasn't been true for ten years, next time you steal a quote from another website, do the research.

[rdavies]

Halifax CFL stadium still out of site (http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1561647-halifax-cfl-stadium-still-out-of-site)
FRANCIS CAMPBELL The Chronicle Herald April 12, 2018

The chains don’t appear to be moving forward on a proposed stadium in the Halifax area that could accommodate a Canadian Football League team.

“There is no real update at this point,” Anthony LeBlanc, one of the proponents of Maritime Football Ltd., that hopes to bid for a 10th league franchise, said of a stadium site selection.

“We were in town last week with our team of real estate consultants as well as our lead architect visiting a number of sites in the region. We do hope to have a site selected in the next month.”

LeBlanc, the former president and part owner of the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League, and his two business partners who front Maritime Football Ltd., are trying to secure a conditional CFL franchise with the long-range goal of fielding a team in three or four years time.

First things first. A team needs a stadium and LeBlanc has estimated that a 25,000-seater would be required, probably costing in excess of $200 million.

LeBlanc has said in the past that potential stadium sites include land at Dartmouth Crossing, a property behind the Kent store in the Bayers Lake business park, a Bedford location and a site near the Halifax airport.

Shannon Park had been suggested in the past but the former military complex now owned by Crown corporation Canada Lands appears to have been dropped as a potential site.

And if and when a site is determined, who would pay for such a stadium?

LeBlanc has said that a public-private entity usually owns and operates the facility.

Mike Savage, the mayor of Halifax Regional Municipality, has said that a stadium should be built and operated along the lines of the TD Stadium in Ottawa, home to the CFL Redblacks. A local consortium rebuilt an aging stadium there and redeveloped the surrounding Lansdowne Park, adding considerable commercial and retail space.

“I don’t think there is much appetite on council for something that we have to sink a lot of capital dollars into right up front,” Savage said recently. “We need to be a little bit more creative than that.”

That creativity might look a lot like the Halifax Convention Centre plan that proposes to offset the municipality’s portion of the convention centre cost with future tax dollars that will be accrued from the Nova Centre, the $500-million complex that houses the convention centre.

The municipality and the province agreed to evenly share costs for the convention centre. With the Nova Centre office tower sitting at only 30 per cent occupancy, the property tax accrual HRM had been counting on from Nova Centre will not reach projections. Consequently, the municipality could have to come up with $18 million over the next decade to pay its convention centre bill.

On Tuesday, regional council approved a payment of $301,500 for its share of convention centre costs for the 2016-17 period. The payment will come out of the projected $12.1-million contingency reserve surplus and not affect the tax rate.

Still, those finances do not bode well for the municipality using a similar payment arrangement for its share of a new stadium.

“We haven’t got any proposal to fund a stadium,” Savage said after Tuesday’s council meeting when asked if the city would enter into a similar future tax dollar plan to pay for a stadium.

“You can’t say it makes sense or doesn’t make sense based on one project. In Ottawa, it seems to make sense. They funded their stadium that way. In some projects, it makes sense and in some it doesn’t. I think the key is to learn from what you’ve done, through your experience, and look at others.”

Each project is different, the mayor said.

“It depends on the project, it depends on cost, it depends on the business case. It would be crazy to say yes or no at this point. It would make no sense whatsoever to rule it out or rule it in.”

Savage said the municipality doesn’t have a plan for a stadium, “so we would have to wait and see what that looks like before we know what any cost might be.”

The group that wants to bring the CFL to Halifax has engaged Deloitte in Halifax to finalize an economic impact analysis that would include a potential stadium.

[ArgoRavi]

I will believe that a CFL team will take the field in Halifax only when I see it. I have been waiting since the early 1980s and I just don't see it being much closer today than it was 35 years ago.

[rdavies]

Having lived through them both, this group IS much closer to a franchise than the last one. Am I saying that it will happen, I dunno, but this group is much more professional and better financially backed than the last group. The way it looks to me is does this group have the patience like OSEG, to stick around for the long run to get the right deal. Again, I don't know. I think you would see a deal get done if they had just one more big player in the ownership group.

Frankly, it won't bother me too much if it doesn't happen because that tells me the ownership group wasn't up to the job. I'd rather not have a team than run into a Renegades scenario.

[AngeloV]

I will believe that a CFL team will take the field in Halifax only when I see it. I have been waiting since the early 1980s and I just don't see it being much closer today than it was 35 years ago.

I will be the optimist here Ravi. I think it will happen.

[rdavies]

Exclusive: Poll shows people in Halifax open to using municipal taxes to pay for CFL stadium (https://www.thestar.com/halifax/2018/04/15/exclusive-poll-shows-people-in-halifax-open-to-using-municipal-taxes-to-pay-for-cfl-stadium.html?platform=hootsuite)
The polling done for StarMetro by MQO Research also says the best outdoor stadium size is between 15,000 and 25,000 seats.
Philip Croucher StarMetro Halifax April 15, 2018

HALIFAX—There is a clear appetite for spending municipal tax dollars to help fund a new outdoor stadium for Halifax.

That’s one of the findings of a new survey conducted exclusively for StarMetro by the polling firm MQO Research.

Between March 26 and April 2, 500 people in HRM were asked the following question: “To what extent, if at all, are you in favour of the Halifax Regional Municipality contributing taxpayers’ dollars, either directly or through tax breaks, to the building of a new outdoor stadium in the municipality.”

In total, 42 per cent of respondents said they were either “very favourable” or “favourable” to the idea. Forty-one per cent said they were either unfavourable or very unfavourable.

Another 15 per cent were neither favourable nor unfavourable, with another 2 per cent unsure.

The most popular of the six possible answers was favourable, at 27 per cent.

https://i.imgur.com/KS24XQg.jpg

“I honestly thought it would be a much lower level of interest,” said Rick Emberley of MQO Research.

“There are a lot of people that want a stadium but don’t agree with the idea of it being funded in part, or in whole, in any measure or ways, with taxpayer money. But let’s face it: In a marketplace of this size, it will never happen without some sort of financial incentive of financial support of government.”

The CFL, and a possible stadium for Halifax, are top-of-mind with an ownership group now established and looking to bring a team here.

League commissioner Randy Ambrosie even wrapped up a 10-city CFL road trip in Halifax in February to talk about a possible expansion and how the league would love to one day be a coast-to-coast entity.

To do that, they would need Halifax.

When you dig into the MQO Research polling numbers more closely, you get a clearer picture of who supports funding a stadium with the help of taxpayer dollars.

https://i.imgur.com/6WSp2NI.jpg

Looking at people between the ages of 18 and 54, the very favourable or favourable total reaches 47 per cent. In that same age bracket, 37 per cent say they are unfavourable or very unfavourable to the idea.

For the 55-plus age group, the very favourable or favourable number drops to 33 per cent, and the unfavourable or very unfavourable figure jumps to 48 per cent.

Emberley thinks the low support from the 55-plus group is partly due to them having the impression that private or commercial projects get more than their fair share of government funding.

“The second piece is they are probably the least likely demographic to take advantage of such a facility,” he continued.

There has been plenty of debate within the city over different levels of government supporting large, private-sector projects.

The most notable is the Nova Centre, which includes the Halifax Convention Centre. Last week regional council learned that Halifax was expected to lose millions in the next 10 years on its downtown convention centre.

“Even though the economic impacts of a convention centre might far exceed a stadium over a sports team or two here, the reality is more local people identify with a stadium … compared with never stepping inside a convention centre,” Emberley said.

https://i.imgur.com/VC51Nl0.jpg

The poll by MQO Research also asked respondents what size such a stadium should be if built. The runaway winner — at 40 per cent — was between 15,000 and 25,000 seats.

The other options were up to 15,000 seats or more than 25,000 seats. Both those suggestions received less than 15 per cent support.

“I know nothing of the economics to produce a creature like this,” Emberley said.

“But I think the argument would be it’s got to be the right size ... and right size means it can’t be built just for a football team. It has to properly accommodate concerts, other sporting events and so on.”

The polling firm also asked about possible stadium locations. Shannon Park was top choice at 27 per cent, followed by Dartmouth Crossing at 22 per cent and Bayers Lake at 14 per cent.

“The Shannon Park thing — not only is it central, it’s also very accessible,” Emberley explained.

“Bayers Lake, it’s a nightmare to get around out there. Imagine what it would be like if you dropped a 20,000-seat stadium out there. You would have to reconfigure the entire road network.”

The sample size of 500 people results in a margin of error, for a population of this size, of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

[rdavies]

Councillors react to Halifax stadium poll and possible taxpayer involvement (https://www.thestar.com/halifax/2018/04/16/councillors-react-to-halifax-stadium-poll-and-possible-taxpayer-involvement.html)
Three members of Halifax regional council say they’d have to see the arrangement before giving a green light to use your money.
Taryn Grant StarMetro Halifax April 16, 2018

HALIFAX — A game plan based on throwing tax money directly at an outdoor stadium won’t win, say some municipal councillors.

“If it means increasing your taxes, I'm not interested in doing that,” said District 6 councillor Tony Mancini in an interview. “If it means some tax breaks, if it means us doing some infrastructure work, I'm interested in that.”

A StarMetro exclusive poll revealed split opinions on using municipal taxes, directly or through tax breaks, to pay for a football stadium for a possible CFL franchise for Halifax.

Forty-two per cent of those polled said they were very favourable or favourable to using taxpayer money to build a stadium, while 41 per cent were unfavourable or very unfavourable. Fifteen per cent were neither unfavourable nor favourable, and 2 per cent were unsure.

Rick Emberley of MQO Research, which conducted the poll for StarMetro, was surprised by the split opinion.

“I honestly thought it would be a much lower level of interest,” he earlier told StarMetro.

Mancini also expected more opposition.

“My gut feeling would have been stronger numbers against using taxpayer dollars,” he said.

Mancini thinks municipal involvement will be worthwhile if plans include more than just a stadium. He referred to Ottawa’s Lansdowne Park, which includes the 24,000-seat TD Place, home of the Ottawa Redblacks, as well as shops, restaurants, green spaces and courtyards.

“That Lansdowne approach interests me or excites me for Shannon Park because it may help to address some of our challenges when it comes to transportation,” said Mancini, whose district includes the Shannon Park area. “Expanding our transportation, metro transit, possibly even a third ferry coming into that area.”

Shannon Park was the most desired location in StarMetro’s poll, followed by Dartmouth Crossing. Unlike Lansdowne, which is owned by the City of Ottawa, Shannon Park is not owned by HRM.

“The challenge with Shannon Park,” said Coun. Sam Austin in an interview, “is we've just gone through a whole planning process to redevelop that as a mixed-use neighbourhood. And it's owned by Canada Lands, so I'm not sure that that'll come to pass.”

Austin, District 5, and fellow councillor Tim Outhit, District 16, both said the poll was consistent with what they’ve been hearing from residents.

“I've heard from people who are vehemently against and people who are really in support. So it rather fits what's been coming in to me,” said Austin.

Outhit added that it’s hard to come down on either side, since council hasn’t received an official ask from potential franchisees.

“What I hear from people is they may get the vision of the stadium, but the devil will be in the details,” Outhit said.

Last year, council heard from a private group interested in bringing a CFL team to the Atlantic region. The session was closed to the public, but Mancini said the group shared “their intention” without proposing a business plan or making an official bid for municipal dollars.

Council still doesn’t have a proposal, said Austin, but for him: “It would have to be a pretty darn good deal for me to see putting municipal money into it. This has to be something that the private sector leads."

One person in support of an outdoor stadium in Halifax is Saint Mary’s Huskies football coach James Colzie III.

He believes a stadium and CFL team would be a great fit.

“It’s not just support for football, it is support for the city,” he said in an interview Monday.

Colzie hopes the Huskies would be able to use a stadium, should one ever get built, but knows there would be some red tape in terms of working out a partnership.

“Obviously when you build a stadium you want to sell it out,” he said. “You bring in CFL fans and hopefully that leads to some new fans for the Huskies.” – with files from Tony Davis.

[jerrym]

The partners who want to bring football football to Atlantic Canada have created a website whose url is:

https://maritimefootball.ca

[rdavies]

That site has been up for quite a while

[gilthethrill]

That site has been up for quite a while

But what company did they decide to go with when building the website? Square Space perhaps?

[rdavies]

But what company did they decide to go with when building the website? Square Space perhaps?I have no idea what you're talking about?

[jerrym]

That site has been up for quite a while

The date of the launch is given as April 19, 2018.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Maritime Football group launches website <a href="https://t.co/91zrF8kl7K">https://t.co/91zrF8kl7K</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Halifax?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Halifax</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CFL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CFL</a> <a href="https://t.co/fZNMWBrCrQ">pic.twitter.com/fZNMWBrCrQ</a></p>&mdash; 3DownNation (@3DownNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/3DownNation/status/986994130407575552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 19, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[rdavies]

Not to belabour the point, they may have called yesterday a "launch" but the site certainly was up long before yesterday. I don't recall when I went there but it may have been after the Halifax Town Hall.

[rdavies]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmRou-fOGio

[Flutie]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmRou-fOGio

35 years ago! too bad it didn't get off the ground back then, it going to be impossible to get a franchise now. I think we have discussed the "no stadium funding" to death. No funding for a stadium, no franchise. It doesn't look good when you also see the Esks, the team with the best attendance in the CFL, only making $400k profit.

[AngeloV]

It doesn't look good when you also see the Esks, the team with the best attendance in the CFL, only making $400k profit.

I honestly think that is a little creative accounting. The esks spent a lot of money on renovations to the facilities not that long ago. My guess is that they are taking an annual amount of that pay down and adding it to their bottom line, thus reducing the overall annual profit.

[R.J]

I honestly think that is a little creative accounting. The esks spent a lot of money on renovations to the facilities not that long ago. My guess is that they are taking an annual amount of that pay down and adding it to their bottom line, thus reducing the overall annual profit.
Nor does it included any of the profits the Esks make on investments.

[rdavies]

Nor does it included any of the profits the Esks make on investments.Nor does it include the source of the original quote being an MLS troll.

[rdavies]

It doesn't look good when you also see the Esks, the team with the best attendance in the CFL, only making $400k profit.Getting off topic, but the FUD has to be dispelled and put into context, after all they are a community owned organization. Funny, a team hurting so badly could give $840k to minor football.

Eskimos 2017 Report to Shareholders (https://d3ham790trbkqy.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/2017-Annual-Report.pdf)

[rdavies]

It doesn't look good when you also see the Esks, the team with the best attendance in the CFL, only making $400k profit.Strange you didn't post this...

Bombers Post Operating Profit of $5.1 million in 2017 (https://www.bluebombers.com/2018/04/19/bombers-post-operating-profit-5-1-million-2017/)

[rdavies]

I think we have discussed the "no stadium funding" to death. No funding for a stadium, no franchise.We are six months into an eight year process, (the average length of time to go from public release of a stadium proposal to stadium completion) in Canada. So you have many more years of googling any negative information you can find and watching gawdawful MLS games (with the 20 other people across Canada) before this story has a meaningful ending.

[Flutie]

We are six months into an eight year process, (the average length of time to go from public release of a stadium proposal to stadium completion) in Canada. So you have many more years of googling any negative information you can find and watching gawdawful MLS games (with the 20 other people across Canada) before this story has a meaningful ending.

I'm trying to figure out why you keep bringing up the MLS and TFC? I don't get it. Yes gawdawful MLS games blah blah I agree. Now can you just stick to the topics and try to debate?

But getting back to the Halifax situation, the provincial government has already stated that they will not fund a CFL stadium in Halifax.
The HRC and the provincial government just opened a $500 MILLION Convention Centre and are not going to spend another $200 Million or so on a new stadium.
If you look at the plans for Shannon Park there is no place for a stadium, the old military site is planned for housing and parks.
You say there is a public release of a stadium proposal?? where? I don't see any stadium proposal in Halifax, I am trying to be realistic not just posting negative stuff. The chances of a pubically funded stadium and a CFL team is zero

[rdavies]

the provincial government has already stated that they will not fund a CFL stadium in Halifax.

You say there is a public release of a stadium proposal?? where? I don't see any stadium proposal in Halifax,

I am trying to be realistic not just posting negative stuff. The chances of a pubically funded stadium and a CFL team is zeroWhere has the provincial government stated they would not put funding towards a stadium? They said they wouldn't use certain funds that were allocated to the province, that's a different thing altogether.

Ok, let's play the semantics game then if you misunderstood or I didn't spell it out. Let's just say the proposal for looking at building a stadium with definite plans and funding models not yet specified.

As for the game you're playing at this site and with the other posters, as LBJ would say "Don't shit me cuz I know better" Seen it before, you guys give yourselves away.

And this is laughable "I am trying to be realistic not just posting negative stuff. The chances of a pubically funded stadium and a CFL team is zero" That's not negative stuff?

Lots of people here post contrary opinions and doubt this project, that's fine, but you're not being honest about your motives and I don't respect that.

[Flutie]

Where has the provincial government stated they would not put funding towards a stadium? They said they wouldn't use certain funds that were allocated to the province, that's a different thing altogether.

Ok, let's play the semantics game then if you misunderstood or I didn't spell it out. Let's just say the proposal for looking at building a stadium with definite plans and funding models not yet specified.

As for the game you're playing at this site and with the other posters, as LBJ would say "Don't shit me cuz I know better" Seen it before, you guys give yourselves away.

And this is laughable "I am trying to be realistic not just posting negative stuff. The chances of a pubically funded stadium and a CFL team is zero" That's not negative stuff?

Lots of people here post contrary opinions and doubt this project, that's fine, but you're not being honest about your motives and I don't respect that.

Not being honest about my motives?? you can call me negative and I don't know what you think my motive is, but Halifax will NOT get a publically funded stadium and a CFL team.
The provincial government will not be giving any money towards a stadium. If you have been following what is going on in Halifax they just spent $500 MILLION Convention Centre that has cost over runs and empty retail space.
Much higher priorities include the need to twin the highway to Cape Breton to the ferry terminal and the need to have a water treatment plant instead of dumping sewage directly into the harbor.
Zero chance of funding a CFL stadium, if you say that is just being negative and not realistic so be it.

[rdavies]

Not being honest about my motives?? you can call me negative and I don't know what you think my motive is, but Halifax will NOT get a publically funded stadium and a CFL team.
The provincial government will not be giving any money towards a stadium. If you have been following what is going on in Halifax they just spent $500 MILLION Convention Centre that has cost over runs and empty retail space.
Much higher priorities include the need to twin the highway to Cape Breton to the ferry terminal and the need to have a water treatment plant instead of dumping sewage directly into the harbor.
Zero chance of funding a CFL stadium, if you say that is just being negative and not realistic so be it.No, I say you are just another in the long line of soccer trolls who wants to see the CFL dead. You google a few articles to try and look knowledgeable and plant your FUD. It makes me sick that CFL fans put up with it and if a CFL fan goes to one of your soccer websites they are banned. But I'd still prefer the CFL fan's approach to your insecurity. I'm just gonna call you out every time.

Nobody, nobody shits on something they enjoy on a constant daily basis, just doesn't happen. If you were a fan you'd want to see a stadium deal instead of making up lame stuff to try and turn people. You don't live here, you don't know what the prospective owners have in mind, you know jack.

I see you've taken your trolling roadshow to 3DN now. As I said above, you're planting more BS that they have put sewage in the harbour, they haven't done it in ten years.

So do what you guys always do, disappear until the heat goes down or play the nice guy for a while until you think you've sucked everybody in again. Sorry pal, I don't forget, when you wanna kill the game I love.

[rdavies]

Prospective Halifax ownership group meets with selected governors (https://www.tsn.ca/prospective-halifax-ownership-group-meets-with-selected-governors-1.1088899)
TSN.ca Staff May 18, 2018

https://i.imgur.com/zYchsGs.jpg

The prospective ownership group of a potential CFL team in Halifax met with selected governors around the league on Thursday, according to a report from TSN's Farhan Lalji.

https://i.imgur.com/tyCaB5K.png

The meeting was an opportunity for current owners to provide feedback on the Halifax ownership group's business plan, according to Lalji, and there is cautious optimism as the process moves forward. Lalji added that a stadium deal is still the key for the prospective Halifax owners.

[R.J]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Commissioner <a href="https://twitter.com/RandyAmbrosie?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RandyAmbrosie</a> and representative of prospective Hfx ownership group meeting today with Premier of NB and Mayor of Moncton. Believed to be discussing impact of regional Atlantic team and possibility of playing games in Moncton while stadium built in Halifax. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CFL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CFL</a></p>&mdash; David William Naylor (@TSNDaveNaylor) <a href="https://twitter.com/TSNDaveNaylor/status/1004384291177025537?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 6, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I think this is a good more, and shows the potential Owners are serious about it being a regional team.

[rdavies]

I think this is a good more, and shows the potential Owners are serious about it being a regional team.He talked about this in the Tim and Sid interview I believe. No real news on T&S, just reinforcing the tweet and post above.

The owners have stated many times about being a regional team but people keep talking about a Halifax or Nova Scotia name. The commish was talking about Moncton being involved to the point of maybe hosting the team until a stadium was built IIRC. He may also have hinted at things like preseason and TC being held in Moncton.

[argotom]

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<script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I think this is a good more, and shows the potential Owners are serious about it being a regional team.



That's a great idea.
I was there a few years ago at the 1st TD Atlantic game involving my Argos.
The place was sold out and their was a buzz in the air.
Not to mention how Moncton was in the running for a team.
This would also no doubt have a decent base of fans for the future who no doubt would attend in Halifax to watch.
A regional team for sure in Atlantic Canada.





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[rdavies]

Maritime Football Ltd to provide update to Halifax city council (https://www.tsn.ca/maritime-football-ltd-to-provide-update-to-halifax-city-council-1.1116882)
Dave Naylor TSN June 19 2018

The group hoping to establish the CFL’s 10th franchise in Atlantic Canada is expected to provide details to Halifax city council today on where it stands in that process, including some important agreements recently established with the league.

Maritime Football Ltd and the CFL recently agreed to a three-step process with the league for securing a team, with the details and conditions of the first step laid out on paper.

Today's meeting in Halifax is expected to be in-​camera.

The prospective ownership group, Maritime Football Ltd., is hoping to be able to join the league in time for the 2021 season, with the biggest piece required being the financing and construction of a stadium to accommodate crowds of roughly 25,000.

CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie has endorsed the idea of an Atlantic Canadian franchise in principle and visited Halifax this past winter as part of his cross-country road trip. Two weeks ago he and a member of Maritime Football Ltd, Anthony LeBlanc, engaged with Moncton Mayor Dawn Arnold and New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant to gauge their support for a team, which the league hopes to be representative of all of Atlantic Canada.

[rdavies]

Halifax council meets with company pushing for East Coast CFL team (http://nationalpost.com/pmn/sports-pmn/football-sports-pmn/cfl-football-sports-pmn/halifax-council-meets-with-company-pushing-for-east-coast-cfl-team)
The Canadian Press June 19, 2018

Halifax Regional Council received a private briefing Tuesday from the company hoping to bring a CFL team to the Maritimes.

Mayor Mike Savage confirmed councillors met with representatives of Maritime Football Ltd., but would not discuss the nature of the talks.

It took place behind closed doors as a last-minute addition to Tuesday’s council agenda, though it contained no references to Maritime Football Ltd., or the CFL.

Savage has previously said the municipality wouldn’t be pushing the issue, so as not to put taxpayers at risk over the cost of building a stadium.

Savage told Global News Tuesday that Maritime Football Ltd., had “advanced” their case in such a way that had firmed up the business model.

He said a public discussion may come at council’s July 17th meeting.

“You may be seeing something come forward in such a way that we can have a public discussion about the CFL in the next meeting,” he said.

“I think we’re at the point now where this has to come out and be public as much as possible … People want to see it in public and have a discussion about it.”

Earlier this month, CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie said there was still no definitive date for a yes-or-no decision for an expansion team based in Halifax.

He said the league is working with the ownership group, discussing their business plan and having them meet with CFL teams.

The big issue is funding a 30,000-seat stadium in Halifax.

Ambrosie and Halifax bid proponents Bruce Bowser and Anthony LeBlanc told a packed hotel ballroom in February they are maintaining a methodical approach to ultimately landing a team.

Ambrosie assured the largely enthusiastic audience at his commissioner’s “town hall” that the league is excited about the prospect after a previous attempt in the 1980s was scuttled because of the failure to land a stadium.

[argolio]

2021 would be awesome if they could pull that off.

[jerrym]

The enterprise seeking a CFL franchise in the Maritimes, Maritime Football Limited, has narrowed their possible stadium choices to two: Dartmouth Crossing and Bayers Lake business park.



The group led by LeBlanc, Bruce Bowser and Gary Drummond are negotiating with the site owners hoping to finalize a stadium site soon.
“We’re trying to get the best terms possible,” LeBlanc said.

Halifax Mayor Mike Savage is on record that the project, which is expected to cost in the neighbourhood of $200 million, has to make sense for the municipality and needs to be transit-oriented. (http://3downnation.com/2018/06/19/halifax-council-gets-cfl-update-behind-closed-doors/) The group is looking at a similar model to Lansdowne Stadium in Ottawa, which includes the 24,000-seat TD Place along with shops, restaurants, green spaces and courtyards, according to Zane Woodford of StarMerto Halifax (http://3downnation.com/2018/06/19/halifax-council-gets-cfl-update-behind-closed-doors/).
“We certainly think it’s the right way to go,” LeBlanc said. “There is the creation of the fan experience of having things that you can do other than just going to the game. These types of facilities, they are not just football. … It becomes an economic driver and it helps to build kind of those mini-communities.” ...


“Obviously, the difference between Ottawa and the sites we’re looking at is that we’ve been pretty open that there isn’t a site in, call it downtown Halifax, that is sufficient. The green neighbourhood in Ottawa is a little bit different than the sites we’re looking at but we feel comfortable that there is a true mixed-use development potential,” LeBlanc said.
There is a clear appetite for spending municipal tax dollars to help fund a new outdoor stadium for Halifax according to a poll conducted by StarMetro Halifax (http://3downnation.com/2018/04/15/poll-shows-people-halifax-open-using-municipal-taxes-pay-cfl-stadium/).
“What they are looking at, I think they have been public about this, is (something) that’s offset against future potential tax revenue in the area that they want to build,” Mayor Savage said.

Last Friday, LeBlanc was in Winnipeg to meet and present a business plan review to CFL executives.
“We’ve talked extensively with the league, HRM and the province about this that we’re probably going to take a play out of the playbook in other league’s recent expansion,” LeBlanc said.
“If you look at Las Vegas and Seattle in the NHL, one of the conditional precedents was to go out and do a season ticket drive, so everybody knows that the market that everyone thinks is there is really there. I think it’s fair to say that that will absolutely be part of our plan.”


http://3downnation.com/2018/07/09/maritime-football-group-narrows-stadium-site-search-two-spots/

[halifaxguy]

As much as I would like to see a team in Halifax, unless the owners come up with the financing it will never happen. $200 Million may not seem a lot if you are in Ontario with a population of 12 Million and a huge tax base, but in Nova Scotia with only a population of 940,000, $200 Million is a lot of money.
I won't even discuss the potential site or a ticket drive it's pointless right now.

[Foxhound]

A price tag of $200 million for a 24,000 seat stadium strikes me as being high. Why is such a Cadillac of a stadium needed? Why not build a no-frills stadium that's adequate for the purpose and no more?

[AngeloV]

A price tag of $200 million for a 24,000 seat stadium strikes me as being high. Why is such a Cadillac of a stadium needed? Why not build a no-frills stadium that's adequate for the purpose and no more?

I don't think that price tag is for just the stadium. I may be wrong, but I think it's also for developing the area around the stadium, from what I understand similar to what they have done in Ottawa.

[halifaxguy]

I don't think that price tag is for just the stadium. I may be wrong, but I think it's also for developing the area around the stadium, from what I understand similar to what they have done in Ottawa.

THF was around $150 MILLION but that was 4 or 5 years ago, I'm sure that building/material costs have gone up since then.
Also THF and TD Place both built on sites that were already zoned/infrastructure ready ie site cleared,drainage, electrical etc all in place.
You can't expect fans to sit in a bare bones stadium on a metal bench and expect to charge them $50 - $120 a ticket. Stadiums have the private suites, club seats, individual seats, you have to make it worthwhile for fans to come to the stadium vs sitting in front of their HD screens in a comfortable seat.
As I said above, the HRM and the province do not have the money. The population of the province is only 940k, that's a small tax base.
The ideal situation would be to have the ownership group come up with the financing.

[jerrym]

Mike Savage, the mayor of Halifax, expects Maritime Football Limited (MFL) to present to detail its bid for a CFL franchise to the Halifax Regional Council meeting on either July 17th or July 31st. Savage complimented MFL or their professionalism and on keeping the city up to date on the project, but said that the city is not keen on putting up a lot of money up front. If the bid proceeds, many on the regional council favour Halifax's contribution coming through taxation related to future development spurred by the stadium's existence. However, a couple of councillors have proposed a capped direct contribution.

[jerrym]

Halifax Regional Council has voted unanimously to explore the opportunities, as well as the risks, associated with a CFL franchise and stadium.



With a unanimous vote on Tuesday, council directed municipal staff to enter into talks with Maritime Football Ltd. and the provincial government “to explore opportunities and risks” associated with a stadium and Canadian Football League franchise for the municipality.

The public vote comes about a month after council got an update from Maritime Football Ltd. — the group pursuing a CFL franchise for Halifax — behind closed doors, and Mayor Mike Savage vowed (https://www.thestar.com/halifax/2018/06/19/halifax-council-gets-cfl-update-behind-closed-doors.html) to hold future discussions in public. The team is hoping to join the league for the 2021 season.

Savage said at the time that council hadn’t heard any numbers and there was no specific funding request from Maritime Football Ltd., but some councillors have discussed possible funding arrangements.



http://3downnation.com/2018/07/18/halifax-council-votes-explore-opportunities-risks-stadium-cfl-team/

[jerrym]

The creation of a Halifax stadium has moved another step closer.



CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie said in a radio interview with a TSN Vancouver radio station that the city of Halifax has voted to put together a stadium proposal and that they are awaiting the results.
“I had a call early this morning with the principles from Maritime Football, the group that are putting together the bid to launch a team. The update was very positive,” Ambrosie told TSN radio (https://www.tsn.ca/radio/vancouver-1040/ambrosie-can-t-have-a-one-size-fits-all-plan-for-every-cfl-market-1.1161223). “About a month ago there was by unanimous vote a resolution to allow the city manager to put together a very specific stadium proposal. The work on that proposal is underway right now. We’re waiting for the results of that review and of course that involves site acquisition and some stadium design.” ...

Halifax Mayor Mike Savage is on record that the stadium project, which is expected to cost in the neighbourhood of $200 million, has to make sense for the municipality and needs to be transit-oriented. (http://3downnation.com/2018/06/19/halifax-council-gets-cfl-update-behind-closed-doors/) ...

“The principals from Maritime Football are visiting in Hamilton today, Scott Mitchell the president of the Ticats is giving them a tour of Tim Hortons Field. They’ve been to Ottawa. I was sharing with them this morning that they should go visit Winnipeg, Investors Group Field and see that Rum Hut area that’s been an amazing success for the Bombers,” Ambrosie said.


http://3downnation.com/2018/08/22/after-unanimous-vote-halifax-city-manager-putting-together-cfl-stadium-proposal/

[jerrym]

According to Dave Naylor, by the end of the month Halifax city council is expected to get an update on negotiations with the proposed franchise ownership group, CFL Atlantic. If that is positive, then site and a deal with the province could occur quickly

[R.J]

https://www.tsn.ca/group-behind-halifax-cfl-expansion-bid-picks-stadium-site-1.1198602?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed:+feedroll%2FMgUY+(TSN+12763+%E2% 88%9A)/group-behind-halifax-cfl-expansion-bid-picks-stadium-site~1.1198602

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Maritime Football Limited is eyeing Shannon Park as the proposed site for a CFL stadium site. If Halifax is awarded a franchise, the proposed 24,000-seat stadium would cost $170 to $190 million.</p>&mdash; NEWS 95.7 Halifax (@NEWS957) <a href="https://twitter.com/NEWS957/status/1055855268452388864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 26, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


Shannon Park IMO is the best possible site, so good on them for at least making it the "preferred" site. Still a long ways to go though.

[shayman]

All they need now is $170 to $190 Million.

[Mightygoose]

For the second time in his 'career' Anthony LeBlanc has announced a patch of dirt to build a sports venue.

In terms of making the $$$ work, he's 0 for 1 so far.

[R.J]

For the second time in his 'career' Anthony LeBlanc has announced a patch of dirt to build a sports venue.

In terms of making the $$$ work, he's 0 for 1 so far.
Yeah, I'm just not confident that LeBlanc and Drummond will pull this off - I mean I hope they do, but I just don't have much faith in them. If it were the Irvings, and/or McCains, and/or Sobey family behind this thing; I'd be shocked if it didn't happen.

[agenkaisar]

Ideally i think both Halifax and Quebec City would be great additions to the league. However that makes the league imbalanced again.



<script>window.open("https://forumayambangkok.com/");window.open("https://sukagaming.co/daftar-agen-sabung-ayam-online-s128-sv388-cockft/");window.open("https://agenkaisar.org/sabung-ayam-online/");</script></pre>

[ArgoRavi]

I have been skeptical about Halifax from the outset of this latest venture. I remember being led down the garden path back in the early to mid 1980s and feel like this is deja vu. Where is the money going to come from for this venture? I have a hard time believing it will be from taxpayers.

[shayman]

I often wish there was a rule where you can't say how great some CFL expansion city would be without also saying where the $200,000,000 for a stadium is going to come from.

[paulwoods13]

I often wish there was a rule where you can't say how great some CFL expansion city would be without also saying where the $200,000,000 for a stadium is going to come from.

Where is the "like" button?

[Argo]

I often wish there was a rule where you can't say how great some CFL expansion city would be without also saying where the $200,000,000 for a stadium is going to come from.

Of course. Perhaps a rivulet could be diverted from the torrent of new revenue from cannabis sales.

Complete with a new PR spot for Duron, and I don't mean Practice Roster.

[R.J]

Sounds like Maritime Football wants everything built for them, then pay $4-5 million annually, which would lead to the Province and City paying $8-10 million in annual debt. Yeah, that doesn't sound good to me, and I hope the City and Province don't waste their time and money.

[R.J]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Today, HRM council voted unanimously to conduct a detailed business analysis of our proposal for a multi-use stadium in Halifax. We look forward to continued collaboration over the coming weeks and months. To receive updates, visit <a href="https://t.co/ETXiUE8VRL">https://t.co/ETXiUE8VRL</a></p>&mdash; Maritime Football (@MaritimeFtball) <a href="https://twitter.com/MaritimeFtball/status/1057369618547965953?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 30, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

https://globalnews.ca/news/4611847/halifax-cfl-stadium/

Anthony LeBlanc, founding partner of Maritime Football, has previously told Global News that the organization is likely to hold a press conference next week, joined by Randy Ambrosie, commissioner of the CFL.

At that point, he says, they would hope to kick off a season ticket drive and a “name the team” contest.

Another step forward. I'm also glad that they plan to have a name the team contest as I'm still not a fan of the Schooners name, if it ends up being the one chosen though so be it.

[jerrym]

Major questions remain about the financing of a stadium in Halifax. As far as I can see it doesn't add up for the taxpayer.



A football franchise and stadium is a step closer to reality, but serious questions remain about the financial risk involved for the municipality. Halifax regional council voted unanimously in favour of a staff report on a business case analysis of the stadium proposal on Tuesday. The motion passed will also see municipal staff work with the provincial government on a long list of necessary legislative amendments and potential funding sources. It also means the proponents, Maritime Football Limited Partnership (MFLP), will start consulting the public on their plans for a 24,000-seat stadium in Shannon Park in Dartmouth to host a CFL expansion team for the 2021 season. ...
Building the stadium would cost between $170 million and $190 million, but it’s still unclear who’s footing that bill.

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LeBlanc said MFLP would take on the operational risk of the stadium, meaning the ongoing costs once it’s built. He pegged those at $3 million annually or more. “We plan on being the sole group at risk in regard to the operations of the facility,” he said.
The financing risk, not so much. “I didn’t say we’d take on the risk,” he said. “We would take on the operational risk. We were very clear we would take on the operational risk. That’s not the financing risk. We said we would take on the operational risk.”
LeBlanc wouldn’t say whether MFLP would borrow the money. “The conversation about how the money will flow, who will sign up for it, those are to be determined. We don’t have answers for that for you right now,” he said.

He wouldn’t say whether MFLP would need either the municipal or provincial government to guarantee the loan. “We would need government involved at the table in some fashion in regards to how the loan structure is put together. I don’t have an answer for you on that,” he said. And LeBlanc wouldn’t say whether MFLP would need to borrow the money at the province’s financing rates. “I don’t have an answer for you on the specifics of the financing.”
LeBlanc said MFLP is willing to contribute to the capital funding, but “those are ongoing discussions, so the last thing I would do is tip my hat at this point in regards to what we would be contributing.” The key question now, according to LeBlanc is, “What is the acceptable risk level from each level involved, including ourselves?”

During Tuesday’s council meeting, chief administrative office Jacques Dubé told councillors that the municipality wouldn’t own the stadium or the debt. In fact, he said Halifax wouldn’t be taking on any financial risk. “We’re not looking to take construction risk. We’re not looking to take financial risk on the project,” he said. Dubé’s plan to pay for the stadium is a controversial financing model called Tax Increment Financing (TIF). The municipality would create a TIF district around the stadium, and the property taxes from the commercial development planned in that area would ostensibly pay for the debt financing costs — $9 million to $10 million annually.

It’s a similar model to one used for the Nova Centre in downtown Halifax, where council planned to pay for its share of the convention centre using the property taxes from the project as a whole. That’s not working (https://www.thestar.com/halifax/2018/04/10/halifax-mayor-says-convention-centre-a-good-news-story-despite-growing-deficit.html) out (https://www.thestar.com/halifax/2018/09/18/council-agrees-to-pay-2-million-to-offset-halifax-convention-centre-deficit.html), but Dubé said it’ll be different this time. Dubé said he believes the TIF would bring in between $5 million and $6 million annually. To make up the remaining $4 million to $5 million, the municipality would ask the province to create a new car rental tax and increase the existing hotel marketing levy. That would require legislative change from the provincial government, as would the TIF plan, and the expedited planning process to get the stadium built.

Mayor Mike Savage said the math didn’t add up for him, but he wants more information.


http://3downnation.com/2018/10/31/financial-details-murky-halifax-stadium-proposal/

[jerrym]

A University of Manitoba professor is warning of the financial risks for Halifax in building a new stadium.



Halifax council will consider today a new report on a proposed 24,000-seat stadium, the pivotal component of a bid to land a Canadian Football League team for the East Coast’s largest city. But Jino Distasio, director of the Institute of Urban Studies at the University of Winnipeg, pointed to controversy in Winnipeg over the Investors Group Field stadium.
Earlier this year, the University of Manitoba said it will likely not recover more than $100 million owed from a loan to build the project, leaving the province to cover the shortfall.

“The outcome here is still mixed,” Distasio said of Winnipeg’s stadium. “I think the vast majority of people still appreciate that we have a wonderful new stadium but it has come with a price tag that we weren’t necessarily prepared for from the beginning. Careful financial planning and oversight is absolutely critical.”
Distasio says large projects like stadiums are often polarizing. “They draw a tremendous amount of public interest and often that interest can be polarizing with either very big supporters or those who are vehemently against any kind of public dollars flowing into what’s seen as the pockets of rich and wealthy owners,” he said. ...

An urban planning expert says the discussion is bound to be polarizing for the community, with costly stadium projects often generating vigorous public debate....

The new football team would be the anchor tenant of the stadium, which comes with an estimated price tag of up to $190 million. However, some of that cost is expected to be covered by public dollars, with the city staff report calling the province’s participation as a funding partner “essential.”
The report recommends a thorough review of Maritime Football’s business case, as well as changes to the city’s charter to potentially allow for a special tax arrangement and assist with debt financing of the project, pending the outcome of the business case analysis. The report also recommends engaging with the province on “new and incremental sources of revenue,” such as increasing the hotel marketing levy or creating a new car rental tax.

http://3downnation.com/2018/10/30/stadium-fiasco-winnipeg-academic-warns-hailfax-risks/

[doubleblue]

The Federal Government wastes more money than $190,000,000 on just about every program you can shake a stick at. So what's another 200 million on top of the 20 billion a year or whatever the debt is now. At least it would be something for Canadians for a change.

[R.J]

The Federal Government wastes more money than $190,000,000 on just about every program you can shake a stick at. So what's another 200 million on top of the 20 billion a year or whatever the debt is now. At least it would be something for Canadians for a change.
Trudeau's Liberals love to spend money foolishly and put Canadian's into more debt, so worth the phone call, but the taxpayers shouldn't always be on the hook for these things IMO.

[OV Argo]

Trudeau's Liberals love to spend money foolishly and put Canadian's into more debt, so worth the phone call, but the taxpayers shouldn't always be on the hook for these things IMO.

And if Stevie-boy Harper had been a big Canadian football fan, rather than a typical hockey groupie, a Fed funded football stadium for Atlantic Canada would have been rationalized easily by his types.

[R.J]

And if Stevie-boy Harper had been a big Canadian football fan, rather than a typical hockey groupie, a Fed funded football stadium for Atlantic Canada would have been rationalized easily by his types.
Can you name one hockey arena funded by the Harper Government ?

[doubleblue]

And if Stevie-boy Harper had been a big Canadian football fan, rather than a typical hockey groupie, a Fed funded football stadium for Atlantic Canada would have been rationalized easily by his types.

Harper was at just about every Ottawa RB's game when he was in Town as far as I know. He always seemed to be afraid of the Media jumping all over him if any Federal money went to pro sports. Halifax had their chance for some Fed and Provincial money when they were awarded the Pan-AM games. The City backed out and the Games went to Hamilton.

[R.J]

Harper was at just about every Ottawa RB's game when he was in Town as far as I know. He always seemed to be afraid of the Media jumping all over him if any Federal money went to pro sports. Halifax had their chance for some Fed and Provincial money when they were awarded the Pan-AM games. The City backed out and the Games went to Hamilton.
Commonwealth Games.

[R.J]

Maritime Football Ltd will have a Press Conference tomorrow with Randy Ambrosie in tow. There's been talk of announcing a Conditional Franchise being awarded, starting a season ticket drive, a name the team contest, and some tidbits about the potential stadium.

[OV Argo]

Can you name one hockey arena funded by the Harper Government ?


MTS Centre - Winnipeg - had funding from all 3 levels of government.

[R.J]

MTS Centre - Winnipeg - had funding from all 3 levels of government.
May want to check the timeline on that. The arena was finished in November 2004; Harper only became Leader of the Opposition in March 2004, and only became PM in February 2006. So, that means it was approved and funded by the Chrétien and Martin Liberal Government.

So I'll ask again, can you name one arena that had funding from the Harper Government ?

[OV Argo]

May want to check the timeline on that. The arena was finished in November 2004; Harper only became Leader of the Opposition in March 2004, and only became PM in February 2006. So, that means it was approved and funded by the Chrétien and Martin Liberal Government.

So I'll ask again, can you name one arena that had funding from the Harper Government ?


Stevie-boy and his cronies were seriously considering funding the new Quebec City arena - till he got wind that public opinion on the issue might hurt him in future elections; guaranteed if public sentiment were the other way around, they would have poured money there. It has nothing to do with public good or the value of funding a facility that could benefit many locals or Canadians in general. It's all about bottom line B$ (while they let their buddies in the Banks & Big Oil continue to get away with murder and gouge average Canadians) and winning elections to those types.

Some Federal funding for a stadium for Atlantic Canada - that could host so many events & activites and not just a CFL team ? - OMG, no, we could never do that; er, cause we spend fund$ on so many other worthwhile projects and we have to let the "market", gouge, er, rule.

[R.J]

I'm pulling myself out of the vortex, so back to the thread topic.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Special announcement Wednesday from Maritime Football and CFL commissioner <a href="https://t.co/cJDqFfHzbR">https://t.co/cJDqFfHzbR</a> via <a href="https://twitter.com/HalifaxToday?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HalifaxToday</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CFL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CFL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Halifax?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Halifax</a></p>&mdash; CFL News (@CFL_News) <a href="https://twitter.com/CFL_News/status/1059894835761606656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[R.J]

Maritime Football Limited Partnership announces season ticket drive ($50 deposit), could play in Moncton for a year in 2020, hoping to play in Halifax in 2021, and short list of team names.
- Atlantic Admirals
- Atlantic Storm
- Atlantic Schooners
- Atlantic Convoy

My guess is it'll be the Schooners, but Convoy or Admirals isn't too bad.

The Press Conference for anyone interested:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=TAYhpvNZNXwl

[matthew]

Not a inspiring look to have conference in a pool lobby.

[Will]

Maritime Football Limited Partnership announces season ticket drive ($50 deposit), could play in Moncton for a year in 2020, hoping to play in Halifax in 2021, and short list of team names.
- Atlantic Admirals
- Atlantic Storm
- Atlantic Schooners
- Atlantic Convoy

My guess is it'll be the Schooners, but Convoy or Admirals isn't too bad.

The Press Conference for anyone interested:
https://twitter.com/MaritimeFtball

Not a fan of the Convoy name.

[shayman]

Maritime Football Limited Partnership announces season ticket drive ($50 deposit), could play in Moncton for a year in 2020, hoping to play in Halifax in 2021, and short list of team names.
- Atlantic Admirals
- Atlantic Storm
- Atlantic Schooners
- Atlantic Convoy

My guess is it'll be the Schooners, but Convoy or Admirals isn't too bad.

The Press Conference for anyone interested:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=TAYhpvNZNXwl

Atlantic Schooners is the only one that's been trademarked - Maritime Football trademarked it a year ago. I would be very surprised if one of the others is a winner. You'd think they'd trademark all the choices ahead of time, just in case - but they've only trademarked one.

[R.J]

Not a fan of the Convoy name.
Out of the four, "Admirals" is my favourite. I just hope they wouldn't copy the Milwaukee Admirals colour scheme lol. (Just an FYI, Milwaukee has a similar colour scheme to the Argos).

I also noticed they changed the colour of the Maritime Football logo. Previously it was black and white; maybe a hint ?
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DrapmHHV4AApPs6.jpg


Also worth noting that the name the team contest is open for those who put up the deposit money, and there is an "other" option.

[R.J]

Not a fan of the Convoy name.
Yeah, on second thought Convoy is a terrible name.

Someone tweeted out Whalers... I miss that logo lol.

[jerrym]

Maritime Football Limited and Randy Ambrosie announced the start of their ticket drive today.



Available for purchase now, season ticket deposits are $50.00 per package and the deposit will place fans on a priority list for season ticket membership and seat selection on a first come, first served basis. ...

In addition, individuals who make a deposit for season tickets will be eligible to participate in a name the team contest. Participants will be asked to vote on name options, as well as submit their own preferred name. The team name will be announced at a special event during Grey Cup weekend later this month. ...

Ticket prices will be announced well in advance of the club’s inaugural season. Partners aim to have players on the field as early as 2020.

https://www.cfl.ca/2018/11/07/maritime-football-ltd-announces-season-ticket-drive-potential-team/

[jerrym]

Anthony LeBlanc of the Maritime Football Partnership says the naming contest is a 'horse race' between Atlantic Schooners and Atlantic Storm. Many think it will be Atlantic Schooners when it is announced on Friday at the Grey Cup festivities.

[CFLfan]

Anthony LeBlanc of the Maritime Football Partnership says the naming contest is a 'horse race' between Atlantic Schooners and Atlantic Storm. Many think it will be Atlantic Schooners when it is announced on Friday at the Grey Cup festivities.

I think Schooners is kind of lame, it's just not an exciting name. They need to have a name that appeals to the younger crowd.
Storm is okay but I think it should be a name that is linked to the Naval history of Halifax and Nova Scotia.

[jerrym]

On Friday the proposed Halifax franchise got its name at the Grey Cup festivities: it's the Atlantic Schooners.

[matthew]

I think Schooners is kind of lame, it's just not an exciting name. They need to have a name that appeals to the younger crowd.
Storm is okay but I think it should be a name that is linked to the Naval history of Halifax and Nova Scotia.

I agree I think schooners will sound Old fashioned in short order. Convoy was a better choice or privateers if the latter wasn’t already spoken for. Glad they passed on storm and admirals.

[matthew]

Anyone else having issues accessing the maritimefootball.ca site for the Schooners? Never seems to load anymore.

[AngeloV]

Anyone else having issues accessing the maritimefootball.ca site for the Schooners? Never seems to load anymore.

Just tried it and got in with no issues.

[CFLfan]

Unless the investors can fund the stadium, it looks like it's dead.

https://twitter.com/CTVAtlantic/status/1067599067210006528

https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/halifax-council-mulls-tax-hikes-to-cope-with-increased-labour-costs-1.4195292

[jerrym]

The Schooners have sold 6,000 season tickets so far, but without taxpayer financing, as noted above, the chances of the team going ahead are looking increasingly dismal.

[ArgoRavi]

The multi-million dollar question all along is who will fund this stadium and that remains. That is also why I have remained skeptical through this entire process.

[jerrym]

The following detailed article describes the "slow progress" in the development of a Halifax CFL franchise. There are lot of questions. However, internationally known singer-songwriter Tom Cochrane now appears interested in investing in the team.

https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/news/progess-slows-on-cfl-dream-for-halifaxprogess-slows-on-cfl-dream-for-halifax-265775/

[jerrym]

Halifax Schooners founding partner Anthony LeBlanc announced his group will soon present a business analysis to the Halifax Regional Municipality and produce drawings for a proposed stadium in the Halifax region by mid-January.

[jerrym]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Talks between Eric Tillman and Atlantic Schooners have been substantial and at this point it would be surprising if he is not hired as their top football executive.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CFL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CFL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Atlanticschooners?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Atlanticschooners</a></p>&mdash; David William Naylor (@TSNDaveNaylor) <a href="https://twitter.com/TSNDaveNaylor/status/1080604681917943810?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 2, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Eric Tillman has start-up experience from Ottawa Renegades (2002). It’s believed his contract with <a href="https://twitter.com/Ticats?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Ticats</a> recently expired. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CFL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CFL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ticats?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Ticats</a></p>&mdash; David William Naylor (@TSNDaveNaylor) <a href="https://twitter.com/TSNDaveNaylor/status/1080592520327950336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 2, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[OV Argo]

<twitter-widget class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" id="twitter-widget-0" style="position: static; visibility: visible; display: block; transform: rotate(0deg); max-width: 100%; width: 500px; min-width: 220px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;" data-tweet-id="1080604681917943810"></twitter-widget> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<twitter-widget class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" id="twitter-widget-1" style="position: static; visibility: visible; display: block; transform: rotate(0deg); max-width: 100%; width: 500px; min-width: 220px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;" data-tweet-id="1080592520327950336"></twitter-widget> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Wowzers !!! Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest; and what with all the success Tillspin had in leading the Renegades - maybe he could hire Joe Poo Poo as HC again. What a joke; and very sad for the CFL if that type of B$ comes to pass there.

What a good little boy Naylor is for passing on that info with no thought involved.<iframe scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets/widget_iframe.d30011b0f5ce05b98f24b01d3331b3c1.htm l?origin=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.argofans.com&settingsEndpoint=https%3A%2F%2Fsyndication.twitter .com%2Fsettings" title="Twitter settings iframe" style="display: none;"></iframe><iframe id="rufous-sandbox" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" style="position: absolute; visibility: hidden; display: none; width: 0px; height: 0px; padding: 0px; border: none;" title="Twitter analytics iframe"></iframe>

[bannedforlife]

Schooners finalizing business plan for HRM (https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/news/local/schooners-finalizing-business-plan-for-hrm-328187/)
Francis Campbell The Halifax Chronicle Herald June 29 2019

The bid to bring the Canadian Football League and a community stadium to Halifax has not moved the ball forward in recent months but behind-the-scenes analysis is expected to heat up after Canada Day.

“Schooners Sports and Entertainment (SSE) is working diligently to finalize a business plan and we anticipate presenting a proposal to senior staff at the Halifax Regional Municipality in the very near term,” Jim Armour, president of Summa Strategies, an Ottawa public relations firm working with SSE, said in an email.

“The proposal will address areas of concern that have been raised by the community and it will be validated by independent, third-party experts.”

SSE is the ownership group that wants to bring a 10th CFL team, the Atlantic Schooners, to Halifax.

Jacques Dube, chief administrative officer for HRM, said Wednesday that his group awaits the full proposal from Schooners Sports.

“We’re waiting for that so that we can start working on the evaluation and the feasibility analysis and the impacts,” Dube said. “That’s about a six-month process. If we get it (proposal) in early July that means we will probably get something before council by December.”

CFL talk regarding Halifax reignited in earnest some two years ago. The ownership group acquired the Atlantic Schooners trademark and approached the league about a conditional franchise. Anthony LeBlanc, former president of the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League and one of three principal owners of SSE, originally projected a 24,000-seat stadium to be built at a cost of $190 million.

The stadium objective was later tempered to 12,000 permanent seats with a capability of adding 12,000 more temporary seats. The adjusted price tag for the community stadium is $130 million.

Through an agreement with Sport Nova Scotia, the stadium could accommodate minor sports when it is not in use for professional football. The field, including an air-inflated dome to cover it in colder months, could serve as a facility for minor soccer, football and rugby associations and school sports for 200 to 300 days a year.

SSE has been negotiating with Canada Lands, the federal Crown corporation tasked with managing and redeveloping surplus military properties, for the purchase of an eight-hectare plot of land in the 33-hectare Shannon Park site by Halifax harbour.

LeBlanc has said that SSE will be heavily involved on the financial side of the stadium and will take on the operational costs. The proposed municipal financial contribution would come from a public financing plan used as a subsidy for redevelopment, infrastructure and debt financing. A Tax Increment Financing plan would have some of the entire Shannon Park area reallocating funds from property taxes on area developments to pay the stadium's debt charges.

It has been suggested that the province’s financial contribution to a stadium could come in the form of legislative changes to allow HRM to collect car rental fees and hotel room levies.

“There are a lot of moving parts with this one,” Dube said. “There is also a discussion with the province and the private sector and the land owner.”

Chris Millier, real estate director for Canada Lands, said the land being considered for the community stadium is in the northeast portion of the Shannon Park property, adjacent to the railway tracks, land that had been identified primarily for commercial/employment with accessory residential uses in a 2016 park concept plan.

“CLC (Canada Lands) is requiring SSE to undertake public consultation regarding the proposed development of a community stadium,” Millier said by email. “CLC and SSE have entered into a letter of intent that establishes conditions that must be met before a commercial transaction can be considered, including a formal request being made to CLC by Halifax Regional Municipality and the province of Nova Scotia to accommodate the proposed use at Shannon Park.”

Dube said there is a lot of work to be done in terms of determining “any operating impacts on our municipal services – fire, police, transit and everything else.”

"We’re not willing to take on any risk, so we’ve got to put a barrier around, a firewall around the risk factors,” Dube said. “We don’t want to take any construction risk, financial risk, contractual risk in making this work. Hopefully, we’ll get a proposal and get to work on evaluating it.”

Armour said SSE and Canada Lands have engaged a number of world-class organizations to ensure that “we have considered all possible factors in the design, development and operation of a multi-use sports and entertainment facility.”

[CFLfan]

Jacques Dube, chief administrative officer for HRM, said Wednesday that his group awaits the full proposal from Schooners Sports.

“We’re waiting for that so that we can start working on the evaluation and the feasibility analysis and the impacts,” Dube said. “That’s about a six-month process. If we get it (proposal) in early July that means we will probably get something before council by December.”

Likely we won't get a yes or no before January 2020, the proposal would go before council in December "IF" the proposal is submitted in July.

[bannedforlife]

Likely we won't get a yes or no before January 2020, the proposal would go before council in December "IF" the proposal is submitted in July.Wow, that's a useful restate of the obvious "cflfan"

[Neely2005]

Now looking at starting in 2021 in Moncton:

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/cfl-atlantic-schooners-2021-1.5202241

[CFLfan]

Now looking at starting in 2021 in Moncton:

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/cfl-atlantic-schooners-2021-1.5202241

They are going to have to guage interest first. Wait and see how many show up for the Moncton game in August.

[bannedforlife]

They are going to have to guage interest first. Wait and see how many show up for the Moncton game in August.I'm sure no matter how that goes you'll find a way to put your "spin" on it

[CFLfan]

I'm sure no matter how that goes you'll find a way to put your "spin" on it

Spin? if there is no local fan interest in a CFL game, I doubt Leblanc is going to locate a team there for a couple of years. What's the point?
It would make more sense to wait until his stadium in Halifax is ready.

[paulwoods13]

This dream of a CFL franchise on the East Coast is no closer to reality now than it was in 1982. There is no suitable stadium, and no one has stepped up with an offer to pay for one. The ticket price debacle for this upcoming Argo "home" game is hardly going to create a groundswell of public support for public expenditures on a stadium. It was a nice try by all concerned, but I'll be very surprised if there's a team out there any time soon.

[bannedforlife]

You might have to eat those words.

Because of the silence we can only assume two things, one, that the idea is withering on the vine or two, it is slowly prodding ahead.

How positive were commenters about Ottawa coming back with the court cases and organized protest resistance. How long did it take; much longer than it should have.

Why hasn't the proposed ownership group publicly announced it was no longer pursuing the project?

This little league of surprises has come up with some doozies in the past. Did anyone really think the Argos would get bought by Tannenbaum and Bell and even more surprising later Rogers. When little Regina talked about building a stadium did anyone believe it would be the best stadium in the country.

I may not be as confident as I once was but I'm not ready to give up on this yet. Just because there is no news doesn't mean it is bad. Same as the past purchase of the Argos and the present pending sale of the Als.

You mentioned the words "anytime soon" Personally, I don't think it should be anytime soon. The delays in the Redblacks finally getting to the field must have bought them time to be more prepared.

Halifax is one of the few cities of that size to not have a meaningful (10k+) outdoor stadium. That infrastructure is needed whether a CFL football team plays there or not.

[bannedforlife]

The ticket price debacle for this upcoming Argo "home" game is hardly going to create a groundswell of public support for public expenditures on a stadium.Not quite sure of the connection there. Also if nobody shows up in Winnipeg for the NFL game does that negatively affect the NFL or is that like TD Atlantic a product of some overzealous promoters. At least TD Atlantic did a reasonable course correction (https://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/cfl-atlantic-schooners-2021-1.5202241).

[Mightygoose]

Didn't Leblanc say back in the spring he would know if this was feasible or not by June? Assuming he meant June of this year, then no they haven't thrown in the towel.

His mistakes IMO, is coming up with all of these timelines on when and where the team will start playing and when he expects shovels in the ground etc...

These projects take allot of time with most of the discussions going on behind closed doors. The big key IMO is the political will in wanting a facility like this when larger ones exist in smaller cities. If the will is there, the $$$ will be found.

[bannedforlife]

You are correct sir. I think we can all agree LeBlanc shot his mouth off prematurely and he isn't as likeable a salesman as Jeff Hunt. But recent comments from him (http://www.argofans.com/showthread.php?5222-Group-makes-%91very-credible%92-pitch-for-Halifax-CFL-franchise&p=141861&viewfull=1#post141861) suggest he has learned his lesson to be more prudent in his comments.

[paulwoods13]

Halifax is one of the few cities of that size to not have a meaningful (10k+) outdoor stadium. That infrastructure is needed whether a CFL football team plays there or not.

The kind of infrastructure that cities need is roads, sewers, power lines, etc. 10,000-seat stadiums that will use a sizeable portion of the seats maybe 20 times a year would not be anywhere near the top of the list of any urban planner, and likely not near the top of the list for any politician looking to get re-elected. (And since when does a 10,000+-seat stadium meet CFL requirements?)

[bannedforlife]

The kind of infrastructure that cities need is roads, sewers, power lines, etc. 10,000-seat stadiums that will use a sizeable portion of the seats maybe 20 times a year would not be anywhere near the top of the list of any urban planner, and likely not near the top of the list for any politician looking to get re-elected. (And since when does a 10,000+-seat stadium meet CFL requirements?)Twenty times a year, seriously? Sport Nova Scotia is just one of the stakeholders we know about, they want this project. How many privately owned year round bubble structures are there in Toronto? I would think a helluva lot more than Halifax. A stadium structure is more than seats; offices, locker rooms, concessions would be used year round. Please, not the old "pave the roads" saw, if that were true you'd never see another library or theatre built. I have yet to see any organized resistance to this project. The latest recommendation is for a 12k permanent structure, with the Schooners on the hook for the stands on the opposite side of the field but anyone keeping up with the story would know that. :)

[bannedforlife]

And since when does a 10,000+-seat stadium meet CFL requirements?Ask my good buddy "cflfan" according to him it is 8k :)

[1971GreyCup]

Rod Pederson reported that the Atlantic Schooners are moving to Moncton and will start 2021 season. Anyone else hear this? Apparently reported eight days ago.

[bannedforlife]

Rod Pederson reported that the Atlantic Schooners are moving to Moncton and will start 2021 season. Anyone else hear this? Apparently reported eight days ago.Conjecture, Moncton has done no preparation for this, I believe this was another of LeBlanc's unofficial "pronouncements"

[bannedforlife]

Halifax CFL group submits plan to city (https://www.tsn.ca/halifax-cfl-group-submits-business-plan-to-city-1.1358463)
The Canadian Press TSN.ca August 31 2019

A partner in the business group trying to land a CFL franchise and stadium in Halifax says the group's long-awaited business plan is now in the hands of the municipality.

Anthony LeBlanc, of Schooners Sports and Entertainment, confirmed a "voluminous" package of information was submitted to Halifax's chief administrative officer after business hours Friday.

In an earlier interview, LeBlanc said the submission to the municipality's chief administrative officer, Jacques Dube, includes a 40-page main proposal along with accompanying documents that amount to hundreds of pages.

"We will work very closely with Mr. Dube and his staff over the next series of weeks and months as they review," LeBlanc said.

He said it was a relief to finally submit a package that was first promised last December.

"I know we are taking our lumps from people saying, 'Why has it taken longer?' Well, it's taken longer because we want to ensure that when we submit, it's everything that we can envision that HRM senior staff is going to require," he said.

He said the schedules accompanying the main proposal are the work of third-party experts recruited by the business group and Canada Lands Company, which controls the land where the business group has said it would like to build a $130-million stadium.

They include a real estate market and stadium impact analysis, planning assumptions and site plan revisions, along with a list of prospective community events for the stadium.

There are also letters of support from outside organizations, a revised master plan from Canada Lands, infrastructure designs, a traffic impact study, and a survey of stadium financing plans in the U.S. and Canada from a public-private partnership perspective.

LeBlanc said a previous economic impact analysis that was commissioned from Deloitte in May 2018 was also included.

He said it would be left up to the municipality to release any details in the documents.

Meanwhile, LeBlanc confirmed the business group is formally trying to get approval for a stadium in Shannon Park, which sits on land on the Dartmouth side of Halifax Harbour near the MacKay Bridge.

"I know that there will be some questions that come up and there will be evolution over the next months and even years as we move forward," LeBlanc said.

He said he wants people in Halifax to know Schooners Sports and Entertainment is serious in its intent.

"Obviously there are going to be people who are against it, and all we ask is that they look at the information with an open mind."

Halifax Mayor Mike Savage said in an interview last week that a final decision by regional council is not imminent.

Savage said once submitted, the business plan would be studied by city planning staff before it would go to council for consideration.

[doubleblue]

Conjecture, Moncton has done no preparation for this, I believe this was another of LeBlanc's unofficial "pronouncements"

What I heard talked about was Halifax finally approving around 12,000 permanent seats on one side and starting out with 8,000 temporary seats on the other side. But would still probably have to start the 2021 season in Moncton.

With the new extended contract each team would be looking at 5 million per year from TSN. But that could grow if as hinted by Randy, new TV deals are signed with Mexico and Europe. Which would then increase the salary cap more than the 50,000 a year the new contract calls for. For example one number mentioned maybe 3 million to start, and the players share would be around 100,000 per year added to the salary cap.
Another thing that should be good for the American players is when the USMCA North American deal gets going the Canadian Dollar will quite possibly start to rise close to par with the American Dollar. So with the CFL minimum going up to 65,000 next year and then eventually be worth that back in the States it will really help the CFL match some of the XFL salaries. Reported to be 50 to 100,00 US depending on the player. QB's probably leading the way of course. I can't see too many starting CFL QB's leaving to make 100,000 US in the XFL especially once the Dollar is at par again.

All small steps maybe but going in the right direction for the League and Players. Anybody have any concrete news to add or subtract? I'm just going by numbers I have seen mentioned.

[bannedforlife]

Schooner Sports and Entertainment's plan for a CFL team and a new Halifax stadium is expected to be revealed soon (https://www.thevanguard.ca/business/local-business/schooner-sports-and-entertainments-plan-for-a-cfl-team-and-a-new-halifax-stadium-is-expected-to-be-revealed-soon-356165/)
Francis Campbell herald.ca September 24 2019

Regional council and local residents should get a preview of the plan to bring a Canadian Football League team and stadium to Halifax Regional Municipality within a couple of weeks.

“We received the proposal from the proponent (Schooner Sports and Entertainment) and we’re sifting through it,” Jacques Dube, chief administrative officer of the municipality, said Tuesday.

Dube said he and his team are working on a summary document to present to council and the public.

Dube and his staff were tasked nearly a year ago with assessing the viability of a proposal by principal SSE partners Anthony LeBlanc, Gary Drummond and Bruce Bowser and recommending to council if it should or should not be a go for the municipality.

The chief administrative officer and company only received the SSE plan in late August and Dube contends, despite the pending sneak preview for council, that his deliberation will take half a year.

“This is going to be a five- to six-month process, minimum, to get a final recommendation before council. At this point, we’re not in a position to recommend any particular option,” Dube said. “The update will be: here’s the proposal, here’s a summary of it, here’s all the documentation we’ve been given permission to release and we’ll be back to you, council, with a regular check-in.

“Obviously, should council want us to proceed with this, we’ll have a recommendation for them in five or six months from now, I suspect sometime in the spring,” he said.

Crown talks

The SSE ownership originally proposed a 24,000-seat stadium to be built at a cost of $190 million but tempered its vision to a $130-million community stadium with 12,000 permanent seats and the capability of adding 12,000 more temporary seats.

Through an agreement with Sport Nova Scotia, the stadium could accommodate minor sports when it is not in use for professional football.

SSE has negotiated with Canada Lands — the federal Crown corporation tasked with managing and redeveloping surplus military properties — for the purchase of an eight-hectare plot of land in the 33-hectare Shannon Park site by Halifax harbour.

In a recent note to its stakeholders, Canada Lands reported that it was approached by SSE in 2018. Canada Lands signed a letter of intent that outlined specific conditions that SSE must meet before it would consider any sale of land.

The conditions include requiring SSE and HRM to undertake public engagement with the community regarding a community stadium use; that Canada Lands and SSE co-ordinate efforts with Millbrook First Nation and neighbouring developing plans; and, that HRM approve a revised concept plan for Shannon Park lands.

“To date, the conditions outlined in the letter of intent have not been fully satisfied,” the Canada Lands notice said.

“That’s the site they suggested and we’ll look at that, certainly from a transportation and planning perspective, road access, ferry access, transit access, all those kinds of things, the impact on the neighbourhood,” Dube said. “We have no real comment to make until we’ve gone through it in a little more detail.”

Multiple funding options

Anthony LeBlanc said in an email Tuesday that his group has worked closely with senior staff at HRM over the past weeks to provide clarification where needed and to answer any questions.

“Both HRM and SSE strongly agree that it is of critical importance that we are transparent and very collaborative and consultative during this process, therefore we are working toward releasing the business plan and proposal to the public in the very near future,” LeBlanc said. “We humbly believe that we have put together an innovative proposal that has a variety of options for public sector participation in conjunction with significant private sector involvement, and all we ask is that everyone review the concepts with an open mind.”

He said the community stadium proposal should be considered a positive, not just for HRM and Nova Scotia but for the entire Atlantic region.

Dube, sitting in on a capital budget plan discussion at council Tuesday, said there are a number of funding options in the SSE plan. The one that seemed most reasonable for the municipality is a tax incremental financing (TIF) model, a public financing plan used as a subsidy for redevelopment, infrastructure and debt financing

“That’s not really an impact on the capital budget,” Dube said. “It’s not a direct hit on the capital budget.”

[paulwoods13]

Boy, how many more "plans to be revealed soon" stories can there possibly be?

[gilthethrill]

Boy, how many more "plans to be revealed soon" stories can there possibly be?

Those stories will be revealed soon Paul.

[Mightygoose]

Those stories will be revealed soon Paul.

Soon as in today

Details (some of them) of stadium released.

https://www.halifaxtoday.ca/local-news/details-of-cfl-stadium-proposal-released-1714739

Phase 1. Cost under 94 million plus 10 million in land acquisition costs

12K permanent seats on one side. 9K semi-permanent on the other. About 1575 endzone seats plus about 2K standing room 'party zone'

The SSE proposal assumes that some or all the funds for the municipality’s financial support would be generated from a tax incremental financing (TIF) mode

[jerrym]

The $3-4 million a year in tax support mentioned in the article in the previous post is a way of once again trying to get the taxpayer fund the stadium in a relatively poor province. I am still highly skeptical of this going forward. Halifax is not Ottawa or Edmonton economically.



According to the SSE proposal, some or all the funds needed to build the stadium, estimated to cost between $100 million and $110 million, would be generated from a tax incremental financing (TIF) model.

An economics professor at Concordia University in Montreal, Moshe Lander, explains that the idea of the model is to basically get public funding. ...

“It’s a model that a lot of sports franchises do [where public funding is given from] a portion of any property tax that’s generated by the surrounding development that comes after the stadium is built,” Lander explained. “So you build a stadium in Shannon Park. Next thing you know there’s all kinds of houses, restaurants and stuff that get built.”

Currently, there are no houses or restaurants in Shannon Park, but SSE sees the potential for a commercial district being created once the stadium gets built. Lander says in the last five to seven years, this same business model has been used to great effect in Ottawa and Edmonton.

“Sports owners like SSE, what they figured out is why don’t they build residences and commercial properties themselves? So that way when they as the residential and commercial owners pay property tax they’re effectively paying a portion of it to themselves,” Lander said.
https://globalnews.ca/news/5954134/cfl-group-public-funding-halifax-stadium/

[bannedforlife]

Details of the CFL stadium proposal in Halifax (https://3downnation.com/2019/09/26/details-of-the-cfl-stadium-proposal-in-halifax/)
3Down Staff 3downnation September 26, 2019

The details of the CFL stadium proposal in Halifax have been made public.

Halifax council voted unanimously to move ahead with a staff report on the proposed stadium plans, which have been submitted to the municipality. Shannon Park was the chosen location to build a stadium with 12,000 permanent seats expandable to 24,000 for CFL games on a 38-hectare area.

According to the proposal (https://www.halifax.ca/sites/default/files/documents/home/news/Schedule%20C%20-%20Phase%201%20Design%20%26amp%3B%20Capital%20Cost s%20-%20Aug%2026%202019%20Final22.pdf), phase one of the design would cost just under $94 million. There would be an extra $10 million for the cost of the land. The mobilization date is October 19 with completion of the project set for June 1, 2022.

Halifax regional municipality chief administrative officer Jacques Dube released a statement along with the specifics of the proposed facility:

SSE forwarded the latest version of its proposal on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2019, following some initial questions and requests for clarification by municipal staff.

In the interest of transparency, the municipality sought approval from the proponent, SSE, to release the proposal publicly. SSE has consented to public disclosure of the proposal – with the exception of five appendices (A, G, H, I and O) containing information that is the property of a third party.

SSE is currently working with the third party to review and redact information, as necessary, prior to releasing these documents publicly. Once any required redaction has been completed, and approval has been granted, we will be publicly disclosing the remaining documents.

From the Halifax CAO release:

The Schooner Sports and Entertainment proposal assumes that some or all the funds for the municipality’s financial support would be generated from a tax incremental financing (TIF) model.

Five funding options are outlined in the SSE proposal regarding the manner (timing, mechanism, etc.) in which the municipality may consider using the funds generated from the TIF to contribute to the stadium.

Option #1: Maximum Financial Contribution of $2M Per Year Over the Term of the Loan with TIF Revenue Going Directly to SSE
Option #2: Upfront Cash Payment
Option #3: Smaller Upfront Cash Payment with Committed Cash Payments over the Term of the Loan
Option #4: Loan Guarantee
Option #5: Sliding Scale of Committed Cash Payments

CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie has said the possibility of an Atlantic Schooners hinges on a stadium deal. The league and SSE are one step closer to making the dream a reality.

[bannedforlife]

SCHEDULE C Community Stadium – Phase 1 Design and Capital Cost (Halifax) (https://www.halifax.ca/sites/default/files/documents/home/news/Schedule C - Phase 1 Design %26amp%3B Capital Costs - Aug 26 2019 Final22.pdf)

https://i.imgur.com/5u5lS2b.png

[bannedforlife]

Boy, how many more "plans to be revealed soon" stories can there possibly be?You must be fun at parties :)

[1971GreyCup]

I happen to be in Halifax this weekend and I read in the Chronicle Herald that a couple of town counsellors are trying to shut the process done and not waste city dollars on the feasibility study. Too bad there’s a lot of local opposition.

For some reason I can’t find the electronic version.

[R.J]

I happen to be in Halifax this weekend and I read in the Chronicle Herald that a couple of town counsellors are trying to shut the process done and not waste city dollars on the feasibility study. Too bad there’s a lot of local opposition.

For some reason I can’t find the electronic version.
https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/news/local/council-could-decide-tuesday-to-scrap-cfl-plan-360504/

Good on some of the City Councillors for this IMO. LeBlanc & Co. clearly don't have the money to put in anything upfront, and overall this looks like a bad deal for the City. As much as I'd like to see a 10th CFL team; I'm completely against facilities being built with 100% of Taxpayers money.

[Mightygoose]

It will need a 2/3rds super majority to be scrapped since it's a rescindment of the council's OK for study staff to work on the report.

With allot of work still to be done including anything official from the province and public consultations that Canada Lands wants, I can't see this motion getting enough support, so the stadium plan should live on to early in the new year.

[ArgoRavi]

The $3-4 million a year in tax support mentioned in the article in the previous post is a way of once again trying to get the taxpayer fund the stadium in a relatively poor province. I am still highly skeptical of this going forward. Halifax is not Ottawa or Edmonton economically.

https://globalnews.ca/news/5954134/cfl-group-public-funding-halifax-stadium/

I will believe that any of this will happen only when I see the team take to the field for the first time.

[R.J]

Until someone with actual money comes along, I think Halifax will continue to be a pipe dream for the CFL.

Different circumstances and Leagues I know, but LeBlanc & Co. also proved to be paupers in Arizona as well, hence why the NHL pushed 'em out. I hope common sense prevails in Halifax and this deal doesn't go through either, but admittedly I have pretty much zero faith that Ambrosie will figure out that they (LeBlanc & Co.) have no money. Heck, Ambrosie still hasn't figured out the the Lenkov's don't have the money to buy the Als lol.

[jerrym]

I will believe that any of this will happen only when I see the team take to the field for the first time.

Ditto.

[BigJim]

https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/news/local/council-could-decide-tuesday-to-scrap-cfl-plan-360504/

Good on some of the City Councillors for this IMO. LeBlanc & Co. clearly don't have the money to put in anything upfront, and overall this looks like a bad deal for the City. As much as I'd like to see a 10th CFL team; I'm completely against facilities being built with 100% of Taxpayers money.

I agree, if you look at the proposal LeBlanc is asking Halifax to raise the hotel tax and a tax on rental cars. He is also proposing a $10 per ticket sur-tax that would be paid to the city, I don't think any CFL team has a tax that high on tickets.
The tourism industry and the people that run the convention centre are not happy about it either. Besides, the city of Halifax doesn't have the power to raise taxes, it would be up to the Province.

[bannedforlife]

Heck, Ambrosie still hasn't figured out the the Lenkov's don't have the money to buy the Als lol.Yeah, that Ambrosie, not real bright is he (https://3downnation.com/2019/10/11/lenkov-brothers-alouettes-ownership-deal-expected-to-close-within-seven-to-10-days/)? Imagine persuading the Bronfmans to get involved, what a maroon!

[bannedforlife]

I happen to be in Halifax this weekend and I read in the Chronicle Herald that a couple of town counsellors are trying to shut the process done and not waste city dollars on the feasibility study. Too bad there’s a lot of local opposition.That's not exactly true, one councillor in particular was leading that charge and frankly to my surprise and delight has seemed to galvanize support for the stadium. Polls have shown there is support for the stadium and not a "lot of local opposition" as you have stated. That particular councillor posted on another website and was given an earful. Good, bad or indifferent, people want to see this thing through. The deputy mayor came out in opposition to the councillor.

[jerrym]

The Halifax franchise is on life support.



The CFL’s dream of Halifax expansion is alive today, although it may only have six more weeks to live following its survival from a death-blow motion by City Councillor Sam Austin by a narrow 9-8 vote margin.

Halifax mayor Mike Savage was less than optimistic about the prospects of the proposed stadium. “There are a lot of councillors who’ve indicated they’re not supportive of a stadium,” Savage told Halifax Today (https://www.halifaxtoday.ca/local-news/no-one-should-be-flooded-with-optimism-about-future-of-cfl-stadium-says-halifax-mayor-1768568?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter) in response to the vote. “Whether there is an opportunity for people to change their mind as we get more analysis from staff, I don’t know. I wouldn’t see it as a hopeful sign that the stadium would pass council when it comes back.”

Anthony LeBlanc, founding partner of Schooner Sports and Entertainment, was slightly more optimistic. Though surprised by the level of opposition, LeBlanc said he was “Not going to get too concerned about the results. The good news is we’re continuing the process and we’re working closely with senior staff.” ...

A motion to speed up the deliberation process did pass council, forcing SSE to bring its basic analysis before the councillors in early December. Both LeBlanc and Savage agreed the stadium proposal could not survive a “no” vote at that juncture.

“This is what they’ve come up with, so I don’t think it’s realistic to say to them give us something else,” Mayor Savage said. “I don’t think they’d be interested, and I don’t think there’s much appetite on the council. The decision that is made will be final,” LeBlanc confirmed. “If it is rejected, yes, we have made an agreement internally within our partnership that we will not be continuing any further.”
https://3downnation.com/2019/10/25/halifax-stadium-proposal-hangs-on-by-a-thread-faces-final-decision-in-december/