Well, thanks CFL for announcing the news we all expected to hear.
Toronto will be hosting the 100th Grey Cup. I have never been to Toronto. However, I feel that Toronto is not deserving of receving this tremendous event.
The city that the rest of Canada really doesn't seem to like very much, the city that has more dedicated NFL fans than CFL fans, the city that has more people in it than any other city in Canada and hasn't sold out a CFL home game since the 1990s (no fact checking done), the city that hosted the 1997 Grey Cup and everybody I talked to that went to it seemed to say, "Toronto really isn't a football town and it showed in the way they hosted the Grey Cup".
Well done Toronto for doing what every fan in the CFL knew you would do. You successfully won the bid for the 100th Grey Cup! See you there.
I personally really LOVE Toronto, and though I haven't been everywhere, I have done a fair amount of travelling and I consider it to be one of the great cities of the world. I agree that the concentration of power in and around Toronto has sometimes created unfair treatment of the regions in Canada, but it seems to me that the only people who really hate the place are ones who have never been there for very long, if at all.
To me, the 100th Grey Cup is coming home to Toronto. As it should be. You don't promote and celebrate the game by ignoring and punishing its largest market.
Vancouver? Nope they host in 2011.
Edmonton? Nope they host this year.
Calgary? 3 years between Grey Cups still to soon?
Regina? Well that city doesn’t have near enough hotel space for the 100th grey cup. regardless how they label themselves the best fans,
Winnipeg? Their new stadium MIGHT be ready by then? Maybe be fun?
Hamilton? If they had a stadium capable of hosting maybe? Hotel space issue again!
Montreal? 4 years between Grey Cups? Maybe? They put on a good show last time.
Toronto fans are just as dedicated and passionate as any other fan of this league, its just that SkyDome isnt a CFL friendly stadium and the Argos seem to get swallowed up in the multiculturalism and other entertainment options in the city. If Toronto had an outdoor 30,000 seat stadium to call its own it would be comparable to Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal or Hamilton. Not Saskatchewan though, no one touches them
The argos had 2 sell outs in 2005, and if they had a 25,000 seat stadium, they'd all be sellouts.
The 2007 grey cup was a big success and created more CFL awareness, and the 2012 grey cup game will be a big success as well!
Toronto didn’t host the 1997 Grey Cup. Edmonton did. They won the Grey Cup that year though And the rest of your facts were either incorrect or based solely on your opinion.
Since you’re a Rider fan I’m sure you think that since Saskatchewan has nothing but the Riders for it’s sole source of entertainment for the entire province, that the CFL should completely revolve around the Riders and cater to the wants and needs of every rider fan. It’s not the case.
I went to the 2003 Grey Cup in Regina. There are MAJOR inconveinces with having the Grey Cup in Regina.
Lack of Hotels
Lack of Public Transportation
Lack of stuff to do (besides Grey Cup festivities)
Having the 100th Grey Cup in Toronto will allow for more extensive media coverage and sponsorship opportunities. It’s about History and it’s about making $$$.
Chris Rudge who ran the Vancouver Olympics has been named Chairman and CEO of the 2012 Grey Cup. He did a darn good job with the Olympics and there is no reason to think he won’t do as good a job with the GC.
TORONTO -- On June 11, 2010, Chris H. Rudge was named Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the 2012 Grey Cup Festival which was awarded to the city of Toronto and the Toronto Argonauts Football Club. Most recently, Rudge was Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) from January 10, 2003 until April 15, 2010. For the last two years, he has also served as Chairman of the steering committee of the Own The Podium initiative which helped delivered Canada’s best ever team performance at an Olympic Winter Games and the most gold medals in Olympic history at a winter Games.
He is currently an Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia’s School of Human Kinetics.
Rudge is a former senior executive and member of the Office of the CEO of Quebecor World Inc., which was at the time of his retirement in January 2002, the world’s largest commercial printer, employing 43,000 people at 160 plants in 16 countries in North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia.
Over his 12 years with Quebecor World Inc., Rudge held several executive positions including: Executive Vice President, Marketing, Communications and International Development; and Chairman, CEO and President, Que-Net Media. He has also been President of Quebecor Printing Canada, and President, International Operations (Europe, Latin America and India) and Special Assistant to the CEO at Quebecor Printing Inc.
Prior to joining Quebecor World Inc. in 1991, Rudge was President and Part Owner of Pickering, Ontario-based Web Offset Publications. He has also been General Manager, Sales & Marketing at Maclean Hunter Printing and has held various senior advertising sales positions at The Financial Post, including National Advertising Manager.
Rudge began his professional career as a Physical Education Teacher with the Toronto Board of Education, teaching both junior and senior high school students.
His sport background includes competing as a player with the Syracuse Stingers of the National Lacrosse League (NLL), holding the position of Directeur du Personnel with the NLL’s Les Caribou de Quebec and coaching the Canadian National Field Lacrosse Team in 1976.
Rudge is and has been active on a number of boards, including The Paxen Group Inc. (Melbourne, Florida), Merrill Lynch Canada, the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, the National Ballet of Canada, the White Ribbon Campaign, the School of Graphic Communications Management at Ryerson University where he co-chaired the New Building Campaign, the University of Toronto Department of Athletics Restricted Funds Committee and the Country Day School (Vice Chairman). He was a Member of the Province of Ontario’s Olympic Trust and Waterfront Development Board and Chairman of the Town of Vaughan’s Recreation and Sports Advisory Committee and has been an active member of the Canadian Printing Industry Association. He has also served as the Executive-in-Residence at the Director Education Program at the University of Toronto Rotman School of Business.
Rudge holds a teaching certificate from Queen’s University and a Bachelor of Physical Education and Health from the University of Toronto. He lives in Toronto, Ontario with his wife Janet Nutter, a medalist at the 1978 Commonwealth Games and the 1975 and 1979 Pan American Games, and a 1980 Olympian in diving. They have two children, Ryan and Diane.
lol if toronto had a 25000 seat stadium they would sell out everygame… lol man if every team had a 25000 seat stadium it would sell out every game.
toronto is the birthplace of the cfl, leagues oldest franchise is the argos no? makes sense.
regina = no grey cup until that new stadium that seems to have been sweeped under the rug gets done. winnipeg has started construction and its gonna be ready for 2012. regina wont have a new one until 2014 atleast.
hamilton? again no chance until u get a new stadium. if U EVEN GET A NEW STADIUM.
the only places right now… capable of hosting grey cups… vancouver,edmonton,calgary,toronto,montreal.
as it stands right now… hamilton,sask,winnipeg = no grey cups until new stadiums.
winnipeg is getting theres built as we speak, ready for 2012… regina and hamilton is all just rumors about new stadiums.
i can hear it now… a sell out crowd of 35000 in hamilton for the 100th grey cup… ya right… same with regina… u kids in sask need to come back to reality and realize you live in regina.
the point i was making about the 25,000 seat stadium, is, if the argos played in a smaller stadium, it would always be sold-out and people wouldnt have a negative thing to say about them. but they play in a 45,000 seater, and as far as i know, no CFL team packs 45,000 in their stadium on a consistant basis.
i'm sure the argos could fill a 35,000 seater every game.
You kids in Tranna’ need to wake up and realize that the rest of the country knows that other cities can host the Grey Cup. The 2003 Grey Cup in Regina was a sell-out of over 50,000 people.
I’m not saying it should have been in another city, I’m just saying we all knew it was gonna’ be Tranna’.
Based on those numbers, they would not have sold-out Mosaic Stadium in Regina, not even once.
I mean no disrespect to the fans that do go to Argos games. I commend y’all for sticking by your team. But if the CFL season goes by without attending a single game, then you aren’t a CFL fan.
I am sure Toronto is a great city, but with the exception of a comment in this thread, I haven’t heard a good thing said about it from anybody who’s been there. I look forward to having my mind changed.
Too many dumb comments from people in the Prairies, who think that the football world should revolve around them.
Anyone who's surprised at this announcement must not follow the CFL.
All I know is that people who went to the last Grey Cup in Tranna' basically said that the city was not a football friendly city and many people had to explain to nearby businesses what a Grey Cup actually is. I hope it's great and I'm sure the CFL will headlock the city of Toronto into putting a real effort into hosting something truly Canadian, instead of hosting something dragged, kicking and screaming from across the border.