5 Regular Season Games in Moncton

CFL Talk
1

From CBC:

Moncton is in negotiations with the Canadian Football League to bring a regular season game to the city annually for the next five years.

The idea of bringing a CFL team to Moncton has been kicked around for years and that debate only intensified when the Université de Moncton announced plans to build a large, new stadium.

While locating a franchise in southeastern New Brunswick may still be a long way off, Moncton Mayor George LeBlanc said hosting an annual CFL game could be a reality as early as next fall.

"I'm very pleased to see this coming forward and we anticipate a five-year agreement where we will have at least one regular season game right here in Moncton for each of the next five years," LeBlanc said.

"And it's a great opportunity for the city and an opportunity to assess the market and see whether we can move forward from there."

A spokesperson for Mark Cohon, the commissioner of the CFL, confirmed the two sides are trying to work out a deal.

The CFL is looking for government funding to help offset the cost of bringing the games to Moncton.

The idea of Moncton hosting an annual football game started gaining momentum last November when Cohon raised the idea during his annual state-of-the-league address in Montreal.

Cohon said in that speech that the main obstacle to Maritime expansion is the lack of a stadium with a minimum seating capacity of 20,000.

However, Cohon said the CFL will look into staging 2010 regular-season games in Moncton at the university's new stadium that could see its seating expanded up to 20,000.

Game to attract fans across Maritimes
Mark Crandall, the chief executive officer of the Riverview Mustangs, which plays in the Maritime Football League, said the Moncton game will not just attract gridiron fans from New Brunswick but also from across Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

"One game will be easily supported by greater Moncton and surrounding communities," he said.

"You've got Halifax that will definitely come up for a game. You've got the Fredericton area that'll come down for the game. But I mean greater Moncton alone, just a CFL game in Moncton alone, will be packed."

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Don't know if this is anyhting to get excited about or not. Even though new, this stadium doesn't seem to be up to modern day CFL standards. Also, Cohon's comments regarding the minimum size of stadiums needed for the CFL is really getting alarming. This quote is most worrisome- "Cohon said in that speech that the main obstacle to Maritime expansion is the lack of a stadium with a minimum seating capacity of 20,000". Last year he stated any new team needed a stadium capable of holding at least 25,000. Even that seemed a little too low. Now he says its 20,000. How much lower can this go?

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I think the commish means that 20k is probably the minimum for hosting an annual regular season game, not the minimum for hosting a permanent CFL franchise. Although, that being said, Montreal’s been very successful in a stadium of 20k for several years. If a group had a solid business plan that accounted for a facility of only 20k seats, I don’t see why it ought to be dismissed out-of-hand.

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I'm sort of torn on this idea. On the one hand, I like it because it'll help to expand the league, but on the other hand, I don't like it because at least one team each season will be robbed of a home game. That's the same reason I don't like the NFL's annual game in England. But I suppose you could make the argument that expanding the league is more important...

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I like the idea of having game's there,was Moncton not the site of a game when Nick Arakgi of the BB broke his neck in a preseason game back in 86,it's been awhile and I cant remember?I'm sure the home teaam would be compensated by the CFL or get part of the gate.Could the home team really get more money in a case like this,cause are preseason game tix really not just thrown in for free to season tix holders with the walkup being really small?

While I think a City/Prov would need at least 20k for a preseason game to make it work,a min of 25k would be needed for a reg season game.And I dont think you can compare Moncton with Montreal,the stadium doesnt work in Montreal,what I mean by that is without having the last home game (except last season?) and playoff games at the Big O,the Al's could not survive.But with the exspansion of Molson stad now,I wonder if the big O will no longer be used,cause if they can sell out at 24/25k,they will have a better avg then by playing one game at the Big O.

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I thought Nick Aragki broke his neck playing in Saskatoon at the Gordie Howe Bowl. But I'm likely wrong about that.

1 regular season game per year means that every team loses a single home game every 8 years. It'll suck for the diehard fans (like the ones on this site) but most fans miss more than one game a year anyway.

As long as it is revenue neutral for the "home" team, it is a great idea.

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The Bombers, if I remember correctly, played a preseason game in Saint John, N.B., in both '86 and '87. I think the games were against Montreal and Hamilton, and were played at the Canada Games facility in Saint John.
I don't recall anyone getting a broken neck in either game.

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Moncton will never suport CFL Football, they do not have the numbers, not even close, they count on Halifax support in a huge way to hold their outdoor concerts and without Halifax two hrs down the road they would not be near as successful. Halifax will go to a regular season game once, but will never support them on a CFL franchise which Moncton can`t support. Halifax is 4 times bigger, city and surrounding area, Moncton CITY POPULATION IS ONLY 125,000, HALIFAX CITY POPULATION IS 425,000.

                                                           This is a joke, and why would two CFL cities give up a home regular game to play it in basicly a little town like Moncton, and I`m Maritime and travelled to NB and Moncton many times and know the reality and FACTS. CFL ARE BEING SNOWED and they`re going to bury themselfs in it !   


                                             FIVE YEARS, IS THE CFL LOST THEIR MARBLES!
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halifax doesnt have a CFL sized stadium.
and if the majority of the moncton crowd is from halifax, then i guess this is the only way the CFL can showcase thier stuff for the people of halifax. hopefuly, get enough interest in atlantic canada, to one day expand there - preferably, Halifax.

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The plan seems to be to have a presence — any presence — in the Maritimes and Moncton is the only place that can host a game. Kudos to that town for having the foresight to start now with a stadium. It clearly wants to position itself as a cultural/entertainment centre.

11

boy, this guy.

anyways,

they are looking to have games in Moncton to try and build up a reputation! they wanna see how the fans respond! it's like a test, or a walk-through!

the CFL wants to see if it could work and you just never know!

don't be SO down on the idea so fast.. the CFL is trying to find a market out east and it's obvious they wanna look at expanding so there can be coast to coast Football and get 10 teams!

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The quote seems to indicate that he is talking about expansion; as in putting a full-time team there. I just don’t see how 20,000 seats is enough. I know Montreal is getting by with 20,000 but as someone else mentioned they also will play the occasional game/playoff game at the Big Owe. Secondly, Montreal’s prices for ticket prices are usually much higher than they are for the rest of the league thereby allowing them to have higher revenues, with less fans. Not to mention their NHL sized sponsorship deals help bring in monies other teams simply don’t have and yet, even with all of these factors they too will be expanding their stadium and would expand it even more if they could.

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Here you go, EastVanMark, Cohon’s thoughts on a permanent team in Moncton:

Just to be clear, no one at this point is talking about a permanent team in Moncton. We’re talking about a series of regular season games in Moncton. For expansion to work anywhere in Atlantic Canada, or anywhere else in Canada, there has to be committed, well resourced owners, and a proper, permanent stadium. You and I are on the same page when it comes to not rushing into expansion for the sake of it. Our league is to too precious to Canadians to do anything that weakens it, and expansion has to be done properly, if done at all.

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I’d pickup four to eight season tickets to give to clients. I’m based in Halifax. I buy Rainman tickets and Moosehead tickets. I think being the only pro team in Atlantic Canada they can’t fail.

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What a relief. Thanks Chief. :thup:

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I say the 5 games is a great idea. For one it may make some new cfl fans in NB, second of all no one knows for sure what type of response the game we have until they try it. Moncton has the stadium and the right people in place who are trying to make this a success. I do no hear of anyone with any political power in Halifax trying to accomplish the say thing, so good for Moncton who stepped up to the plate.

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I must have been reading this too early in the morning,I thought they were talking about preseason game's,my bad,I think they should try a few preseason games out in the East first,I know it's not the same as the reg games,but they need to start somewhere before going full tilt.

And yes it was Saint John, N.B. I believe,where Nick Aragki broke his neck now in 86 vs Montreal.Thx for the reminder.He missed the entire year but came back in 87.

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If my team is playing one their home games in Moncton, then I expect:
a $75 discount off my season tix;
a typed apology explaining why this is necessary;
a 30% discount off anything from the merchandise store;
a free hat that says "My team played a home game along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean and all I got was this crappy flexfit hat!"

Yes, I am being very specific. This is what I expect and nothing less.

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I think 5 regualr season games in Atlantic would be fantastic! If it works for the 5 years and they end up getting a team of their own either in Moncton or Halifax that's good for the entire league and the fans and the country, isn't it?

If it doesn't work for the 5 years then atleast we know forsure that a team in Atlantic Canada won't work. There really is nothing to lose and I think this is a great way to go about it. Stop crying about losing a single home game every few years. It's for the good of the whole so suck it up.

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Well, the fans in the home cities lose a home game. So there is something to lose. I'm sure the games will be pro-rated, but still. Maybe they should make it eight regular season games in Moncton so each city loses one home game? I also wonder which season they'll chose to play those games. Maybe they should hold one or two in October just to see what kind of cold weather support the games get.