The NFL owners just approved a $200 million loan Tuesday for the Atlanta Falcons to build a new stadium.
Could the CFL not commit some capital funding in escrow (on a smaller scale of course) towards a stadium in Moncton/Halifax or QC?
(as a show of genuine goodwill and help spur further community and corporate interest/involvement)
[b]Blank (Falcons owner), speaking at the NFL's spring meetings, called the decision by the team owners an "important milestone" in moving the project forward.
“The NFL has supported new stadium construction through various means for decades,” he said. “Our club owners understand that investments … are important to the long-term strength of the league, and we thank them for their support.”
Blank said the design and construction of the Falcons’ new home will take place over the next four years and the team plans to open the 2017 season there. The Georgia Dome, which opened in 1992, will be demolished when the new stadium opens.
http://www.tsn.ca/nfl/story/?id=423663
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It seems the expiry date on contemporary stadiums is now around the 20-25 year mark before demolition/replacement.
The Georgia Dome is only 21 years old!
incredible.
by that token, Ivor Wynne must have curdled decades ago.
Its an absolute abomination that this sports infrastructure is expended well in advance of it's best before date. These demolition and construction projects often come at huge public expense. 25 years on a building that was probably designed to last 1000 years.
1000 years is going a bit far...most are not designed for a realistic life of more than 60.
For the CFL what are they going to do...hoof over 7 mil with a smile? NFL has deep pockets, so all the power to them if they want to get into the financing game.
well, it would be a league loan to the community/team at a predetermined low to no interest rate, preferably below prime, in order to help get the ball rolling for a potential locale for an Eastern stadium to hold not just a 10th CFL team, yet also other sporting events, concerts, entertainment etc etc.
and yes, it is preposterous that the Georgia Dome is considered obsolete and demolition worthy at a mere 21 years old.
The league should own the team and the facility. 10th. team increases the value of the TV contract by 20 percent and they don't have to handout a share of the tv money if the league owns the team. Take that land in Halifax the feds are willing to give away and sell a portion of it to finance the building of the stadium.
Maybe the NFL could loan the CFL some money (they’ve done it before) to build a new stadium in Toronto, for instance? They could make it expandable with 30,000 seats in the 1st phase lower bowl, then add a 2nd phase 30,000 seat upper bowl, if they ever get an NFL team? This way the 3-levels of government could get involved and “secretly” support an NFL bid for Toronto (you know they want to but it’s politically incorrect), while providing a new stadium for the Argos as a side benefit (and we know the NFL is likely to never happen in Toronto).
I'm sorry, but is Rogers Centre that bad? I've never been there, but from pictures it doesn't seem too bad. Sure it's too big and has some poor sightlines, but it has so many things going for it like a retractable roof, 54000 seats etc..
People talk about it saying it's a high priority to move the Argonauts out of there. How bad could it really be?
[b]Xvys wrote:[/b]
Maybe the NFL could loan the CFL some money (they've done it before) to build a new stadium in Toronto, for instance? They could make it expandable with 30,000 seats in the 1st phase lower bowl, then add a 2nd phase 30,000 seat upper bowl, if they ever get an NFL team? This way the 3-levels of government could get involved and "secretly" support an NFL bid for Toronto (you know they want to but it's politically incorrect), while providing a new stadium for the Argos as a side benefit (and we know the NFL is likely to never happen in Toronto).
I agree that's a plan but as Blue Blood says, it has to tie in with a major amateur or international type games to get significant gov't funding I think. I'm afraid the Argos are stuck at the Blue Jays stadium for many years to come, unfortunately, if they do indeed stay in Toronto which I think they will but you never know.
The thing is if Ontario and the feds did give Toronto money they would have a real hard time saying no to other city's plus with all the money going to Toronto for the Pan Am games plus Bmo it would not go over well.
WHY Halifax area. They won't pay for a franchises, do not want to pay for a stadium, will not pay ticket prices like in Montreal
to make team feasible, most just residence just don't want football. Lets move on
Other areas want a team and will support it IF THEY HAD STADIUM FINANCE HELP.
The CFL in and of itself doesn't have the funds necessary to bankroll stadium development. It can play a big role in helping find partners in funding and to help things along though. I don't think there's any interest by the league or its membership to involve the NFL in having them bankroll stadium development either nor do I think that the NFL would be interested in that either. They are more concerned with their current membership and expanding what they have. Any bankrolling they do in Toronto would be for a major NFL stadium IF, and IMO that's a big IF, they ever place a team in Toronto. The best bet would be to piggyback on a university team looking to build a stadium and add financing to make it a bigger stadium. The Argos missed out on an opportunity with the UofT I think it was a couple years back to expand the designs there and share in that stadium. I supposed if the CFL was involved financially, it may be for a smaller cheaper project like the temporary stadium the lions played at Empire field a couple years ago which was $15-20 million or so. It's not ideal but it could work for a couple f years until a proper stadium could be financed and built. That would still require ownership though for a 10th franchise and if there are any prospective ownership parties out there they've been pretty silent.
Well, the province is funding a new $300 million stadium in Regina…and the province funded a $560 million upgrade in Vancouver, largely for their CFL teams. The Feds also help fund the expansion at McGill in Montreal and the feds/prov. did help fund Hamilton’s new stadium…and the city/prov is funding the upgrades in Edmonton…and so on.
My contention is the city/prov should help fund a new stadium for the Argos too…they just need a reason. In lieu of an international sporting event tie-in, helping bring an NFL team to Toronto could be an economic generator for all of Ontario. Doug Ford said it would create thousands of jobs, a billion dollars of economic activity and the Super Bowl to Toronto. Governments invest in private businesses all the time (auto industry, windmills,ect) which create jobs and grow the economy.
So the city could donate the land and the province could finance the new stadium, which would be paid back through seat licenses and facility fees, like in Winnipeg. Build the stadium in 2 phases. The 1st phase ($250 million) would be a CFL-sized stadium for the Argos. Then if an NFL team was ever secured for T.O., the NFL/team could finance the 2nd phase ($250 million) expansion and add the upper decks for the NFL.
Funding the Argos stadium on its own may be a non-starter in Toronto, but tying it in with a potential NFL team, with all the benefits that would bring (not to mention the prestige of the NFL and Toronto getting “noticed” in the U.S.) might be a legitimate enough reason for the governments to get involved.
The thing is with Winnipeg thats really the only main city so Manitoba can invest in Winnipeg with little push back same with Bc but in Ontario you have Toronto/Ottawa/Hamilton as the 3 major citys then a bunch of mid size citys that could all use money for sports stadiums and or arenas.
Lets take Ottawa the Carleton Ravens are one of the best mens basketball teams in Canada has has been for many years and will be for years to come so if we want by the logic Ontario should fund a new stadium for Toronto as a Nfl team would bring prestige then you could say ONtario should fund a new 20,000-30,000 seat arena in ottawa with the hopes of the Ravens getting a Ncaa team.
I think that it would be difficult for the Argos to get government funding for a stadium that is only used 10 times per year. However, Toronto suburban municipalities have money and may be interested in paying for a stadium and hosting the argos (think Markham arena). It might not be bad if, say Vaughan builds a stadium near the new subway extension and by the highway, or Mississauga building one near the QEW/403, as many Argo fans are from Toronto suburbs.
The province is putting 80 million into the Regina stadium; loaning the city 100 mill, which the city needs to pay back over the course of 30 years; and the city is putting up ~70 mill. The remainder is being funded by the Riders and other groups, although the 100 mill will be paid back from a $12 ticket surcharge that goes through the Riders.
So the province is just helping to fund the stadium here; in the end, they’d contribute less than a 3rd of the cost. The government brought in new a new provincial precedent with this project, that being that they will fund sports infrastructure at 30% of the value up to $80 mill. Only Regina and Saskatoon would bump up against that limit though.
A CFL loan for a stadium WOULD be perfectly FINE - IF - there was some real expectation it could be repaid in a reasonable period of time, which would have to be a lot less than a typical 25-year mortgage. Unfortunately, I don't see that happening in Halifax or the Atlantic region.