Learning from mistakes made from stadium builds in other cities (Winnipeg, Hamilton) the City of Regina left itself lots of breathing room before the main tenants move in permanently and a CFL game is played there next June.
Downtown Hamilton is vastly different today than it was in 1996. Downtown was at rock bottom and in many ways the CFL was as well. They were selling Grey Cup tickets at local Tim Hortons for $20 because they could hardly give them away.
2024 would be a great year to host the cup because LRT will be done if indeed it happens (and they have 6 years to build it). That said I'd sure like to see a cup here before then.
How is the downtown “vastly different” ? still no hotels, not many bars and restaurants.
Yes they were selling Grey Cup tickets at Tims and it was a tough sell but in the end they did get just over 30k to IWS.
But here we are 20 years later and thousands of unsold tickets for the Toronto Grey Cup, even after a big price reduction three weeks ago.
Not a lot has changed.
Even if the LRT is built, how would that help a Grey Cup?
Slim…there have been a ton of restaurants open in the last few years with more and more coming. There was an interview on TV not long ago that said that the amount of new places opening was unprecedented in Hamilton. How about “Art Crawl”? Thousands and thousands over 3 days…way more than any Grey Cup could hope for anywhere…and we handled it.
So I think your view is myopic, misplaced and irrelevant in today’s world.
And at least 3 hotels have opened in Hamilton since 1996- Staybridge Suites and Homewood Suites around Bay Street and Courtyard Marriot on Upper James. Not sure if the Days Inn on King Street by Wellington was open in 1996, if not make that 4. The Hotel at Carmen’s on Stonechurch wasn’t open as well…so 4 for sure, maybe 5
Good for you… I’m sure there are thousands that totally disagree with your selfish opinion.
It has to be done in 2019 or it will have to wait until 2024 or later… 2019 will be the beginning of LRT construction… it will be possible to host the events without major issue… any later on in the project and it would likely be a nightmare. I think people are really overstating the hotel issue. If Regina can host one, so can we. Hamilton has plenty of large hotels downtown including Sheraton, Staybridge Suites, Days Inn, Homewood Suites… not to mention the Mariott on Upper James, and the Best Western at the top of the Redhill. Hamilton could definitely handle the demand as far as hotels are concerned.
Where do you get the $7 million from Dude? If tickets are priced reasonably(not what the Argos did) it will attract people to the city. They have 3 years to plan and promote everything Hamilton and area. I don’t believe we’ll lose money if (big if) we learn from past mistakes (not only ours but every host city).
Sorry dudeeeee you never mentioned anything about a $7m loss, you just said you like to travel. I highly doubt that the city would somehow end up losing $7m, but I’d love to hear how you got that number.
It’s very possible when an owner and the city have not submitted a bid and don’t want to host one.
After the failure of 1996 and the losses the owners and teams did not submit another bid to have one at IWS.
For most of that time the venue was a somewhat charming but basically very dumpy stadium. Hotel space was an issue for most of that period as well (improved recently by all accounts). The last experience was a significant failure. There were lots of years in there when the team was on life support and was in absolutely no position to even contemplate hosting the game. I don’t blame the team and the city for being cautious about submitting a bid. I’d rather see them do it later, when they’re good and ready to do it well. I don’t view that as a sign of ineptitude. And I look forward to seeing it happen.
I do believe that the main reason this city has not hosted a Grey Cup game in quite some time is because the stadium was not suitable for Grey Cup games. I understand that when the TigerVision screen was added to IWS, there was even less space for temporary seating. But when the Pan Am Games were awarded to Toronto, I figured that with the new stadium we’d be getting, this city could host Grey Cup games again. But there may be some other issues that still need to be looked into.
The best line I heard about the city of Hamilton hosting a Grey Cup is this: It’s better to get it done right than to get it done soon.
And if it gets done right, then maybe Grey Cup games being held in Hamilton more often.
With the upcoming embarrassment at BMO Field in a couple of weeks, I doubt Toronto will see another Grey Cup for many years. Can't blame the new owners or the city or the CFL, everyone thought that a Grey Cup outdoors at BMO Field would be a slam dunk instant sell out and success.
Just like the Argos at BMO Field this year, the blame goes to the people of Toronto for their lack of interest in CFL football.
"Can’t blame the new owners " The Florida sun is getting to you Slim, who else set the prices for G.C. if it was not the new owners ! AND who insisted on having a G.C in year one of ownership with all the other stuff on their plate .
This statement is as foolish as you continually stating that the Senators get 40 million a year from TSN for regional broadcasts , when every publication states 33 million , the other 7 milllion comes from elsewhere.
You know you really annoy me sometimes , you see Ottawa to-day and Hamilton and how they have rebuilt from really terrible times in the past , it took ten years for Hamilton to get to where they are to-day , why in hell do you think it would only take Toronto one year , it will take many years and because of the competition it will not be easy. So don’t be blaming anyone just yet , as you like to do at times , give it a chance and pass judgement in a few years time.
