Grey Cup Site Selection

In light of recent developments involving the selection of future Grey Cup sites (i.e. Regina hotel situation, and BC potentially getting the Grey Cup only 3 years since they last hosted the event), should the CFL move to a model where the highest bidder or largest cities with the best facilities get to host the Grey Cup or should they revert back to a general rotation where essentially everyone gets a shot at hosting. Recently, an idea was brought forward where the top 4 cities host the game more often while the other cities still get a chance to host just not as often

Rotate from city to city, ensuring that every city gets it once every nine years. And on top of that, rotate from east to west as well. If it's in Toronto one year, give it to Winnipeg the next, then Ottawa the following year, then Calgary following that, so on and so forth. That way you get equality not just among the cities, but also among the two divisions. It might not make business sense, but I think it's the best way to do it.

I do not favour a bidding process because some teams would overbid and that would be bad for the league.

most fair is even rotation, but I am not sure that would be most logical.

Prairie cities have done well, and there have been some good games, however, I like the idea of being guaranteed at least every second cup being indoors.

While not perfect, I think choice number 3 comes closest to what I would like.

I do think however that if van and tor get the cup too much, the "novelty" will wear off and they will become less successfull off the field.

In the end, I would go with every second yr being van, tor, mont. The other cities rotated according to their present ability re stadiums and hotels and such.

I think in all fairness, there should be a static or semi static cost to hold the cup to make it fair to all, and the league as a whole.

and another thing. the league has often stepped in to finacially prop up a failing team, they should also step up to help winnipeg do the grey cup.

I like the idea of an indoor game every second year, maybe not just indoor but now that the CFL is building smaller stadiums, you could have a big capacity game every second year, big capacity being Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto and Montreal. So it could look like this:

Calgary-Toronto-Regina-Montreal-Winnipeg-Vancouver-Ottawa-Edmonton-Hamilton

This way say if Toronto hosted it in 2020 they wouldn't host it again until 2029, which ensures that cities aren't being left out while revenue is still collected since every second game would be in a minimum 54,000 seat stadium.

The CFL itself should run the Grey cup regardless of where it is played and the revenue be shared evenly among all of the teams in the league every season. Profit sharing the grey cup revenues each year may help the teams losing money get closer to breaking even or making a profit.

I rather like that idea.
Say there are 9 teams…1 share each + 1 for the host city. + 2 for the CFL…something like that…that pies it out into 12 sections.

I also think that the CIS should hold the Vanier cup earlier in the week (same City)…it may draw in prolonged revenue. Say play the Vanier on Thursday and the Grey Cup on Sunday. If the CIS could move their schedule up a week then I would say have it on Wednesday. That said, the shame of sharing the 2 games is that some schools would never have a chance of hosting it, and that is a shame for fans and revenue.

a novel idea that may also help procure interest/investment in future expansion, as an assuage and increased assurance to potential owners.

That breakdown in shares of the Grey Cup profits were right along with my lines of thinking. The grey has evolved from 1996 I believe where no one wanted to host it to it being a big money maker which in turn should now become part of the Profit sharing model for the CFL.
There will be more Grey cups in the bigger cities and indoor venues but will not exclude the other teams altogether in bringing the cup to their fair city if possible. When the Grey cup is in Toronto the fans of the Hamilton TiCats are able to enjoy the festivities just as much being so close.
A grey cup in Saskatchewan plays well for all the prairie cities as taking a longer driv is not as big a thing as it is in the east. To come from Calgary, winnipeg, Edmonton renting an RV for the week and heading to Regina is a reasonable option for a 8-10 hr drive holding the game in calgary or edmonton the same winnipeg would be a bit far and in reverse in Winnipeg a little far for Calgary and Edmonton.
The Riders building stadium with the future of having a retractable roof + RV factor places set up near the stadium would lead to much more possibilities for the Riders to get the Cup more than the other Prarie teams

RVing in Regina that time of year is a little unrealistic. It could be plus 5, or it could be minus 30 and a foot of snow. Otherwise I agree.

I completely did not factor in the weather and snow into the equation. If Regina will want to continue to get Grey Cup games they would have to make sure that snow removal would have to be part of the cost equation in and around the City.
Question are the main Highways/roadways from Edmonton, Calgary, and Winnipeg heading into regina and saskatchewn kept up with in the case of snow removal for travel?

I don't care about the snow itself, what I am getting at is RVing is not reliable lodging for that time of year, and 3700 hotel rooms is simply not enough. Regina puts on a good party for the game, but lodging is a serious issue. to put in in perspective, probably pushing 5-8% of the hotel rooms are booked for people directly involved in the game. I would hate to be in an RV if it hit -30 at night. People could realistically be putting safety in jeopardy.

The City would take care of snow buildup...i am not worried about that...the revenue is too great, and the bad media exposure would be brutal.

I think there realistically needs to be at least 6000 hotel rooms.

Right… As one of Canada’s more Wintery cities, Regina wouldn’t already have a snow removal plan in place… Nor would Alberta, Saskatchewan, or Manitoba highways have plans for the Trans Canada, Yellowhead, and highway 11 (between Stoon and Regina)… It’s not like the prairies have seen snow before right?

Sorry for the sarcastic tone, but I kind of found that part of your comment ridiculous, the city and provinces need to function whether a Grey Cup is being played or not.

So if snow removal is not an issue than RV travel from Prairie Cities to a prairie City Grey Cup should not be a problem and would also help with the lodging problems. Regina, however, would need to set up temporary RV parks to accommodate many travlers who would go this route for lodging for the Cup.

One issue in mind is that while RV’s may be fine for some, many Grey Cup tourists/travelers would not entertain the prospect of lodging in RV’s or park settings.

Hotels/motels are a much better solution, although certainly not feasible for the 2013 event.

that’s half the fun :wink:

I agree hotel/motel is a much better choice but with the limited space and Hotels/motels it may come down for some people RV or nothing.
That brings us back to the topic of the post of site selection for the Grey cup. Bigger cities especially with indoor venues will get more Grey cup games it is just become that big of an event.
Hense the suggestion that the CFL takes over the running of the Grey Cup with revenue profit sharing for the cup each year so Community owned team in a small city like Regina will still reap the benefits of Grey Cup profits even if they do not host the game. Profit sharing of the grey cup is just a more modern approach to the Grey Cup and in regards to having more cups in Toronto, BC, and Montreal

It isn’t just the profits that teams care about. It is the fact that you host a Grey Cup. It is seen as somewhat of a reward for supporting your team, that once every 9 years or so, you get to see the big game in your own team’s surroundings, with the possibility of your home team being in that game. It’s intangible thing that is immensely important, but not as easily measured (like economics). If you start to cut off cities from hosting after starting the rotation process (which really began in the 90s when larger cities didn’t want to host), you could start getting resentment from smaller cities and possibly less enthusiasm for the event as a whole.

If the rotation had never begun and we only basically alternated between Vancouver and Toronto, as was happening for a fair bit, it would probably be less of an issue, but as the box has been opened, it would be a tough sell to get fans/teams/cities to accept slamming it back shut, especially when those smaller cities/regions are generally more supportive of the league.

Well since the CFL has opened that door as you say with big cities Toronto BC Montreal getting the cup over the past several years the CFL and the grey cup has never been more popular and records are being broken. Fans are befinning to enjoy the confines of the indoor venue more than freezing snow in which everyone used to think is great.
Time will tell but more Cups in big cities and indoor venues and less in smaller cities and outdoor venues is my bet. The CFL is finally evolving into the modern sports ERA with big time sponsors big time TV coverage Big time marketing and finally Big time pro sports venues. The old CFL is gone done and over. Big cities may not embrace there teams as much as smaller ones but they will embrace the biggest single sporting event in Canada each year.

A ten team CFL would allow each team to host per decade and would be the ideal I would think. There is some argument to be made for the preference to hold games in indoor stadiums for fan and player comfort, plus BC place, skydome, and Olympic stadium have the added benefit of more capacity. But when you look at it, if the Riders get a domed stadium built there will be 4 covered stadiums in the league. At that point they can essentially alternate domed stadium and open air stadiums with each team in a rotation, which isn't too bad. Big cities may not appreciate their teams as much as smaller markets, but I don't think anyone was anticipating the local fan support the Argos got at home in the Grey Cup with many fans decked out in Argos garb. It'll be interesting to see if the argos can capitalize and build on that going forward. It would be great for them and the league if they could. I think some of that is attributable to the Grey Cup week festivities where the die hard CFL and grey cup fans help convert the naysayers by just having a good time celebrating our league.