Another wrinkle was thrown into the Hamilton stadium debate today when Tiger-Cats president Scott Mitchell said that Bob Young was prepared to move the CFL team to Ottawa if the latest stadium plan is rejected by city council.
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The city has until Tuesday to approve a plan to re-fit Ivor Wynne stadium. If Hamilton does not approve the plan the Pan/Am organizing committee has said that it would find a new municipality to host soccer during the games and build a modest stadium there. Mississauga, which is the largest suburban municipality in greater Toronto and located immediately to the west of the city, is the frontrunner to host if a solution in Hamilton can't be found.
During public meetings this week Tiger-Cats officials went out of their way to stress the soccer component of Ivor Wynne's re-fit. To receive government support they must have a legacy component involving amateur sport in their plan. In this case, that would be the academy program attached to a potential NASL club.
Obviously none of that would come to pass if Young moves out of the city. Although you might be tempted to think that he could just create the same thing in Ottawa -- and he could -- it would be redundant since, as Ben Rycroft reported earlier, Ottawa has an informal agreement in place to either move the Minnesota franchise to the capital in 2013, or receive an expansion club at that time*.
Basically, it's Hamilton or bust for soccer fans.
* If the league still exists, but that's a different topic