What Stadium Do You Want as the Next Host?

[Unnamed Trialist]

4 hours ago, admin said:

They can't put seats in, Possibly on the large concourse on one side, that could/might happen.

But they can't put seats in that come down to, or start in the end zones.  Temp seats can't touch field level. 

That's a FIFA norm? Or something else?

I still don't get it, temp seating could be as solid as permanent. Or horrible, but I take it that isn't the question?

[mrstepp817]

Is it possible for a CFL stadium that has sown in gridiron lines to bring in a seperate surface for soccer?? I dont know if those stadiums were built to change out the surface but I was at AT&T Stadium in Arlington this past weekend and they have seperate gridiron turf surfaces down below and I am pretty sure they bring in grass for FIFA games etc....no idea if Mosaic was built with that capability or not? 

[Joe MacCarthy]

^Anything is possible...with money

[Admin]

On 12/22/2021 at 12:07 AM, Unnamed Trialist said:

That's a FIFA norm? Or something else?

I still don't get it, temp seating could be as solid as permanent. Or horrible, but I take it that isn't the question?

Well, I think that is the problem in and of itself.  Chances are temp seating here would be well built, but how to ensure that around the world. 

I think ultimately it is there so real stadiums are built, with the provision that it is possible to add temporary seats to a real stadium in certain situations.  The field level rule I am guessing prevents turning a random field into a temp stadium

I have no doubt in my mind I could build a better and safer stadium with nothing more than a screw gun, skill saw and home depot card than the one we were at in Belize. 

 

[Unnamed Trialist]

16 minutes ago, admin said:

Well, I think that is the problem in and of itself.  Chances are temp seating here would be well built, but how to ensure that around the world. 

I think ultimately it is there so real stadiums are built, with the provision that it is possible to add temporary seats to a real stadium in certain situations.  The field level rule I am guessing prevents turning a random field into a temp stadium

I have no doubt in my mind I could build a better and safer stadium with nothing more than a screw gun, skill saw and home depot card than the one we were at in Belize. 

But did you ever go to the provisional Empire when they were tweaking BC Place? That was "tinny", in a very Monty Python way. Tinny. Watched a few MLS games, and Man City before they were anything of note, with Dzeko and Wright-Phillips, and fans could just hammer away with their feet like the kids in the musical Oliver and it sounded, well, embarrassing. Not all noise is alike. But I suppose FIFA would have said it was a legit stadium and those stands were not temporary. 

[Admin]

32 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

But did you ever go to the provisional Empire when they were tweaking BC Place? That was "tinny", in a very Monty Python way. Tinny. Watched a few MLS games, and Man City before they were anything of note, with Dzeko and Wright-Phillips, and fans could just hammer away with their feet like the kids in the musical Oliver and it sounded, well, embarrassing. Not all noise is alike. But I suppose FIFA would have said it was a legit stadium and those stands were not temporary. 

I don't know what they would have said. There were no FIFA matches there I remember... aside from all things being FIFA that is.  I mean internationals. 

 

[-Hammer-]

So first off, as far as the field in Regina having the lines sewn in, your answer is simply put, protectionism. Simple as that. The Riders know they are big because they are the only sports game in town in Regina and most of Saskatchewan, at least for the Summer. They don't want soccer to grow in the province and potentially split interest, they don't want to run a team like the Ti-Cats and Bombers are, and given they are publicly owned, there may be a vested interest in keeping things that way.

As far as Tim Hortons Field, the north end-zone "Party Deck" isn't even a deck. IMO it's the single, worst feature of Tim Hortons Field. It's a stationary patio, whose entrance is at the field level. It can't be rolled into the endzone (even if FIFA or the CanPL would allow it), it can't really be attached to the rest of the stadium easily, as it stands substantially lower then the rest of the stadium and frankly it really serves no good purpose except to be a stage for occasional half-time shows and reduce the capacity of the site in the name of trying to make cheap, bad view seats seem cool because they are on a close patio.

The south end-zone deck is a different can of worms. In it's early days, before they put the Stipley Bar there, yes, you could have easily expanded temp seating there. Heck, you could have likely extended temp seating outside the stadium near Canon Street. Now, because of that bar, I'm pretty sure you've drastically reduced your ability to put up decent temp seating for a Grey Cup or similar match, such as this one. It was a completely shortsighted move to put that bar there, instead of just having local tents and temp bars against the fence of that patio.


 

[jonovision]

What do people from Hamilton think of THF? Is there any sense of disappointment that's what they ended up when compared with the 2 other big Canadian stadiums to open this decade (Winnipeg and Regina)?

[longlugan]

It's a big improvement on Ivor Wynne but doesn't compare to those two stadiums. Having said that I think they were limited space wise...the footprint of either of those stadiums far exceeds what was available in THF's current location. It is a somewhat cookie cutter design but not surprising considering Hamilton's political reality. Our lack of architectural imagination is only exceeded by Toronto's.

[Cheeta]

8 hours ago, -Hammer- said:

So first off, as far as the field in Regina having the lines sewn in, your answer is simply put, protectionism. 

...
 

Doubt it.  More like hubris.  

Being practical, if stitching in the lines provided a sharper visual for what is likely to only ever be your only important tenant is there even really a question as to whether to do it or not?

Seems strange doesn't it? Feels like once upon a time ever publicly funded venue in Canada needed to be "multi use" in design.  For grid iron, soccer, athletics, Hell, maybe even as a cricket oval, because you know... just in case.  And we ended up with these franken-stadiums which were half assed useless and wanting for a roof. 

Still, BMO Field started life as a lake shore roofless Plan C meccano-set with a plastic pitch and look at it now.  Far from perfect but light years ahead of where it was at birth. 

[Joe MacCarthy]

1 hour ago, jonovision said:

What do people from Hamilton think of THF? Is there any sense of disappointment that's what they ended up when compared with the 2 other big Canadian stadiums to open this decade (Winnipeg and Regina)?

Those two cities also had a significantly higher construction budget to work with.  Numbers quoted below were original budget not final cost.  I think Hamilton did well considering the amount of money they had but Winnipeg did get a roof and 10k more seats

Hamilton $145 million
Winnipeg $190 million
Regina $278 million

 

[Joe MacCarthy]

41 minutes ago, Cheeta said:

Doubt it.  More like hubris.  

Being practical, if stitching in the lines provided a sharper visual for what is likely to only ever be your only important tenant is there even really a question as to whether to do it or not?

Seems strange doesn't it? Feels like once upon a time ever publicly funded venue in Canada needed to be "multi use" in design.  For grid iron, soccer, athletics, Hell, maybe even as a cricket oval, because you know... just in case.  And we ended up with these franken-stadiums which were half assed useless and wanting for a roof. 

Still, BMO Field started life as a lake shore roofless Plan C meccano-set with a plastic pitch and look at it now.  Far from perfect but light years ahead of where it was at birth. 

Totally agree, while I disagreed with what Regina did, I realize why they did it and it had nothing to do with being afraid of soccer, which is ludicrous.  It's not like there would be a big entity like MLS coming and considering how one large market size area in Canada will likely never warm to the CanPL, IMO tempering it's Canada wide visibility growth, there's not much in that regard either.

Also a market that small (in Canada) that can pull off and fund (for arguments sake) the best stadium in Canada, I would hardly call them timid.

Edited December 24, 2021 by Joe MacCarthy

[RJB]

On 12/20/2021 at 9:09 PM, Shway said:

Try to put your bias aside T.O, MTL, Van folks

This poll is all bias. I have an interest in the team winning first of all, and then my second interest is to watch them which I can most easily do at home. 

What interest do I have in 'sharing the games with the country?'  They're either playing in my hometown, or they aren't. 

 

[RJB]

Here's a thought: if we accept that we have a 'Main Stadium' that is BMO in Toronto, then what is a reasonable number of cities to play in in one year?

 

[Free kick]

https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/edmonton-tourism-sports-fifa-world-cup-iihf-juniors-rugby-sevens-canada-economy

Edmonton is at a disadvantage when you consider that 90% of canada’s population lives within 200 km of the US border and thus the inflow of dollars (from day tourism) into the local economy is very important,.  You realise from this article why Edmonton (which is the exception to the 90%) is more aggressive than other cities in canada when it comes to landing sports event and by extension world cup and world cup qualifying events.  
 

Unlike other cdn cities there arent likely to be americans making day trips into Edmonton and spending money and contributing to the local economy.
 

 

Edited December 24, 2021 by Free kick

[gigi riva]

Love to see a CMNT game being played in Halifax

[Shway]

12 hours ago, RJB said:

This poll is all bias. I have an interest in the team winning first of all, and then my second interest is to watch them which I can most easily do at home. 

You’re right it is easily biased.

12 hours ago, RJB said:

What interest do I have in 'sharing the games with the country?'  They're either playing in my hometown, or they aren't. 

To see/enjoy the other parts of the country, and their stadiums while watching a CMNT match? Albeit the weather, I enjoyed the game in Edmonton. I was prepared to travel to Vancouver as well (reminds me I need to cancel my flight and accoms).

But I understand you’re sentiment, as it may be a while till you see a game in your city. 

[JamboAl]

8 hours ago, gigi riva said:

Love to see a CMNT game being played in Halifax

I would love that too and so would most everyone else.  BUT they don’t have a suitable facility.

[-Hammer-]

On 12/23/2021 at 9:45 PM, jonovision said:

What do people from Hamilton think of THF? Is there any sense of disappointment that's what they ended up when compared with the 2 other big Canadian stadiums to open this decade (Winnipeg and Regina)?

Speaking as a Hamiltonian, for the most part my opinion on it is there is no disappointment compared to other facilities. We knew from day one by the budget alone that THF wasn't going to produce a stadium as glamourous as them, and we knew Ivor Wynne's time had long since past, so really anything new was going to be an improvement.

That's not to say there isn't some disappointment with the facility, but they boil down to two issues. Where it was built, and how it's been operated/promised.

The majority of the disappointment came from the battle to build the thing and where it ended up. of which I put probably about 80% of that blame on the Ti-Cats organization. No matter what side of that debate you stood on (and I was for the West Harbor which would have been right beside the GO, so it would be literally as easy to get to by train as BMO but I know some wanted Confederation Park, or the completely undoable East Mountain location and each site had issues) that we ended up back at the same spot Ivor Wynne though, was incredibly disappointing. 

We were also promised, top of the line concessions at the new facility with a variety of menu items, but the truth is the organization that runs THF concessions is simply incapable of doing that, and that they don't allow enough better, smaller vendors in who could do a better job is a constant disappointment for when I go to games. It's especially since the case because they have occasionally gotten in, and have been a bright spot at the concessions.

Fundamentally the facility (frankly any facility) would have been a giant step up from what Ivor Wynne was. It was a lovely pile, but it was still a pile. So no, I wouldn't say Hamilton is envious of the other facilities, it's more we're upset that it could have been more and that's pretty much a common theme with any major Hamilton public works project.

Edited December 25, 2021 by -Hammer-