Official 13thman MONCTON 2010 thread.

[Sir Purrcival]

Sounds like the making of a great event but a catchier name is needed.

The Brunswick Bash 2010 or other idea's?

[hfxbomberfan]

From todays Moncton Times & Transcript Paper:

Metro CFL game grows
Published Friday October 16th, 2009
N.B., Ottawa throw support behind next September's 'mini Grey Cup'
A1By Brent Mazerolle
Times & Transcript Staff

Like most successful people who find themselves standing at a podium facing a room full of people, CFL Commissioner Mark Cohon led with a joke yesterday as he officially announced the Toronto Argonauts would play a home game in Moncton next September.

1 of 3

GREG AGNEW/TIMES & TRANSCRIPT CFL Commissioner Mark Cohon, left, and Toronto Argonauts president and CEO Bob Nicholson, far right, present Defence Minister Peter Mackay, Premier Shawn Graham and Mayor George LeBlanc with their own jerseys at a news conference yesterday. Premier Shawn Graham, right, and Defence Minister Peter Mackay chat with Toronto Argonauts Andre Talbot, second left, and Obed Cetoute yesterday. GREG AGNEW/TIMES & TRANSCRIPTMinister of National Defence Peter MacKay goes on the offence with a pass to Premier Shawn Graham at a press conference announcing a regular season CFL game will be played in Moncton next fall. "Did anybody know about this?" he asked those gathered at the Legends restaurant in the Moncton Coliseum Complex.

Indeed, though that and more had leaked out in the previous few weeks, it did nothing to diminish local enthusiasm for a game that many hope will be just the beginning of bigger things between Atlantic Canada and the CFL.

And there were still some new details to tell, including the fact the CFL's oldest franchise and the league are making plans to leave a legacy for local amateur football with next year's game, and that the federal and provincial governments are investing $1.5 million in the football weekend being planned.

The events leading up to what's expected to be a Sunday afternoon game against a Western Canadian opponent still to be determined will likely include a high school football game under the Friday night lights at the stadium, and an AUS match-up the next night, as well as a fundraising gala for local football and a street party.

In a hint of the regional thinking that's going into the planning, Defence Minister Peter MacKay, the minister responsible for the Atlantic Gateway, let it slip that the high school game would likely see a Halifax area football team play against a Moncton area team.

While there's no doubt the game would stir some rivalry between Atlantic Canada's two dominant metropolitan areas, no one was spouting "us versus them" rhetoric yesterday. Instead, no one's comments yesterday reflected how the CFL would benefit the whole Atlantic region better than MacKay's.

The fact the Conservative cabinet minister and Liberal Premier Shawn Graham worked so closely on making all this a reality spoke volumes about MacKay's seeing the big picture value of the whole enterprise, not the least of which is the anticipated $4 million in economic spinoffs from just this one weekend of football.

When asked if yesterday's show of support for Moncton could hurt him back in his Nova Scotia riding, he said, "not at all. Actually, Pictou County is just as close to Moncton as it is to Halifax, so I think you're going to see fans coming from my neck of the woods to this game."

MacKay was also the person most willing to talk CFL expansion yesterday. He said if there was a team "that drew upon all four provinces, that was able to centrally locate and bring fans from the entire region, then yes, I think it is viable."

He added however, "we would need a private sector partner. We would need someone who was willing to commit to come in and start that groundswell of support."

Commissioner Cohon was more cautious yesterday. In a meeting with the Times & Transcript's editorial board yesterday morning before the press conference, he said for the time being, all of this was simply about bringing the first major league game in any sport to the Atlantic region, and making the nation's largest sports league truly one that went coast to coast.

"It's not about expansion, not right now," he warned, saying the league has its sights set on a return to Ottawa by 2013 first.

However, the first forays into becoming a part of Moncton's community fabric are happening with yesterday's announcement.

Cohon praised the personal efforts of Premier Graham in making things happen and said, "his vision of making Moncton the entertainment capital of the Maritimes fits in perfectly with our vision of bringing the league out to Atlantic Canada."

There's a chance of course the commissioner's warm feelings for the premier merely stem from the fact that Graham was just about the only person yesterday who consistently pronounced Cohon's surname correctly, which sounds like "Co-hon" rather than "Cohen."

But kidding aside, Cohon had plenty of praise for the rest of the region's team, singling out Mayor George LeBlanc, the City of Moncton team led by Ian Fowler, and the federal efforts of Peter MacKay.

On MacKay's leadership, Cohon said, "Number one, he's a booster of the region. Two, he's a huge football fan. And three, he knew it would be good for the region."

At the press conference later, Cohon said the enthusiasm reminded him of being in Saskatchewan, where people are famously passionate about their Roughriders, own shares in the team, and travel from across a huge geographic areas to get to games in Regina. Many have said that's the same sort of spirit the CFL would find with a Moncton-centred team, where like Saskatchewan, there are no competing major league sports. He shared a taste of that spirit when he recounted talking to Moncton Mayor George LeBlanc about next year's game.

"I said, 'this would be a lot like a mini Grey Cup weekend,' and he got offended," a smiling Cohon told the audience of LeBlanc's reaction.

"He said, 'what do you mean, mini?'"

Toronto Argonauts president and CEO Bob Nicholson, who is determined to win over Maritime fans in the next year so that the really come to think of Toronto as their home team too, said he liked what he heard.

"We're captivated by this idea of a mini Grey Cup, so next year we can play in two Grey Cups," he said.

* Argos make Moncton their second home/SPORTS D1


I heard a rumour that it will be Argos vs BC Lions in September. I will try to check the Times & Transcript daily and watch for any other nmedia hilights to keep 13tman up to date and informed.

I was in contact with the Pumphouse Brewery and they want to do a Tailgate Party thing with us on game day. Will keep everybody in the loop as I get more info.

[hfxbomberfan]

Another good headline on CFL.ca as wel. Go to CFL.ca - Headlines: Our League is Coming to Alantic Canada.
Make sure you log in at the bottom of the article to receive updates. I already did.

PING, Send me a PM. We have to get the lines of communication open. This is gonna be big, buddy ! The Pumphouse wants to do a Tailgate Party as part of the festivities. This time I'm staying overnight and partying with everyone!

[FANatic]

All we need is a day to mark on the calendar. Hope the hotel rooms don't sell out as fast as they did when AC/DC was announced.

[Ron]

Hope the hotel rooms don't sell out as fast as they did when AC/DC was announced.

Not likely. Many of those hotel rooms filled up because tourists thought New Brunswick was finally getting electricity that day. To their dismay they saw it was just a rock band.

[hfxbomberfan]

Another article from Moncton Times & Transcript paper this weekend:

Toronto excited about next year's historic CFL game here

By NEIL HODGE, TIMES & TRANSCRIPT STAFF

The Toronto Argonauts are leaving the Rogers Centre for one home game next season to be part of a history making event.

The CFL is coming to Moncton in September 2010 for a regular season game. They will be the home team when the Canadian Football League stages a regular season game next year in Moncton. The contest will be played in September, but the date and Toronto's opponent won't be known until the league finalizes its schedule in early 2010.

"We don't know yet how our fans are going to react to it," said Argonauts president and CEO Bob Nicholson in reference to playing a home game outside Toronto.

"We could also potentially give up some competitive edge playing in what may be a neutral stadium. Obviously, we have to win the fans over here to make them Toronto Argonauts fans. I think the atmosphere is going to be phenomenal so that's what we're excited about.''

The first-ever CFL regular season game in Atlantic Canada will be played at the Stade Moncton 2010 Stadium on the Universite de Moncton campus. The new 10,000-seat venue will host the 2010 IAAF Moncton World Junior Track and Field Championships and it will be expanded to 20,000 seats for football with the addition of temporary bleachers.

"I think it's great for the game that the CFL is coming to Atlantic Canada for a regular season game," said Nicholson. "We're very honoured to be selected as the home team.

"I think the players will love the community in Moncton. They will be impressed when they come here. It's something new and I think it can be very refreshing to have a change of pace during the middle of the season. We checked out the field. The complex is looking great."

Toronto had two players, wide receivers Andre Talbot and Obed Cetoute, at yesterday's news conference.

"It will be CFL history when we come here to play so it's great to be part of that," said Talbot. "The players in the CFL are all fans of the CFL. It's going to be a league celebration in Moncton with lots of events around the game. We're going to have a lot of fun with it."

Talbot, a Toronto native, visited the Atlantic region for the first time when the Argonauts played the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in a CFL exhibition game in Halifax in 2005.

"I'm sure the guys will be excited about coming to Moncton for a regular season game," he said. "I think there will be a lot of talk leading up to it. Particularly for the guys who haven't been to the east coast, it will be something to get excited about."

Talbot is also certain that many Argonauts players will be looking for a map.

"Lots of guys will be saying 'Moncton? Where is that?,'" he said. "It's great that we're coming here. It's part of Canada and it will be great to come to this city for a regular season game to get connected with the fans here."

Moncton is looking to stage one CFL regular season game per year for the next five years. There's some talk this could possibly lead to a franchise here some day.

"I've always felt like we need a team on the east coast," said Talbot. "We're making steps to play out here now and that's huge. I'm a total supporter of playing on the east coast.

"I hope in the long term we will get a team out here. It's a part of Canada and to not have a CFL team out here is a shame. It can work here. It's got to be the right ownership and the right stadium.''

[RLeb]

Hey first post!

This is very exciting stuff. Living in Moncton, I asked around to see if anyone was going to the game (or at least considering it)... and there seems to the quite the interest around here. This will sell out guaranteed, and quite a few people planning on going will probobly be out of luck. So at least the interest is there!

....and I've never seen a structure built so fast in my life! There are oodles of people working at the site and from one day to the next, big pieces are added in. It's cool cause I go to U de Moncton and my faculty is across the street from the new stadium!

I am at that game for sure!

[hfxbomberfan]

RLeb, welcome to the party. Hope you're gonna join us at the Pumphouse Brewery for the Meet n Greet in September!

[hfxbomberfan]

From TSN: Another Cood Article.

Columnists
Walling: The CFL Will Be Coming East
Alex J. Walling
10/15/2009 6:21 PM

Halifax, by far the most populated and most affluent place in the Maritimes, got their behinds kicked once again by Moncton.

This time the prize is a Canadian Football League game and we are not talking about the exhibition game variety.

Yes over the years, if not the decades, Atlantic Canada has held a few CFL exhibition games. One was in Saint John, NB, in the 1980's and on June 11, 2005, Toronto and Hamilton gave Halifax an exhibition game that featured Damon Allen and Danny McManus. The game ended in a tie.

But next year, and perhaps for the first time ever (I've been following the CFL since 1957 and I can't recall another occasion), a regular season game will be played outside a team's home stadium. Yes, the CFL will come to Atlantic Canada and the city of Moncton will host the Argos and an unknown Western opponent in September. It will truly be an ''East versus West'' match-up.

This is a big win for Moncton, one of many cities that the CFL is looking at expanding to. The other cities include London, Quebec City, Windsor, Saskatoon, and of course Halifax.

In fact, Halifax has been mentioned so often since I arrived to this part of the world in 1972 that many thought it was a foregone conclusion.

I'm afraid not.

One of those who didn't believe it was a slam dunk for Halifax, by far the most populated centre in the Maritimes (390,000 and growing), was Moncton.

If the CFL is truly looking at a place for another team then Moncton is ahead - no, make that way ahead of anyone else. Moncton has the one item that no one else has and that is a stadium, one that can accommodate a CFL crowd which is around 25,000. And, they did it the right way.

Halifax went after a stadium by bidding for the 2014 Commonwealth Games which turned out to be a disastrous move and one that could have run the city/province into two or more billion dollars in debt. The city and province ultimately scrapped the bid.

Moncton went after a smaller stadium for the 2010 IAAF Moncton Junior Track and Field Championships a few years ago and got it. The stadium seats 10,000 but can be expanded with temporary seating of 20,000.

''We started small,'' general manager of Moncton's Recreation and Tourism office Ian Fowler told TSN.ca. ''We wanted something that we could build on.''

They got the games, the different areas of government got the money, and they have been eyeing the CFL ever since. In other words, the IAAF Track event was simply a way for the city to get a facility. And good for them, they pulled it off.

Moncton has taken initiative for years.

Sure, Halifax has the history. They have been playing football in Nova Scotia since the 1950's with the Senior League, comprised of many military personnel, to the first university dynasty in the Don Loney St. FX teams from the mid-to late 1950's and early 1960's.

While history is nice and nostalgic, it hasn't done much for Halifax in getting a stadium. The factor that got Moncton this to be a historic game is persistence and politics, not history.

They have been chatting to the CFL for years. I recall former CFL boss Tom Wright telling me at a media conference to ''take Moncton very seriously, we (CFL) do.''

The only person who took Moncton seriously was former Metro Centre boss Fred McGillivray but he was alone. What Moncton had, along with Fowler, is the support of the various Mayors over the years and the support of the Premier(s).

McGillivray in Halifax was basically the lone ranger with Mayor Peter Kelly and the former Premier Rodney MacDonald showing very little, if any, support for the project.

''Be it the CFL or anything else in the world of sports or entertainment or business one has to go for it,'' McGillivray told TSN.ca.

Bill Robinson has viewed the Moncton-Halifax situation for years. Robinson is one of the very rare Canadians who played and lasted nearly five years in the CFL as a quarterback. He won two Vanier Cups in his college days and for the last 25 years has been the executive director of the Nova Scotia Hall of Fame.

He totally understands the 'stadium' situation.

''Without a stadium, Halifax will lose out on the CFL, on soccer, on major concerts and other events. It all comes back to the stadium or a big enough venue, and now Moncton has one and Halifax doesn't,'' Robinson told TSN.ca.

Moncton is a city that over the years has shown resilience and has kept fighting. In the early 1970's, the city got a double-barrel of bad news when in the matter of under a year Moncton lost the CN Rail offices and then Eaton Catalogue went out of business.

The city could have caved in but they didn't.

When the American Hockey League left in 1994, Fowler and friends went after the Quebec Major Junior League and got the Wildcats, which has been one of the best franchises in the country and hosted the Memorial Cup in 2006.

''Moncton is persistent'' former CFL boss Tom Wright said, while current CFL Commissioner Mark Cohon told me at a sports banquet in Halifax last winter that ''Moncton seems to have great support.''

Not only did Moncton get the stadium for that track and field event, it negotiated a great deal with Moncton University to put the facility on their land.

And of course there is plenty of space for parking and expansion, just in case the CFL came looking.

Forget this one game thing; Moncton wants to hold a game a year for the next five years and hopes to show the CFL they and no one else should get a franchise. Or, that they should be first in line.

There are some additional 250,000 people who live within a one hour drive from Moncton and over 1.3 million within a two-and-a-half hour drive. You are looking at Saint John, Fredericton, all of PEI, and Halifax.

Those could become interesting numbers.

Don't bet against Moncton. Halifax did and lost, big time.

For TSN.ca I'm Alex J. Walling

Alex J. can be reached via email at: ajw@eastlink.ca


I have been saying for years on this website how strategically located this city was for a CFL team. I truly beleive if a team ever comes to the "Hub" City, it will be like the "Rider Pride" of the East!

[RLeb]

Thanks! Yes I will certainly be there!!

..and I completely agree with your post! Sure people can look at the city numbers, but the maritimes are just not like that. We don't have any HUGE cities, we have several medium-sized cities not far from eachother... and that means people can underestimate the punch we can pack when an event happens...

In 2009, Moncton hosted two major concerts (70,000 people for ACDC and 32,000 for Bon Jovi). Halifax had 60,000 for Paul McCartney.
150,000 people x 130$ a ticket = Maritimers spent 19.5 million $ on the three major concerts of 2009.

In 2008-09, if you combine the 5 QMJHL teams within 2.5 hours of Moncton, they averaged 20,500 fans per game (Moncton 4,500.. Halifax 6,500.. St John 4,000.. PEI 2,000.. Cape Breton 3,500)
20,500 people x 14$ a ticket x 34 games = 9.76 million $ spent on junior hockey with no real concrete TV following or anywhere near the advertising the CFL brings.

If it was CFL..
30,000 people x 40$ a ticket avg? x 9 games = 10.8 million $

It falls right about where you would expect.

It's not like that kind of money isnt spent already in this area...

[ArgoDave]

Now all you need is an Ownership group, preferably locals with a vested interest to make it work.

[orangegloves]

If the BC Lions are playing I'll be going! Its a cheep flight from Toronto just checked it out! Anyone have any ideas who the team from the West will be? I'm hoping Lions my guess, Riders.

[hfxbomberfan]

Now all you need is an Ownership group, preferably locals with a vested interest to make it work.

There are some local businesses in the area that have expressed interest and are watching it very closely. I think they are going to take a very cautious approach, which is very smart these days. I like the way they are going about bringing Ottawa back into the league.

Let's see how things work out and take some "baby steps" instead of jumping in head first and then having everything collapse and falling on our faces.

[hfxbomberfan]

If the BC Lions are playing I'll be going! Its a cheep flight from Toronto just checked it out! Anyone have any ideas who the team from the West will be? I'm hoping Lions my guess, Riders.

Nothing official announced yet but the rumour persists that it will be the BC Lions because they want it to be a coast to coast game.

Why not the Lions vs the Als? I think some, not all, Als fans would mutiny if they lost a precious home game.
It would be a much shorter drive for Als fans if it were the Als instead of the Argos. Only about 10 hours from Montreal to Moncton by road.

[hfxbomberfan]

Another article from today's Moncton Times & Transcript:

CFL's Cohon spreads credit
Published Tuesday October 20th, 2009
Commissioner careful when discussing league expansion
Neil Hodge

It will be remembered as something significant that happened during the Mark Cohon era.

He will go down in history as the person in the commissioner's chair for the first-ever Canadian Football League regular season game in Atlantic Canada. The Toronto Argonauts will be the home team for a contest that will be played next September in Moncton.

"I don't think about what it means for me or my own legacy,'' he said. "I think about it in the context of what it means for the league. I sit in this chair as league commissioner, but I also sit in this chair as a fan. This game in Moncton is going to be a tremendous event.

"It wouldn't have happened if a lot of people hadn't stepped up to the plate. The league's board of governors had to believe in it. Argonauts ownership had to believe in it. It wouldn't have happened without the support of federal and provincial governments and City of Moncton.''

The date for the game and Toronto's opponent will be revealed in early 2010 when the league schedule for next season is finalized. There are indications it will likely be a Sunday afternoon contest and the second team will probably come from the Western Division.

The new Stade Moncton 2010 Stadium will have a 20,000 capacity for this game. The facility has been built so that bleachers could potentially be added down the road and the capacity expanded to at least 25,000.

Tickets are expected to go on sale in mid February. The prices haven't been confirmed, but they will be in line with CFL regular season games in other markets. To receive the latest information as it becomes available, fans can sign up at CFL.ca/Moncton.

Cohon, the son of McDonald's of Canada founder George Cohon, became the CFL's 12th commissioner in 2007.

He and his predecessors have often been asked about the league's desire to return to Ottawa and the possibility of expansion into Quebec City and Atlantic Canada. He has a methodical approach and wants to make sure everything is in order before jumping the gun.

Cohon has been thoughtful when talking about league expansion, making sure he acts carefully. But you get the feeling this is an important file for both him and the league's board of governors.

Ottawa has been granted a conditional franchise for 2013 if the stadium is in place. Moncton is getting a regular season game and many are hoping this will be the beginning of bigger things between the CFL and Atlantic Canada.

Moncton is looking to stage one regular season game per year for the next five years. The city is working with the federal and provincial governments, who are combining to contribute $1.5 million to make next year's game here a mini Grey Cup weekend filled with community events.

This has renewed talk about the possibility of a Moncton-based Atlantic CFL franchise some day.

The argument has always been that Moncton is the geographic centre of the Maritimes and it has the largest population catchment area in the region with 1.3 million people within a 2.5 hour drive. There are 960,000 people within the same distance of Halifax.

Cohon has stated "It's not about expansion, not right now'' when talking about the Moncton game. "It's telling Atlantic Canadians they deserve to have a regular season game,'' he said. "I would like to make sure this game is a success and take it from one event into a multi-year commitment. If we can do that, that would be great.

"We know that football has strong roots in this region. We know there's lots of CFL fans in this part of the country. Atlantic Canada has always been reaching out to the league and this is a chance to pay back.''

CFL clubs have a $4.2 million salary cap and an average annual budget in the $13-14 million range. Teams receive 65 per cent of their revenue from ticket sales with the remainder coming from sponsorship, merchandising, concessions, parking and so forth.

Revenue generated from league level sponsors is equally divided among the eight franchises. Clubs get to keep all additional revenues that they generate from local level sponsors.

If the CFL expands, it needs to make sure that monies from league level sponsors also increases. That's because the central revenue pie would then be divided among more teams.

Ottawa will pay a $7 million expansion fee if it rejoins the league in 2013 to help offset this.

"You need to have the right facility,'' said Cohon. "I think about 25,000 seats is perfect. You need to have the right dedicated owners who are leaders in the community and understand how to take their influence and their passion and turn that into a successful franchise.

"You need to have a lot of corporate support. It's critical that you get local companies or the division offices of larger Canadian companies behind the team. Then you obviously need to fill the stands with fans.''

The Saskatchewan Roughriders are the model for a successful small-market franchise. They're the only professional sports team in the province and they have passionate fans who travel significant distances to attend their games.

An Atlantic franchise would have to carbon copy their model by drawing fan and corporate support from throughout the region. "The Roughriders are a community-owned team and that's been a big part of their success,'' said Cohon. "You can be a shareholder. You can buy a little piece of the franchise and the team's board reports to the community.

"They have been very smart about their marketing, how they reach out to their fans and creating Rider pride. This team is a great ambassador for the province. I think their success has to do with their grass roots approach and being in the community.''

CFL teams only play nine regular season home games in five months. It's also during a time of the year when there's good weather conditions for fans who drive long distances to attend games.

"It's about event marketing,'' said Cohon. "Our league is very successful at having both an urban and rural audience at the games.''

* Neil Hodge is a sports writer for the Times & Transcript.


Is anybody else getting goosebumps from all this good news? I'm more excited than a kid on Christmas morning! ! !