Lol, at the world cup talk.
10 stadiums of MINIMUM 40,000 would be required. Including the new CFL stadiums being built, and the current MLS stadiums there are 2, maybe 3 that would be acceptable for the World Cup (BC Place, Commonwealth).
BC Place and Commonwealth would be small World Cup stadia. Two stadia of 75-80k+ woud have to be built county wide, plus 1-2 55k-60k seaters, plus 4 or more 40-45k seaters. Perhaps you could convince FIFA that one or two stadia could be made to seat 40k+ with temporary seating.
Again, there's nothing wrong with McMahon that a renovation couldn't fix. People complain about the concessions - expand the concourses out, and enclose them. Put in new seats for the whole stadium. Perhaps put a roof over some of the seats. Depending on the cost/value, demo the back rows and replace with a second deck.
Many other old stadia have undertaken a major reno, instead of being replaced completely. McMahon could be every bit as nice as a completely brand new stadium, for significantly less cost.
What would factor in, is the University's intentions for that land. Perhaps they want to get out of the stadium ownership business, and make some money by redeveloping that land. It very well could be better for the university to do that. Perhaps the Flames are wanting to build the stadium and the arena together as part of a larger convention area? That could factor in too.
I don't see why the public should pay for a new stadium, though. A major reno, where the city can profit from the stadium, sure.
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