Drove by the rink in Ottawa for the first time this summer.
Absolutely brutal.
Big building in the middle of no where surrounded by car dealerships.
Foxboro might have even been worse... It's like an hour out of Boston.
Easy to build, but entirely useless facilities for the area, imo
Its actually a million times better than it used to be. Nothing within walking distance, but there is a bunch of places at the highway exit before the arena. Still a terrible location.
Probably wasn't possible since they'd have no where to play while it was being built, but if they could have put it where the junior team plays (right beside the football stadium) - that would have been an ideal location.
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I don't know how much that means. In Ontario alone - London, Kitchener-Waterloo, Toronto and Thunder Bay all have PDL teams.
They could probably get an NASL team at some point, but MLS is pushing it.
Exactly. And our population is miles ahead of London, K-W, and Thunder Bay. Toronto already has an MLS team, as does Vancouver and Montreal. The only reason we don't have a team here is because of the stadium concerns. If you're building a stadium to accommodate pro soccer, you build for future growth - and the Flames ownership knows this.
PDL is almost a surefire bet, and NASL and/or USL Pro isn't too far behind. I actually predict MLS in Calgary within 10-15 years, which, when factoring in the maturity of a stadium that is still about 3-5 years away, isn't that far off.
And the fact that Edmonton already has an NASL team already only speeds up consideration for a future soccer growth strategy in this city.
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I'm hoping we can get some of the national team rugby matches at this new stadium.
Despite being more of a Flames fan than a Stamps fan, I think I'm more excited for a new stadium than a new arena. In addition to making football games more desirable to attend, it brings the possibility of more concerts, soccer, rugby, etc.
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Why is it cute? It may eventually happen. Calgary Foothills has been approved for a PDL Team in 2015, which is a good pre-cursor to a major pro team.
Please explain your assertion.
We might get a Major League Baseball team one day too, but I'm not betting on that either.
First and foremost, how much larger do you think MLS can go? There are 19 active teams and three more on the way (give or take Miami's stadium situation). That's already pretty close to being as large as any other top flight soccer league. Being that we do things a little differently in North America, they could probably go up to 30-32, I suppose.
Second, we have almost no positive history in soccer. I don't think MLS is going to expand to a market that can't even sustain PDL. The new team is a start. It would be better if we had an NASL team that could at least match up with Edmonton.
Third, market. Calgary simply does not sell to places like Kansas City and Houston and San Jose. Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver are all viewed as world class cities and/or have world class histories with soccer. Calgary would not be a draw for fans, nor would it be a draw for TV.
Like it or not, putting MLS in Calgary now is little different than putting the NHL in Vegas. Sure, it might happen, but people are going to WTF about it, and people are going to expect it to fail. And there is little to suggest at this point that those people would be wrong to do so.
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I personally think that MLS would be more successful here than people like ^ think. And this is from someone who doesn't like soccer and wouldn't go to games.
I think the large immigrant population in Calgary is plenty to support an MLS team from a "fans that culturally love soccer" perspective. Hopefully that would bring enough attention to it that the existing Western Canadians are drawn to it.
As a white Western Canadian who disliked soccer as a kid, with mostly white Western Canadian friends who hated soccer until a few years ago (IE FIFA 2012), I would buy seasons, and I would bet at least 10 of my close friends would. Especially if they are sub-$1000. Soccer is cathing on in populatarity amongst younger Canadians.
With only Football going here once/week in the summer, and baseball being non-existant, I think MLS would do well as a summer alternative. I think the thing with Calgary is that we need a professional team to take notice. If they want to gauge attendance to a minor pro league as evidence for or against it, it would be disingenuous IMO. People, even people who love soccer, are not going to go out of their way to spend a summer night watching sub-pro soccer. Anyone who loves it already will have better options to watch at home and will want at least some form of high-calibre soccer (Euro fans may dispute the quality of the MLS, but it's grown leaps and bounds over the last few years and may not be EPL, but it's damn good soccer). And any "new" soccer fans won't bother unless there's hype built around the pro team and possibly seeing some big name players come through (exhibitions with EPL teams seems to help the other MLS teams that way).
Point being, I would be excited about it and I know I'm far from the only one.
We might get a Major League Baseball team one day too, but I'm not betting on that either.
First and foremost, how much larger do you think MLS can go? There are 19 active teams and three more on the way (give or take Miami's stadium situation). That's already pretty close to being as large as any other top flight soccer league. Being that we do things a little differently in North America, they could probably go up to 30-32, I suppose.
Second, we have almost no positive history in soccer. I don't think MLS is going to expand to a market that can't even sustain PDL. The new team is a start. It would be better if we had an NASL team that could at least match up with Edmonton.
Third, market. Calgary simply does not sell to places like Kansas City and Houston and San Jose. Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver are all viewed as world class cities and/or have world class histories with soccer. Calgary would not be a draw for fans, nor would it be a draw for TV.
Like it or not, putting MLS in Calgary now is little different than putting the NHL in Vegas. Sure, it might happen, but people are going to WTF about it, and people are going to expect it to fail. And there is little to suggest at this point that those people would be wrong to do so.
Calgary is going to eclipse the 2 million population mark within 20 years at current growth rates. In addition to soccer being among the most popular and played sports in Calgary, it is far beyond critical mass to host a professional soccer team. The only thing missing is - you guessed it - a proper field with capacity seating to sustain the team. This is why Calgary Storm couldn't sustain in the PDL before.
The Conference Board of Canada also did a study recently that concluded that "Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa would be sound options for MLS over the long term".
I wouldn't worry about the "history" of soccer in Calgary being a problem. There is more than enough critical mass in terms of community support, and we simply just do not have the field to cater to a dedicated and growing fan base for a pro sports team.
IMO, MLS in Calgary is a critical part of financing a large multiple sport arena.
- It equates to an inexpensive entertainment ticket.
- The most popular sport in the world, familiar to most of the immigrant population in Calgary.
- Can be anchored to the same 30-60k seat facility that also houses CFL and CIS Football.
The bottom half of the list of cities largely have no sports competition other than minor league hockey. Calgary has NHL, CFL, WHL, NLL, plus university sports, plus winter sports nearby, plus some baseball.
I think as well that the southern Ontario cities have more per capita immigration from soccer loving countries. I may be wrong about this, but I don't think so.
It's amazing to me that a league where more than half the teams don't even make profit is considering expansion. I'd probably focus on getting them all making money before I considered expansion.
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I love how people here seem to think it's a matter of snapping fingers to make a complicated multi billion dollar deal happen. Lets review the complicating factors:
- downtown is the preferred location
- complicated multi party land swap if the preferred West Village option taken.
- sort through transportation concerns as it's downtown.
- potentially build a domed football stadium at the same time.
- potentially build a field house for MLS and other users.
- incorporate a massive commercial / residential element to it a la Glendale (condos, offices, restaurants, retail)
- Oh and a do it all with out taxpayer involvement so you need to figure out a funding model. Alternatively, lobby for taxpaper / Rick Bell acceptable indirect funding (or direct funding).
This isn't like building house in suburbia - where it's a simple exercise in finding a lot and deciding on the structure. It's far far more complicated. You want easy, go to Ottawa and find an empty patch of land construct an arena there - that's comparatively easy. At least Edmonton had crack land empty parking lots to work with.
I know some of the players involved and it's safe to say they have some very smart individuals working on this, and like KK says, have been working on this for many years.
I love the idea of an MLS team coming to Calgary eventually, and I agree with everything that's said - including Resolute 14. It really is a chicken and egg thing, I feel. Calgary has never had a soccer-suitable stadium, so comparing to past ventures is difficult. Sitting in bleachers at Foothills, behind a running track, isn't going to give you a good experience. The stands at McMahon are also way too far from the field, and the place is well past its prime.
Calgary's soccer history would have been improved if we had a little 5000 seater that wasn't miles from the pitch so we could sustain a lower division club. But since there is possibly a new 30,000 seater on the horizon, they might as well make it soccer-friendly. The era of the sprawling, two-sided CFL-style wind tunnel stadium is hopefully over, so my fingers are crossed that the next one is a little more intimate.
No chance IMO of getting an MLS team in Calgary. Calgarians aren't the greatest sports fans and pro/semi-pro soccer teams (Calgary Storm/Mustangs) haven't had any succcess, neither has baseball or basketball and the Dinos draw poorly, even relative to other CIS teams. If a new stadium is to be built, it's going to be for the Stamps.
