[News] CalgaryNEXT Announcement. New arena details emerge.

[LanceUppercut]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

McMahon will be torn down in that case. The Dinos as sole tenant would be a major money drain.

And then the University can develop a super valuable plot of land that is near an existing LRT stop.

[Reggie Dunlop]

Just trying to imagine all that real estate crammed into that footprint. Presumably there'll be retail, hotel and condo developments on top of the arena/stadium/fieldhouse.

[DirtyMike]

Originally Posted by #-3

So Calgary is 59th on the list.

It's 3-4 years out of date, Calgary is offically 20% larger now. probably having passed about 4 Canadian/American Cities on the list.

There are 17 cities ahead of Calgary on the list that are not in the US or Canada.

Calgary is already the ~38th largest city in Canada/US and still has one of the fastest growth rates among those cities. It's pretty reasonable to think we will be at or near the top 30 in 8-10 years.

Assuming MLS wants to follow the model of top tier North American sports they will probably aim to end up around 30-40 teams eventually. Calgary will never have a NBA, MLB, or NFL team. So 60% of the competition for top tier team sports is out of the question in this market

The MLS is already starting to develop a strong Western Canadian division, largely due to the other two cities sharing many of the same factors.

Really there is no reason to believe that Calgary isn't the prefect type of city, (especially if they build an indoor stadium capable of supporting live grass, like Las Vegas). We will have to see what it looks like, but Muta's post lead me to believe that The Calgary Flames Entertainment Group feel it is worth there while to prepare to bid on an MLS franchise.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you mean by "at or near the top" but I see no way that Calgary is near or at the top of the largest cities in Canada and the United States in 8-10 years.

I can't see Calgary ever getting an MLS team. Calgary sports fans are notoriously fickle, and besides the Stamps and Flames, no other teams have gotten any major support. Even those two have gone through some pretty lean times in the last 15 years.

[InglewoodFan]

Originally Posted by krazycanuck

I was looking at some friends photos from a concert at the Saddledome tonight and noticed the scoreboard was dismantled. Is this something they're doing to allow heavier loads To be secured to the roof for concerts during summer? Seemed odd that the frame was there but all the scoreboard panels were off. Or they're replacing things with the latest and greatest... Which is also weird to sink a bunch of money into something like that if they think they'll be in a new rink in a few years.

Just got home from Mumford & Sons. All the screens are off the Energy Board, all the panels are off the power ring, and most perplexingly - all the Flames banners are missing. The Hitmen and Roughnecks banners are still up, but all the Flames banners are gone.

My theory - the arena announcement is a ruse, they are sneaking out in the middle of the night to move to Seattle.

[Freeway]

Originally Posted by InglewoodFan

Just got home from Mumford & Sons. All the screens are off the Energy Board, all the panels are off the power ring, and most perplexingly - all the Flames banners are missing. The Hitmen and Roughnecks banners are still up, but all the Flames banners are gone.

My theory - the arena announcement is a ruse, they are sneaking out in the middle of the night to move to Seattle.

What a scoop!

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by DirtyMike

I can't see Calgary ever getting an MLS team. Calgary sports fans are notoriously fickle, and besides the Stamps and Flames, no other teams have gotten any major support. Even those two have gone through some pretty lean times in the last 15 years.

Comparing Calgary to the "big three" in our "big three":

NHL - Montreal is unbeatable, but Calgary has consistently matched Toronto in each of the past five years, and done either similar or better numbers than Vancouver.

CFL - Calgary consistently averages higher attendance than Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal (though they are similar with Montreal in regards to % of capacity).

NLL - Calgary averages much better attendance than Vancouver, and about equivalent to Toronto.

All that is with having a population that has 1-4 million LESS people, depending on which city you're looking at. For our population, Calgary supports franchises big (NHL) and small (NLL) as well as any other Canadian city. I think they'd pull in the 19,000 AVG attendance for MLS.

If Montreal, Vancouver, and Toronto are acceptable places for the MLS, so is Calgary. We've proven our ability to support high-level sport similarly and even regularly better than those cities. I just don't like the outdated myth that Calgary is a bad place for major sports.

[polak]

Originally Posted by DirtyMike

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you mean by "at or near the top" but I see no way that Calgary is near or at the top of the largest cities in Canada and the United States in 8-10 years.

I can't see Calgary ever getting an MLS team. Calgary sports fans are notoriously fickle, and besides the Stamps and Flames, no other teams have gotten any major support. Even those two have gone through some pretty lean times in the last 15 years.

Cant compare support for minor league teams vs. more respected leagues. Our support for the Flames, Stamos and Roughnecks has been solid relative to their respective leagues.

Either way I hope the rumors are true and the Flames are going after an MLS franchise. It'd be great for the city overall and it makes sense that they would. Guess we will find out Tuesday.

[polak]

Originally Posted by InglewoodFan

Just got home from Mumford & Sons. All the screens are off the Energy Board, all the panels are off the power ring, and most perplexingly - all the Flames banners are missing. The Hitmen and Roughnecks banners are still up, but all the Flames banners are gone.

My theory - the arena announcement is a ruse, they are sneaking out in the middle of the night to move to Seattle.

Even more ammo for my theory that the arena is already built!

[pylon]

Kinda disappointed this project is named after cheap Chinese Walmart bikes.

Lame.

[Dion]

I suspect that when this new arena is built the common folk will not be able to afford tickets.

[MelBridgeman]

better be a concourse level with a cycle track

[Acey]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

I think they'd pull in the 19,000 AVG attendance for MLS.

I don't. CFL/NHL/MLL have zero relevance to the performance of any perspective MLS franchise in Calgary.

19k would put them in the upper half of the league. In their first season. In Calgary? Zero chance.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by Acey

I don't. CFL/NHL/MLL have zero relevance to the performance of any perspective MLS franchise in Calgary.



19k would put them in the upper half of the league. In their first season. In Calgary? Zero chance.

Never said anything about first season. Just responding to the idea that our commitment to other franchises looks bad for our MLS chances.

I see more soccer jerseys in the NE than I do hockey jerseys. Just anecdotal, but there are a lot of soccer fans in this city. Lots of people from the UK, Africa, the Middle East, people I know and who grew up loving the game and taught that love to their children. I wouldn't be worried. MLS would tap into a deep market.

Either way, lots of doubters which is natural. Might have hurdles, but Calgary is a beautifully supportive city. Long time off. I'd like to see it but it would be nothing less than a surprise.

Hard to wait a week to see what is planned!!

[getbak]

Originally Posted by polak

Cant compare support for minor league teams vs. more respected leagues. Our support for the Flames, Stamos and Roughnecks has been solid relative to their respective leagues.

Everyone loves Stamos, not just Calgary.

Have mercy.

[curves2000]

One of the factors that come with Flames Sports ownership group wanting an MLS franchise is the value increase.

When people look at sports teams "losing money" every year they don't take into consideration the increase in value that happens to occur over time with those assets.

Major sports teams like NHL, MLB,, NFL and NBA don't come up for sale/entrance often and when they do there is decent demand for them 'usually"

In the NHL the most recent expansion teams paid $80 mil to the NHL owners. The NHL is now asking $500 mil per team, wither they get that much is up for debate. Even expansion fee's of $350-400 mil would generate a 500% increase in a 15 year time frame, still pretty impressive. Other perks include arena management deals, other sports teams, concert revenue etc.

Do I think there is room in Calgary for a MLS team? Maybe not yet but there is no denying the sport is getting solid growth in Canada. MLS is also growing quickly too and attracting quality talent. Regardless it would be foolish for the Flames owners to not build a stadium capable of at least having the MLS field option.

My $.02

[icarus]

Originally Posted by polak

Even more ammo for my theory that the arena is already built!

I think I found it!

[FireGilbert]

Kind of a lame name. Whoever posted the Pepsi Next comment was spot on.

It is awesome Calgary is getting two new stadiums though. The first two levels of the Dome are amazing to watch hockey in but the rest of the place is way behind the times. Also, don't even get me started on McMahon, what a dump!

Oh, and the new Dome should be a bigger, shinier version of the current Dome. It can be called Saddledome 2 or the Sequeldome.

[GirlySports]

Ppphhhttt Toronto.

This is the new Olympic Park (equipped with pedestrian bridges). Bid for 2028.

[codynw]

Originally Posted by Dion

I suspect that when this new arena is built the common folk will not be able to afford tickets.

So no changes?

[YYC in LAX]

“I still think the Saddledome’s in great shape, I think the Saddledome’s working. Why do we have to rush things right now?” - Joe Magliocca

Rush things?