Expansion

[bwiser]

Expansion has come up again in the CFL. This time however Quebec City is rumoured to be the location the CFL is looking at. IT makes a lot more sense than Atlantic Canada. Quebec City is a city about the same size as Winnipeg with no professional sports team and a natural rival to the Als. Quebec City has a lot more money than Atlantic Canada. They will need a stadium which is the biggest hurdle but stay tuned.

[Jesse]

Stadium is the only hurdle. Anyone will take a free team once that's out of the way. But no one can get one built.

We'll see, but the obvious outcome of many of these changes we've seen has been about making the league more appealing to owners.

[Blue In BC]

Quebec City would be an excellent choice. Having potential financial interest to build a stadium is a key aspect. Is there a temporary site that could be used in the short term if building a new stadium is confirmed?

In theory, a team in 2028 could be feasible if those things fall into place. Temporary stands could be used to expand an interim stadium ( as in Empire Stadium in 2010-2011 ).

A 2nd Quebec team would be great rivalry. I like the idea.

[Blueforlife]

Who ever had the best stadium and business plan, I don't care where.

Slightly favour Quebec city.

When I retire I want to visit all venues.  Quebec city would he epic.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Quebec City would be an excellent choice. Having potential financial interest to build a stadium is a key aspect. Is there a temporary site that could be used in the short term if building a new stadium is confirmed?

In theory, a team in 2028 could be feasible if those things fall into place. Temporary stands could be used to expand an interim stadium ( as in Empire Stadium in 2010-2011 ).

A 2nd Quebec team would be great rivalry. I like the idea.

From the CFL data base.

Quebec City – Telus Stadium/Stadé TELUS-Université Laval (PEPS Stadium)
In 2008, interested CFL franchise investors in Quebec City attempted to get the federal government to help fund an expansion of Université Laval's PEPS Stadium to bring it up to a minimum capacity of 25,000. The federal government denied the use of public funds for this purpose however. Quebec City's most affordable and best use of current resources is to expand the college stadium to minimum CFL standards. This was expected to cost between $40 and $80 million in 2008 funds. A lack of federal government funding excludes the cooperation of the Université Laval, forcing the investors to look at an alternative site, $75 to $125 million (2008 estimates) in construction costs and a city, provincial and private partnership to build a new stadium, which is very unlikely in the present climate.

Constructed in 1994, PEPS Stadium was the site of a CFL pre-season game between the Ottawa Renegades and Montreal Alouettes in 2003 with 10,358 in attendance. The largest attended event hosted by the stadium is a Université Laval football game at 19,500.

The stadium was renamed with a naming rights sponsorship agreement with TELUS in 2011. The sporting complex maintains the name PEPS (Pavillon de l'éducation physique et des sports de l'Université Laval). Capacity was increased from 10,200 to the current 12,257 in 2009. In four Vanier Cup championships hosted between 2009 and 2015, average attendance was almost 16,500 per game.

[Blue In BC]

From the CFL data base.

Quebec City – Telus Stadium/Stadé TELUS-Université Laval (PEPS Stadium)
In 2008, interested CFL franchise investors in Quebec City attempted to get the federal government to help fund an expansion of Université Laval's PEPS Stadium to bring it up to a minimum capacity of 25,000. The federal government denied the use of public funds for this purpose however. Quebec City's most affordable and best use of current resources is to expand the college stadium to minimum CFL standards. This was expected to cost between $40 and $80 million in 2008 funds. A lack of federal government funding excludes the cooperation of the Université Laval, forcing the investors to look at an alternative site, $75 to $125 million (2008 estimates) in construction costs and a city, provincial and private partnership to build a new stadium, which is very unlikely in the present climate.

Constructed in 1994, PEPS Stadium was the site of a CFL pre-season game between the Ottawa Renegades and Montreal Alouettes in 2003 with 10,358 in attendance. The largest attended event hosted by the stadium is a Université Laval football game at 19,500.

The stadium was renamed with a naming rights sponsorship agreement with TELUS in 2011. The sporting complex maintains the name PEPS (Pavillon de l'éducation physique et des sports de l'Université Laval). Capacity was increased from 10,200 to the current 12,257 in 2009. In four Vanier Cup championships hosted between 2009 and 2015, average attendance was almost 16,500 per game.

An expansion of a stadium would be the least costly and quickest to modify if the money is available. I did get the impression that the investors were speaking of a new stadium as part of a sports complex.

[jets4life]

The way attendance has been lately, I can only conclude that Canadian cities are going to start to favor soccer stadiums over football stadiums. New venues in Calgary, Montreal, Quebec, or even Edmonton would probably be build in hopes of attracting an MLS team over a CFL team. More of an upside.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

The way attendance has been lately, I can only conclude that Canadian cities are going to start to favor soccer stadiums over football stadiums. New venues in Calgary, Montreal, Quebec, or even Edmonton would probably be build in hopes of attracting an MLS team over a CFL team. More of an upside.

....and yet the Vancouver Whitecaps who are apparently quite popular are threatening to leave for Vegas if they don't receive a huge dose of government money.

[LXTSN]

Next closest to Quebec City would be a Maritimes team, probably in Halifax. They have a population of 440k, which is 13th largest population in Canada. With no other (major) sports team, so I think they would get behind a CFL team. Their largest stadium is Huskies stadium, and that seats about 9k people. It's not enough for a CFL team to make any profit, and unfortunately, there isn't much room to expand. They would likely need to build a stadium for this team, somewhere on the outskirts.

Quebec City has a population of 550k, which is the 12th larges population in Canada. They have a stadium that can currently hold about 13k people, but they have a plan that would expand to a maximum of 25k if funding was approved.

Both options would require some big capital upfront, or they would just have to settle for consistently low attendance rate.

[Waffler]

Expansion is just a patch. A new stadium opens up more revenue opportunities. I use Winnipeg stadium vs PAS as an example. The only issue I see would be size and sight lines. Is the new field size going to happen? How long will it last? I pity the people sitting on the sideline, past the end zone. This will happen unless major renovations take place all over the league.

[theaardvark]

I still think that London might be in the running, if they can find an ownership group.  633K greater metro, with a very strong college program that could share a facility (currently 11k max, with room to expand, and can fit the new CFL field).

[RebusRankin]

The Maritimes aren't going to work. No stadium, no political will or money to build a stadium, no ownership group.
Quebec City works if they can get a stadium.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Expansion is just a patch. A new stadium opens up more revenue opportunities. I use Winnipeg stadium vs PAS as an example. The only issue I see would be size and sight lines. Is the new field size going to happen? How long will it last? I pity the people sitting on the sideline, past the end zone. This will happen unless major renovations take place all over the league.

25k is probably 5 maybe 10k too many seats, I think the days of huge stadiums are over, no one wants to pay for them and the experience from the top row isn't worth the price of admission.  I remember going to a Rolling Stones concert in Canad Stadium back in the 90's and realizing I spent more time watching Mick Jagger on the big screen than looking at him directly.

Wpg is now the outlier in the CFL, even Sask. isn't able to fill their stadium more than once a season, thanks to traveling Bomber fans. Covid seems to have really killed a lot of CFL fans desire to attend games in person, hopefully the CFL can generate enough revenue off media sales and streaming rights to better supplement their income as a gate driven league.

[LXTSN]

The Maritimes aren't going to work. No stadium, no political will or money to build a stadium, no ownership group.
Quebec City works if they can get a stadium.

That's the first I'm learning about this, but I dug in a little and you're right! That sucks lol
I do feel like they would show up for games better that Quebec City, and almost for sure better than London.

[BIGBLUE204]

Maritimes always was and will likely always be a pipe dream. It's just not going to happen.