Originally Posted by
TFC+Argos4Life
I enjoyed the video, most people stated their concerns in a civil and clear manner. The dipshit who based his argument on “it’s ours, we own it” ought to check his facts, though.
It seems like the biggest concerns are moving the seats back permanently and putting gridiron lines on the soccer pitch. That’s good, because THESE ARE, AND ALWAYS WERE, MYTHS MEANT TO SCARE UP SUPPORT FOR THE PROTEST!!!
No source has ever come out saying this would be part of any plan. Even CFL commissioner Mark Cohon, who along with David Miller are probably the biggest supporters of the move (even moreso than the Argos themselves), has always maintained that the seats would have to be movable for any deal.
No one’s commented on the pitch situation yet. My theory is that the field in the renovated facility will have a bottom layer of CFL fieldturf, and pallets or skids with REAL GRASS will be brought in for TFC and MNT games.
This will bring MLSE and CSA on board (Another 5-10k seats and real grass would be too much to pass up), and will also appease all of the supporters. Everyone will hug, kiss, and cuddle, and shovels will go into the ground.
Clearly, any of you who still bitch and moan about this deal with messages of “it’s ours, it hurts our feelings to have football played here, we’re greedy and want it all to ourselves, waaa waaa waaa” would be ignored by all parties.
I wouldn’t toot the “Soccer Specific Stadium” argument too much. In the US, MLS is trying to avoid multipurpose facilities because down there, “multipurpose” means you share the facility with an MLB team (40k+ seats aligned to watch a game on a diamond) or an NCAA or NFL team (75k+ seats with permanent football lines on a field to narrow for proper soccer sidelines).
CFL stadiums are ideally in the 25-30k range, perfect for TFC. The width of a Canadian football field is identical to that of a soccer pitch. With the exception of the corners in soccer stadiums, the sightlines of the sports can easily be accommodated (unlike soccer and baseball). “Multipurpose” with the CFL certainly means something different than what Garber believes.
As to the whole “Bills will eat the Argos alive” comment, Ted Rogers still has 20k seats for his first preseason game left unsold, despite several discounts and attempts at repackaging the deals. The ticket prices are so high because he has to break even on that $78M cheque he wrote to Ralph Wilson and the Bills. All signs say he’s set to take a bath on this deal, and he’d be crazy not to be rethinking the level of interest in NFL football in the GTA. Not when he’d have to come up with $2B up front to buy the team and build himself a stadium.
Besides, Ralph Wilson already went behind his back and declared Southern Ontario “Buffalo Bills territory”. Seeing as there are lineups of rich American guys looking to buy the team, Buffalo politicians taking up the fight, and the NFL commissioner being from and having family in… that’s right… BUFFALO, that team is going nowhere, and as long as it’s there, there will be no expansion teams moving into “Buffalo Bills territory”.
On the bright side, CFL ratings on TSN are up 21% over last year. That’s 21% higher than last year’s already astronomical numbers of around 400k viewers per game, easily the highest ratings of any non-hockey sport. New stadiums or significant renovations are on the table in BC, Saskatchewan, TORONTO, and Hamilton. Ottawa is in good shape to re-enter the league, and there’s renewed talk of expansion to the Maritimes (along with some subtle rumblings out of football-crazy Quebec City).
Bottom line, not only is CFL football not going anywhere, but it’s financially better off than it’s been in nearly 30 years.
So right now, while Mayor Miller, MLSE, and the Argos keep smiling with their mouths shut, their accountants are behind the scenes trying to make the numbers work. If all the columns balance and everybody’s happy, get ready to welcome your new roomie at merry ol’ BMO Field!!!
TFC *clap clap clap* TFC!!!
AAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSS!!!!!!!