CFL testing Halifax market with 2020 game
Schooners lay out welcome mat with downtown festival
It could be 2023 before the Atlantic Schooners host Toronto and Saskatchewan in Halifax home games, so consider this summer’s offering just a taste and a test.
With some involvement and the hearty approval of Schooners Sports and Entertainment principals, who are still working feverishly on securing funding for a stadium deal, the Canadian Football League has scheduled a July 25 regular season game between the Argos and Riders in Huskies Stadium at Saint Mary’s University.
The tilt will serve as a litmus test to measure the appetite for football in Halifax. Will locals embrace the game? Will folks from Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick travel to Halifax? Will fans make the longer trek from Regina and Toronto?
Will people from non-cfl cities across Canada buy tickets to a game in Halifax because they plan to be in the Maritimes in late July, when the place is absolutely gorgeous?
Will Argos GM Pinball Clemons shake the hand of every single fan in attendance?
Each one of those factors will be counted on to play a role in supporting the Schooners franchise once, or rather if and when, it is up and running as an official member of the CFL.
So this game is much less a test of the stadium itself, because it in no way resembles the $100-million facility that SSE is hoping to build elsewhere in Halifax. Huskies Stadium isn’t by any means CFL ready today, but temporary stands will be brought in to ensure capacity for at least 10,000 people, more if there is sufficient demand. A 2005 CFL exhibition game there between the Argos and Hamilton Tiger-cats drew 11,148, so a crowd in the 12,000 range wouldn’t be unexpected.
This tilt will serve as an Argos home game, and they’ll presumably receive the lion’s share of proceeds. Given that Toronto drew crowds as low as 9,819 for Calgary and 10,368 for Ottawa at BMO Field last season, a gathering of 10,000-plus in Huskies Stadium isn’t much of a hardship for the Argos. The 2019 version of Touchdown Atlantic, which featured the Argos and Alouettes in Moncton, N.B., was also a Toronto home game, and attendance was 10,126. It apparently drew a nice mix of Toronto, Montreal and local supporters.
However, the stands in Halifax might well be awash in a sea of green and white, so good on the Argos if they’re indeed taking one for the team — the Schooners, that is.
A CFL source said SSE will act as local hosts for the event and principal Bruce Bowser will head up a steering committee whose responsibility is limited to building out a mini Grey Cup festival to be held downtown in conjunction with the game. Situated on pedestrian friendly Argyle Street, which is flush with outdoor dining spots and live music, the festival will include family friendly activities and displays, food and entertainment, as well as the rather legendary Riderville venue, where the odd Pilsener will be served, and spilled.
Word is the Riders will be coming to Halifax earlier than they would normally in a bid to help whip up a football frenzy. The league is clearly trying to stack the deck in SSE’S favour. Makes sense.
With Bowser out front on the committee, SSE maintains a valuable football presence in the community they hope to call home sooner than later. What’s more, it will also allow fellow SSE principal Anthony Leblanc to concentrate on moving forward with the stadium funding.
Word is Leblanc has had productive discussions with the Nova Scotia government, talking about options for provincial involvement in the building of a stadium, but SSE has yet to present a formal proposal to the province.
SSE has secured a pledge of $20 million from Halifax Regional Municipality, payable on substantial completion of stadium construction. It was a crucial piece of financial backing and will be leveraged as SSE needs to tap the province, perhaps the federal government, and a lending institution to flesh out the remaining $80 million required to build their vision.
The stadium and the franchise is obviously years from coming to fruition. In the meantime, the CFL is wise to continue leaving a footprint in the Maritimes each season.