Saturday, February 14, 2009
Soccer and Football: Together in O-Town?
I continue to read up on the latest news regarding the proposals to bring the CFL and MLS to the city of Ottawa. Even if you are not a fan of sports, this decision will affect your life in one way or another for the rest of the life if you live in this city. Aside from what sort of concerts and festivals each new or renovated venue could attract, this will also decide on whether the downtown core will get its much needed revitalization, or whether the suburbs will be the destination for citizens to go to.
Mayor Larry O'Brien threw a red herring in the debate by suggesting the area near Lebreton Flats would be an ideal location for a sports stadium. I agree...but that's not going to happen. Each party have their own interests at stake and none involve such a plan, and definitely would not be visited when deadlines are soon coming to pass.
The new twist in the whole debate is that the CFL group has suggested it could showcase both football AND soccer in a renovated Frank Clair stadium. This is an argument that oozes nothing but common sense: There are only nine home dates in the CFL calendar barring playoffs. That leaves a lot of days open for the MLS,which only has fifteen home dates: hardly the 41 games the Senators accommodate. But there isn't a chance to share and get along when millions of dollars are at stake.
Melnyk has already decreed football is dead and wants no part of a downtown stadium. He has his own interests, and that is to increase the value of Scotiabank Place and the Ottawa Senators by having a world-class soccer stadium built right beside it. Some advantages include using his existing Senators resources and staff to work for both clubs and achieve savings that way.
The CFL commissioner issued an open letter to Ottawa residents listing why the CFL is far from dead, some reasons including they had over 3.6 million viewers for the Grey Cup, and weekly Saturday night CFL games garner 400,000 viewers each game, second only to Hockey Night in Canada. He blames past ownership for the failures of the previous Renegades & Rough Riders, but assures that the Jeff Hunt group will provide the stability an Ottawa team would so desperately need.
MLS commissioner Don Garber has stated a team couldn't share a stadium with a football team, which is interesting since the Vancouver bid involves sharing B.C. Place with the CFL B.C. Lions. Does Garber have some sort of self-interest in making sure Melnyk gets his own only-soccer stadium in Kanata?
We should get some answers soon.
And oh yeah...Happy Valentine's Day! :-)
Mayor Larry O'Brien threw a red herring in the debate by suggesting the area near Lebreton Flats would be an ideal location for a sports stadium. I agree...but that's not going to happen. Each party have their own interests at stake and none involve such a plan, and definitely would not be visited when deadlines are soon coming to pass.
The new twist in the whole debate is that the CFL group has suggested it could showcase both football AND soccer in a renovated Frank Clair stadium. This is an argument that oozes nothing but common sense: There are only nine home dates in the CFL calendar barring playoffs. That leaves a lot of days open for the MLS,which only has fifteen home dates: hardly the 41 games the Senators accommodate. But there isn't a chance to share and get along when millions of dollars are at stake.
Melnyk has already decreed football is dead and wants no part of a downtown stadium. He has his own interests, and that is to increase the value of Scotiabank Place and the Ottawa Senators by having a world-class soccer stadium built right beside it. Some advantages include using his existing Senators resources and staff to work for both clubs and achieve savings that way.
The CFL commissioner issued an open letter to Ottawa residents listing why the CFL is far from dead, some reasons including they had over 3.6 million viewers for the Grey Cup, and weekly Saturday night CFL games garner 400,000 viewers each game, second only to Hockey Night in Canada. He blames past ownership for the failures of the previous Renegades & Rough Riders, but assures that the Jeff Hunt group will provide the stability an Ottawa team would so desperately need.
MLS commissioner Don Garber has stated a team couldn't share a stadium with a football team, which is interesting since the Vancouver bid involves sharing B.C. Place with the CFL B.C. Lions. Does Garber have some sort of self-interest in making sure Melnyk gets his own only-soccer stadium in Kanata?
We should get some answers soon.
And oh yeah...Happy Valentine's Day! :-)
# posted by SBP : 5:33 PM
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