C ouncillor Sam Austin asked his colleagues this week to consider pulling the plug on the Shannon Park stadium plan from Schooner Sports and Entertainment before council hears back from staff about the proposal—originally requested by council a year ago. Austin’s intent with the motion to rescind was to take what he and other councillors […]
Stadium
Posted inNews + Opinion
Are there really any Shannon Park stadium stans out there?
Stadium-bashing has evolved into a far more popular and fun sport around here than football ever will be. The flames of public ridicule and horror are amply fanned by the announcement of some eye-watering costs to be taxpayer-funded, followed by the protracted absence of any firm business proposal from Maritime Football. The latest: Shannon Park’s […]
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Brain injuries and broken bodies
There’s no question that football is a dangerous game— even if the leagues in charge choose not to acknowledge it. Only three weeks into the 2018 season, the Canadian Football League had lost four quarterbacks to the injured list—a surprisingly high number for so early in the year. Two months later, another QB took a […]
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Unclear how many people have signed up for CFL season tickets
Maritime Football isn’t releasing many details about its season ticket campaign. The company announced last week that 5,000 pre-sale deposits have already been made towards season tickets for Halifax’s unnamed, unconfirmed CFL expansion team, just two weeks after the ticket drive was announced. But 5,000 tickets doesn’t equal 5,000 butts in seats. Pre-sales on season […]
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Season ticket drive begins for Halifax’s non-existent CFL team
Atlantic Canadians who want to vote for the name of Halifax’s new CFL team will first need to fork over a $50 deposit on season tickets for a team that may never exist. Maritime Football Limited Partnership and CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie held a news conference Wednesday at Saint Mary’s University announcing the ticket drive and […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Halifax tackles funding options for $200-million CFL stadium
Maritime Football Limited wants to buy 20 acres of land at Shannon Park for a $200-million football stadium—but first the province and the municipality have to agree to help pay for it. A staff report on the much-anticipated stadium proposal coming to city council on Tuesday recommends that HRM completes a “thorough business case analysis” […]
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Halifax council looking for staff report on CFL stadium
It’s official. The municipality will once again tackle whether or not to build a stadium. Councillor Steve Craig is asking for a staff report on the “opportunities and risks” involved with establishing a mixed-use development, CFL franchise and football stadium in Halifax. The announcement came nearly 12 hours after council met behind closed doors with Maritime […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Here we go again with this stadium business
Besides mystery tunnels under the harbour and basically anything donair, no regurgitated news story piques the interest of this municipality quite like the perpetual discussion of putting a football stadium in Halifax. Well strap in and hold on, because shit’s about to get (vaguely and informally) real. The Sports Network is reporting that the Canadian […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Wanderers stadium might not be game-ready until 2019
The kick-off for a soccer stadium on the Halifax Common won’t be happening as early as organizers had hoped. This past spring, Regional Council approved by unanimous vote a proposal for a new “temporary” sports stadium on the Wanderers Grounds. The tentative timeline marked this past September as the opening month for test events, but […]
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Pop-up soccer stadium could come together this summer
Think of it as a free kick. Halifax can test out an open-air stadium in the shadow of Citadel Hill without spending anything more than the price of admission. Sports and Entertainment Atlantic president Derek Martin pitched the idea to councillors on Thursday for a pop-up stadium at the Wanderers Grounds, between the Public Gardens […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
A stadium is necessary for Halifax growth
[Image-1] It’s a perennial debate that has weighed on the minds of city council and Haligonians alike since the early 1980s when the ill-fated Atlantic Schooners came close to playing professional football in the city. The idea of building a 20,000-seat stadium somewhere in the Halifax Regional Municipality has been embraced by some and loathed by […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Mayor Mike Savage wants to build a stadium
Mayor Mike Savage and CFL commissioner Mark Cohon have been discussing the possibility of a CFL franchise coming to Halifax, and today the pair took questions from reporters concerning the effort. There are two intertwining issues involved: the building of a stadium and starting and operating a Halifax team. Neither idea is entirely crazy. And […]