Meanwhile, in non-Coyotes news... (LeBlanc's CFL Efforts)

Dirty Old Man

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Agreed, the Coyotes megathread does kind of live in this thread. However as it looks like business is about to pick up on the CFL to Halifax front, perhaps it's time to rename this thread accordingly.

OR

Rename all threads here 'Non-Coyotes News'.....that way it lives forever :laugh:

History of Hockey. C'mon, Killion, you own that place. Y'all go over there and have at it.
 

cbcwpg

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Yes he was, along with Darrel Jones (also of IceEdge & Coyotes "Ownership" infamy) I believe.... run out of town on a rail basically & that was his "hometown". Ran for a seat in the Provincial Legislature up there as well and got totally hammered. Real popular guy with those who know him uh?... Spotty career, history & track record and thats being extremely kind, polite. Last I heard, he'd entered into some kinda crazy "cannabis distribution" dealeo, publicly traded of course, pump n' dump, big plans to open up stores across Canada or some such.... So just guessin, but he may well be thinkin that if he ply's enough people with weed they just might believe in him & his fantastical plans & shell out while forgetting he's a complete & utter Weasel.

To be kind of fair to the boys that tried to make a go of it in ThunderBay, nobody was going to get tax payer dollars for a new arena in TB if the main tenant was a professional hockey team. When the Ice Caps ( Winnipeg Jets farm team ) were being moved out of St. John's , TNSE was looking at putting them in Thunder Bay as well... but no go. You want tax dollars for an amateur team or university team, have at it, but not for a pro team.

The city received word directly from Minister of Infrastructure and Community Amarjeet Sohi in the form of a letter.

"While amateur sports facilities are eligible under the Gas Tax Fund and the newly-added Recreation category of the New Building Canada Fund – National and Regional Projects, facilities for professional sports teams are not," the letter reads. "Professional sports are first and foremost the responsibility of the private sector, which is why our suite of infrastructure programs does not allow for funding of facilities that will house professional or semi-professional athletes."
 
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tank44

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Like others, have heard this story before since the 80s about an Atlantic team. This team/area/location indeed needs to be franchise #10 to the CFL.

After 10, probably never going to happen due to population and $money$. BUT Quebec City is most likely and can play the french national stigma. After that I think there's at max 2 other options: Southern Ontario (Windsor, London) could have some to work on; & Kelowna BC (Okanogan Valley) which is far enough from Vancouver as a 2nd BC team with moderate population.
 

Llama19

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'Special announcement' on Halifax CFL bid could include season-ticket campaign

To quote:

"A media advisory says Maritime Football Limited Partnership and CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie will make the announcement at Saint Mary's University at 1 p.m.

The group, made up of former Arizona Coyotes co-owners Anthony LeBlanc and Gary Drummond and AMJ Campbell Van Lines president Bruce Bowser, is looking to secure a conditional expansion franchise to begin play in Halifax in 2021.

However, Ambrosie has said Halifax's bid for an expansion franchise -- a move that would bring the number of teams in the league to 10 -- rests on whether the new 24,000-seat stadium proposed for Shannon Park is built."

Source: atlantic.ctvnews.ca/special-announcement-on-halifax-cfl-bid-could-include-season-ticket-campaign-1.4166630
 

Mightygoose

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I missed it but the highlights I've read was.

Season ticket drive announced. $50 deposit. No mention of goal to reach and when they want to reach it by.

https://www.tsn.ca/halifax-cfl-group-launches-season-ticket-drive-1.1205681

4 potential names

a) Atlantic Admirals
b) Atlantic Convoy
c) Atlantic Schooners
d) Atlantic Storm

Edit: There is an 'other' option as well if you place a deposit down, to select something else. Wonder how many will say Rough Riders

I think it will be 'c'. Name to be announced November 23 at 8pm. Friday before Grey Cup. Wouldn't be surprised to see a conditional franchise awarded that weekend as well.

#Make it 10...ish
 
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No Fun Shogun

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I missed it but the highlights I've read was.

Season ticket drive announced. $50 deposit. No mention of goal to reach and when they want to reach it by.

https://www.tsn.ca/halifax-cfl-group-launches-season-ticket-drive-1.1205681

4 potential names

a) Atlantic Admirals
b) Atlantic Convoy
c) Atlantic Schooners
d) Atlantic Storm

Edit: There is an 'other' option as well if you place a deposit down, to select something else. Wonder how many will say Rough Riders

I think it will be 'c'. Name to be announced November 23 at 8pm. Friday before Grey Cup. Wouldn't be surprised to see a conditional franchise awarded that weekend as well.

#Make it 10...ish

Pretty low for a deposit, so not bad at all, but holy cow the Convoy and Storm are awful options, so they seem to be pushing for either a new idea or obviously trying to get support for the Admirals or Schooners.

Go Admirals, solid name choice.

For folks from around those parts, what is the general thought behind going with "Atlantic" rather than "Halifax?" I know that they will want to draw in fans from New Brunswick as well, but is there a big enough of a provincial rivalry between NS & NB to make it harder to attract fans from the latter if they went with a Halifax moniker and would locals actually not be annoyed that they're not named after their city?
 
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ArmadilloThumb

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A SW Ontario/London team would be perfectly situated right where the 401 & 402 merge SW of London. Lots of land and talk of an Ikea being built a mile up the 401. CFL could pull from all around SW Ontario for the limited number of home games, just like Saskatchewan. Many in SW Ontario see Hamilton as a sports rival and do not support their teams (goes back to Knights vs. Hamilton Red Wings/Fincups).

Google Maps
 

End on a Hinote

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Like others, have heard this story before since the 80s about an Atlantic team. This team/area/location indeed needs to be franchise #10 to the CFL.

After 10, probably never going to happen due to population and $money$. BUT Quebec City is most likely and can play the french national stigma. After that I think there's at max 2 other options: Southern Ontario (Windsor, London) could have some to work on; & Kelowna BC (Okanogan Valley) which is far enough from Vancouver as a 2nd BC team with moderate population.

The OK Valley has a total population of 362,258. Which could work if the CFL was like the NFL and played mainly on Sundays. But it can take up to nearly 2 hours to get to Kelowna from the furthest part of the valley. Dont know how many people would be willing to make that trek on a weekday.
 

Llama19

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I love the fact a lot of the reporting I see just mentions ownership as "former NHL owners"

Come on guys do a bit more digging than that.

It could be...just could be...that if they dig too deep...
all that they will find...is just a deeper hole...with nothing there...
 

Hoser

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... the cfl has to be proactive to still matter. Again, I think reducing the number of games would help. Along with reducing weekday games as some markets don’t draw well during the middle of the week. May be best to end the season in late October so that there fewer overlap with he NHL and NFL if they wish to begin in June or still end in the mid to later part of nov if they start on Canada day.

They've mostly eliminated weekday games already. I agree that shifting the season start a few weeks earlier would be prudent, if only for weather-related reasons. Going to a football game in wintry November weather is miserable. Traditionally football is an autumn sport, but let's just finally concede that at the pro level it ought to be summer.

Eliminating games from the schedule? Not going to happen. No owner will willingly cut a home game from the schedule and forego 10+% of their regular season gate receipts, that's nuts.
 

No Fun Shogun

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Newfoundland is not considered part of the Maritimes. Perhaps that’s why they want the team named ‘Atlantic’? So all 4 provinces are represented.

I somehow doubt that they're expecting much value from Newfoundland from either a gate, merchandise, or TV viewership angle given their distance from Halifax and their small population. If I had to guess, they just figured that "Atlantic" rolls off the tongue better than "Maritimes" when it comes to a team moniker.
 

cutchemist42

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It's been a while since I looked at the population but just Nova Scotia alone is 950,000 which surprised me. New Brunswick is also 750,000. How hard is it traveling from.the other parts of NS/NB to Halifax?

It seems to me the population is there, but I dont know how much spending money there is. The soccer team and lacrosse team will divide disposable revenue, and they would all be arriving within years of each other.
 

StreetHawk

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They've mostly eliminated weekday games already. I agree that shifting the season start a few weeks earlier would be prudent, if only for weather-related reasons. Going to a football game in wintry November weather is miserable. Traditionally football is an autumn sport, but let's just finally concede that at the pro level it ought to be summer.

Eliminating games from the schedule? Not going to happen. No owner will willingly cut a home game from the schedule and forego 10+% of their regular season gate receipts, that's nuts.
I understand the issue with eliminating games. But in light of the new AAFL league which will have a 10 game season and total pay is at or higher than the CFL That will impact the quality of players the cfl can attract. Even this past nfl camp, there were players cut who opted to go unsigned and sit for the new league to play.

Who would t opt for 10 vs 18 games in the regular season if you are a player? And for the same total money, not just the same per game pay?
 

shmglsky

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I understand the issue with eliminating games. But in light of the new AAFL league which will have a 10 game season and total pay is at or higher than the CFL That will impact the quality of players the cfl can attract. Even this past nfl camp, there were players cut who opted to go unsigned and sit for the new league to play.

Who would t opt for 10 vs 18 games in the regular season if you are a player? And for the same total money, not just the same per game pay?

This is a short term situation at worse. History has shown spring football--it's a stretch to call it football since it has no kickoffs, 1 pt converts or onside kicks--has never taken root in the States. The only chance this new league has to garner interest, as proven by past attempts, is if it manages to sign away some high profile players from the NFL, but it has already given up that game by desiring to be a minor league--one CFL personality believes that the AAF's endgame is to be bought out by the NFL and become the NFL's official farm system.

Hello, NFL Europe?

If the American attention span is any indication most eyeballs will be on another spring league--McMahon's XFL 2.0 to watch him lose his pants.

I could still see the AAF surviving, but at a drastically reduced salary structure--it has happened before. But with the way both these spring leagues are throwing money around to try and out compete themselves I don't like either of their chances. In the meantime the CFL will be looking to become global by forming partnerships with international leagues playing American football such as Mexico's LFA. If anything Mexicans will work for cheaper. Afterwards, when these new American leagues eventually fail as they usually do, the CFL will be ready to pick up the pieces.
 

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