Re: MLS in Ottawa? Which leads to the big question: What if Ottawa were to release renderings and funding plans for a new stadium? How would the expansion playing field change then? That'd make Ottawa from a long-shot to a possibility, oye? Even though all the other markets are in much stronger situations, wouldn't Ottawa be taken into serious consideration if Melnyk were willing to announce a new soccer-specific stadium before St. Louis found their investors? (and I mention St. Louis because I think they and Vancouver are the front-runners)
Re: MLS in Ottawa? Sure would jump from a long-shot to a contender. A Billionaire with lots of interest is nice and cute, a billionaire with lots of interest and a stadium plan with funding is a potential team. It would be become serious yes, but there is St. Louis, Vancouver, Montreal, and Portland. I don't think those are getting jumped anyday I think even Melynk knows this. Now I don't know where he is with stadium plans, it's been very quiet and out of the media and just starting to get attention, which makes me think they are early into looking at options. If they can quickly get their sh*t together they may even bid for 2011, why not take the chance. But I think they are in it for the longhaul. He doesn't see MLS stopping at 18/20 either, and he wants his ducks in line for when that happens.
Re: MLS in Ottawa? All nice....I asked this question in another thread and no one seems to have an answer/opinion....so I will paint the senario here and see what people think: 1. MLS seems to be rumbling that they want the expansion fee for 17 and 18 to be between 40 and 50 million 2. Last interview I read with J. Saputo he proudly announced that they have made their intentions known to the league and they are willing to spend 50 million.....but the league only gets 30 of that and the other 20 is spent improving Stade Saputo. 3. I have no idea what other cities/groups are offering to the league in their proposals. What if Ottawa is the only one that offers the full $50 million in expansion fee and has a decent stadium plan? Does Ottawa leap ahead of the others? My bet is yes......(as it would be for any decent market that did the same).....at the end of the day, expansion fees are the current MLS owners best opportunity to recover their losses from the early days of the league......they will want the max. Now this does not mean that, for example, if some nutbar wanted to pay $50 million and put a team in Sudbury, Ontario that the league would say yes....but Ottawa is a viable market and could move up the line by slipping the concierge the required entry fee!
Re: MLS in Ottawa? Unfortunately, unless you are the city of Toronto, no other city in Canada at this point seems willing to put up the big bucks for anything sporting (whether it be government, private investment, or both). My user name suggests that I am an advocate for more MLS teams in Canada, however I think it seems that Canada is destined to develop strong USL-1 franchises first, that can then later be "converted" to MLS (i.e. Seattle Sounders model). In so far as Ottawa, their struggles with the CFL, coupled with their struggles (until recently) with the Senators, indicate something to be leery of. Now I realize we cannot compare different sports since they are, well, different, but it must be noted. I mentioned about a year ago how Toronto is a city that only supports major league teams, and how their Lynx support was in no way indicative of their ability to house an MLS franchise, however, unfortunately, I don't think the same can be said for the rest of Canada. I am not an egotistical Southern Ontarian, I think I am a realist. Vancouver and Montreal MUST be the front runners for MLS because they have shown their support at the USL level. Toronto is an anomaly simply because it is Toronto. Let Ottawa, Calgary, et al show their stripes in USL first. I think a lack of investment in new CFL stadiums can be somewhat of a measuring stick of the reluctance of most Canadian cities in investing in top level sports stadia. Heck, the same can be said of the NHL. When will Calgary and Edmonton get new arenas? I for one am impressed with the goings on in Winnipeg, but they are not discussed much when it comes to pro soccer anyway at the moment.
Re: MLS in Ottawa? I am not sure I agree (or even understand) that part of your post. Considering the size of this country (population wise) it is quite amazing that we are preparing to host our third olympics in just over 30 years.....where are all the other countries of 30 million people that host (and, therefore, build the facilities) for an Olympics every 10 years.....and that does not even include the two other Olympics ('96 and '08) that Toronto bid on (and 3 levels of government were prepared to invest in) and lost. The private sector also invests a fair amount of cash in facilities for our main sport. Again, where are all of the countries of 30 million which can boast indoor sporting halls that can compare to the roster that is (in no particular order) Scotiabank Place, ACC, Bell Centre, GM Place, Saddledome, Northlands (what is it called now), MTS, Copps......and that does not even include the 6 - 10k facilities that were built with junior hockey in mind (like the Hershey, Powerade, Molson, etc etc etc). I will agree that we do have a difficult time attracting investment in large outdoor stadiums (I think that has a lot to do with the fact that the primary user is a league of questionable financial clout that only uses them 9 times a year) or for "non-traditional" sports (track and field, etc).
Re: MLS in Ottawa? Perhaps I should clarify. I was referring to professional sports franchises. Scotiabank Place was built to get the Sens. The Saddledome and Northlands are fairly old now. Cities in the U.S. are able to replace their outdated stadia much quicker than their Canadian counterparts, in particular when it comes to the CFL. The Canadian business community is much more frugal than the American one, and I can't totally blame them either since corporate taxes are high compared to the States and cities will increase (as opposed to decrease or eliminate) taxes when those few wealthy sports team owners want to build an arena. This is why decent Canadian hockey markets lose out to lousy American ones.
Re: MLS in Ottawa? But it was built by the private company that owns the Sens....jeez, they even had to build highway interchanges with their own money to get approval to build the rink. The ACC....privately funded.....the Bell Centre...privately funded....GM Place privately funded. They are, true, but have been renovated extensively along the way. It looks like Edmonton is likely to get a new rink....privately financed by their owner. Calgary does not feel they need one. I don't think this has very much to do with Canadian business/sports owners unwillingness to invest. I think it has more to do with how seemingly easy it is to get state/county/municipal governments in the states to contribute to (or fully underwrite) the cost of the stadiums. As I had said before, it is tough to build a new outdoor stadium if your only tenant is a football team in a league that can only guarantee 9 nights of usage....assuming the league stays in business. As stated above, I am not sure this is true.....it is true that all levels of US government are more likely/able to contribute to stadium costs. I presume we are talking about Winnipeg and Quebec City? I think a canadian dollar that was trading in the 65 to 70 cent range had more to do with that than anything else. Timing!
Re: MLS in Ottawa? You make very valid points. Why should I be so critical when I think we all want the same things: more professional soccer in Canada. If we can manage to get more teams in MLS/USL, perhaps some day we can realize the dream of hosting a World Cup. Now wouldn't that be something. Improved/new stadia in Canada (with a business plan that could work) would be beneficial for both the CFL and soccer. Let's not forget that the U.S. didn't have a pro league when they hosted the World Cup, and it seems that in the past Sepp Blatter liked the idea of us hosting the World Cup.
Re: MLS in Ottawa? Plan not just football The group trying to bring CFL football back to Ottawa by 2010 will make its proposal to city staff for a redeveloped Lansdowne Park in mid-September. "We're putting a full-court press together," said front-man Jeff Hunt. "There has been a misconception that our proposal is only about CFL football, but it is much broader than that." More
Re: MLS in Ottawa? Hockey can barely survive in Ottawa....don't think MLS will be coming to Ottawa anytime soon.
Re: MLS in Ottawa? I don't think they "barely survive" in Ottawa. Scotiabank Place is sold-out almost every night. Anyways, Ottawa might be better off getting a USL-1 franchise first. There could be spots opening-up if current clubs move-up to the MLS. While they're at it, how about a USL-1 team here in Winnipeg?
Re: MLS in Ottawa? It is an interesting thought....what happens to USL when Seattle moves up and the 3 seeming favourites for the next two MLS spots are all USL cities (Portland, Vancouver, Montreal).....does USL just contract or do you find 3 other cities? Not sure but I would bet the most likely "next 3" USL type cities might all be Canadian. What happens to the CCC if the USL ends up with, say, 5 or 6 Canadian cities? Does it turn into a straight knock-out competitition (surely a round robin involving 5 USL and 2 or 3 MLS teams would be too heavy of a scheduling burden?)
Re: MLS in Ottawa? Eugene Melnyk and Senators Sports & Entertainment are launching a bid to bring a Major League Soccer (MLS) expansion franchise to Ottawa. We would like to invite you and any interested members of your soccer club to attend a media conference where Mr. Melnyk will be outlining the Ottawa MLS bid along with plans for a new stadium. Please forward this invitation to members of your club executive as well as any interested coaches, players and parents. When: Tuesday, September 16 at 9am Where: Scotiabank Place - Gate 1 lobby SHOW YOUR COLOURS There is an opportunity for youth players from your club to participate in a photo opportunity as part of the media conference. If your club is interested in having youth players participate in the media conference in their team jerseys, please contact Kathy Downs by 4:00pm on Friday, September 12 at downsk@ottawasenators.com or at 613-599-0205. In addition, at Tuesday's media conference Mr. Melnyk will be unveiling a bid website and a bid logo. The bid website will include a supporters section, where people can register to support the Ottawa bid. We will forward the bid logo and link to the website on Tuesday morning, and would ask that you consider posting this information on your club website, along with distributing the supporters link to your club coaches, players, parents and members. Thank you and we hope to see you Tuesday! Director of Strategic Development Ottawa Senators Hockey Club & Scotiabank Place
Re: MLS in Ottawa? [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Links re Tuesday's announcement: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=f901200c-2128-4c95-a645-3d11e6b5a936[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]"[/FONT]Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk has revealed plans to build a "world-class" stadium in Ottawa and to officially launch a bid to land a Major League Soccer franchise for the city." [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica] http://www.ottawasun.com/Sports/OtherSports/2008/09/12/6747741.html "[/FONT]According to the demands made by the MLS in its requirements for expansion teams, all soccer facilities must have 22,000 30,000 seats. Since Melnyk has no choice but to meet that demand, the facility will be similar — but bigger than — the 20,000-seat BMO Field which houses the Toronto FC franchise, which is owned by Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment."[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica] [/FONT]
Re: MLS in Ottawa? So the Ottawa Senators official name is "Ottawa Senators Hockey Club"? I wonder if the "Hockey Club" designation causes tremendous anger amongst some and pride amongst others the way "FC" does.
Re: MLS in Ottawa? I don't see why it would. As far as I know, hockey only has the one name, unlike soccer/football.
Re: MLS in Ottawa? Actually, in most countries of the world if you say "hockey" you mean the field variety. What we call "hockey" the rest of the world refers to as Ice Hockey....that is why the governing body is the International Ice Hockey Federation. (IIHF)
Re: MLS in Ottawa? Actually, just about all the NHL teams have official business names that include "Hockey Club," such as "Boston Bruins Hockey Club" etc. Many European clubs have football sounding names that include words like hockey club in their colloquial names. See SC Bern in Switzerland or Frolunda HC in Sweden. And no, it doesn't cause problems.
Re: MLS in Ottawa? Barely survive? They were third in league attendance last year, filling a 19,000 seat arena to 107 percent of capacity. Also, don't forget that a lot of this is momentum carried over from the U20 world cup last year in which Ottawa hosted several games that drew really well.
Re: MLS in Ottawa? Another way to look at this is that NHL ownership seems to be a growing pre-requisite to MLS ownership. Is the MLS becoming the summer league where NHL organizations get to use their staff/infrastructure over the full 12 months of the year. NHL team owners with MLS teams now are St. Louis (RSL), LA Kings (Houston, LAG), Colorado (Colorado) and Toronto (TFC). Relative to, say, a Kerfoot in Vancouver....if it came to a vote, Mr. Melnyk seems to have 4 votes from his NHL partners!....is that, perhaps, why the Saputos have aligned with Mr Gillette (the owner of the Montreal Canadiens).
Re: MLS in Ottawa? It's an interesting colorrelation between the two sports which makes a lot of sense with Soccer in the Summer and Hockey in the Winter. If you stop to analyse the games they share many similarities both with the level of scoring and the objective of scoring in a net. Whilst I consider Soccer to be my favourite sport I would probably rank ice hockey as second for these reasons. I think Ottawa could be a second Toronto in terms of success.
Re: MLS in Ottawa? Sorry if this has been posted already... Some very nice Ottawa renderings here - www.bringtheworldtoottawa.com
Ottawa stadium renderings What, no comments? Check the Ottawa thread. I have a feeling nobody has been paying attention.
Re: Ottawa stadium renderings Very nice IMO. "The Ottawa MLS stadium will seat up to 30,000, and feature a natural grass pitch and five community soccer pitches located next to the stadium that together will create a major soccer complex for the community." http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20080916&content_id=188460&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp