by Scouting Director
The CFL has received both good and bad news regarding expansion over the past two months. We’ll begin with developments in Halifax.
In May, reports surfaced that a U.S. company, along with local businessmen, was planning a $1.5 billion development near Halifax Stanfield International Airport. It didn’t take long for questions to emerge about the project’s viability, as the group appeared to have a concept but lacked the financial backing and business plan needed to execute it.
That parcel of land has reportedly been sold, and, to be fair, the Halifax region appears to have avoided what some might describe as a “Springfield Monorail” situation. I personally know the individual behind Ridgehaven Holdings from the West Coast college football scene, and, without going into the reasons why, I am not surprised the proposed development went nowhere.
The good news for the CFL is that the Quebec City expansion bid continues to move forward. Sources believe all parties are aligning behind the construction of a new sports stadium on the site of the former home of the NHL’s Quebec Nordiques.
At 3DownFutures, we previously reported on plans that would bring both the NHL and the CFL to Quebec City. While we won’t discuss the NHL portion of those plans any further, as they are extremely complex and those involved want to proceed privately, what I can share is that it now appears more likely there will be two separate ownership groups rather than a single ownership structure.
There were also discussions about building the stadium at an alternate site near the airport. However, sources indicate that location is no longer the preferred option and are confident a deal for the arena site can be reached in the coming months. They are also hopeful the CFL will grant a conditional expansion franchise by the end of the year.
For that to happen, an agreement would first need to be reached on a temporary home stadium while the new facility is under construction. The most likely scenario is for the team to play at Stade TELUS-Université on the campus of Laval University.
Another option presented by Quebec officials is to build a temporary 16,000- to 20,000-seat stadium near the airport to generate excitement around a proposed new sports complex district. The development would include indoor and outdoor NHL-sized arenas, football fields, baseball diamonds, a swimming pool, and could also be home to a complex that would serve as the team offices and training facility for the CFL franchise, as well as a future NHL franchise.