Premier, Moncton MLA meet with CFL officials, say league 'extremely enthusiastic' about bringing pro football games to Metro

Times & Transcript Staff

Moncton East MLA Chris Collins says he can't wait to attend his first tailgate party on the Université de Moncton campus.

While there's no contract signed, Collins and Premier Shawn Graham returned from weekend meetings with the Canadian Football League confident the new stadium being built in Collins' riding can play a role in the growth of the league's fan base in Atlantic Canada.

Graham and Collins attended the Grey Cup as guests of CFL commissioner Mark Cohon, and among their meetings over the weekend was one with Cohon, the league's board of governors and owners from every CFL team.

"We had a terrific discussion," Collins said. "They were extremely interested in Moncton."

The idea of playing one to two regular season games per year in Moncton over the course of five years, beginning in 2010, was the main theme of the discussion.

"I was approached by two owners after the meeting and they said, 'go for it,'" Collins said.

As well, the CFL commissioner promised he would visit early in the new year to meet with provincial and City of Moncton officials to continue negotiations.

On Friday, Cohon told a news conference that Moncton was in its sights for spreading Canadian football into Atlantic Canada.

Collins said the province would be on board to help the City of Moncton and the league come up with whatever was necessary to make the venue work for holding games.

The idea of drawing the CFL experience to Metro Moncton has been floated for a number of years now, first championed by Moncton Mayor Lorne Mitton and Moncton North MLA Michael Murphy.

Current Moncton Mayor George LeBlanc has followed up at the municipal level and now Collins says he is happy to pick up what Mike Murphy started while Murphy focuses on his Health portfolio.

While concerns arose about the region's ability to draw enough fans to permanently support a professional sports franchise, the idea of hosting some games here has the league giving Metro Moncton a second look.

The stadium that would make all of this possible is under construction on the UdeM campus in preparation for Metro Moncton's hosting of the 2010 IAAF World Junior Track and Field championships. Those games will be the largest sporting event ever held in Atlantic Canada, hosting more than 2,000 athletes from more than 170 countries.

The stadium will have 10,000 permanent seats with capability to add 10,000 more temporary seats.

like you'll go. its not the Patriots'.

It will have to do I guess.

I'd love for this to become a reality! I'm a die-hard football fan and that's walking distance to my house! Bring it on!

Seriously, do we think we can support a CFL team? They have had numerous in Ottawa, and every time they fail.

I have my doubts but it would be great if they could, at the very least, bring some regular season games to the city. We're more of a hockey town and I'm not sure if we have the population base that would support a CFL franchise even if we include those within a 2-3 hour radius.

Moncton just landed a regular season CFL game. Woohoo!!


Metro lands CFL game

Premier confirms regular season game will be played in Moncton next year
By Brent Mazerolle
Times & Transcript Staff

It's not just talk anymore, it's official.

The Canadian Football League will hold one of next year's regular season games at the City of Moncton's Stade Moncton 2010 Stadium on the Université de Moncton campus.

Premier Shawn Graham and Moncton East MLA Chris Collins confirmed yesterday that a contract was indeed signed with the CFL last week, although they said which teams will play, the precise date, and the terms of the contract are all details that will only come when a formal announcement is made.

That should come in the next couple of weeks, when all involved can gather in Moncton.

What is known is the deal comes about largely because the provincial and federal governments have agreed to a plan that will see the 10,000-seat stadium being built to host the IAAF Moncton World Junior Track and Field Championships double its capacity to 20,000 for the game.

As for the game itself, "it's going to be the event of the fall," the premier promised. "It's truly going to position Moncton as the entertainment centre of Atlantic Canada."

He expressed confidence that the same enthusiasm for football seen in western Canada will build here on the east coast, with Moncton's central location making the game a regional event.

The regional benefits of the event is what got the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency involved.

"I feel the vision of Peter MacKay (the minister responsible for ACOA) was exemplary," the premier said late yesterday. "I want to give credit where credit is due. He and I had many phone calls on this."

With talk already circulating about building a whole weekend of events around the game, Collins, the provincial government's lead on the file, said the fact that the game would be televised "will be terrific for Moncton's profile, with 20,000 people in a brand new, full stadium."

And relatively speaking, it will be happening shortly after the city hosts the world -- and the international media -- in the same stadium for the IAAF World Junior Track and Field Championships next July. "We'll be reminding people from across Canada that Moncton is a centre for hosting large events," he said. "It's great for football, and it's great for Moncton."

As for the long-discussed idea of making the game an annual event, or even bringing a franchise to the city some day, "this is the ultimate test market," Collins said. "After a multi-year contract, who knows?"

In the meantime, he credited the league's governors for the vision in their decision. By deciding to play a regular season game and possibly more here in Atlantic Canada, "this positions the CFL as the only professional sports league in the country that is truly coast to coast."

He also took on the naysayers who argue football is not enough a part of the culture here for long-term CFL success. He said that's just not so, especially in Metro Moncton, but also in the region at large. Noting how more of the men of his generation who grew up in Moncton played in the CFL than the NHL, Collins noted organized football has a long history in the community.

Moncton Mayor George LeBlanc welcomed the news from the province yesterday.

"We've been working on this for a long time," he said. Indeed, it was five-and-a-half years ago that Moncton North MLA Mike Murphy began championing the idea of the CFL in Moncton.

While the talk from the city hosting a franchise has been refined into a one-step-at-a-time pursuit of hosting other city's teams for games for now, the talk of professional football in Moncton has continued through changes of CFL commissioners, of provincial governments, and City of Moncton administrations. (It should be noted there were even discussions of a CFL franchise during the mayoralty of George Rideout in the 1980s).

The differences between the Moncton of the 1980s and the Metro Moncton of today are obvious, but there's also been one huge difference between the time of Mike Murphy's initial musings and today.

That's the City of Moncton's soon-to-be-completed stadium, which was just a blurry line pencilled in the city's capital works projections back in 2004. Now thanks to the city's landing of the 2010 track and field championships, that little line has grown into a reality much bigger.

While the 2010 IAAF games will be a massive event for southeastern New Brunswick in every way, filling the stadium for a CFL game some weeks later will mark the beginning of what comes after for the life of the stadium. With the ability to expand the stadium to 20,000 seats for everything from a football game to a big name concert to even a Billy Graham Crusade, the stadium is poised to become a key stop for events of all kinds.

Asked if he had any doubt a CFL regular season game could fill the stadium with 20,000 smiling people, Mayor LeBlanc expressed confidence in the city's ability to draw from the whole region. He also promised, "one of those smiling people will be me."

Chris Collins said because there are maximums in the league's ticket pricing structure, he expects the game, "will be very affordable for the whole family."

Collins, whose riding includes the stadium, says he's been taking part in the pursuit of the CFL since the site of the stadium was in the ward he served as a Moncton city councillor. After all these years, he pronounced himself ecstatic at the news.

"Mike Murphy started with this idea, did a lateral when he got busy with his cabinet portfolios, and we ran with it. Now, touchdown! Here we go."

Aewsome news!! Way to go everyone!!

It looks like the Argos will be the home team for the CFL game here in Moncton. I'm more of an NFL fan but I will check the game out. Apparently since this is a regular season game it will be broadcast on TSN.

http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/f ... cle/824849

Argos to host 2010 CFL game

Former CFL executive and local resident to be named head of Moncton's CFL host committee
By Brent Mazerolle

In advance of today's official press conference, Moncton city officials have confirmed that the Argos will be the home team for a regular-season game that will be played in Moncton next season.

Ian Fowler, General Manager of Moncton's Recreation, Parks, Tourism and Culture department, confirmed the host team yesterday and said further details will be released during a press conference scheduled for the Moncton Coliseum at noon today.

Among those attending today's press conference will be Brent Scrimshaw. Although he's a relatively new resident to the Metro area, he has been and will continue to be instrumental in bringing the historic kickoff to Moncton.

Five years ago, Brent, the Canadian Football League's senior vice-president for marketing and partnerships, was one of two people tasked with choosing between Moncton and Halifax as a site for an exhibition game.

Brent chose Halifax for the CFL, "because at the time Halifax had the better stadium."

He chose Moncton for something a bit more important -- his family.

Now skip ahead for a moment to 2009 and pretend you're advertising to find someone to lead the local host committee tasked with ensuring next September's CFL game in Moncton comes off without a hitch.

Here's the sort of ad you might run:

We are seeking someone with extensive executive experience in marketing and business development in the entertainment and professional sports industries to bring the CFL to Moncton.

Must have demonstrated a strong belief in Metro Moncton through concrete actions. Previous experience working with the CFL a definite asset.

Most of us wouldn't have the curriculum vitae for the job, but Brent Scrimshaw does.

Brent has been a Riverview resident and the executive vice president for Business Development at the Atlantic Lottery Corporation for the past three years. And as will be formally announced today, he is now also the new head of Moncton's CFL host committee for next year's regular season game being held at the Stade Moncton 2010 Stadium on the Université de Moncton campus.

There's bound to be plenty said when CFL commissioner Mark Cohon, Atlantic Gateway minister Peter MacKay, New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham and Moncton Mayor George LeBlanc gather at noon, so we wanted to be sure the story of how our community wooed two executives -- Brent's wife Lorraine brought her position with Vancouver-based international executive search firm Ray & Berndtson with her -- to Metro didn't get lost in the mix.

Here's Brent, quoted in a Times & Transcript news story Sept. 29, 2004, just after he toured Metro on the CFL fact-finding mission:

"I would say we've had an exceptional 30 hours in Moncton. We looked at some outstanding facilities. More importantly, I think we saw a community at all levels -- business, government and volunteers -- that's very much engaged in this project that we're talking about. Our report back to the commissioner will be nothing but positives."

When the Times & Transcript spoke to Brent yesterday, it became clear just how sincere he had been with his praise for Moncton all those years ago. Whatever the future brings, already, "the history of the CFL in Moncton was certainly a life-changer for me," he said.

"I was overwhelmed with the spirit of Moncton," he recalled of that visit. "When I got home (to Toronto), I said to my wife, 'if there was ever an opportunity...'"

He had talked the talk, and then just six months later, when opportunity knocked, Brent Scrimshaw walked the walk, taking the position at the Moncton-based Atlantic Lottery Corporation.

As mentioned, Lorraine, in the best 21st century tradition, moved her job here, having already brought it once before from Vancouver to Toronto. The couple's daughter, Mackenzie, arrived just in time to start her high school years at Riverview High.

Besides his almost five years with the CFL, Brent spent two years as executive director of the PGA Tour's Air Canada Championship, and most of the 1990s with Molson Canada, first as president of Molstar Sports & Entertainment and then as Molson's vice-president for marketing, Western Canada.

He said yesterday he will be assembling his host committee over the next few weeks, and he is confident the community he and his family have embraced will make the CFL's debut here a success.

"Certainly, the football community here is loud and strong, and there are others in the city who have proven they can organize large events."