Could a new stadium in Calgary lead to a MLS franchise?

This Tuesday, the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation (CSE) will finally reveal their vision for a new arena and stadium for Calgary.  Rumours have been floating around for a while about what will be announced.  While most people will be looking what this means for hockey and football in the city, I'm going to look at what it might mean for professional soccer in Calgary.

First, it's probably best to provide a bit of background information.  CSE owns the NHL Flames, CFL Stampeders, WHL Hitmen, and NLL Roughnecks, giving them a virtual monopoly on professional sports in the city.  All of these teams are in need of a new facility.  The hockey and lacrosse teams currently play in the Saddledome, which was constructed in 1983 and is one of the older arenas in use in the NHL.  The Stampeders play at McMahon Stadium, which was built in 1960 and is also one of the oldest stadiums in the CFL.  CSE is a private corporation and doesn't reveal financials, it's reasonable to speculate that the Flames likely make a decent profit even in an older facility.  The Stampeders likely also show a profit.  However, these teams and the others would be much more profitable in newer facilities.  New facilities would also provide Calgarians with the modern comforts and features that have been lacking at existing sports venues in the city.  

Most rumours and reports suggest CSE wants to build an arena/stadium/field house project in the western part of downtown Calgary referred to as the West Village.  This area of downtown is a prime area for redevelopment, with access to Bow River, an LRT station, near major roadways, and is walkable to the main downtown core.  

So how does soccer fit into the equation?  CSE doesn't own a pro soccer club, at least not yet.  But if this project has a gleaming new outdoor stadium attached to it, I don't think the owners will be satisfied with it only being used for 10 or 11 CFL games each year.  They will want to maximize usage as they have in the Saddledome by adding a WHL team and pro lacrosse.  The obvious addition to an outdoor, football field shaped stadium is soccer.  

Using soccer for adding dates to the stadium is a pretty reasonable assumption.  But I suspect there could be more than in the equation.  CSE has a lot of financial resources available to them, but as we see time and again, wealthy owners prefer to get taxpayers to foot the bill for their sports venues whenever they can.  You just have to look up the highway to Edmonton to see one of Canada's wealthiest businessman negotiate a deal that provides public funding for his arena.  However, there seems to be little appetite for public funds to go to a stadium/arena in Calgary.  Calgary's mayor and most aldermen have stated they don't support public funding for a project like this.  Calgarians have also shown little interest in having their tax dollars fund an arena or stadium.  So CSE has their work cut out for them to access public money.   I suspect one method they will try to access public funding is through the potential Canadian World Cup 2026 bid.  If Canada was to win this bid, there would likely be a lot of stadium building cash available, and a new venue in Calgary would be an obvious choice. 

The 2026 bid process is stuck in limbo right now as a result of corruption charges within FIFA.  But I expect CSE may be helping the bid committee as much as they can behind the scenes.  This stadium/arena project is going to take a lot of time to get off the ground as there are significant issues at play regarding urban planning and environmental clean up of the area.  Even though it's being delayed, the 2026 bidding will be done well before this project is completed.  So while I expect this project will not live or die based on FIFA 2026 being awarded to Canada, there could be a very strong financial incentive for CSE to align itself with soccer.

So what does this mean for Calgarians wanting to see some high level pro soccer in our city?  I think it's not as far away as we might think.  I don't see this new arena/stadiium project being completed probably for 4-5 years at least.  But I can see reasons that CSE would want to start their soccer program sooner as opposed to later.  The first is to start building the relationships with Canadian soccer officials in regards to World Cup bid.  The second is to maintain their monopoly on pro sports in the city.  If CSE starts a soccer club, it will keep others from trying to do so.  The third reason is if CSE can pull off a successful lower league club at McMahon Stadium, they could possibly approach MLS about moving up when they get to their new stadium.  The big money in soccer in North America is in MLS, and I think CSE would want to at least try to make it happen.

MLS in Calgary?  Sure it seems like a bit of a stretch.  There hasn't exactly been a string of soccer success in Calgary over the years.  But there were numerous failed pro clubs in Toronto before a wealthy sports entertainment company made Toronto FC work.  TFC had the advantage of getting into MLS before expansion interest (and fees) exploded.  It's also the largest market in Canada, which was an easier sell to the American MLS.  CSE is similar in many ways to MLSE in Toronto.  They know pro sports in their market.  They have the financial resources to join MLS.  Calgary would not be the smallest market and would certainly have a larger population, better demographics, and more corporate head offices compared to some current MLS cities.  But in this era of MLS expansion, I think adding a fourth Canadian MLS club would be a tough sell, even if the owners had the reputation and cash and a stadium plan.  They would need to show support like Orlando did and Sacramento has been doing.  And how you do this is by setting up a lower league club and start to build support. 

We'll see what happens on Tuesday.  I expect soccer to be mentioned at the announcement at some point, but realistically this day will belong to hockey and football.  But I won't be surprised to see CSE moving to a pro soccer announcement in the near future, with a launch date as soon as 2017 at McMahon.  Could it be NASL, or the rumoured all-Canadian pro soccer league, or some other league?  Who knows, but it will be interesting to see how it plays out. 

Foothills first home match review: A positive start

The first Foothills FC PDL match is in the books and the home side was victorious, defeating the Puget Sound Gunners 2-1 a bit more than a week ago.  I was very pleased with how the match turned out.  As I mentioned before, I don't intend on writing match reports for the club in this blog.  But I did want to provide my viewpoint on what I saw regarding the overall match experience.

On the pitch
Foothills had the run of play for most of the match and deserved the three points.  You could make the argument that they could've scored more and made the result look even better.  But on the other hand, Puget Sound was able to claw their way back into the match and had a couple of opportunities to tie it up near the end.

Puget Sound just put their club together a week prior to the match.  The players hardly knew each other, while Foothills has been practicing for quite a while.  Combine that with Foothills home pitch advantage and the Gunners were missing players due to visa issues, the local club seemed to have everything stacked in its favour.  I would've been concerned if they were not able to win this match.  I don't know how good Foothills will be, but based on this small sample size it appears they will have the talent to compete in this league.  Based on the results of their road trip this past weekend, my view remains the same.

The fan experience
This opening match was played on a sunny and pleasant Sunday afternoon of the long weekend.  Attendance was originally estimated around 1000, which is what I had roughly guessed as well.  The PDL official match report says attendance was 770.

I don't have a season pass, so I waited in line to buy a ticket.  The line moved well.  Cash was the only accepted method of payment, and we were provided with free lineups.  I brought my 4 year old daughter, so I was unable to partake in the beer garden, but it did appear to be busy.  I heard for a brief time they ran out of beer, but quickly replenished their supply.  Instead of the beer garden, I checked out the bouncy house.  It was pretty well attended and there were a lot of kids playing there before kickoff.

The stands are general admission, so we found a place to sit prior to kickoff.  I did not have a chance to roam the stands much, but it appeared to be a lot of Foothills members as expected, mixed in with the hardest core soccer fans in Calgary.  I chuckled when I saw a guy walk past me wearing a Calgary Storm jersey.  I did see about four people wearing Calgary Blizzard (another local youth club) gear.  The Foot Soldiers were loud and proud.  I counted about 12-15 at any given time, but apparently they had about 20 at some point in the match.  They moved about, trying to find a space that was agreeable to the referee, who apparently requested them to be moved a couple of times.

There was no Foothills merchandise for sale at the match.  The Foot Soldiers brought their scarves to sell and were a big hit.  They sold out in advance of kickoff.  There was a food truck parked just outside the stadium that was catering to the soccer fans as well as the kids playing baseball at the ball diamonds next door.  In addition there was a very lined up concession stand run by the park near the bathrooms, which is a bit out of the way from the stadium.  The club did bring in some portapotties and stuck them under the stands so there was the opportunity to take a quick bathroom break and not miss much action.

Suggestions
My first suggestion is sell some merchandise.  I read that Detroit City FC makes 40% of their revenue from merchandise.  Maybe there is a plan to rectify this, but to me this is a real priority, and a definite opportunity to make some money.

I would also suggest that the club looks at selling some drinks and/or food.  At the very least, sell some non-alcoholic drinks such as bottled water and soft drinks.  This would be easy to set up, a way to make a few bucks, and would enhance the fan experience.

The club was very active on Twitter during the match.  I think it might be best if they didn't tweet out every single thing that happens and limit the messages to one every 2-3 minutes on average.

There were very few announcements on the public address system, which I appreciated.  My one suggestion to the P.A. announcer is if you are going to thank the club's corporate sponsors, try to avoid doing it in the 85th minute right when Puget Sound is setting up a corner that could possibly tie the match.  Maybe do it in the 60th minute or so, and pick your exact spot when there isn't much going on during the match.  I realize it was the first time and he might have realized, "I have to squeeze this in before the match is over" so it's not exactly a huge beef on my part.  But I would change it next time.

Also, I think providing a debit/credit card option at the gate should be considered.  I'm not sure if it was a problem for anyone, but I do know most people just expect this as an option and some don't carry much cash anymore.

I have one other idea which I'd like to pass along.  I'll be at the next match on Tuesday, June 2.  I'm planning on going by bicycle, as the stadium is adjacent to the popular Bow River pathway system.  Maybe for the next match you could consider setting up a bike lock up area.  Parking was getting a bit tight at the last match, and it would be great if you could provide this as an option.  I don't imagine it would be hard to set up.  Also, I would suggest setting up a banner on the pathway by the stadium announcing the next match to the cyclists, runners, and walkers who use the path.  I'd think they would be a perfect audience to target.

Overall
I think the first home match turned out well, with a lot of positives to build on.  The road trip this weekend went okay on the pitch (1 point in 2 games).  I'm looking forward to seeing if the club can build on the momentum in the second home match next week.

What I'm watching for in Calgary Foothills PDL's first season

We are just days away from the first regular season Foothills PDL match in Calgary.   It has been over a decade since the A-League Calgary Mustangs rode off into the sunset, leaving a big hole in soccer landscape.  During that time, much has changed in Calgary and in the North American soccer scene.  Can Calgary join cities like Toronto, Indianapolis, Orlando, and Sacramento and have soccer success even after repeated failures in the past?  I think it’s possible.  Can Foothills FC be the club that does it?  We shall see. 

I have watched Foothills FC’s progress so far, and there are some promising signs without a doubt.  But I still have some questions about their plans.  I suspect we’ll know the answers by the end of this season.  Here’s what I’ll be watching for this year.

Will Foothills FC find a way to make non-Foothills members welcome?

Last year at their exhibition matches, the crowd in attendance was approximately 80-90% Foothills members.  It was easy to tell as most everyone was wearing their club gear.  I was one on the slim minority of non-Foothills members.  While I never felt uncomfortable or unwelcome, I definitely felt like an outsider.  I felt like I was at a party where everyone know everyone else, except I knew no one.  Actually, I did know a few supporters, but it was a handful of hard core guys that make up the Foot Soldiers. 

I think an even bigger challenge might be how to attract members of rival local clubs to PDL matches.  Will members of other clubs feel like they can support this team?  I am outside this club soccer world, but I do appreciate the fact that there are real rivalries between these local clubs.  I'll be watching for other local club gear in the stands each match.

I realize that Foothills is counting on their members to be their fan base. But if they want to receive the support of the city in general, they will have to come up with a way to make non-Foothills people feel like they belong.  I have no easy suggestions on this one, but if they want to grow into being the top soccer brand for Calgarians, they will need to find a way.  Perhaps the first thing they can do is look at my next point.

Will Foothills create a good game day experience?

We have been given a few hints about plans for game day.  A beer garden has been promised behind one of the goals.  There has been talk of cheerleaders.  Hopefully we will see the other elements that we expect for a professional sporting event.  We have heard that last year was a test run for this year and there would be improvements.  I hope that this is the case as last year there was no opportunity to buy club merchandise or to purchase food.  Toilet facilities at Hellard Field are not too far a walk, but it currently does require you to leave the fenced in area of the stadium.  Will closer port-a-potties be brought in?  Will we see game programs and lineups distributed?  I do not think the fans expect explosions and a slick Flames or Stampeders level show.  But hopefully the basics are in place and it is a comfortable experience for the fans in the stands

Will Foothills provide information about their players?

It is mere days before the opening match, and even the most hard core fans know do not know much about the players on the club.  There is no mention of player names on the club website.  Prior to Saturday’s intrasquad game, I asked the club via Twitter if they would post lineups for the game.  They did tweet out a list of last names and positions with no other information and that tweet was promptly deleted after the match.  As far as post-match reports, if we are lucky we might get the goal scorer’s last names via Twitter.   Foothills needs to do much better with this.  How can they expect the fans to get engaged with the club if they do not know the identities and backgrounds of any of the players?  This is information that can easily be distributed via the club website and social media.  I am curious to see if lineups are available to the fans at the first match.  I would consider it a major fail for the club if the fans have no idea who is lining up on the pitch. 

 How competitive will Foothills be on the pitch?

This is really a mystery at this point.  We don’t know anything about the competition, and we don’t know much more about the Foothills players either.  Can Foothills compete in the PDL?  I hope so.  I don’t think supporters will expect a division title the first season, but seeing quality matches and some wins will keep the fan base interested.  I know the primary goal is player development, and I understand that. But if they lose most games, it will be difficult to convince fans to stick with the club.  I remember the first season of the Calgary Storm in 2001 when they played in the PDL.  That club was dominant, and even though it was their first year and they had no established fan base, they were able to draw 2000 fans a match.  When the club moved up to the A-League and were not competitive, attendance quickly started to fall.  That first A-League season we were treated to watching a very young Nik Ledgerwood start and had Lars Hirschfeld in goal.  Ryan Gyaki was considered a future star and left for Europe during the season.  Another three players were in the Canada U20 pool.  But they lost almost every game, and it’s hard to convince people to watch a team with little chance to win, even if there are some future stars in their lineup.  I hope Foothills keeps this in mind.  And if it becomes evident they aren’t good enough, will they bring in new recruits? 

Can the Foothills model be viable and possibly be copied by other clubs?

Tommy Wheeldon and the executive at Foothills have created a bold and ambitious plan, unlike most other attempts at high level soccer in Canada.   Will it work off the field?  There are some really encouraging signs.  Apparently the team budget this year is $200,000 and this includes the $50,000 expansion fee.  The club has reported they've received $100,000 in corporate sponsorship.  That covers half the budget.  Can they make up the other half with ticket sales, merchandise, food, and other revenues?  Rumours are the season ticket total is very low, maybe no more than 100 or so.  Wheeldon has stated the goal is to get 1000 fans per game.  If you do the math and say $15 for a single game adult ticket x 1000 fans/game x 6 home games this year, that equals $90,000.  This would pretty much cover the other half of the budget.   And what is the financial goal of this club?  Are they happy if they break even or are the expecting to profit from this project?  Would they be okay with small losses as long as they are building their brand and development pyramid?

I'm fascinated by the off the field financials.  I think I'll save a more detailed analysis of it for a future post.  Suffice it to say that Foothills seems to have a pretty interesting and seemingly realistic business plan in place.  I'll be watching to see if it works, and if it seems translatable to other clubs in other locations.

These are some of the notable points that I’ll be watching this year.  Despite some criticisms in this piece, I really do wish this club success both on and off the pitch.   Once the season is over, I’ll revisit this post and provide my observations on how things went.

About YYC Soccer

Welcome to the beginning of YYC Soccer.  I was hoping to have the website up and running prior to the first Foothills PDL game on May 17, but that does not look likely at this point.  So I will provide a bit of an introduction in this blog, which will be incorporated into the website.  YYC Soccer will focus on the past, present, and future of pro soccer in Calgary.

This city has a long history with the beautiful game.  The primary reason I wanted to start this site was to preserve some of this history.  If you look around online, there is not that much about the NASL Calgary Boomers, and even less about the CSL Calgary Kickers and Calgary Strikers.  And even though the A-League Calgary Storm and Mustangs existed in the era of the internet, information about those clubs is also somewhat limited.

I lived the Storm and Mustangs era and attended nearly every home match.  During those years, I did match reports for what was then called a-league.com.  Those reports are still online and will be incorporated into the new website, along with other information about Calgary's soccer past.  My goal is to create a site that will eventually contain a detailed history of the pro game in Calgary.  The Storm/Mustangs era wasn't exactly glorious (combined 12 wins over 3 pro seasons), but that doesn't mean it should be forgotten.

Perhaps having this history online will provide a bit of context about the game and it's present and future prospects in Calgary.  We are entering a new era with Foothills FC starting play in the PDL this week.  It's the best level of soccer we've had in more than a decade.  Will they succeed on and off the pitch?  It should be interesting to watch.  And what of the future of the game?  Can we expect to see NASL?  Even MLS?  Will the Flames/Stampeders new complex be the potential new home of a pro soccer club?  The possibilities are endless.

I don't plan on writing match reports for Foothills PDL this year, but I will tweet where to find them.   The content on YYC Soccer will be more about history with some analysis about the present and future.  My first blog post will be up before the Foothills opener, and it will talk about things I'll be watching for during the club's first PDL season.

Make sure to follow on Twitter at @yycsoccer2015   I will tweet when the site is updated, a new blog post goes online, or if I see an external article of interest regarding Calgary soccer.

The website's address will be yycsoccer.com and hopefully it will be up in an early form sometimes in the next few weeks.  The best way to contact me will be via Twitter or by email at yycsoccer2015 at gmail.com.