The ownership group seeking to secure a Canadian Football League (CFL) franchise for the city of Halifax has launched a season-ticket drive to enhance its prospects.
The campaign will be run on Ticketmaster with season ticket deposits priced at C$50 (£29/€33/$38) per package. This will put fans on a priority list for season ticket membership and seat selection on a first-come, first-served basis.
The Maritime Football Partnership group is made up of former co-owners of NHL ice hockey team the Arizona Coyotes, Anthony LeBlanc and Gary Drummond, along with Bruce Bowser, president of moving company AMJ Campbell Van Lines.
Yesterday’s (Wednesday’s) announcement, which was attended by CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie, came after the City of Halifax last week unanimously voted in favour of pursuing the development of a 24,000-seat multi-purpose stadium that would house an expansion franchise.
The Maritime Football Partnership is leading the effort to secure a team in the American football league for the provincial capital of Nova Scotia. City council voted 15-0 in favour of directing municipal staff to conduct a thorough review of the business case put forward by Maritime Football.
Speaking yesterday, LeBlanc said it is important to get a “nice base of season ticket holders” to help fill the proposed stadium. “It’s possibly an artificial number but I’d like to see us at least have half the building that is filled with season ticket members and I think that’s very achievable if you look across the league,” he added, according to the Canadian Press news agency. “There is an onus on us to do our job and go out and sell the vision… but this is now an opportunity for people to really take action.”
Ambrosie said the league has not set a minimum base for the season ticket effort. “We haven’t established an artificial threshold for what we determine as success,” Ambrosie said. “We are going to be looking to Bruce and Anthony and Gary to help us understand their perspective on how well this campaign for season tickets goes.”
With a price tag of C$170m-C$190m, the stadium has been earmarked for Shannon Park on the east side of Halifax harbour. Maritime Football is seeking to launch a team for the 2021 CFL season and fans participating in the season ticket drive will also have the opportunity to provide input on the moniker of the franchise.
Potential season ticket holders will be asked to choose between the Atlantic Admirals, Convoy, Storm, and Schooners, along with being able to submit a suggestion of their own. The team name will be announced at an event on the sidelines of the annual end-of-season Grey Cup festivities in Edmonton on November 23.
Image: Ticketmaster
Share this