Ralph Cantafio Gets a $8.5 million Soccer Upgrade

It is difficult to say why the Valour FC went out of business. A mediocre record over the years, an ownership base that meant well but was not dedicated beyond measure to the product, an oversized stadium, a TV deal that didn't get enough eyeballs on it and other things ganged up on the team and Bomber management put the lights out. It was sad given the mighty support of a group of fans and for Winnipeg's overall sports legacy.

A team must have a dedicated ownership, a facility to generate revenue, a TV deal and a stable league. In women's soccer, former professional and national women superstars are leading the charge of a league that is growing. The Northern Super League for women has done all those things. This was was the inaugurals year with six teams and Winnipeg had already been announced as the seventh team with Ralph Cantafio Soccer Complex as home.

The women's national soccer team got its start back in 1986 at that facility and over the years, it has hosted a number of men's teams and still does. However, the two pitches have only 2,000 seats and 750 seats. Not nearly enough. It is curious that the University Stadium (formerly Pan Am Stadium) wasn't used which has 5,000 seats but it could have to do with how to monetize it. Too many teams suffer because they need to be able to extract every dime from a facility and the university is the one that owns the place now along with whatever concessions. It also has its own teams using the facility.

Built in 1991, the Ralph Cantafio Soccer Complex has been the go to for Winnipeg's soccer needs and been the place to act as FIFA training pitch and host to various sports events like the Canada Games. It fit the needs accordingly. In recent years it seemed like it was on a long list of city facilities in need of a purposed and an upgrade. The arrival of a professional national women's team was the right time to go to funders to do the job.

The new NSL team has no name yet. That will come later when the kit and marketing of tickets happens. In the mean time, the facility gets FIFA turf, lights and covered stand seating for 4,500. The federal government has been announcing spending on recreational facilities all over Canada and investing in athletes as well. It is part of generational spending on areas of the country that may have not seen investment between 30 and 50 years.

Soccer, despite thoughts to the contrary, is the most popular and accessible of sports in Canada. And yet we have only in recent years started to build indoor facilities so we can play year round. The outdoor facilities are usually small and shared with other sports such as football. Compared to the UK, Australia and the U.S., we have tiny facilities. That isn't an exaggeration. We may think we are big supporters of sports but compared to others, we are not.

The Valour FC really needed their own facility and revenue stream to succeed. How bad is it in Canada? Well, the Vancouver Whitecaps struggle with good crowds because they don't own their facility. In Toronto, the Toronto FC shared a football stadium with the Argonauts with Rogers owning the whole thing. It is a very small stadium for such a big city. Still, the federal government doesn't seem to be interested in helping Rogers, a massive corporation, from receiving a new building from the taxpayers.

Which brings us to Winnipeg. The expansion of women's soccer has exploded. The government sees it as an opportunity to get people active and a point of national unity. However, Winnipeg wasn't going to be ideal unless it could expands its misery small success complex. Moving yet another team, albeit female, into Princess Auto Stadium seemed a recipe for failure. That might one day be the future but it isn't there now. The right team for the right facility has to be the goal.

The Ralph Cantafio Success Complex is the right facility and getting the right pro team. By this time next year, the NSL should see success in Winnipeg. And soccer will continue to rise in the province as a result.

AC/DC's Pop Up Winnipeg

AC/DC has been a fan favourite in Winnipeg for decades and on September 20, they will perform at Princess Auto Stadium. The longstanding tradition was that sales of merchandise from the band would take place on the day of the show. The opening act for a groups was usually the perfect time to buy. However, with certain concerts people like to get close to the stage and won't budge once there.

Some bands are now doing pop up sales offsite in the days before the concert. In the case of AC/DC they will be doing September 19 and 20 before and on concert date. This helps a local club that becomes the sales venue. In this case, it will be the Pyramid. Those that go to the store can pick up something they can wear to the actual concert. There can also be more expensive collectibles that you don't have to lug around the concert in a bag worried it will disappear.

Concerts have become very important for bands to make money since streaming even for superstar bands does not generate the currency. Radio royalties help concerts are the way to make money along with your branded merchandise. AC/DC didn't get tp where they are now without knowing something about marketing.

Expect other musical acts to follow suit which could turn some clubs in Winnipeg into opportunities for booking nights.
 

Canada Day Celebration Princess Auto Stadium 2026

The Forks and Assiniboine Park don't do them anymore. Fireworks, that is. When evening comes on July 1st, most parks that we helped to build and pay for tell us, the citizenry, don't let the door hit you on the way out. We are told fireworks are bad. In the past few years celebrations have been somber. Lots of be ashamed about over 150 plus years. In Winnipeg, in particular, it has just turned into a shopping day. Not much free, not much to do, everything costing something.

But we are Canadian. We want to celebrate as Canadians. Trying to find our joy even when it isn't easy. This is why over the last few years, the Blue Bomber stadium has been a consistent place to get free Canada Day entertainment all day as well as fireworks at night. And the best part is that it is free. Unlike The Forks which stops programming at 5 PM, Bomber stadium is doing events right up to 10:30 PM. And yes, there are fireworks.

A mix of pop and country music will be on the mainstage and lots of activities for kids in the the tailgate area should keep people entertained. Parking is free where available at the University of Manitoba. There will be no park and ride for the event but there will be more city buses assigned for the event.

I'm not sure why The Forks and Assiniboine Park ends programming while the sun shines but they do. Hats off to the events they do plan but sending people off so early seems a missed opportunity. Part of it is the movement against fireworks. I know many want them banned but the government knows they would have to compensate businesses who operate in the province so they don't. However, many large public park areas have ended them forever. The days of 30 or 60 thousand people in Winnipeg gathering into the evening are over.

The Bomber stadium is one area in the city you can still have the full day event for the family. Good for Bombers.

A New Arena for Winnipeg Planned Soon?

The present Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg is not very old. However, it was originally built for an AHL hockey team and not a NHL one. It is the smallest arena in the NHL and even at that, in recent years it has not always sold out. The Winnipeg Jets are trying to increase the corporate seats which has not been a priority when there were so many individuals in the past buying tickets. At just over 15,000 seats, Winnipeg's arena is smallest in the NHL. Most arenas are around 17,000 to 20,000 across North America.

The AHL Moose and the Winnipeg Sea Bears basketball team also share the facility which makes for a pretty full selection of teams calling the arena home. On top of that are concerts and entertainment events. The True North organization has also been building out with real estate. Since 2004, ownership has built out north, west and south of the arena. Across the street, they partnered with others to build restaurants, offices, hotel and parking lots.

The Burton Cummings Theatre is now part of the True North organization. In part, this is to have entry level entertainment in a venue more well suited for some groups and individuals. This builds relationships and street life in the entertainment district. Street parties are held regularly in proximity to the Burton Cummings. This is important as the creation of an entertainment district cannot revolve around one sport and building. This is why True North also does concert/event work as promoter. Not all of it is at the Canada Life Center. In the past, True North has done Cirque du Soleil shows under the big tent on Kenaston. This year they are doing a two day music event at the Princess Auto Stadium. 

The Canada Life Centre has room for more concert/show events on its schedule but clearly there are limits based either on small or larger sizes and whether it can be fit in between the three sports teams that call the arena home. There are also other sports leagues that would like to come to Winnipeg but find there is no facility to host them. In particular, professional women's hockey and basketball. Therein lies the conundrum. It is the downtown arena or nothing. Even a WHL team could not survive in Winnipeg without a facility larger than the Sanford Fleming Arena at the University of Manitoba. 

It is clear Winnipeg needs another arena. But what size? Some say it should be smaller as in the 7,000 seat range. Is that thinking too small? I don't know too many people who thought the Sea Bears would regularly pack in 15,000 people for basketball games. Imagine building a 7,000 seat arena and finding professional women's hockey selling it out and then some. Could they have used a 15,000 seat arena instead?

A scanning of NHL arenas will show Winnipeg's facility is not the oldest. It is nearer to the newer ones as it closes on 25 years having being built in 2004. Many present facilities in the league are from the late 1990s. The average lifespan of an arena is considered to be 25 to 25 years. This would apply to Winnipeg's present facility. 

The next question is the location of a new arena. Some people would love to see it down by the University of Manitoba so that it could benefit Bisons sports programming. There is a good case for that. And there is likely space for it although anyone who knows how much of a crowd Blue Bombers games have and the traffic involved is probably hesitant. The 41 games that say Jets or Moose play and 4the 0,000 university population from fall to spring are considerable numbers in one place. It can be managed but it is worth considering.

The Chipman and Thomson family have put in considerable investments downtown and continue to do so. Their concern just doesn't extend to the bottom line but to the welfare of those living and working downtown. This has been aptly demonstrated in the donations and leadership of the pair over many years. To that end, I'd expect the location on a new arena would be downtown.

There isn't an obvious spot for the new arena to be located. There are quite a lot of surface lots where the beginnings of arena could be. However, it might be like how the Canada Life Center came to be and that was from the demolition of existing buildings such as Eaton's and part of Cityplace.

A big question is on whether the Canada Life Center will be expanded to 17,000+ seats or remain the size it is and another arena built of 17,000 seats. My opinion is the Jets would move to a bigger location as there are changes to what corporations want in terms of season tickets than just box seats. Many businesses are looking for meeting spaces as well attached to entertainment so some new arena designs are reflecting this. Many new arenas are also doing more to become concert friendly and that comes from initial design.

In the picture above, Hamilton's Copp Coliseum is being designed to fulfill a concert mandate in the greater Toronto area. While a single use facility might work in that part of Ontario, in Winnipeg the need is for multi-purpose facilities. There really just isn't a venue of size indoors after the Canada Life Center. An attempt to get a 6000 to 7000 facility for the Winnipeg Ice failed. One of the reasons the Chipmans might go for a new arena is to forestall a competitor such as the University of Manitoba building one.

Another important reason the True North will push for a new arena is that they have an agreement with the province to not fund any new covered facility in Winnipeg for the length of time of the mortgage, This blocked the Bombers from having a covered stadium. When the agreement expires, there is nothing preventing Bombers from going forward with a covered stadium and also getting an agreement preventing anyone from new facilities built with 25 to 30 year terms. This is definitely something the Chipman's won't want.

I don't expect anything in the next two years as True North finishes the work on new asset Portage Place as well as see Sutton Place Hotel built but expect something soon enough. The end of prohibition on government facilities and the desire for more professional teams will drive the timetable.