Hamilton Is in a Lose-Lose Situation

The City of Hamilton and Hamilton Tiger Cat owner Bob Young have backed each other into a corner.

A stadium crisis that has erupted within the last month threatens to leave Hamilton without a CFL team.

To recap, Hamilton was awarded a share of the upcoming Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games.

Hamilton was to host the track and field events in a new stadium which would then be expanded to become the Tiger Cats' new home.

Owner Bob Young objected to the downtown location of the new stadium, claiming that it could not handle the amount of vehicles and fans necessary to make a profit, and pressed for a new location on the east mountain.

Then CFL Commissioner, Mark Cohon backed Young in a letter to the Hamilton City Council, arguing that the city's choice of location would not allow the stadium to be expanded to be adequate for possible future Grey Cup games.

The letter then went on to promise future Grey Cups if Young's choice was agreed to.  It also promised the CFL's full support if Young should move the team, and stated that the CFL would probably never return to Hamilton with an expansion franchise.

Then Toronto withdrew the track and field events from Hamilton.  The principal reason for building a new stadium was gone.

The lease for Hamilton's existing Ivor Wynne stadium expires next year.

Things have since taken a more militant turn.

With some dissenters, the Commissioner's letter was received by most Hamilton fans with anger.  They felt that Young and the CFL were blackmailing them.

Then Young withdrew from discussions with the city and made threats to move the team.

And yesterday, the city council, who see the downtown location as a start of urban renewal, with bitter memories of being treated poorly by the NHL, and viewing Young's stand as blackmail, voted 12-3 for their own choice of location.

For now there is a frozen stand off.  Several councillors want to negotiate with Young, but he has refused renew contact with them.

There are also rumors of a $17 million deal to move the team to Quebec City.

Look around and you will see no winners in this situation.

Young is a loser.  While many fans support him, remembering how he saved the Tiger Cats, and agreeing that his choice of location is better, and sympathizing with him because the Tiger Cats lose money, many others feel he is a blackmailer who is thinking of the good of team and not the good of the city.

That image won't help the team sell tickets, with or without a new stadium.

The fans are losers because they could lose their team.

The city council is a loser.  Many fans who sympathize with Young because he loses money operating the team believe that Young's choice is correct, and blame the city council for the wrong choice and being obstinate.

If Young does move the team, the city will be stuck with a new stadium and no tenant either now or in the foreseeable future if Cohon's threats hold true.  If that happens, several political careers could be in jeopardy.

It will be football's version of Copps Coliseum.

The CFL is a loser.  Cohon's threats have drawn mostly negative reactions from people who resent his interference and see him as a blackmailer too.

Adding Ottawa while losing Hamilton is not a step forward for the CFL.  It will lose a team that is 141 years old, full of tradition and CFL memories.

It will not help keep and grow the CFL's fan base and market in Canada, particularly southern Ontario.

People will ask how a 24,000 seat stadium is acceptable in Ottawa, and a 25,000 seat one not acceptable in Hamilton.

It also could make southern Ontario even more amendable to the NFL which has a big following there already.

There is also the ridiculous situation of the CFL Hall Of Fame being in a non-CFL city.

Cities like Quebec who want government funding for a new NHL arena or other sports projects are also losers.

Taxpayers will point to Young as a model for the blackmailing owner who pulls out when things get tough.  They will say no thanks to any government funding or perks that sound like they will help a rich sports owner.

As for Young moving the team, there is not another Canadian city that currently has a CFL-size stadium, unless it is Moncton, which has a new half-temporary-half-permanent stadium, that is 5,000 seats less than the CFL's stated minimum of 25,000.

Quebec City?  There's no CFL-size stadium there.  University football is hot there because of Laval University.

How come no local Quebec City investor has approached the CFL about a stadium and and an expansion team?

How come the CFL hasn't followed this up if Quebec is ready for a CFL team, and announced expansion plans for a 10-team league?  Where is this coming from so suddenly?

Somebody has to back down and a compromise needs to reached.  There is now one more barrier to a satisfactory solution—loss of face.

There's quite a contrast going on in the CFL now, with the delicate, kid-gloves approach to Ottawa, and the militancy in Hamilton.

Tempers are rising in Hamilton, and positions are being assumed, which if become frozen, may leave the CFL without a team in the city.