Chris R. said:
My wife attended a Raptors game a week or two ago with her brother at Scotiabank arena, and she said it wasn't really that great either. I think people may not recall what other arenas are like as well nor recall just how bad it was at FOC.

We didn't pay a dime, so "we" didn't get anything really. HUPEG and attendees got a reno. I've said the same thing earlier, but the arena required substantial updates under the hood. They installed a fully new HVAC system for the arena, replaced literally every single kitchen and all ventilation, repainted and repaired the entire exterior, installed all new lighting, and upgrades the escalators which from my recollection from reading staff reports were essentially all at the end of their life.
Click to expand...
Although "we" didn't pay for it directly, the city is giving up revenue and much control in the deal, so in a sense "we" did pay for it. "We" will also pay for it through ticket prices 😎. Good point on money spent on the bones.
 
BCTed said:
It is great that TD received all of the under-the-hood updates and the overall reno. And it is great that it is booking lots of big top-tier acts, and I hope it continues. And I am really glad that Hamilton has a functional NHL-capacity arena. And I still hold out prayers that the city can one day somehow get a team (which would need an altogether new arena).

But I do hate to say that TD simply does not compare with Scotiabank. Since the Christmas holidays, I have attended a Raptors game and a Leafs game at Scotiabank, as well as the TD Coliseum PWHL game and a Rock game at TD. These events were all very recent, so my memory is fresh and I have actively compared the two arenas. Scotia is far from perfect, but it beats TD handily in pretty much every respect --- I will spare you the rundown. [Scotia is well into its own $350 million renovation and they are working on the 300 level right now, so there is a bit of temporary messiness there.]

I was crazy excited for the renos, but I have to say that TD had a more pleasant feel when it was Copps/FOC, at least to me (I also went to two of the Rock's final games before the arena shut down for renos), so I do hold out some hope that the atmosphere/feel can be improved with some paint and some other cosmetic or other minor alterations.
Click to expand...
I think painting the corridors a brighter colour would do wonders. The upper concourse on the north side is by far the nicest area because it is open to the lower bowl and feels much more spacious.
 
I also think in addition to painting the corridors and concourse with lighter colours, they should install some wood slats/panels on the walls. Not covering the entirety of the walls, just pepper them around to break up the monotony of only having plain bare walls. It would add some warmth while also making it look a little classier. It would fit in with a venue geared mostly towards concerts, and it's really not expensive to do.
 
Civdis said:
Although "we" didn't pay for it directly, the city is giving up revenue and much control in the deal, so in a sense "we" did pay for it. "We" will also pay for it through ticket prices 😎. Good point on money spent on the bones.
Click to expand...
The financials are confidential, but I don't for a moment think the city was collecting any revenue from the arena after expenses.
 
Chris R. said:
The financials are confidential, but I don't for a moment think the city was collecting any revenue from the arena after expenses.
Click to expand...
Since we are deep into semantics, the City was collecting revenue, just no profit 😉 Btw, I don't think this was a bad deal for the City. It was likely the only way the arena gets a reno.
 
This was a great deal for the City (Corp), and the city. Looking forward to seeing where a revenue oriented and profit driven solution takes us for the next decade plus.
 
A couple of updates that are interesting, at least to me and maybe to others:

- Google reviews for the arena post-reno are not great. The average rating for Google reviews for TD Coliseum just dropped to 4.2, while it was at 4.3 for years prior to the reno. There are 3925 reviews in total... not sure how many of them have come in since the reno, but they clearly average to less than 4.3.

- It looks like Cardi B tickets have actually been moving since she called out Hamilton --- I guess she knew what she was doing. There are currently only just over 1500 tickets showing as available, while there were something like 3500 showing as available when she called us out a week ago.
 
Yorken Bay said:
Hopefully they're called the Hamilton Tigers as a call back to our stolen NHL team. They were the BridgePort Sound Tigers at one point, so it works in that way to buy dropping the "sound".
Click to expand...
I love the idea of someone holding a 101-year old grievance lol
 
Red October said:
I love the idea of someone holding a 101-year old grievance lol
Click to expand...
My view is that there is legitimate background to the grievance over the Hamilton Tigers. The team was dissolved by the NHL as punishment for a players’ strike, spurred on by an increase in season length without a corresponding increase in pay. The team was reconstituted in New York as the Brooklyn Americans. It was one of NHL’s early attempts at labour organization prior to the existence of the NHLPA.

That being said, it’s hard to determine how long the team would have lasted beyond 1925. The Brooklyn Americans didn’t last beyond the 1940s due to WWII, and the remaining pre-Original Six teams were all dissolved earlier during the Great Depression. There is a good chance they would have met the exact same fate.
 
Hopefully with confirmation that the AHL is coming in, OVG will be able to create temporary/retractable seats that go over the floor suites.
The floor suite view for hockey is pretty poor, given the glass and flat seats ahead of it.
1774331338153.png
 
JakeLRS said:
Hopefully with confirmation that the AHL is coming in, OVG will be able to create temporary/retractable seats that go over the floor suites.
The floor suite view for hockey is pretty poor, given the glass and flat seats ahead of it.
View attachment 724083
Click to expand...
I am not exactly sure what you are envisioning, but the floor suites are not about to be covered for any events and OVG is not going to make any modifications of any kind any time soon.

OVG was pretty up front about getting an AHL team before the renovations even began --- this was always on the table. My best guess is that Bridgeport was always the play given all of the connections with the Islanders and even the Bridgeport arena.
 
BCTed said:
A couple of updates that are interesting, at least to me and maybe to others:

- Google reviews for the arena post-reno are not great. The average rating for Google reviews for TD Coliseum just dropped to 4.2, while it was at 4.3 for years prior to the reno. There are 3925 reviews in total... not sure how many of them have come in since the reno, but they clearly average to less than 4.3.

- It looks like Cardi B tickets have actually been moving since she called out Hamilton --- I guess she knew what she was doing. There are currently only just over 1500 tickets showing as available, while there were something like 3500 showing as available when she called us out a week ago.
Click to expand...

Cardi B can go and do things to herself.

Re: ratings, how many are now from outside of Hamilton (like, Toronto), vs. before? Probably no way to know. Ratings aren't something I pay much attention, but I know that many do. Still, if Cardi B fans like their experience that could change the metric. :cool:
 
Chris R. said:
That being said I suspect they will only be using the lower bowl for most games with a far lower capacity to make it seem more full. I don't know if Hamilton is ready to support an AHL team, but I'm hoping TD Coliseum does more work to market the games and team than FOC did (none).
Click to expand...

What of the upper bowl "screening"? Will it be better than before, or basically just curtains again?
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top