[Infrastructurist]

It'll be all built out just in time for CSEC to ask for a new arena......

Speaking of which I wonder whats going on with McMahon Stadium after the Grey Cup. Personally, I think we are too big of a city to not have a stadium like commonwealth where we can host concerts, huge sporting events etc. CalgaryNEXT would've been perfect for that but too be fair it was a little ambitious and I'm kind of glad that they focused their efforts on revitalizing beltline/east village.

Anyways as far as I know one of the main reasons we can't host concerts at McMahon is because of noise restrictions in that neighbourhood. The CMLC Rivers District plan obviously doesn't mention a stadium arena in that area, but wouldn't it be cool to have a replacement right next to Scotia Place, and BMO Center kind of how Vancouver has Rogers Arena and BC Place. It would also make for a place where huge artists (like The Weekend, Taylor Swift) can potentially come for Stampede.

What do you guys think about the option of replacing the GMC stadium to be a dual Rodeo/Football stadium. That could be a really cool "uniquely Calgary" solution that would set us apart from cities like Edmonton.

 

[FCC1982]

^I am all for that

 

[Tothewest]

Speaking of which I wonder whats going on with McMahon Stadium after the Grey Cup. Personally, I think we are too big of a city to not have a stadium like commonwealth where we can host concerts, huge sporting events etc. CalgaryNEXT would've been perfect for that but too be fair it was a little ambitious and I'm kind of glad that they focused their efforts on revitalizing beltline/east village.

Anyways as far as I know one of the main reasons we can't host concerts at McMahon is because of noise restrictions in that neighbourhood. The CMLC Rivers District plan obviously doesn't mention a stadium arena in that area, but wouldn't it be cool to have a replacement right next to Scotia Place, and BMO Center kind of how Vancouver has Rogers Arena and BC Place. It would also make for a place where huge artists (like The Weekend, Taylor Swift) can potentially come for Stampede.

What do you guys think about the option of replacing the GMC stadium to be a dual Rodeo/Football stadium. That could be a really cool "uniquely Calgary" solution that would set us apart from cities like Edmonton.

The GMC Stadium idea has been mentioned here recently....count me as someone who considers it completely impractical, when you consider the infield grandstand shape/location/orientation, the size of a CFL field, the concrete walkway between the grandstand and track, Grandstand Show stage...not saying it cant be done, but boy there is A LOT that would have to be figured out. The biggest being how as a CFL team do you not have home games for 3-4 straight weekends in July.

I agree with the idea of a stadium, but I just dont see how in today's construction climate, spending $300++ million on a new stadium for 8-9 stamps games, 2 concerts, and maybe some soccer games drawing 4-5k? The numbers just dont work imo. Calgary NEXT was so poorly rolled out, but the Fieldhouse idea was BY FAR the most ideal part of the whole plan

 

[CalgaryTiger]

The GMC Stadium idea has been mentioned here recently....count me as someone who considers it completely impractical, when you consider the infield grandstand shape/location/orientation, the size of a CFL field, the concrete walkway between the grandstand and track, Grandstand Show stage...not saying it cant be done, but boy there is A LOT that would have to be figured out. The biggest being how as a CFL team do you not have home games for 3-4 straight weekends in July.

I agree with the idea of a stadium, but I just dont see how in today's construction climate, spending $300++ million on a new stadium for 8-9 stamps games, 2 concerts, and maybe some soccer games drawing 4-5k? The numbers just dont work imo. Calgary NEXT was so poorly rolled out, but the Fieldhouse idea was BY FAR the most ideal part of the whole plan

There's another shoe to drop here.

The U of C has a new Dino's Football stadium in the works, meaning, I don't think the U of C wants McMahon anymore. I assume, CSEC and the City of Calgary have no interest in taking over McMahon. I would think the City wouldn't mind a bit more land for their long-desired fieldhouse but they're at the master planning stage, and I'm not sure how much of the $109 Million has been spent... Might still be an opportunity to reimagine the whole parcel. Here's the project page.

Foothills Fieldhouse

www.calgary.ca

There's also the fact that the Stampede is working on an updated Master Plan on their own. Activating GMC Stadium for more dates is probably something they'd like to do. There's demand for more seating during the Stampede and I don't think the other things you mention are much of a barrier.

Someone on here also teased that discussions for what comes next for the Stampeders are happening.

 

[IceCreamMan]

Fun fact - about 15 years ago, a feasibility study was conducted to determine if converting GMC Stadium into an indoor event centre would be feasible. As you can see, it was not.

 

[trtcttc]

There's another shoe to drop here.

The U of C has a new Dino's Football stadium in the works, meaning, I don't think the U of C wants McMahon anymore. I assume, CSEC and the City of Calgary have no interest in taking over McMahon. I would think the City wouldn't mind a bit more land for their long-desired fieldhouse but they're at the master planning stage, and I'm not sure how much of the $109 Million has been spent... Might still be an opportunity to reimagine the whole parcel. Here's the project page.

Foothills Fieldhouse

www.calgary.ca

There's also the fact that the Stampede is working on an updated Master Plan on their down. Activating GMC Stadium for more dates is probably something they'd like to do. There's demand for more seating during the Stampede and I don't think the other things you mention are much of a barrier.

Someone on here also teased that discussions for what comes next for the Stampeders are happening.

The Dino stadium is a community led project, not the University itself. They're currently fundraising to get it off the ground. It's better for the University too, to get a better sized stadium. We need a plan to get these facilities off the University, same with the Oval. The facilities aren't able to apply for a lot of the funding that other facilities can because they're owned by the University.

 

[Infrastructurist]

The GMC Stadium idea has been mentioned here recently....count me as someone who considers it completely impractical, when you consider the infield grandstand shape/location/orientation, the size of a CFL field, the concrete walkway between the grandstand and track, Grandstand Show stage...not saying it cant be done, but boy there is A LOT that would have to be figured out. The biggest being how as a CFL team do you not have home games for 3-4 straight weekends in July.

I agree with the idea of a stadium, but I just dont see how in today's construction climate, spending $300++ million on a new stadium for 8-9 stamps games, 2 concerts, and maybe some soccer games drawing 4-5k? The numbers just dont work imo. Calgary NEXT was so poorly rolled out, but the Fieldhouse idea was BY FAR the most ideal part of the whole plan

You know what, I actually don't watch the CFL and didn't even realize that the stamps play during the Stampede so you're absolutely correct in saying that it would be an inconvenience. As far as your other comment about the spend to event ratio I think the reason it feels as though we might only have 2 concerts, or soccer games with 4-5 thousand in attendance is because as a city we've been restricted for so long. I was born and raised in Calgary and speaking from personal experience I have never actually wanted to go to McMahon stadium which is interesting because I have a huge passion for arena's and stadiums. Building something new, and more exciting will most definitely make me want to go to events far more often and I'm sure I can't be the only one who thinks this. It's a big spend but the benefits are there. For example Morgan Wallens 2 nights in Edmonton had an estimate boost of 10-12 million to its GDP and the Canada live music industry contributes roughly 10.9 billion dollars annually Calgary deserves a bigger share of that figure and that comes from infrastructure to boost attraction like Scotia Place and a new football stadium. Like with CalgaryNEXT the longer we wait, the worse the financials become.

There's another shoe to drop here.

The U of C has a new Dino's Football stadium in the works, meaning, I don't think the U of C wants McMahon anymore. I assume, CSEC and the City of Calgary have no interest in taking over McMahon. I would think the City wouldn't mind a bit more land for their long-desired fieldhouse but they're at the master planning stage, and I'm not sure how much of the $109 Million has been spent... Might still be an opportunity to reimagine the whole parcel. Here's the project page.

Foothills Fieldhouse

www.calgary.ca

There's also the fact that the Stampede is working on an updated Master Plan on their down. Activating GMC Stadium for more dates is probably something they'd like to do. There's demand for more seating during the Stampede and I don't think the other things you mention are much of a barrier.

Someone on here also teased that discussions for what comes next for the Stampeders are happening.

I saw this plan! This is a great idea to revitalize McMahon stadium instead of abandoning it I wonder what the hold up is regarding this. When we got awarded the 2026 Grey Cup to me it felt like nobody was talking about this plan. Everyone just stated a new stadium.

 

[Infrastructurist]

Fun fact - about 15 years ago, a feasibility study was conducted to determine if converting GMC Stadium into an indoor event centre would be feasible. As you can see, it was not.

I didn't actually know this happened is there a website or something for this?

 

[Tothewest]

You know what, I actually don't watch the CFL and didn't even realize that the stamps play during the Stampede so you're absolutely correct in saying that it would be an inconvenience. As far as your other comment about the spend to event ratio I think the reason it feels as though we might only have 2 concerts, or soccer games with 4-5 thousand in attendance is because as a city we've been restricted for so long. I was born and raised in Calgary and speaking from personal experience I have never actually wanted to go to McMahon stadium which is interesting because I have a huge passion for arena's and stadiums. Building something new, and more exciting will most definitely make me want to go to events far more often and I'm sure I can't be the only one who thinks this. It's a big spend but the benefits are there. For example Morgan Wallens 2 nights in Edmonton had an estimate boost of 10-12 million to its GDP and the Canada live music industry contributes roughly 10.9 billion dollars annually Calgary deserves a bigger share of that figure and that comes from infrastructure to boost attraction like Scotia Place and a new football stadium. Like with CalgaryNEXT the longer we wait, the worse the financials become.

The advantage Edmonton has is they dont have to spend $300M to get to the same point, they already have the stadium. We'd have to spend that. The number of stadium concerts in markets like Calgary/Edmonton/Winnipeg/Ottawa...even NFL stadiums, is a very underwhelming...2-3 annually is a high number, not low. Just simply not enough acts doing them. McMahon doesn't have much for bars around it, but has very easy car and LRT access, 5min from downtown. I dont buy an argument that a stadium moving downtown would suddenly see the Stampeders draw 6,000 more people, or the CPL suddenly draw more than 4-5k. Mcmahon doesn't help, but the product/leagues are what they are

 

[Infrastructurist]

The advantage Edmonton has is they dont have to spend $300M to get to the same point, they already have the stadium. We'd have to spend that. The number of stadium concerts in markets like Calgary/Edmonton/Winnipeg/Ottawa...even NFL stadiums, is a very underwhelming...2-3 annually is a high number, not low. Just simply not enough acts doing them. McMahon doesn't have much for bars around it, but has very easy car and LRT access, 5min from downtown. I dont buy an argument that a stadium moving downtown would suddenly see the Stampeders draw 6,000 more people, or the CPL suddenly draw more than 4-5k. Mcmahon doesn't help, but the product/leagues are what they are

Sorry, I didn't mean that moving the stadium downtown would see the stampeders draw a larger crowd I meant a new stadium no matter where it is with better amenities would make it more enticing. McMahon is boring. Edmonton doesn't have to spend $300 million dollars because they already have the stadium, you're absolutely correct, but at some point they did have to spend the money to build the CommonWealth and they're looking at contributing more to upgrade it (roughly 250 million dollars). Costs will never stop rising, the longer we wait the more we'll have to spend Scotia Place is a great example of that. Additionally, I'm using concerts as an example there are many other events that would contribute. BC Place for example has 245 event days per year. Admittedly, that includes their MLS team but the reason they have an MLS team to begin with is because they have this venue and the infrastructure to support it. Comparing Calgary to Winnipeg, and Ottawa doesn't seem fair to me. Calgary is a huge market and one of, if not the fastest, growing city in the country. I believe there is no better time than now to accept this growth and expand which is what CLMC is doing with Scotia Place, and with all their other projects like the Arts Center.

 

[CalgaryTiger]

the product/leagues are what they are

I have to respectfully disagree with this point. Venue matters. These are gate driven products/leagues, if what is beyond the gate is what McMahon is you get no one but fans of the product/league. If what is beyond the gate is a modern (not even state of the art), well connected, stadium with other things going on around it. You get more than just fans; you get the fringe.

I don't expect the Cavalry to relocate away from Spruce Meadows, the Southern's were smart to activate their property for more dates by creating Cavalry. I actually think if the Stampeders were seriously looking at all options, relocating themselves to Spruce Meadows and on to a shared field with Cavalry would work pretty well. The attendance between the two are not close but you can build something that can go between a CPL and CFL attendance if they were to do what they do in Hamilton and Ottawa. In this fantasy world of mine the Southern's buy the Stampeders off CSEC. Soccer and Football have synergies. Hockey, Lacrosse, and Football don't beyond ticketing and marketing. Which the Southern's already have a handle on with the Cavalry. In my ideal world I'd love a shared facility closer to transit but it would be hard to convince the Southern's to take what Cavalry offers Spruce Meadows and completely remove it. Plus, you can always run direct shuttles from stations to make it work.

As a quick aside to the new stadium at Spruce Meadows idea, Soccer Canada is requesting information for a national soccer facility...

https://canadasoccer.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/RFI-NTC.pdf

And Spruce Meadows was in the running to host a nation competing the World Cup...

Check that! Spruce Meadows' bid to host World Cup base camp 'accepted' by FIFA

Check that! Spruce Meadows' bid to host World Cup base camp accepted by FIFA for 2026

calgaryherald.com

So the Southern's and Spruce Meadows do have ambitions on being more than they are, there's plans out there for their ambitions for Spruce Meadows that I've posted here or some other thread.

 

[Infrastructurist]

I don't expect the Cavalry to relocate away from Spruce Meadows, the Southern's were smart to activate their property for more dates by creating Cavalry. I actually think if the Stampeders were seriously looking at all options, relocating themselves to Spruce Meadows and on to a shared field with Cavalry would work pretty well. The attendance between the two are not close but you can build something that can go between a CPL and CFL attendance if they were to do what they do in Hamilton and Ottawa. In this fantasy world of mine the Southern's buy the Stampeders off CSEC. Soccer and Football have synergies. Hockey, Lacrosse, and Football don't beyond ticketing and marketing. Which the Southern's already have a handle on with the Cavalry. In my ideal world I'd love a shared facility closer to transit but it would be hard to convince the Southern's to take what Cavalry offers Spruce Meadows and completely remove it. Plus, you can always run direct shuttles from stations to make it work.

This is a super cool idea (mixing football with soccer) and so is the prospect of a national soccer facility being in Calgary. Soccer is such an under-looked sport in Calgary we have a great CPL team that deserves a lot more. Especially after the Ottawa and Calgary finals last season. That brought international attention to the league.

 

[CalgaryTiger]

Just an FYI: This was the quote about GMC Stadium... It is from the Stampede Hotel thread.

I have an inside scoop from someone directly involved that turning the Grandstand into the new home of the Stampeders is surprisingly closer and more realistic than we think…..

 

[Atticus]

In regards to the discussion about a new stadium bringing outdoor concerts to Calgary, it could be solved by trying to change the noise bylaw.
As bad as McMahon is, older crummier stadiums (Taylor Field, the old Winnipeg Stadium, Landowne Park, etc) were still able to attract outdoor concerts. The shape of the stadium doesn’t matter much.

 

[Tothewest]

I have to respectfully disagree with this point. Venue matters. These are gate driven products/leagues, if what is beyond the gate is what McMahon is you get no one but fans of the product/league. If what is beyond the gate is a modern (not even state of the art), well connected, stadium with other things going on around it. You get more than just fans; you get the fringe.

I don't expect the Cavalry to relocate away from Spruce Meadows, the Southern's were smart to activate their property for more dates by creating Cavalry. I actually think if the Stampeders were seriously looking at all options, relocating themselves to Spruce Meadows and on to a shared field with Cavalry would work pretty well. The attendance between the two are not close but you can build something that can go between a CPL and CFL attendance if they were to do what they do in Hamilton and Ottawa. In this fantasy world of mine the Southern's buy the Stampeders off CSEC. Soccer and Football have synergies. Hockey, Lacrosse, and Football don't beyond ticketing and marketing. Which the Southern's already have a handle on with the Cavalry. In my ideal world I'd love a shared facility closer to transit but it would be hard to convince the Southern's to take what Cavalry offers Spruce Meadows and completely remove it. Plus, you can always run direct shuttles from stations to make it work.

As a quick aside to the new stadium at Spruce Meadows idea, Soccer Canada is requesting information for a national soccer facility...

And Spruce Meadows was in the running to host a nation competing the World Cup...

a) CFL attendance is down across the board, the Stamps are 5/9 in attendance, and the CPL's attendance is shrinking, no guarantee the league survives 5 more years. The products are what they are, and crowds are no better in other new urban stadiums like Hamilton/Ottawa.
b) You can't say a venue and it's surroundings matter...and then say Spruce Meadows > McMahon. It checks 0 of the boxes you describe
c) The National Soccer Centre will probably be in Vancouver, with the new Whitecaps stadium. No other rational option (weather)

Edmonton doesn't have to spend $300 million dollars because they already have the stadium, you're absolutely correct, but at some point they did have to spend the money to build the CommonWealth and they're looking at contributing more to upgrade it (roughly 250 million dollars). Costs will never stop rising, the longer we wait the more we'll have to spend Scotia Place is a great example of that. Additionally, I'm using concerts as an example there are many other events that would contribute. BC Place for example has 245 event days per year. Admittedly, that includes their MLS team but the reason they have an MLS team to begin with is because they have this venue and the infrastructure to support it. Comparing Calgary to Winnipeg, and Ottawa doesn't seem fair to me. Calgary is a huge market and one of, if not the fastest, growing city in the country. I believe there is no better time than now to accept this growth and expand which is what CLMC is doing with Scotia Place, and with all their other projects like the Arts Center.

a) Edmonton has a $250M list of needs for Commonwealth...but for the same reasons as Calgary, it remains unfunded because the law of diminishing returns. Outdoors stadiums in Canada do not get used enough to justify that level of expense
b) BC Place is indoors, and has 4-5 concerts a year. Lived 3 blocks from there for 3 years
c) Calgary/Edmonton/Winnipeg/Ottawa would be grouped together in the entertainment world...Vancouver and Toronto on their own. I love Calgary and it's growing, but it isnt a "huge" market

I dont know what the solution