Moncton Scores Again!

CFL game sells out
Published Friday March 26th, 2010
Only remaining tickets available through minor football leagues, bus tours, contests
A1By Eric Lewis
Times & Transcript Staff
Stumble Upondel.icio.usDiggFacebookPrintEmail5 Comment(s)Metro Moncton has scored another touchdown.

In just 32 hours, the public sale of tickets to the Canadian Football League's ScotiaBank Touchdown Atlantic game in Moncton on Sunday, Sept. 26 has sold out.

The only tickets remaining for the game between the Toronto Argonauts and the Edmonton Eskimos are being sold through minor football leagues in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island and bus tours coming from Fredericton, Saint John, Halifax and Charlottetown.

The league announced the sellout at 6 p.m. last night, at which time CFL commissioner Mark Cohon called the Times & Transcript to share the good news.

"The fact that it sold out so quickly is a testament to the strength of the CFL, but more importantly the passion that people have in Atlantic Canada for our game and for our league," Cohon says.

More than 13,000 tickets sold out in a one-day pre-sale online at www.CFL.ca/TouchdownAtlantic on Wednesday.

Another 5,000 or so sold throughout the day yesterday.

Jamie Dykstra, manager of communications for the CFL, says over 18,000 tickets are sold and the game's total capacity is 20,693.

Cohon says it was important for the league to make an effort to help out minor football in the Maritimes, so an allotment of tickets has been given to teams in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

"One of the commitments that we made when we said we were coming out there was we would leave money in the community to help on legacy programs, and that's one piece of it," he says.

Teams can use the tickets for fundraisers in the community.

At the same time, another allotment was left to bus tours from Fredericton, Saint John, Halifax and Charlottetown.

"Part of our commitment to this effort was to make sure that we bring people into Moncton as well," he says.

Fans interested in one of those bus packages can contact Sports and Entertainment Atlantic by calling 1-902-444-3773 or visiting www.seatlantic.ca

Lastly, a few tickets remain for contests that the CFL will unveil in the coming weeks. Cohon says the league is ecstatic over the early success of the CFL in Atlantic Canada.

"We're extremely excited for the opportunity, and we hope that this can turn into, eventually, a multi-year commitment," he says. "I think the fact that ticket sales have gone so well, that we've been able to land corporate sponsorship like ScotiaBank, is an indication that we'd like to go back to the government and try and get them to support this on an ongoing basis."

Asked what the quick sellout might mean for the possibility of a CFL team in Moncton, Cohon says the league will "walk before we run."

"One game does not make a season, but I think we're going to continue to methodically build that fanbase, that we get the corporate support, that the government gets behind us, and we'll see where it takes us."

Ian Fowler, Moncton's general manager of Recreation, Parks and Culture, also mentioned the possibility of a franchise team in the region down the road.

"There was no question in our mind that Atlantic Canadians were going to respond in a very positive manner (to Touchdown Atlantic), but this clearly demonstrates the interest in the Canadian Football League in Atlantic Canada, and certainly sends a strong message to the league about the interest for further advancement of the league in our region, be it through further regular season games and a potential franchise."

Fowler says Moncton has a good string of success going in terms of big events like concerts and sporting events.

"It certainly speaks well of our location, the regional drawing power that we bring that we continue to preach, it speaks well of the infrastructure we're developing, and I also hope it speaks well to the relationship that we're building with promoters and event rights holders, that the word is spreading throughout Canada that Moncton is a good place to do business from an event perspective."

Fowler says the sellout of the game now brings the focus to the weekend-long festival surrounding the Touchdown Atlantic game, but few details of the festival were available yesterday.

He says a number of food and beverage kiosks will be available on site during game day, but he said contractual arrangements relating to those are still being worked on.

Fowler says there will be a public transportation element as well, but work on that element of the event hasn't started just yet.

A flurry of football activities are planned, including the Scotiabank Gala dinner on Saturday, Sept. 25. The weekend will feature Atlantic Canadian entertainment, refreshments, and high school and university level football games, culminating with the CFL game on Sunday afternoon at the Stade Moncton 2010 Stadium on the Université de Moncton campus.