Canada bidding for 2013 world championship

[i love to skate]

Well I am glad that Worlds are going to be in Canada but less than thrilled that it will be in London. London is hard to fly into and isn't the arena pretty tiny to be holding Worlds?? :confused: I have feeling it will be very hard to get tickets...

Just a comment about Winnipeg......they have yet to host any major Figure Skating competitions in the new arena. That includes Skate Canada and Canadians. As a matter of fact, they did not even put in a bid for Canadians for next year so how interested are they in proving that they have a good facility for such an event?

The MTS Centre is a 15,000 seat arena that is less than ten years old and one of the busiest arenas in North America! How would that not be a suitable facility??

[Aaron W]

Virtue & Moir are from the London area. Being able to compete at a World Championships in their "home" city of London might be rather enticing for not only them, but also for Skate Canada to be able to provide them that type of opportunity. Though that's not to say London didn't earn this opportunity... just that it could have been one of many factors in Skate Canada's decision.

[Winnipeg]

Obviously, disappointed it is not in Winnipeg :(:(

It is well suited to holding such an event from both participants and attendees perspectives..................:(:(

[snobben2345]

Is the ISU nuts?

Worst possible choice for the FS fan base that travels to attend events. London is a bit out of the way, with very limited hotel space near the arena.All of that will be taken up by the ISU and national federations. And FYI not everyone wants to stay in a B&B.

The John Labatt Centre is a nice arena, but very small for Worlds.

Sounds like SC is assuming that V/M will still be competing by then, and that local base support will sell the place out. If so, tickets will be expensive and hard to get.

[pat c]

It must have come in with a lower bid than Winnipeg. I too am disappointed that Winnipeg didn't get the bid. But London is close to the US border, Detroit is only 3 hours away? Huge fan base coming in from that area.

[Bailey_]

I am so not happy with this announcement. I was really hoping that it would be Winnipeg. This is such a bummer...

[Rafter]

Is the ISU nuts?

Worst possible choice for the FS fan base that travels to attend events.

Are you kidding? A Worlds in London will sell-out probably just from fans in London and the SWO area alone.

[WildRose]

Personally I would have preferred Winnipeg because it's so much easier to get to, but I think it's a good call to put it in London where support is so strong because of Virtue & Moir and I expect that had a lot to do with the decision.:) Edmonton got Worlds in 1996 because of the legacy left by Kurt Browning, and it was a huge success - I'm sure London will be too.

[i love to skate]

Are you kidding? A Worlds in London will sell-out probably just from fans in London and the SWO area alone.

I think that poster meant that it is a poor choice for people who fly into cities to watch events. Flying into London is not very easy as it is not a major hub. One would think that Worlds would be held in a city that at least had easy air access...

It is even difficult in Canada beacuse for a lot of places, there is only one flight a day (and often at random times)...

[Bailey_]

Having been to nationals this past year, I will agree that it is not easy to travel to London.

And, considering that so many events have been held in London these past few years, I have to say that I was disappointed in the arena. It is really small and old compared to the new arena in Winnipeg. This is the world championship before the next Olympic Games - why limit yourself to such a small arena that as others have said, could probably sell out just by the support of southern Ontario alone.

It just doesn't make much sense to me. Something must have been really wrong with the bid from Winnipeg not to choose a new arena, downtown near shopping and hotels, a new airport, etc... Nevermind the fact that Winnipeg has hosted two major events since the 1970's - London has had two national championships in the past five years. Doesn't seem very fair that there was interest from Winnipeg and they were not chosen. I'm still tremendously disappointed in the decision.

[Michael O'C]

Hopefully, I will be able to make it there.

[Ina_Bauer]

Have you tried to get a flight into or out of Winnipeg lately??? Not much choice of direct flights - most go through Toronto inthe East ......and both Air Canada and Westjet have limited service compared with flying into Toronto .. Remember London is just a couple of hours of highway driving to London, and every airline flies into Toronto from every country in the ISU world's. Getting to Winnipeg would have been a logistical nightmare for Skate Canada as every passenger/coach/competitior/judge would have to fly through Toronto or Montreal or Vancouver - in order to get to Winnipeg.

Sure London has some direct flights on Westjet - but at least Air Canada also flies the 15 minutes from Pearson to London airport as well if people don't want to bus it.

Just reread the previous post about Winnipeg and it's new airport. I've been through there recently and that is not a BIG airport. The lineup at Tim Horton's is usually so long that you can't get a coffee while waiting for connections. Compared to Pearson in Toronto (which has every store you can imagine), with a hotel attached and practically brand new, huge terminals......poor Winnipeg doesn't have a chance.

[kimkom]

I just checked Westjet's website and they don't show a flight from Toronto to London. The new Porter Airlines doesn't either. Seems if you want to fly into London, it's Air Canada only.

[i love to skate]

Getting to Winnipeg would have been a logistical nightmare for Skate Canada as every passenger/coach/competitior/judge would have to fly through Toronto or Montreal or Vancouver - in order to get to Winnipeg.

How is this any different then having every passenger/coach/competitior/and
judge fly into Toronto or Montreal to catch a connection to get to London?? Seems like the exact same thing to me...

As for flying into or out of Winnipeg from other places in Canada, there are direct flights from every major hub and many smaller cities.


Just reread the previous post about Winnipeg and it's new airport. I've been through there recently and that is not a BIG airport. The lineup at Tim Horton's is usually so long that you can't get a coffee while waiting for connections. Compared to Pearson in Toronto (which has every store you can imagine), with a hotel attached and practically brand new, huge terminals......poor Winnipeg doesn't have a chance.

Why are you comparing Pearson airport to Winnipeg's airport that was built in the 1960's? :confused: The new Winnipeg airport is slated to open soon and it will be gorgeous. Seems a non issue as the old airport would be a distant memory in 2013...

[Alixana]

Everyone has their own opinion about how difficult (or not) London is to get to, parking, hotels, etc. Not gonna argue about that (even though in my 30 years working from London and travelling all over Canada, I always found direct flights or flights with one stopover. Nuff said about that.)

But I will take issue with calling the arena "old". It opened in 2002, almost exactly 2 years before the MTS Centre in Winnipeg. That don't make it old. (Can you tell I'm offended?? :lol:)