Montreal Wins Skate Canada's Bid for 2020 Worlds

[quartz]

Many locations in Canada don't get "regular winter storms" either in March. Are you trying to tell me that it's totally impossible for there ever to be any snow anywhere in Europe or Japan in March? Or rain, hail, wind, etc.? Is there not ever inclement weather in March in all of Europe or all of Japan?
Wasn't there a huge wind storm March 2015 in Germany and other countries that killed people?

 

[allezfred]

Is there not ever inclement weather in March in all of Europe or all of Japan?

All of Europe stretches from Cyprus to Iceland. The Japanese archipelago is the length of the eastern seaboard of the United States. So, no.

 

[barbarafan]

Great discussion. Yeah, I would factor out Vancouver/Thunderbird.
I would honestly rule out any arena with an NHL team in it for two reasons. First is, it would be too expensive to secure the arena and displace the team and second even with top closed off the relatively cavernous atmosphere just may not be to SC's liking.

Moncton. Interesting. I could see Halifax getting it before them but who knows. Don't they already have a pretty big arena? I wonder why building another one....?

I would rule out Kingston and old Maple Leaf Gardens. Way too small. Also, I went to Nats in Kingston and I have to say it's one of the more dismal arenas I have ever been in. Horrible atmosphere.
Also I don't think Quebec as an entire province has an arena in the 7-10K size. Strange but maybe true.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centre_Bell
capacity 21,000 in mtl-restaurants 2 metro stations and the train station


While Halifax and Ottawa will always be the usual suspects, I'm going to call out Regina, Kitchener and Victoria as legit dark horses to get one of the 2 big international events coming up.

Not much discussion about Regina. Brandt Centre is over 6K in capacity...and it's part of the Megaplex Evraz Place with all sorts of facilities including practice rinks.

 

[barbarafan]

sorry did that wrong
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centre_Bell

 

[kalamalka]

I think Victoria would be a great place for the GPF (aside from the arena being a 20 minute walk from my house ). The arena is a good size for GPF, and it's hosted both SC (2006) and Canadians (2011). The arena's on the edge of downtown, but walking distance from most hotels and with a lot of restaurants within a 10 minute walk. There's even a public market with interesting food outlets now a block away. And while the airport's small, there are direct flights from Toronto and San Francisco, as well as frequent service from Vancouver and Seattle (both less than a half hour flight away). Not to mention that we are one of the locations in Canada that doesn't get "regular winter storms" - not in December, nor in March (our spring starts in February), nor any time in between. Our storms are more likely to involve rain and/or wind.

Does anyone here have experience with SC local organizing committees and bid preparation? I don't know how the two previous recent major events were organized, and I'm not involved with a club, but this is one volunteer project I'd be happy to work on, and I've done a lot of other sorts of proposal-writing and reviewing . .. .

 

[googooeyes]

London technically has an "international" airport but most of the flights are fairly local. Most jet flights are from Toronto or Ottawa. The international flights go into Toronto and then you could catch a short hop flight, a train or a bus. It's only a 1 1/2 hour drive. The facility in London is really good. Hamilton has the same thing, a small airport served by the big one at Toronto. Kingston, Toronto, Hamilton, Kitchener and London are all fairly close in a line along the major highway called 401 through Ontario. Pearson airport at Toronto serves them all.

 

[kwanfan1818]

I always thought that the US, Canada, and Japan could ask for Worlds and then figure out where, within the ISU guidelines.

 

[Karpenko]

Whatever location/venue that would be available, directly north of California, I'm all for it. Yes for BC and Saskatchewan!

 

[Parsley Sage]

What about Place Bell, the new 10,000 seat arena being built in Laval outside of Montreal

https://www.laval.ca/Pages/En/Business/place-bell-and-cite-de-la-culture-et-du-sport.aspx
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_Bell_(Laval,_Quebec)

 

[Lara]

I hadn't heard of that planned arena - it'd be a relatively long metro ride to Montmorency (it's the end station of the line), but extremely accessible from downtown. Google shows some college campuses next to the station, and a major shopping area within walking distance (with Tim Hortons and Thai/sushi/Chinese fast food).

Boisbriand is far enough away that it doesn't even use Montreal's public transit system and would certainly be less preferable for most FSUers unfortunately. It's probably analogous to Hoffmann Estates as not being really Chicago.

 

[Rock2]

Yay for Laval. About time a mid-sized arena opened up in the province of Quebec. Target date is 2017?

Yes I'd definitely throw that into the mix.

 

[BittyBug]

Why is Skate Canada looking for such a small arena?

 

[Lara]

I'm really seriously happy to hear about Place Bell the more I think about it - even if Worlds doesn't happen it could mean finally getting Skate Canada/GPF and Canadian Nats. Even living in the suburbs, I'd just have to take one bus (or commuter train if the schedule allows) and one metro to get there, which isn't bad. Pretty much everything connects to the orange metro line.

 

[overedge]

Here is the proposal that USFS submitted to the ISU in its bid for 2016 worlds. The proposal (according to the document, anyway) meets the ISU requirements for submitting a bid to host.

http://www.usfsa.org/content/events...ionships/2016 isu world championships rfp.pdf

From the document:

The ISU World Figure Skating Championships [2016] are the sole property of the International Skating Union (ISU) and are awarded annually to an ISU Member nation in a competitive bid process that is open to all ISU members worldwide.

And:

The proposed host organization may be defined as a Facility Management Group, Independent Promoter, Convention and Visitors Bureau, Sports Commission, U.S. Figure Skating member club or any combination of these organizations.

So SC - or any federation making a bid - not only has to find a location. It also has to find an organization to host. And that may result in a location that is less than optimal in terms of hotels, airports, shuttles, etc., if there is no group willing to host in a "better" location.

 

[Rock2]

Why is Skate Canada looking for such a small arena?

My guess is that there isn't the belief that any market can fill an arena that's much bigger.

Smaller arena creates better atmosphere when it looks full and also keeps ticket prices/net revenue up if there is a perception of limited supply.

 

[clairecloutier]

My guess is that there isn't the belief that any market can fill an arena that's much bigger.

Smaller arena creates better atmosphere when it looks full and also keeps ticket prices/net revenue up if there is a perception of limited supply.

Great ... As a fan, just love the idea of ticket prices getting (artificially?) jacked up due to imposed scarcity.

 

[Rock2]

Great ... As a fan, just love the idea of ticket prices getting (artificially?) jacked up due to imposed scarcity.

The other way to look at it is that prices are held at market value vs being dumped for money-losing discounts because of empty seats. It's a sound business strategy to ensure the event is profitable. Otherwise, no reason to bid for the event if you can't command prices for tickets that make it worth your while. That strategy applies to more product categories than I can possibly list here.

I don't look at it as price gouging.

 

[clairecloutier]

The other way to look at it is that prices are held at market value vs being dumped for money-losing discounts because of empty seats. It's a sound business strategy to ensure the event is profitable. Otherwise, no reason to bid for the event if you can't command prices for tickets that make it worth your while. That strategy applies to more product categories than I can possibly list here.

Or you can put some time/effort/money into marketing and actually sell most of your available seats, like Boston did.

Do Worlds tickets typically get sold at discount due to lack of interest? I have no idea about this.

 

[Rock2]

I think anything would sell at a discount if there is lots of inventory out there.

Curious: if a ticket costs $100, does it really make a difference if you fill up a 10K seat arena full of interested parties at that price or if at the same price you filled up an arena of 16K people comprised of 10K truly interested parties plus 6K people who have a generally take-it-or-leave-it mentality about skating but went because they were marketed heavily to?

From my standpoint it wouldn't matter as I'd be going regardless.

Having said that you raise a fair point about marketing and yeah, much more could be done I think to raise the level of interest in the sport among the more casual fans.

Skate Canada seems to be in a tough position, with lots to lose if it investment spends on marketing and it doesn't pan out. Would result in more cuts and other things in business that we do refer to as a death spiral. I can't speak for them but until they find more secure revenue sources (sponsors, etc) they might out of necessity need to take a more cautious approach.

 

[overedge]

Or you can put some time/effort/money into marketing and actually sell most of your available seats, like Boston did.

Do Worlds tickets typically get sold at discount due to lack of interest? I have no idea about this.

IIRC at some Worlds (and other international events) there have been things like blocks of practice tickets being sold at a discount to schools and other groups. But I can't ever recall tickets to the competitive events being discounted, even when the event wasn't sold out.

I'm guessing that the I$U and/or the local organizing committee(s) don't want to sell discounted tickets to "regular" customers, because they want to fill up the arena as much as possible at full price. If people knew there were discounted tickets on sale at the last minute - especially if they were casual fans - they might wait and try to get those tickets rather than paying full price earlier on.

I agree with you that marketing the event well in advance and marketing it smartly, like Boston did, is a great idea.

 

[my little pony]

All of Europe stretches from Cyprus to Iceland. The Japanese archipelago is the length of the eastern seaboard of the United States. So, no.

i will be first in line to buy tickets for nicosia worlds!

 

[Aaron W]

The West Coast events have been fun. They usually conclude earlier in the evening so that events can be broadcast live in the East and finish by 11 pm. Having competition wrap up by 8 pm each day allows plenty of time for drinking in the bars each night.

 

[quartz]

The West Coast events have been fun. They usually conclude earlier in the evening so that events can be broadcast live in the East and finish by 11 pm. Having competition wrap up by 8 pm each day allows plenty of time for drinking in the bars each night.

That works for me.

 

[Sylvia]

Probably deserves it's own thread, but they've also just announced they are looking for host cities to bid for the 2018 GPF.

Link is: https://skatecanada.ca/2016/06/skat...-isu-grand-prix-of-figure-skating-final-2018/

Skate Canada is requesting host city proposals for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final ® 2018. Skate Canada is focused on acquiring a host city with strong partners across all aspects of the event that will work with Skate Canada to deliver an outstanding event and inspire Canadians to embrace the joy of skating. Potential candidate cities can find the official RFP information here. A Canadian host city bid will be selected in November 2016.

 

[manhn]

November 2016? Loving the advanced notice!

 

[snoopysnake]

Does anyone have any more recent info on what Canadian city is bidding for 2020, what other cities/countries are bidding, and when the ISU will announce the host city?

 

[Flora]

Edmonton should bid for this! We have a brand new beautiful arena with new hotels going up all around. I know 1996 was over 20 years ago but that event was extremely successful if I remember correctly.

 

[quartz]

I'd be cool with that!

 

[lexeoe]

how i wish SC is bidding for 2021 instead of 2020.

 

[Cant Skate]

Edmonton should bid for this! We have a brand new beautiful arena with new hotels going up all around. I know 1996 was over 20 years ago but that event was extremely successful if I remember correctly.

I think Roger's Place far exceeds the capacity they are looking for I would be all over volunteering if it was held here though!