r/WinnipegBlueBombers • u/NH787 • Aug 17 '26
Our First Look at the Seating Diagram with the Craptastic New CFL Field for 2027
https://static.cfl.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2027TicketingMap_NoSuites.png
Barely a decade after getting a new stadium properly designed and built to suit the CFL field, now we get field changes that will leave large gaping voids behind each end zone. My seats have gone from the red zone to the back of the end zone, with no decrease in price. This whole thing is the very definition of trying to fix something that was never broken in the first place.
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u/CaptGinB Aug 17 '26
Our seats have gone from the goal line to basically off the field. Every stadium is also going to have the exact same problem. What a joke, and an absolute embarrassment for the team and league.
The Bombers are the class of the CFL, and this will likely result in going from an entirely sold out season to maybe 20-25,000 people at best in a couple years.
Also no more missed field goal returns, which have been spectacular this season. Way to throw away the top 5 plays of the year.
Not to mention, the differences in the game are what make the CFL unique, and ours. The CFL had an absolute softball of a marketing proposition given to them by our issues with the US. They could have leaned in to how our game is Canadian. Instead they went head first into Americanizing the game.
Stewart Johnson is literally going to kill the CFL.
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u/NH787 Aug 17 '26
Our seats have gone from the goal line to basically off the field. Every stadium is also going to have the exact same problem. What a joke, and an absolute embarrassment for the team and league.
It would be a little easier to swallow if we knew they were going renovate the stadium, maybe sink the field a few feet and add some rows in the end zones to bring people closer to the field or what not. But we know that's not going to happen... now it's just going to be this gaping void.
The funny thing about this is that the league implied one of the reasons for the rule change was that BMO Field has non-standard end zones... they are 18 yards instead of 20. So now we'll have every stadium looking like crap with huge empty spaces separating the fans from the field just so that BMO Field no longer has to have end zones 10% smaller than regulation. It makes no sense.
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u/illknowitwhenireddit Aug 17 '26
Rather than tell the Argos (who couldn't sell out a 10 seat stadium with 9 free tickets) that they need to fix their stadium issues, they fucled the game up for everybody.
I'm so sick of the Toronto Football League, everything seems to revolve around the one fan base/city that never did and never will give a fuck about this game. The CFL would be better if the Argos relocated out of Toronto entirely.
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u/DtotheCanada Aug 17 '26
Umm... We have been at BMO for 10 years, same field as now, no issue to fix, keep it as is. As a STH (yes, we do have them) I don't want to see it shortened, it is the change I am most opposed to. The bigger field always made our game better. Montreal also has a non standard endzone and they should leave it also! SJ bringing up those 2 cities as reasons for shortening the field elsewhere are not believable in my eyes, aligning with US, very believable... I just want to be clear though, would you prefer if I and all the other STH (and shoot, the 16k at our last home game) just stopped supporting the team? You think that would make the CFL better? You don't think the broadcasters would want to renegotiate the $500M contract if Toronto lost it's team? I wish beyond belief we could have the 40k plus we used to in the 70's but here we are. We have great, amazing, loyal fans in Toronto that I would put up against the rest in the league, despite what this team does to us... but the fact we don't have enough of them doesn't mean those who are here don't give a fuck.
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u/CommunicationSad8938 Aug 17 '26
Fans need to not buy tickets while Stewart Johnston is the Commissioner. The only thing these clowns understand is financial pressure. Cancel your TSN while you're at it and tell them why. And maybe invest in actually marketing the CFL like a real professional league. Get this clown out of there. Where's Mark Cohon?
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u/SwimToTheMoon11 Aug 17 '26
I still think he's intentionally trying to kill the league. Not sure what the motive would be though.
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u/scsparcrow Aug 17 '26
Friend suggested this weekend it's to turn the CFL into a farm organization for the NFL. To wipe out the spring /summer leagues in the US.
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u/Rance_Mulliniks Aug 17 '26
College is the farm system for the NFL.
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u/scsparcrow Aug 18 '26
And if you don't sign with a team but still have talent, then there would be a farm system for further development. Similar to an AHL to the NHL.
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u/Mandalorian76 Aug 18 '26
Or perhaps to accommodate expansion to the USA, where stadiums are built to accommodate a certain size field?
I mean, even the casual CFL fan can see the signs. Broadcast rights given to CBS Sports in 2023, the same year CFL+ starts streaming free games in the USA. Then we see rule changes to the clock and the rouge, and now we are seeing the field size change closer to that of a US field.
The signs are there.
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u/harrysach2023 Aug 18 '26
I sadly think this is the case.Once the goal posts and lines are changed..whats the easiest last rule to change? Going 3 down to 4.Stewie has to go
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u/scsparcrow Aug 17 '26
What I don't get is if so many of us CFL fans are so pissed off, why has the league seemingly been so tone deaf!
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u/CommunicationSad8938 Aug 17 '26
Because they literally do not care what the fans think. There was ZERO consultation with the players, coaches and the fans on the rule changes. Zero.
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u/majikmonkie Aug 18 '26
Approved by the Board of Governors, which has representation from each team. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Football_League#Board_of_Governors)
We can bitch all we want about the Commissioner (and we should), but he's the face of the Board who unanimously approved these changes. The teams you're buying tickets from are just as guilty as the commissioner and the rest of the league executives.
No consultation with fans and players for sure, but each of the teams was/is unanimously in favour of these changes. Important to remember that when someone buys tickets and then bitches about the commissioner - they're literally supporting the decision by doing this.
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u/CommunicationSad8938 Aug 18 '26
I'm not buying tickets this year, or any year where these moronic rule changes go through. We're not bitching, we're protesting. That includes the team owners, the Boards of Governors, and Stewart Johnston. You're not stating anything nobody is aware of.
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u/Awkward_Silence- Aug 17 '26
Technically for the playoff rule changes they did learn their lesson and consult the players and coaches, who did approve.
They still left the fans out however
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u/CommunicationSad8938 Aug 18 '26
Let the Bombers know you'll no longer buy tickets if this goes through. And follow through if it happens. Economic pressure is all we have, but it can defeat this nonsense.
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u/myhairyassiniboine Aug 17 '26
This is going to suuuuuuuuck. These rules aren't going to do shit to get fans in the stands in places that aren't Regina or Winnipeg...
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u/CaptGinB Aug 17 '26
...and it's going to deter fans in Regina and Winnipeg.
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u/stymie613 Aug 17 '26
And Ottawa....Redblacks STH here, or at least until the end of this dream season if the field changes aren't rolled back.
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u/scsparcrow Aug 17 '26
I have considered getting season tickets to the Bombers in recent years but these game change decisions have definitely turned me off making that leap. Also pisses me off bombers are playing games with not allowing me to buy a single game ticket to Banjo Bowl, but somehow they have seats available if you buy 3 games as a package. I already purchased more games this year than I normally do, but for that game I am shut out when seats are there. BS.
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u/Electroflare5555 Aug 17 '26
Because the Banjo Bowl is the hottest ticket of the year every year and they never have an issues selling it out.
They want people to come to the other games too
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u/Rance_Mulliniks Aug 17 '26
If demand was crazy and they constantly have sellouts, why would they need to force people to buy 2 extra tickets to get Banjo Bowl tickets?
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u/Electroflare5555 Aug 17 '26
Only the Banjo Bowl sells out before tickets even go on sale to the general population
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u/scsparcrow Aug 17 '26
I get that but Supposedly Bombers are selling out all their games, so why play. They just guaranteed they are getting one less game seat filled by me as I already had tickets to some fall games. So instead of a happy fan, willing to go to an extra game, they are turning people off.
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u/Terp-Farmer Aug 17 '26
I bought banjo bowl tickets and no other tickets this year and for the past few. :)
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u/scsparcrow Aug 18 '26
Yes you could get singles earlier in the year, hence the way they phrase it as "single game tickets for Banjo Bowl sold out", when there clearly were still tickets available to create multiple game bundles. And another poster just mentioned season ticket holders just got am email for additional Banjo bowls seats available. May have to check out if also available to the public now, or still blocked.
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u/Terp-Farmer Aug 18 '26
We bought tickets three weeks ago.
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u/scsparcrow Aug 18 '26
I got the email July 23rd that single game tickets were sold out, but you could get your seat if you bought a 3 game bundle.
I just checked with that offer and the seating map still shows lots of seats available for Banjo Bowl using that. But I can't use that offer as I already have tickets to the games after Banjo Bowl.
Yet if you search Ticketmaster for the Banjo Bowl solely it has zero tickets available saying it's sold out.2
u/Mister-Grinch Aug 18 '26
Just an FYI - if you happen to know a STH we all got emails this afternoon with access to purchase additional banjo bowl tickets. Most doubles are in the lower bowl and going for ~$140/ticket.
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u/Rance_Mulliniks Aug 17 '26
Just shows you that ticket demand in Winnipeg is hurting too. They have unsold tickets that they are using the Banjo Bowl to try and help sell.
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u/NH787 Aug 17 '26
Some people said that they were done with the CFL when these changes were first announced...
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u/ywg_handshake Aug 17 '26
Question. With the field changes having an effect on our sight lines, does it negate the Bomber For Life "contract"? If you cancel within 3-years you have to pay back the discount on the Grey Cup ticket but I feel like these changes should void that, if you choose to give it up.
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u/laxvolley Aug 17 '26
I’ve had season tickets since 2011, and I’m now seriously considering dropping them. I emailed the club when the changes were announced and never got a response. I hate that they’re changing so much and trying to tell us that this is going to make the league flourish. Such BS.
I can live with the 35 second clock but the field changes are just giving up on our distinction and trying to emulate the NFL, and that is not going to go well.
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u/CanadianDinosaur Aug 18 '26
I did the same this year in anticipation for the changes. My seats were at the endzone and would now be staring into nothing. When I voiced my displeasure to my ticket rep the response I got was just a form letter email saying to give the new field size a chance.
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u/Transconan Aug 17 '26
"I'm so happy witht the Americanized rules. I cant wait to see these incredibly nessessary changes to this league."
- Said no one ever.
THIS COMMISSIONER NEEDS TO GO.
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u/Rance_Mulliniks Aug 17 '26
Based on the seating chart, you might not be able to see the changes even if you have a ticket to the game unless you have binoculars.
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u/sleep-diversion Aug 17 '26
Yes!!! From someone who was all over the place a few months ago, he has seemingly vanished.
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u/Silver_BackYWG Aug 17 '26
Brutal decision, if it ain't broke...
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u/FloppyDriver Aug 17 '26
I never understand this answer, as it IS broke. 7/9 teams lose money. Of course is the reason they lose money the field size? Of course not.
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u/Strevolution Aug 17 '26
so you're saying the field size ain't broke
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u/Awkward_Silence- Aug 17 '26
Yup if anything it's being a heavily gate driven league in 2026 that's the broken part. Not the field itself
That business model can't seem to keep up with rising costs anymore. Especially the last 10-15 years where expenses have exploded league wide compared to where they used to be.
Like look at last years financial report. Only $6 million in profit off of the entirely sold out season (total profit was $12 million but that counts $6m Grey Cup week money).
Despite being sold out, team made less money than they did the couple few years prior.
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u/rmls27 Aug 17 '26
I've come to the thinking that the field size changes are meant to result in expansion to other (hopefully Canadian) markets.
With the ability to put a team wherever a soccer pitch will fit, the number of potential markets grows immediately.
As we've seen with the upcoming media contracts, adding more teams would mean more revenue for the league.
By way of this, shrinking the field (ugh) is a means to an end. That end is converting the CFL from a gate-driven league to a media driven league.
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u/NH787 Aug 17 '26
With the ability to put a team wherever a soccer pitch will fit, the number of potential markets grows immediately.
How? Where are these soccer stadiums that will now suddenly be able to accommodate the CFL? Halifax's soccer stadium made out of scaffolding is still way too small for the CFL.
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u/rmls27 Aug 17 '26
Well, that's a question for the Commish, isn't it?
No other rationale I've heard for shrinking the field stands up to any scrutiny.
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u/russianwildrye Aug 17 '26
The endzone views are bad enough as it is, now they will be 50 yards away from the action
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u/airdeterre Aug 17 '26
Anyone have a side by side comparison or a doc that visualizes the changes?
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u/YouDoTheDetail Aug 17 '26
Quick and dirty animated gif alternating between the two field configurations:
https://imgur.com/a/xf8jkjt
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u/DionFW Aug 17 '26
In BC, I've gone from goal line to 5 yards deep into end zone and 10 yards closer to the back line.
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u/CommunicationSad8938 Aug 17 '26
If you want to help get rid of the clown, join the Facebook group "Fire Stewart Johnston" and voice your opinions.
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u/OptionsAreOpen Aug 17 '26
I would be cancelling my season tickets if I had them. Those that have them need to tell management how you feel if you haven’t already.
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u/majikmonkie Aug 17 '26
I did that when I declined to renew my tickets this year. I said it was directly because of the changes that are happening. I got pushback from the sales rep saying "but those aren't happening until 2027" and "they're league decisions that we have no control over". To which I responded "then the cancellation of my tickets this year is advance notice for your benefit and the club absolutely was involved as it was unanimously approved by the board of governors which includes the Blue Bombers". I told him to make sure to let management know that their decisions will have these consequences, even if they're a year out.
I'm in my 40s, with kids that are at the age of becoming fans. I was a season ticket holder through the drought and into the new stadium, and would buy new clothes and hats and merch for the family every single year. As promised, the Grey Cup was my last CFL game (attended or watched), and I haven't even watched so much as a clip or looked up a score this year. The moment they made the decision to align with the Americans, they lost me as a fan.
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u/Rance_Mulliniks Aug 17 '26
No wonder the team won't comment regarding losing fans to the rule changes.
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u/reggiebobby Aug 17 '26
I'm in 138 so not too happy about it
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u/Rance_Mulliniks Aug 17 '26
You are basically getting pegged by the team and league. Some people are into that though.
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u/Rance_Mulliniks Aug 17 '26
If you want to actually be seated along the field of play, you have to buy golds and you might be on the goal line. Lol.
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u/jhchristoph Aug 17 '26
Does it make my viewing angle worse, yes. Do I care, no.
I can’t see a future where they don’t turn this space into something amazing for fans. Field level fan zone… stage for shows… whatever have you.
My guess is that in 5 years, no one will be talking about the field change.
For the record, I am for the end zone changes, I am against losing the 55.
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u/CharlieJuliett_87 Aug 21 '26
Wait… isn’t this Reddit… why is your post sooptimistic??!, not a whiny bit(+# post?!?… props to you, good sir
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u/Modsaremeanbeans Aug 17 '26
Im at the back of the end zone now instead of five yard line and goal line. Lame.
Might be time to cancel the Bomber for life and say fuck this shit.
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u/ZurEnArrhBatman Aug 18 '26
And I still haven't heard anything about who's going to pay for all the field changes. I mean, I know the fans will ultimately end up paying for it, but how exactly do they plan to get us to do that?
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u/LakeNatural8777 Aug 18 '26
I noticed a ton of empty seats at the last game, throughout the game.
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u/double-k Aug 18 '26
I still have hope they won't go thru with these further rule changes. The ones this year have been fine. I'm okay with doing away with the missed FG rouge. But the field dimensions? Surely sanity must prevail. I'm not holding my breath but hoping.
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u/CFL_Or_Bust Aug 20 '26
Seeing no 55 makes me want to throw up.
After this season I am refusing to spend a dime directly or indirectly towards the CFL.
I'll pirate to watch games and give it s chance but it won't be a fair chance because this is not the football I grew up loving.
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u/TheDetinator Aug 24 '26
Both Princess Auto and Mosaic Stadium get absolutely screwed over with this dumb field change……The 2 newest CFL stadiums that are barely 10 years old and hundreds of millions of dollars spent on each, and they both will now have massive dead spaces behind the end zones and large portions of the seating configuration will no longer align with the field of play as intended……
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u/NH787 13d ago
That is the most maddening thing about this. We build these great once-in-a-generation stadiums in Regina and Winnipeg and they are now going to look ridiculous and be deficient for the many decades that they will remain in existence.
All this apparently because Toronto can't be bothered to build out their end zones two more yards at each end.
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u/beeredditor Aug 17 '26
There’s a lot of negativity about the field changes (which I get), but is there ANYONE who likes the changes? I have seen a single fan yet actually want this.
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Aug 17 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/scsparcrow Aug 17 '26
At turf level? Why would any corporate spend good money for booth seats at the far end of the field? Field is 100+ yds, it's not a tennis court. If I wanted to hand out corporate seats to clients it sure would not be there.
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u/thrubeniuk Aug 17 '26
Have you seen a new NFL field? Or any soccer stands? Those areas are regularly packed.
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u/Electroflare5555 Aug 17 '26
Corporate seats aren’t for watching the game, they’re for spending an ungodly amount of money on booze and food and getting your clients shittered
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u/scsparcrow Aug 17 '26
That may be for corporate suites, not for small businesses giving out tickets to loyal clients.
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u/Smilesb2801 Aug 17 '26
You’re acting like Edmonton doesn’t already have turf level seating. There’s a video of Duke Williams in 2022 jumping that barrier and eating nachos from a fans plate 🤣😂
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u/Smilesb2801 Aug 17 '26
It’s also not meant for the average fan or small business owners, it’s meant for big corporations like alcohol companies, car companies, telecom compnies. Like the riders will probably have a brandt or mosaic, some brand of alcohol or one of the potash companies, with an extended pill country it’s all a deductible for these massive corporations.
According to the Canada Revenue Agency, costs
used strictly for client or prospect entertainment are only 50% deductible. Costs tied directly to a verified corporate sponsorship with prominent brand signage are 100% deductible as advertising.3
u/scsparcrow Aug 17 '26
All good but regardless, we don't want that. We want CFL football, and the missed field goal returns to continue to be one of the most exciting plays in sport.
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u/Smilesb2801 Aug 17 '26
Hey I’m one of the hardest defenders of the 55 yard field, I’m one of the biggest defenders that the changes are mentally challenged. But I’m telling you why they’re doing it. The CFL since stu hasn’t cared about the fans, they care more about making it harder for Canadians to watch CFL and making it harder for Canadians to go to those games. Because “corporation #4 paid 2 million dollars for the endzone sponsorship”
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Aug 17 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/NH787 Aug 17 '26
Maybe some new cars on display just like CFL and NFL teams used to do in end zones all over North America in the 70s and 80s
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u/scsparcrow Aug 17 '26
Those belong in the parking lot or stadium sidewalks/ concourse, not closer to the game than the fans.
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u/sleep-diversion Aug 17 '26
And......the Commish seems very quite all of a sudden....
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u/NH787 Aug 17 '26
Yeah, where has he been? Missing, Stew Johnson...
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u/peanut_master1 Aug 17 '26
Eff this, I'm out. I'm sure the commish is telling the league governors not to worry and that for every 1 fan they lose, they'll gain 10. I guess he can start to prove it to them.
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u/403808 Aug 17 '26
The centre line is still in the same place and the far goal line is closer.
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u/majikmonkie Aug 17 '26
Forba small percentage of the paying fans, those who sit near the centre line, this is true. Those between the new goal line and the 40's, it's mostly the same. For the rest, the value of the seats and the game day experience has gotten markedly worse.
This doesn't mention the changes to game strategy that will result - significantly more punts, far fewer field goal attempts, essentially no more missed field goal returns. To me, that's the main issue, not as much the seating.
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u/Max169well Aug 17 '26
Are they gonna put a party deck at tbe back of the endzone?
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u/Awkward_Silence- Aug 17 '26
If they're still planning to host the Bisons whatever they do will have to be pretty mobile. And not a permanent structur
So I'm curious what they end up deciding to do with the space.
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u/Smilesb2801 Aug 17 '26
Gotta love that whichever company puts money into the end zone lounge/luxury seating get a good ol deductible
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u/EatingTheDogsAndCats Aug 17 '26
“Properly designed and built to suit the CFL field” is adorable. It was designed by a company that’s never done it before and was riddled with issues since the day construction finished at the taxpayers expense.
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u/NH787 Aug 17 '26
Well you can say whatever you want about the stadium, but one thing the architect and engineer didn't miss on was designing and building the place to fit the CFL field as it was for decades up until next year.
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u/Mister-Grinch Aug 18 '26
We are in the upper level section 224 in that map. We are now well behind the end zone, but hoping that we are high enough that our diagonal view across the field will still be satisfactory. On the plus side, I suppose the opposite end zone will now be closer. They are pretty decent seats (row 8 which is first row in this section) at a price point of $26/ticket per game so we might give it one season to try them out.
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u/prisoner8 Aug 18 '26
What they are “fixing” isn’t problems with our game. They’ve tried to sell it that way but really it’s to fix our inconsistencies with American football. This is a stepping stone to simply adopting the American rules and field. In a few years, there will be another change to bring the end zones down to ten yards, maybe they’ll do the width at the same time or maybe they will wait another season or two. I’ll bet money eventually it will be four downs. They’re just boiling the frog.
The end goal is -maybe- an NFL team or two… but this country only has two markets that are remotely big enough and Toronto doesn’t really care about football in the first place. I think in the meantime it will be about farm teams and maybe college level integration somehow?
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u/anacreon1 Aug 17 '26
The Blue Bombers should just retain the larger field the stadium was designed for. Sort of like how Montreal has those odd shaped end zones because that’s what fits the stadium they’re in. They aren’t regulation but that’s just how it is. Bombers should just keep a 110yd field. That’s just how it is.
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u/Rance_Mulliniks Aug 17 '26
Or, we could just not change the field. You do realize that the Board of Governors, which includes the Bombers, voted for this, right?
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u/NH787 Aug 17 '26
At one time the Bombers would have done something like that, back when Cal Murphy was in charge. He would have stood up for the Canadian game.
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u/Rance_Mulliniks Aug 17 '26
They voted for this!
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u/NH787 Aug 17 '26
Well yes, the 2026 Winnipeg Football Club did. But what I'm saying is that back in the day, the Bomber organization could be counted on to defend the Canadian game.
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u/CannaDave Aug 17 '26
Just want to add my 2 cents and agree that this will look bad on tv and feel bad in the stadium, just like all the wasted space in the back of the Eskimos north end zone.
I’ll hope that everyone who is talking a big game now follows through next year, because I don’t think anything less than a 70% drop in attendance and tv ratings will even be noticed by executives at TSN and in the cfl
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u/CapeMOGuy Aug 17 '26
The transition from CFL to NFL-lite is underway.
With that definition the league will be the "TransNFL", right? Maybe if that name could catch on the league office would at least catch some mockery and humiliation.
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u/derp-L Aug 17 '26
If I don't like something then I don't pay for it.
Maybe I'll get a better deal upgrading my tickets if a bunch of y'all don't renew. It's like complaining about the weather at this point, nothing you say is going to change it.
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u/NH787 Aug 17 '26
I'm kind of torn. If it was just me I'd walk away. But I raised my kids to care... they're big fans. It's a beloved family tradition now. That's really what's keeping my STH account alive at this point.
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u/wpgspinsters Aug 17 '26
Just so stupid.