Jarrek Posted October 5, 2003 Share Posted October 5, 2003 Copps urges World Cup bid Best way to get ball rolling on stadium `It can be a lot better way of building' RANDY STARKMAN SPORTS REPORTER Heritage Minister Sheila Copps has some advice for those wanting to build a new soccer stadium in Toronto: Bid for the World Cup. It's not the women's World Cup that Copps suggests they go after, but rather the men's global tournament, which might rank behind only the Olympics in terms of stature. "I think it would be great for the organization (the group trying to build a soccer stadium) to actually bid for the World Cup at some future point," Copps said. "Obviously, to do that, you need the facilities, the proper grass field facilities. ... If you do bid for events like that, it gets the government focused around the fact you need facilities like that. It tends to work like that." Copps made her comments during an interview to promote cycling's world road championship being staged next week in her hometown of Hamilton. Copps, one of the principals in bringing that event to Hamilton, defended the $10 million the federal government has committed to the project at a time when there's general consensus amateur athletes in this country are underfunded. She pointed out Hamilton spent only about $600,000 to bid successfully for the cycling championship compared to $30 million spent by Toronto's unsuccessful effort to win the 2008 Summer Olympics. "This is only a single sport event, but it has almost as much international exposure," said Copps, adding that the publicity will help dispel the notion that Hamilton is a city of "smokestacks and grime." Copps said the Heritage Department is hoping to create a regular funding infrastructure in the next budget for sports facilities, something they have started for the arts. She also said they are seeking an increase of $25 million in funding per year for summer sports and $15 million per year for winter as part of their podium support project spurred by the successful Vancouver/Whistler bid for the 2010 Winter Games. Copps said Toronto might be better off pursuing some individual world championships as opposed to concentrating primarily on winning an Olympic bid. "It can be a lot better way of building as opposed to going only after the Olympics," she said. "The Olympics are hugely sought after and hugely expensive." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SABuffalo786 Posted October 5, 2003 Share Posted October 5, 2003 You'd have to undergo a public works project the likes the world has not seen since the depression. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted October 5, 2003 Share Posted October 5, 2003 This seems more like an offbeat comment than anything. "You know what'd be nice? Having a threesome with thwo gorgeous women." Sure it's possible and if you put all your muscle into it you'll get there, but saying it would be nice ain't getting you anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted October 5, 2003 Share Posted October 5, 2003 Why doesn't Copps tell the CSA something else they already know? News for Copps - her fellow Liberal Party Minister Denis Coderre (formerly of Sport, but now with Immigration) had already championed a CSA initiative to bid for a Men's World Cup "at some future point". Also is she suggesting that bidding for a Women's World Cup (as the CSA had already done for 2007 until SARS came to China) isn't good enough, it has to be mens. What would be the reasoning behind that, given the popularity of the women's team, their unprecedented success and how they've been filling large stadiums all across Canada (except for Toronto of course, which doesn't have a large soccer stadium, hence the need for one)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Posted October 5, 2003 Share Posted October 5, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Daniel This seems more like an offbeat comment than anything. "You know what'd be nice? Having a threesome with thwo gorgeous women." Sure it's possible and if you put all your muscle into it you'll get there, but saying it would be nice ain't getting you anywhere. I had a friend who just lucked into a three way once. Kinda like World Cup '94. It can happen, just never to us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoyleG Posted October 5, 2003 Share Posted October 5, 2003 Sheila Copps Hamilton's answer to an air raid siren. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy_Yank Posted October 5, 2003 Share Posted October 5, 2003 South Korea pulled it off. With government funding they built some of the world's most beautiful soccer stadia. Canada is a wealthier country than South Korea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy_Yank Posted October 5, 2003 Share Posted October 5, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Gordon I had a friend who just lucked into a three way once. Kinda like World Cup '94. It can happen, just never to us Hehe, good analogy. I'll fully admitt that I was shocked back in 1988 when FIFA awarded the US world cup 94. At that point it had been 38 years since we had last qualified. Sometimes part of success is being in the right place at the right time. Never say never. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeffery S. Posted October 5, 2003 Share Posted October 5, 2003 quote:Originally posted by SABuffalo786 You'd have to undergo a public works project the likes the world has not seen since the depression. It depends on how you view the investment, and some planning that goes well beyond the actual event you are bidding for. I can assure you that the investment for the Barcelona Olympics was immense, since it involved a re-ordering of the urban planning of many parts of the city. What has been happening in Berlin, without a sports event to go along with it, is another parallel. The problem in Canada is actually more that our cities are politically and financially weak. The political side is key, since our cities do not take on initiative nor enter into national political questions the way you see in other nations. And a stadium is above all an investment that will benefit the metropolitan area of a city, however much people will come for major events from outside. Obviously, having the facilities in place does help a bid for any major event. In some cases, like the cycling championship (which people in cycling nations have been concentrating on for months, it is almost daily in the press in Spain in recent weeks as riders prepare) means very little investment, since the facility is simply the road, the route, and the support structure around it all to make it a quality event. For football you really need to have about 8 stadiums with over 25,000 capacity to even think of bidding for a World Cup, since you are not going to go for it on a shoestring, and you need to be able to pick and choose from what you have. Right now that is totally unfeasable, and building a stadium in TO will do nothing in favour of a WC bid. We'd also need large ones in Vancouver, somewhere else in Ontario, maybe one in Québec as well. A stadium in Calgary would help too, as you need a cluster to make travelling less of a problem. We are so far away from this reality that it is totally ridiculous for Copps to say what she did. Unless she wants to be convinced by a bad argument: one grass soccer stadium in Toronto for the World Cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck Oranje Posted October 5, 2003 Share Posted October 5, 2003 The point about cities being politically weak is a fact that won't change quickly. Our desire to put all our eggs in one basket is another problem. We need to think more of a bootstrapping approach. First, inventory what we have. Second, Determine the cost of bringing stadiums to say 10,000 capacity and upgrading the grass fields (I can think of some around here). If we create comfortable but modest venues, I think we might surprise ourselves how little the cost would be. On top of that, I suspect the Federal government would be more interested in this type of program because it spreads the benefits more broadly. Once these smaller stadiums are in place, we can consider the viability of further investment to bid for the World Cup. Having said that, a number of small stadiums may be sufficient for an age group championship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattbin Posted October 5, 2003 Share Posted October 5, 2003 quote:Originally posted by DoyleG Sheila Copps Hamilton's answer to an air raid siren. As a Hamiltonian, I'd like to point out that an air raid siren might some day, somehow, be of use to a city. Therein lies the key difference. Otherwise her statement is so annoying and frustrating as to beggar comment. Allez les Rouges, M@ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted October 5, 2003 Share Posted October 5, 2003 Why doesn't the CSA look at applying for the Gold Cup? It's not a huge event, but it would be something that would help raise the profile of the MNT and result in the updating/construction of new facilities. A Canada-wide Gold Cup could have games in Edmonton, Toronto (new facility), and Hamilton (new Commonwealth facility). A few of the games starring less notable teams could even be played in Swangard and/or Winnipeg. Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trueviking Posted October 7, 2003 Share Posted October 7, 2003 we do have one thing going for us that most of the world doesnt. we are close to and in the same times zones as FIFA's great brass ring...the united states. it is the largest untapped market for football in the world. it makes FIFA salivate thinking about getting the giant american television contracts and marketing rights for soccer. thats of course why the 94 games were there and the pre season tour. we all recognize that. but they cant keep giving the world cup to states, the rest of the world wouldnt stand for it. they could do the next best thing however. give it to canada. that way you get all the benefits of popularizing the game in the states, (it is one of the few countries that american's feel completely safe travelling to en mass) but it would be easier to sell politically around the world. its the same reason that we get the olympics so often. so americans can watch it in prime time....and pay big bucks to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
massimo Posted October 7, 2003 Share Posted October 7, 2003 You forgot to mention Montreal. Originally posted by Jason A Canada-wide Gold Cup could have games in Edmonton, Toronto (new facility), and Hamilton (new Commonwealth facility). A few of the games starring less notable teams could even be played in Swangard and/or Winnipeg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamiltonfan Posted October 7, 2003 Share Posted October 7, 2003 ya that would be great having the gold cup. Mabye the WWC. would we have a any hope to get it after china? since it was in the USA the time before that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Beaver Posted October 7, 2003 Share Posted October 7, 2003 The Gold Cup would be great, but I think our next major soccer hosting event should be the men's U20 WC. This would be a step up on the women's U19 tournie, but a reasonable step up. Like someone posted earlier, let's focus on upgrading current stadia to 10,000 seats etc and build a successful infrastructure first. The U20 success, along with the already successful U19 tournament, would do well to push us along the road... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamiltonfan Posted October 7, 2003 Share Posted October 7, 2003 Would we have a shot at th WWC after china has it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted October 7, 2003 Share Posted October 7, 2003 quote:Originally posted by hamiltonfan Would we have a shot at th WWC after china has it? No, it would have been presented in North America in 1999 and 2003, while th last European edition was in 1995. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfraumen Posted October 17, 2003 Share Posted October 17, 2003 Well, you can't say that Sheila doesn't think big. But the World Cup is something just too big for Toronto and Canada, at least at this point. The problem is, I don't think Toronto and it's citizens really know who they are and what they want. They seem to want all the big professional sports but when it comes to showing that support, for example when it hosted a couple of NFL games during the past few years, the Skydome was no where near a sellout. And one would think that with the ethnic structure in the city, that building a first class soccer stadium in the 20,000 - 28,000 seating range would be a given. But maybe there just isn't the money or will power in the ethnic community there. I don't know, I don't live in the city but it just seems so strange to me that soccer and the other form of soccer, football, just aren't getting the support of the community. Who knows... Mike - Hamilton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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