Worst CanPLStadiums on TV - 2019

[ted]

In another topic we were discussing bad TV/camera work at a particular stadium. So I'm curious, what is the worst stadium you see on TV (including online platforms)?

Please give reasons: whatever makes the viewing experience less than perfect, irritating or outright frustrating.

[Stanley]

I voted York Lions stadium, simply because it's always empty.

[SkuseisLoose]

I would vote York lions stadium for the fact it’s camera is faced towards empty seats and how few fans go to the matches but the camera angle is just so bad for westhills stadium.

[Reign]

York is horrible because it’s pointed at an empty bleacher, but at least I can follow the game. PFC is brutal because of the angle. Cavs and HFX translate the best on tv.

[Kent]

I voted York 9 for empty seats, and running track keeping fans away. I didn't really factor this in, but the fact it's a smaller field sort of plays into a negative experience too. I haven't watched a ton of Pacific home games, but the angle hasn't bothered me too much, and I like how close the crowd is to the field.

[Cheeta]

York for all of the above plus the mini-field. 

Camera angles at Westhills leave something to be desired but it's such a, how to put this, interesting structure that it has it's own weird charm. 

See how the pitches at IGF and THF look as we get deeper into the CFL seasons.  Paint-scrub, paint-scrub.  Gridiron shadows aren't pleasing to the eye.   

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

Voted for Westhills because the low camera angles make it feel a bit like watching a London City game at London, Ont's German Club on Rogers cable 13. Actually quite like York 9's setup despite the obvious width issue (the astroturf runoffs make it just wide enough to look quirky rather than farcical) because it has more of a lower level European pro kind of ambiance to it. Too bad they are going to lose the grass soon and will wind up with some kind of visible enough to be mildly irritating gridiron as in Hamilton and Winnipeg.

[red card]

PFC's stadium is the worst given the low camera used because the team didn't have the foresight to get going on with hydro in removing it. They were overall lax in getting their stadium ready.

Depending on the day, the glare off the plastic pitch is so bad that it gives me a headache watching it for 2 hours. Have to wait for replays to see how goals actually went in. Crowds have been sparse and pretty lacklustre in generating atmosphere.

Second is Clarke stadium. The plastic pitch looks really bad on tv. The stands look really disjointed and ugly. Having sparse attendance and weak atmosphere doesn't help either. Unfortunately, on and off the pitch, it is the least watchable team as FCE seems to run like it was during the NASL days. 

Yes, the stands on tv are empty with York9, but it has a grass pitch in good shape and the lighting is up to 2019 standards. It gives me the impression I'm watching a match from a Eastern Europe stadium with better lighting - not ideal but at least, it looks like something from a first division league. 

[DoyleG]

Yes, we all wish we had foresight to deal with BC Hydro.🙄

I put Clarke down as it still has the disjointed feel to it. Those manning the broadcast booth generally had to have the broadcast cables run through the stands in order to get to the truck (that was certainly during the NASL days). It could easily be built up in a manner that Westhills is heading, but certain groups will certainly have a say about it.

[Unnamed Trialist]

45 minutes ago, DoyleG said:

Yes, we all wish we had foresight to deal with BC Hydro.🙄

I put Clarke down as it still has the disjointed feel to it. Those manning the broadcast booth generally had to have the broadcast cables run through the stands in order to get to the truck (that was certainly during the NASL days). It could easily be built up in a manner that Westhills is heading, but certain groups will certainly have a say about it.

I agree on that, I mean, you have three sides going up properly, albeit with some silly decisions (gaps between the main stand roofs) and a well designed ambience on all four sides.

I just don't get why you could not raise that platform another 3 metres and film from a bit higher--and even move it slightly further back, since it'd help with scanning the action on the pitch (too close means you have to swivel overly fast and your focal planes shift more abruptly). You can't tell me that having a power line 54 feet above your head is any more "dangerous" than having it 66 feet. Unless there is a strict norm I am clueless about. 

In any case, about Hydro: if you've been there you'd understand why redoing that installation is so costly, running into the millions. You would have to alter the line, relocate that pole, probably alter the position of other poles, or add other poles, and in the meantime you keep the existing set-up before you reconnect the new one, without cutting service. 

[RS]

22 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

You can't tell me that having a power line 54 feet above your head is any more "dangerous" than having it 66 feet. Unless there is a strict norm I am clueless about.

There almost certainly is a height restriction on stuff being built under active power lines.

[Unnamed Trialist]

51 minutes ago, RS said:

There almost certainly is a height restriction on stuff being built under active power lines.

I am sure, but if you look at it, it is so high up that I doubt that raising your platform 10 feet would affect anything. And if you moved it back, it would not even be under the line anymore. 

Pretty sure that OneSoccer is aware of this, they are just making do for this season and reserving their changes for next.

[CanSuffer]

10 hours ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

and will wind up with some kind of visible enough to be mildly irritating gridiron as in Hamilton and Winnipeg.

What do you base that comment on?

[Reign]

4 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

I am sure, but if you look at it, it is so high up that I doubt that raising your platform 10 feet would affect anything. And if you moved it back, it would not even be under the line anymore. 

Pretty sure that OneSoccer is aware of this, they are just making do for this season and reserving their changes for next.

They can’t just make their own rules when it comes to working near live lines. I work near power lines and they instruct us to keep at least 7M away from them with our equipment. So raising their cameras mite just not be allowed at the moment. 

[Unnamed Trialist]

1 minute ago, Reign said:

They can’t just make their own rules when it comes to working near live lines. I work near power lines and they instruct us to keep at least 7M away from them with our equipment. So raising their cameras mite just not be allowed at the moment. 

Well right now I would guess they are at least 22M away from them, that is all I am saying. 

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

4 hours ago, CanSuffer said:

What do you base that comment on?

Information that is in the public domain concerning what York U plan to do with their stadium.

http://news.yorku.ca/2019/03/07/york-lions-stadium-track-and-field-course-getting-an-upgrade/

York University will embark on a major transformation of the York Lions Stadium (formerly the 2015 Pan American Stadium) into a multi-use facility with artificial turf and an inflatable seasonal dome to support year-round activities and events....

https://yorkulions.ca/news/2018/5/29/varsity-athletics-lions-stadium-to-be-converted-to-turf-field-with-dome.aspx?path=varsity

...The new turf field will become the official home of the Lions varsity football and soccer teams, and the dome will create an additional 825 hours of indoor programming space during the winter. Use of the facility will include a diverse mix of varsity and campus recreation programs, intramurals, special university events, community activities and rentals to third parties...

[Obinna]

I voted for Pacific. I really love the stadium, but the camera angle is ridiculously low. 

I hope they find some kind of a solution sooner rather than later.

[ted]

22 hours ago, red card said:

PFC's stadium is the worst given the low camera used because the team didn't have the foresight to get going on with hydro in removing it. They were overall lax in getting their stadium ready.

Sorry, I cannot let that lie stand.

PFC worked their asses off starting up this team and getting the stadium upgraded. The day they were accepted into the league they put into motion their vision. The stands were designed, built, and installed as fast as they could be (which means the final section for 2019 is still not open.)

The City of Langford who is the owner and is paying for the upgrades, decided they would not move the pole this year. The timelines were too tight to get all the work done and they they want to make sure they are spending their money wisely.  If PFC meets an undisclosed attendance threshold, then the next phase begins that includes moving the pole, putting down natural grass, and building the fourth side stand.

The only ones I am aware of being lax, was the City of Langford who took their sweet time approving the designs for the new stands which delayed their delivery by about a month by my reckoning.