Sports: A Small Rant

[dewline]

As to the ongoing argument between soccer and football and where each or both should be hosted in the city of Ottawa...I have an opinion:

Make Hunt and Melnyk share a refurbished and upgraded Lansdowne Park. I see no reason why the CFL and MLS cannot and should not share the place. Mr. Melnyk may want his soccer team to live next door to the NHL Senators, but that's not good enough in an age where urban sprawl's part of the larger problem list of our times. And from where I live, it's hard enough to get to a Sens game as it is.

Comments

[mencc1701.livejournal.com]

The biggest issue with that is the fact that the MLS requires a soccer-specific stadium to be built before it will grant a franchise. There are a few teams in the US that play in NFL stadiums right now, but all but one of those have plans to build soccer stadiums. The lone exception is Seattle, who play in Qwest Field.

It's not impossible to combine the two sports in one stadium, but it can be difficult to do it well, especially since a CFL field is larger than an MLS field.

And personally, I agree... my preferred solution is to build an adaptable stadium at Lansdowne. But we shall see.