The Canadian Football League is coming to Victoria.
Well含羞草研究社or one game at least.
On Wednesday, it was announced that the inaugural Touchdown Pacific game will take place on Aug. 31 when the B.C. Lions host the Ottawa Redblacks at Victoria含羞草研究社檚 Royal Athletic Park.
Lions Chief Operating Officer Duan Vienneau emphasizes that this will be more than just a football game, it含羞草研究社檚 going to be a festival.
He should know. Prior to joining the Lions organization, Vienneau was the Chief Grey Cup and Events officer for the CFL and was the point man for Touchdown Atlantic in 2019 and 2022 and saw firsthand all of the events leading up to the game.
含羞草研究社淭here are a lot of activations similar to what you would see at a Grey Cup but obviously to a smaller extent. Leading up to the game itself, there will be either several days (of activities) depending on the final programming. For example, there would be a festival in downtown Victoria where you含羞草研究社檇 have some music. You含羞草研究社檇 have some 含羞草研究社榯eam rooms含羞草研究社� similar to what you might see at a Grey Cup as well as some sponsor activation. Then we含羞草研究社檇 also take the teams into the community and do football camps and other kinds of community initiatives that the team might engage in,含羞草研究社� Vienneau explained.
The Lions will shift practices to Victoria for at least a few days prior to the game. The possibility of training there for the entire week also under discussion. The Redblacks will also make the trip to the West Coast earlier than usual with a mid-week arrival so they can take part in the initiative as well.
According to Vienneau, the game itself will be unique given the smaller venue of Royal Athletic Park.
含羞草研究社淭he game will be in a setting of 12 to 14,000 people, which is a much smaller setting than a normal CFL game. The stadium is going to be very tight with a jam-packed atmosphere where the fans are really close to the players and it含羞草研究社檚 just going to provide great gameday experience,含羞草研究社� Vienneau added.
And while the Touchdown Atlantic series was used to gauge the level of interest in the CFL in the Martimes for possible expansion, the Lions and the CFL have no such agenda with the game in Victoria.
Nor is the game going to be an additional revenue stream.
With average attendance at B.C. Place around 25,000, the Lions will lose almost 50% of their normal gate revenue, so clearly the organization isn含羞草研究社檛 in this for the money. The goal of the game and the activities surrounding it will be to increase awareness in the Lions含羞草研究社� brand and to acknowledge the team含羞草研究社檚 fans from Vancouver Island.
As Vienneau likes to point out, the team is called the B.C. Lions 含羞草研究社� not the Vancouver Lions.
含羞草研究社淭he number one focus for us from a B.C. Lions perspective is that we have we have close to 1,000 people who are seat holders from the island. We also have a lot of casual fans that come across to all of our home games. So being B.C.含羞草研究社檚 team, we want to do an outreach like we do in Kamloops with training camp and in other cities. This is a way to do that but it含羞草研究社檚 also going to build our fan base. It含羞草研究社檚 going to build momentum and keep going with what we含羞草研究社檙e trying to do as the provinces team,含羞草研究社� Vienneau said.
And then there含羞草研究社檚 the fact that Lions owner Amar Doman is from Victoria and is extremely excited to have the CFL in his hometown.
含羞草研究社淚t含羞草研究社檚 very important to him. Obviously, he含羞草研究社檚 from Victoria 含羞草研究社� it含羞草研究社檚 his hometown 含羞草研究社� and the ability to bring the very first Touchdown Pacific game to Victoria is very special to him含羞草研究社� stated Vienneau.
Lions season ticket holders will have the Victoria game as part of their package but for those who won含羞草研究社檛 make the trip from the Lower Mainland, Vienneau says the football club will be flexible when it comes to providing options to those individuals whether the compensation be tickets to a playoff game or something else.
If you listen to Vienneau however, this will be an event that you won含羞草研究社檛 want to miss.
含羞草研究社淚 know from my experience with Touchdown Atlantic that fans will come from all across the country. You含羞草研究社檒l see people wearing jerseys from every single team in the league. You含羞草研究社檙e going to see people just having fun celebrating football, coming to a very beautiful destination and being a part of a unique experience.
含羞草研究社淚t含羞草研究社檚 kind of the CFL含羞草研究社檚 version 含羞草研究社� the B.C. Lions version 含羞草研究社� of MLB含羞草研究社檚 Field of Dreams game. It含羞草研究社檚 just a different setting and it含羞草研究社檚 fun,含羞草研究社� said Vienneau.
Veteran B.C. sports personality Bob 含羞草研究社渢he Moj含羞草研究社� Marjanovich writes twice weekly for Black Press Media.
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