Friday, February 6, 2015

Hamilton or Toronto for the 2016 Grey Cup?

I've already blogged about the Ticats having a good chance of landing the 2016 Grey Cup at Tim Horton's Field. However there's some news and not particularly good. Apparently former CFL commissioner and now Toronto Mayor John Tory made a claim about the 2016 cup coming to Toronto in 2016:

Tory, a former CFL commissioner, may have prematurely awarded the league’s championship game to Toronto next year.
Talking with 590 The Fan’s Jeff Blair, Tory said 2016 is going to be a big sporting year for the city, including hosting the Grey Cup.
“Think about what a great year for sports it’s going to be in 2016,” Tory said. “I was reminded of the fact the Grey Cup is here. We’ve got the NBA all-star game, we’ve got the World Cup of Hockey, and that’s on the heels of the Pan Am Games this year.”
But Tory was forced to back off his declaration a few hours later. Tory’s spokesman Amanda Galbraith said the mayor misspoke.
Considering that Toronto just had the Cup in 2012 that seems to me like going to the well to often, especially considering the lack of interest in the league in the Toronto area. Hamilton hasn't hosted since 1996 and 1972 before that and we have a new, hopefully finished soon stadium. 
I'm wondering if the reason for the Toronto rumours is that the league would like to make the Argos more saleable with the profits from a 2016 Cup baked into the cake. Without that need I would feel more confident about Hamilton's chances. Still I think that four years is too short for Toronto.

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