Harry made this as a comment the other day. At first I thought this was crazy, but the more I thought about it, who knows?? I particularly like the Flutie angle. Harry's Tembenis letter:
With the recent success of minor league sports teams in Worcester , the time may be right to resurrect the idea of possibly bringing a Canadian Football League franchise to town. Back in the late 1980's-early 1990's timeframe, a group wanted to have the 'New England Knights' become the first United States franchise for the CFL. Holy Cross' Fitton Field was chosen as the preferred stadium to play in. Lack of buy in from the necessary stakeholders ultimately
doomed the project at that particular time but it did raise an interesting prospect.
We fast forward now to the present and the city of Worcester has undergone tremendous change. Worcester now supports 2 (soon to be 3) minor league franchises, whereas this brings notoriety and name recognition to the city, it pales in the exposure which could be brought by a major league sports franchise.
A win-win scenario stands to emerge if this is handled right this time. First and foremost the big winner is the city of Worcester. With the emerging canal district complementing Shrewsbury Street,Highland Street and downtown for restaurant/bar/nightlife business- the possibility of bringing in 25,000 fans (the average attendence for CFL games and considered a sell out by
Fitton Field standards) per game for 9 home games over the period of June-October (the CFL regular season) would spread around tremendous economic spinoff, not to mention a good shot in the arm economically for the area surrounding Fitton Field/Holy Cross.
If you factor in the work being done with the Mass Pike/146 connector, this truly makes the CFL team accessible to all of New England and would bring many new and first time visitors to the city. Another winner would be the Worcester airport as the teams will have to fly in somewhere and thus create a demand for use at the airport!
Holy Cross would also win in that this could further fulfill a payment in lieu of taxes obligation started by the work done on the baseball stadium for the Worcester Tornadoes and furthered with the CFL franchise. Also any televised games beamed to Canada would showcase the campus for any prospective students considering going to McGill or Concordia University to
possibly consider Holy Cross instead. Canada has a population of 33,000,000, if just 10 percent of the country was to view the games regularly, then Holy Cross and Worcester, Ma would be mentioned repeatedly to 3,300,000 people; major exposure for the city and Holy Cross!
After a few years to establish a solid fan base then a stadium could be built in the former Wyman Gordon property to accomodate both the CFL franchise and the Worcester Tornadoes, once again stimulating the area surrounding Kelley Square, the canal district and downtown. Back in the day there was a Worcester Stadium Committee, maybe they should reform and explore this option?
Another big winner would be the Worcester Sharks hockey team; the AHL is followed very closely in Canada and if Worcester Shark games would be held in the evening of a CFL franchise afternoon game, you truly have a sports fan's 'double header'. The CFL is also looking for another team to complement the addition of an Ottawa franchise to keep the amount of teams represented in the 2 divisions of the CFL even. Opportunity is knocking. As far fetched as this idea may seem just consider a major stakeholder who would lend instant credibility to any group trying to get a CFL franchise going into Worcester; just 25 miles to the east of the city
resides the CFL's most legendary player, he won the CFL's Most Outstanding Player award six times and the league's Grey Cup championship three times.
He is of course, Doug Flutie who also played his last regular season college game for Boston College at Fitton Field vs Holy Cross. For Doug's part to help land the franchise a donation to the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism to the tune of anywhere from $1 to $3 per ticket would sure add up quick!
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15 comments:
Let's not forget, our neighbors to the North are also big gambling fans; package deals including hotel stays in Worcester county with bus rides to the Connecticut casinos would surely add the 'economic spinoff' we always hear about.
Harry Tembenis
Worcester, MA
It isn't CFL (which is the Canadian Football League), it is the CIFL (Continental Indoor Football League).
harry is referring to the CFL, I believe,
Canadian Football League
Harry, you know you're making my think of the guy(s) who wrote letters to the editor re : a casino at ORH.
Although I am not a fan of any casino gambling and whe I read teh editorials a few years ago I really laughed to myself, but you know, I am really sometimes starting to wonder ???
LOL, no I'm not the 'casino at ORH' letter writer. The Mass state legislature would NEVER allow that....and I was referring to the Canadian Football League, not the CIFL (Continental Indoor Football League).
Harry Tembenis
Worcester, MA
For further information, consult the following website:
http://www.cfl.ca
Also for those fans of former New England Patriot, Michael Bishop ...he now plays for Montreal in the CFL.
Harry Tembenis
Worcester, MA
Wether it be the CIFL or the CFL, the idea of bringing a cfl team to Worcester would be great for this city. They could also market the Sharks and the Tornadoes at the games. And sports charters could bring some traffic to the airport, but they could fly to boston and bus, like the Sharks out of division opponents do (ie. when the Norfolk Admirals came to town, they flew AirTran out of Newport News to Boston and bused to Worcester). Now, my question is Worcester persuing the CFL for a team or is this just an idea?
Most likely nothing at this point.. The key to making this happening or to even consider it would be to reach out to the recently "drop-kicking" Doug Flutie.
He would listen because of 1) local ties and 2) Doug Flutie Foundation.
Bill
BC Class of 1986
About the Sharks-CFL doubleheader, I just came up with a conclusion. Say, for example, Hamilton comes to Worcester to play our franchise. The Sharks would play the Hamilton Bulldogs, with one of the biggest fan bases in the AHL, after the game. The Hamilton fans could make a huge presensce at the game, and take away some of the home advantage the Sharks would have for that game.
Dave:
This idea originally was floated, I believe back in the late 1980's early 1990's. It didn't get the necessary 'buy in' as Holy Cross was at that time an NCAA Div 1-A powerhouse, even breaking into the college rankings at #25 of Division 1 schools. Had this idea floated then it would have killed the goose laying the golden eggs (attendence at HC football games then was at or near capacity). Once HC dropped the athletic scholarships and joined the Patriot League attendence and interest dropped tremendously. Mind you I am talking about the athletic program, not academics.
Times have changed and if a group was to come forth, I'm sure the result would be different now, especially if Doug Flutie is involved in any way, either being in the management or backing the group trying to start the franchise with huge charitable donations being made to the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation.
Back then when this was originally floated I thought it was a great idea. Another great idea at the time was made by Mr. Photakis who owns the Owl Shop in Worcester of bringing Formula One racing (Grand Prix)to downtown Worcester. As hokey as it may have sounded, Formula One is HUGE, ala Nascar huge in Europe and Asia. Had Mr. Photakis' dream been realized before his untimely death, there would have been major $$$$$ and a high roller crowd coming in for that event. I believe and correct me if I'm wrong, the only Formula One event currently in North America occurs in Montreal? This is the racing that occurs in the streets. Mr. photakis envisioned Worcester Center Blvd and the area around St. Vincent's downtown hospital as the course.
Sometimes it doesn't hurt to dream big.
As far as Hamilton's crowd coming in a few times fro a football and/or hockey game. If Fitton Field and the DCU were sold out and every hotel, restaurant , nightclub, bar, etc in a 20 mile radius of Worcester was sold out and doing gangbuster bsuiness, who cares what the score is.... we already won!
Happy new Year!
Harry Tembenis
Worcester, Ma
Here are last season's CFL attendance figures...
http://www.cfl.ca/index.php?module=sked&func=view&year=2006
Appx 85% of those attendance figures could have fit at Holy Cross' Fitton field. After a few years if a new state of the art stadium was to be built at the Wyman/Gordon property downtown, you could even be hosting the CFL's championship game, The Grey Cup right in Worcester! This is the 2nd most prestigious major league football trophy in the world behind the NFL's.
Also if Doug Flutie were to be involved, the Boston, Providence , Hartford,etc media markets would all have to give coverage via print, TV, radio and internet. More free publicity! Beauty, eh?!
Harry Tembenis
Worcester, Ma
I think all these ideas are interesting and s/b looked at as potential marketing tools.
Hey guys the marketing mindset is good, but we s/b looking at cutting expenses in the City, too. I find there is an almost complete lack of a business mindset in the day to day operations of Worc. The list is endless and I am not going to repeat myself here.
BTW harry, I know you were not the guy behind the ORH casino ides. I didnt mean for it to come off that way, but hey if nothing else seems to work at ORH can we sell off part of the land for a world class nascar facility? I know it sounds crazy, but..........this Nascar is huge in most other parts of tje country. I think the only nascar events in the area are at Loudon, NH; Thompson ,Ct; and maybe Seekonk, Ma. and Seekonk and thompson from what i understand are really minor league type facilities???
Jahn:
Good idea but there are 2 huge obstacles preventing this from ever happening:
1) NASCAR brings in on the average 125,000 fans for a weekend. Seeing as the airport couldn't get an access road built to accomodate one airline, how are 125,000 people going to get to ORH at once?
2) NASCAR is loyal to their track owners and almost give them 'franchise rights' to geographic areas. Loudon, NH is considered the "New England" race. As such they can make it real tough for anyone to build a track in New England; just ask Donald Trump who tried to build a NASCAR track next to Foxwoods only to have it nixed.
Good ideas, though. Keep them coming.
Harry Tembenis
Worcester, MA
Harry, thanks for thge information. That is good to know.
A guy I know who lives in Miss., very nearby the Tenn line , told me there are 2 or 3 tracks in Tenn. and that one of them holds 160,000 fans. I was almsot bowled over when I heard that Nascar draws such huge crowds. I think Fenway holds about 32,000??........so the is Nascar facility holds 5 times the crowd. Plus I guess you have to figure in all workers and support personnel to put on an event of that magnitude. Even if only 5% of them stay over night, imagine the econmic impact. Truly a phenomenal draw.
A I think Nascar actually went public a few years back? i wonder if it was a non-profit org. before and someone with foresight saw the bucks to be made with a for profit entity.
An interesting read from the January 2007 issue of Boston Magazine, looks like Doug Flutie is bored of TV and wants to get involved in football again. Looks like the great and wise prophet, NostraTembenis (Nostradamus' long lost brother) predicted this , too!
:-)
Enjoy the read...
City Journal
Lined Up to Punt
One year into his retirement, Doug Flutie wonders if being a TV analyst is worth all the hassle.
By Casey Sherman
During his quarter century in football, Doug Flutie was a scampering bundle of positivity who repeatedly lifted our dreary Bostonian spirits, from that famous Hail Mary to his encore drop-kick field goal. But since calling it quits last spring, he’s had a sometimes rocky adjustment to retirement. For one thing, the usual sports-icon second act—breaking down games as a TV analyst—has proven to be a lot more than he bargained for.
“I’ve traveled way too much for what I wanted to get out of this job,” he groans about his new gig covering college football for ABC-ESPN. “That’s gotta change next year or I won’t be doing it.”
Standing in the kitchen of his Natick manse during one of the rare times he’s been home in months, Flutie shows the signs of a road dog’s life. The crow’s feet and the sporadic gray hairs hint at his 44 years. During the regular season, he was on the road six days a week, spending Fridays and Saturdays in New York for production meetings and in-studio broadcasts. He’d drive home early Sunday morning, then fly out that night to prepare for the midweek games. Now, with college football’s bowl season upon us, Flutie needs only survive another week or so of an experience he really didn’t enjoy from Day 1.
“It was new to me,” he explains. “It was work. I didn’t feel like doing it. When I’m getting ready for a football season, I go for a run. I’m motivated to do that. This? The mental preparation feels like a classroom to me.”
The former Heisman Trophy winner is fixed in our minds as an overjoyed kid leaping on a field in Miami in 1984. He does not naturally fit the role of the terse, opinionated pundit that TV execs like. On-air, he often seems uneasy and tentative, and he finds himself leery of lobbing armchair criticism at players and coaches. “Craig James, he has no problem saying a coach should be fired,” Flutie says, referring to one of his on-air colleagues. “I’ll buffer it. I’ll say, ‘They’re struggling right now.’ Because I know how hard the guys are working.”
But as the season wore on, Flutie did get more pointed in his comments. In November he dismissed the notion that the Texas Longhorns would lose to Kansas State. After KSU pulled off a major upset, an irate Longhorns fan sent two hate-filled e-mails to Flutie’s autism foundation, calling him a “jinx.” The threatening e-mails were traced to a man in California, who later sent an apologetic letter to Flutie; no charges were filed.
After two decades slogging around the pro football circuit and being chased by jacked-up linebackers, Flutie doesn’t need strife like that anymore. He had hoped retirement would allow him to spend more time with his wife, Laurie; his 18-year-old daughter, Alexa; and his autistic son, Dougie. “I miss him and I miss Lex,” he admits. “Today I came home and walked into Dougie’s room, and his face lit up.” The Fluties have raised more than $8 million for autism research through the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation. Still, caring for Dougie, now 14, is a full-time challenge. “He’s got athleticism,” Flutie says. “He’s got the ability to take off and run. But he’s a hundred times better than he was three years ago.”
Whether Flutie continues as a TV analyst or not, he plans to stay involved with football. He keeps in touch with old teammates, and exchanges text messages with Tom Brady almost daily. He sees himself back on the field someday, coaching a high school team—which is probably how most of us picture him anyway. Until then, he makes do with rec league basketball games and playing on a flag football team with his nephew Billy, a freshman at Boston College. “I’m just playing defense,” Flutie says, chuckling. “But I’m terrible at grabbing the flag. I miss more tackles than anyone else on the field.”
Originally published in Boston Magazine, January 2007.
Harry Tembenis
Worcester, MA
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