Ready, set, $60 million.<\/p>\n
Kelowna\u2019s hosting of two regular season Canadian Football League games next spring will provide a big economic jolt to the city, civic and tourism leaders say.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will be the largest sports event ever held in Kelowna and the Okanagan region,\u201d Mayor Tom Dyas said Monday at a press conference promoting the two games.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The BC Lions, temporarily vacated from BC Place because of the World Cup, will play the Calgary Stampeders on June 27 and the Edmonton Elks on July 4 at a greatly-enlarged Apple Bowl stadium.<\/p>\n
Plans are to boost the stadium\u2019s current capacity of about 3,000 spectators to between 17,500 and 20,000 for the two CFL games. It has not yet been announced how much the temporary expansion will cost, nor how the expense will break down between the Lions and the City of Kelowna (see related story).<\/p>\n
Initial expectations were for an economic impact in the tens of millions of dollars, Lisanne Ballantyne of Tourism Kelowna said. But an updated forecast predicts spending on such things as hotels, restaurants, wineries and various attractions at $60 million, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The estimate is based on the $17 million economic impact said to have been generated in Victoria when the Lions played a home game in that city in 2024. Kelowna will have two games, Ballantyne noted, and there are plans for an elaborate week-long football-related festival, expected to draw many visitors from throughout B.C. and Alberta.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe timing of the event is going to jumpstart our tourist season,\u201d Ballantyne said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Knowing they\u2019d need to find a temporary venue to play some home games next year, the Lions had been considering a variety of options, club president Duane Vienneau said. \u201cBut we always gravitated to Kelowna,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In such circumstances, teams sometimes choose to play home games at large stadiums that already exist in other cities. But team owner Amar Doman said there was \u201cnot a chance\u201d the Lions would go that route, Vienneau said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Lions represent the entire province of B.C.,\u201d said CFL Commissioner Stewart Johnston, who also attended the Kelowna press conference.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Other non-CFL cities to have hosted CFL games include Halifax, and Moncton. \u201cI love seeing our game reach new communities,\u201d Johnston said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nathan Rourke, the Lions\u2019 Canadian-born quarterback and this year\u2019s CFL MOP, said it will be \u201csuper cool\u201d to play two games at the supersized Apple Bowl in Kelowna.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He joked that he hoped the outcome of the two games wouldn\u2019t be similar to the Lions\u2019 season-ending loss in the CFL Western Final this year in Regina, when the\u00a0team gave up a lead in the dying moments.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to make sure it doesn\u2019t come down to the final 17 seconds,\u201d Rourke laughed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tickets for the games go on sale in February.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
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