{"id":593791,"date":"2026-04-10T02:07:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T02:07:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/593791\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T02:07:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T02:07:18","slug":"university-of-calgary-pursuing-a-new-on-campus-stadium-for-varsity-sports-calgary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/593791\/","title":{"rendered":"University of Calgary pursuing a new on-campus stadium for varsity sports – Calgary"},"content":{"rendered":"

The University of Calgary<\/a> is exploring the construction of a new stadium on its campus for its various varsity sports teams, after years of quietly fundraising for the project.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Those teams currently play at McMahon Stadium<\/a>, a shared home for the University of Calgary Dinos<\/a> and Calgary Stampeders<\/a> since it was built 66 years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve known for some time that the Dinos will outlive McMahon Stadium,\u201d said Nick Holt, the dean of UCalgary\u2019s Faculty of Kinesiology.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need a long-term solution to ensure the future of Dinos programming.\u201d<\/p>\n

That long-term solution could come in the form of a \u201cfit-for-varsity stadium,\u201d in which UCalgary plans to seek bids for design work in the coming days after \u201cquiet phase\u201d fundraising $21 million alongside the Dino\u2019s 5th Quarter,<\/a> the football team\u2019s alumni group.<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

According to university officials, the proposal being explored would be a training and competition stadium with a capacity between 3,500 and 7,000 seats that could support multiple Dinos field sports, including football, soccer, and rugby.<\/p>\n

The stadium would include a \u201cseasonal dome\u201d to allow for year-round use, and would be open to the public when it\u2019s not in use, Holt told Global News.<\/p>\n

\u201cA big part of our vision is making it available to the community,\u201d Holt said. \u201cWe know there\u2019s a huge shortage of facilities in Calgary, we also know there\u2019s a massive shortage in the wintertime so our vision is to have a seasonal dome and make it available to the community in the winter.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Get<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tGet breaking National news<\/p>\n

Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you won’t miss a trending story.<\/p>\n

According to Moshe Lander, an economist at Concordia University, the move signals McMahon Stadium is \u201cnot financially viable,\u201d and opens the door to significant redevelopment on the site.<\/p>\n

\u201cBuilding something that\u2019s much more in line with university athletics in Canada seems much more reasonable,\u201d he told Global News.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce McMahon is no longer in use, there\u2019s a huge opportunity there to build, whether it\u2019s dorms, building or infrastructure to support a growing campus.\u201d<\/p>\n

The move is raising questions about where the Calgary Stampeders will play in the future as the university\u2019s proposal is smaller than typical CFL venues.<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

In a statement, Calgary Stampeders president Jay McNeil said McMahon Stadium has been \u201can incredible home\u201d for the team, but the building is \u201creaching the end of its functional life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe conversation about what comes next must be led by the community it serves,\u201d McNeil\u2019s statement said. \u201cThis isn\u2019t just about football \u2014 it\u2019s about what Calgarians want for their city: a modern, accessible and welcoming gathering place that supports sport, culture and year\u2011round community use.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the building is owned by the University of Calgary, it\u2019s the McMahon Stadium Society that oversees its operations and upgrades.<\/p>\n

The McMahon Stadium Society\u2019s chair, Steve Allan, told Global News he\u2019s \u201crooting\u201d for the university\u2019s success in its proposal, as conversations are in early stages about a new home for the Stampeders.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tMore on Canada
\n\t\t\tMore videos\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been working on this for about four years now when I realized we won\u2019t be getting any more money to put into McMahon,\u201d Allan said Thursday.<\/p>\n

Last month, Calgary Stampede officials hinted<\/a> future planned upgrades to the infield seating at GMC Stadium could make way for field sports to be played on the site.<\/p>\n

According to Allan, moving the Calgary Stampeders to an upgraded facility on the Stampede Grounds is a logical step.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Calgary Stampede already has the guts of a stadium, they attract people down there, they have transportation, they have parking,\u201d Allan said, \u201cThey\u2019ve got a lot of what we need so I think it makes a ton of sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

Back at the university, officials expect to receive initial designs for a potential stadium by the fall to firm up timelines and costs, with a \u201cmore public\u201d campaign to raise funds for the project in the coming months.<\/p>\n

According to Holt, officials continue to assess potential locations for the stadium on the campus\u2019 west side, noting the project is \u201cyears, not decades\u201d away.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe key thing is to be on campus to bring the energy to our campus and give something for our students to really get behind,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

McMahon Stadium is set to host the 113th Grey Cup game later this year.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Click<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t4:27
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tUniversity of Calgary 60th Birthday Celebration\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\tPrevious Video<\/p>\n

\t\tNext Video<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The University of Calgary is exploring the construction of a new stadium on its campus for its various…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":593792,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194293],"tags":[49,2798,8669,943,48,24156,16340,714,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-593791","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-calgary","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-calgary","10":"tag-calgary-sports","11":"tag-calgary-stampeders","12":"tag-canada","13":"tag-city-of-calgary","14":"tag-mcmahon-stadium","15":"tag-politics","16":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=593791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/593792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=593791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=593791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=593791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}