Touchdown Atlantic: N.S. to host first-ever regular-season CFL game this summer

It’s official. Nova Scotia will host its first-ever regular-season CFL game this summer.

CTV Atlantic was first to report the news on Thursday. The Canadian Football League made it official during a news conference Tuesday morning in downtown Halifax.

CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie says the game will be played on Raymond Field at Acadia University in Wolfville, N.S.

The game will see the Toronto Argonauts face the Saskatchewan Roughriders on July 16.

“Touchdown Atlantic games have been a big part of the league’s ecosystem over the past many, many years,” said Ambrosie.  “We look forward to being here.”

"It would fulfil all that we feel we are as Canadians," said Mike "Pinball" Clemons, the general manager for the Toronto Argonauts. "If we could really and truly be coast-to-coast."

The league says Raymond Field will install roughly 7,000 seats, increasing capacity from 3,000 to 10,000 for the game.

Bus transportation will be available to deliver fans to and from Halifax on game day.

Brian Finniss, the athletic director at Acadia University, says the game could be a sport tourism boost for the entire Annapolis Valley, as well as the university.

"The opportunity to get the brand of Acadia University out there, not just for Nova Scotia, not just for Atlantic Canada, but for the entire country," he said. 

Though this will be the first regular-season CFL game to be played in Nova Scotia, the province did host a pre-season game in Halifax in 2005.

Moncton, N.B., hosted four Touchdown Atlantic regular-season games between 2010 and 2019.

A Touchdown Atlantic game scheduled to take place in Halifax in 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The CFL says ticketholders for the 2020 game have been contacted with information regarding ticketing and repurchasing for the 2022 game.

The games have traditionally fuelled hopes of one day seeing the CFL establish a permanent team in Atlantic Canada.

“We have big hopes and dreams for the future to officially welcome this region into the CFL family,” Ambrosie said Tuesday. "This is a big priority for the league. We are committed to the Atlantic region." 

Paul Mackinnon with the Downtown Halifax Business Commission says there are indicators that suggest the CFL could be successful in Halifax.

"Some good things happened during the pandemic," he said. "One thing was population growth. So one of the main questions has been, does the region have the population to support a CFL franchise? Suddenly, we are growing."

However, Halifax currently doesn't have a suitable stadium and public money to help build one is not an option at this time.

"I think the timing has to be right and everything has to be on the table with proper timing," said David Hendsbee, a HRM councillor. "I'm hoping that will be in the very near future, once we get through this recovery period."

Tickets for the game will go on sale for the public on April 26. Average ticket prices are roughly $50.