It will be a full house in Halifax for the second year in a row, as the Canadian Football League announced on Thursday that their annual Touchdown Atlantic game has sold out.
The game is scheduled to be played on Saturday, July 29 between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Toronto Argonauts, a rematch between the two teams that travelled to Atlantic Canada last year. Temporary stands erected at Huskies Stadium on the campus of Saint Mary’s University have a capacity of 10,600, including 9,000 seats in the west grandstand and 1,600 behind the north and south end zones.
To meet demand, the league made 1,000 new spots available in the Church Brewing Party Zone, where fans can watch the game without a seat for $40.
“Unbelievable. We’re always in awe of the tremendous reception for Touchdown Atlantic,” CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie said in a statement.
“A sellout for a second straight year shows the appetite that the East Coast has for our great game. It is a definitive ‘yes’ from our incredible fans that the CFL has a home in the hearts of Haligonians and Atlantic Canadians across the region.”
Last year’s edition of Touchdown Atlantic was held at Raymond Field in nearby Wolfville, N.S. in front of a crowd of 10,886. The game sold out within minutes of tickets becoming available and generated more than $12.7 million in economic impact for the province.
The CFL has been pushing hard for an expansion franchise in the Maritimes since Ambrosie took over as commissioner, but has struggled to find its footing in Halifax. The rights to a team were originally awarded to Schooner Sports and Entertainment in 2018 but the coronavirus pandemic and a lack of interest from local government leaders to put public funds towards building a multi-million dollar stadium kiboshed those plans and caused the group to pull out.
Ambrosie has remained committed to Maritimes expansion promising to make it a central focus for the league this year. The CFL’s demands have shifted towards a temporary-permanent facility in the model of the Halifax Wanderers of the Canadian Premier League and the search for new ownership has been ongoing. However, the commissioner has stated his willingness to explore alternative destinations for a tenth franchise if there is not movement in Halifax soon.
This year’s game marks the first edition of Touchdown Atlantic to be played at Huskies Stadium since the inaugural event in 2005 and the first regular-season contest. Five other events have been held, including four at Moncton Stadium in New Brunswick and one at Raymond Field.
