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Picture the world's largest igloo.
“We'd like to cover Churchill Square,” said Doug Goss of doming downtown.
“We'd like to make it a special something-for-everybody place for the Grey Cup and leave it as a legacy for the city for future use,” added the Grey Cup co-chairman of putting the massive temporary igloo over the city centre square, a put-it-up-take-it-down cover which could be used for future events.
It would be the signature location of the “Hot To Huddle” festival for the Edmonton 2010 Grey Cup unveiled at a press conference yesterday at Commonwealth Stadium.
The challenge, as always, is to make the Edmonton Grey Cup better the last one held here. And better than the last one held period, which will be the one in Calgary in November.
And, just for fun, Doug Goss wants to make it better than the Heritage Classic, too.
“With the Heritage Classic we didn't really know what in the hell we were getting into,” said the man who chaired the organizing committee for the first outdoor NHL hockey event in Commonwealth Stadium.
“There was a point where we were wondering if people would actually buy tickets for it much less turn it into a festival for the ages,” he added of the event which has morphed into the NHL Winter Classic and produces the No. 1 hockey TV numbers of the year.
The idea is to morph the Heritage Classic a bit into the Grey Cup where the Eskimos are already the acknowledged masters and hosts with the most.
“With the Grey Cup, there's a blueprint,” said Goss, the Eskimos board chairman and Grey Cup co-chair with Rick LeLacheur.
You want to be careful not to try to reinvent the wheel when it comes to the greatest party in Canadian sports. But they did something with the Heritage Classic, which if done bigger and better, could make an impact on the event and leave a legacy for Edmonton as well.
“The concept was to try to have something for everybody,” said Goss. “We think we can do that downtown and leave something special for the city.”
At the Heritage Classic 75,000 went through City Hall to see the NHL hardware from the Hockey Hall of Fame, for example.
“It was great stuff. Taken to another level and in dozens of different directions it could be spectacular. You have to invest in it. The priority is to deliver a premier event. That's paramount.”
How do you top Shania Twain at half time?
“We'd like to,” said Goss. “We want a first class Grey Cup which will leave a positive impression not just on everybody who comes to Edmonton to celebrate the Canadian game and Canadiana but for everybody in Edmonton to be able to experience in some way and feel great about as well.”
Planning is still at the preliminary stages but Goss said in Edmonton you need a different definition of preliminary.
“We invited 60 people to our first committee meeting and they all showed up,” he said.
It was unanimous that Edmonton will have a Grey Cup parade and Northlands, producers of the annual Capital Ex parade, has already agreed to organize it.
“People are hot to huddle,” Goss laughed of the slogan from the same minds which gave you Party In Your Parka.
This isn't just about making money. The Eskimos have made millions from the previous events. If they really wanted, they could probably could get back the $7.5 million they're putting into the field house and new dressing room and offices at Commonwealth Stadium.
The Eskimos announced yesterday they will put up a record $3.6 million to the CFL in hosting fees and yet have ticket prices which according to LeLacheur, “will be close to averaging $100 less” than Calgary's tickets for this year's game. Eskimos season ticket holders will get a reduced rate and be allowed to buy an extra Grey Cup ticket for each seat they hold.
This is normal. Edmonton is able to provide a lower Grey Cup ticket price – they'll range from $98 to $250 – than anywhere else because they have 60,000 seats and no need to rent temporary stands and – as a not for profit community owned team – the priority is to be be more successful in production and pride than profit.
“First of all we want to price it to sellout,” said LeLacheur who watched Calgary sellout 40,000 seats in record time for this year's event.
“I think it's great to have back-to-back Grey Cups in Alberta. It makes it a competition,” added the Eskimos CEO.