The city wants to know what its responsibilities would be if the Hamilton Tiger-Cats secure the right to host the Grey Cup in either 2020 or 2021.
The general issues committee has voted to have staff prepare a business case, including municipal costs and staffing requirements.
Ward 6 Coun. Tom Jackson has sought assurances that it’s even possible for city-owned Tim Hortons Field to host a Grey Cup, asking manager of sports and entertainment facilities Rob Gatto about the feasibility of adding the “appropriate” number of temporary seats.
Gatto says the city would hire a structural engineer to determine how that would be done, but he insists that it is “doable.”
Gatto notes that 12,000 seats were added on “sides of hills” at the University of Guelph’s stadium when the Tiger-Cats were forced to play home games at that location during construction of Hamilton’s new stadium in 2013.
The CFL estimates an economic impact of $80- to $120-million for the city that hosts the Grey Cup.
Ward 8 Coun. John Paul Danko questions those numbers and asks that they are “well delved into and verified” within the business case.