Passing through La Dose, Montreal Olympic Park spokesperson Cédric Essiminy explains that their plan is to host more than one NFL game per year.
“What we relate to is that in the next few years, all NFL teams will have to play one game a year on neutral ground. We sniffed out this opportunity, ”explains the spokesperson. Obviously, if the 32 teams of the Goodell circuit have to act in this way, it would therefore be at least 16 games to be played on neutral ground, whether in the United States or abroad. In 2022 in particular, three games were played outside of the United States, one in London, one in Mexico City and another in Munich, Germany.
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However, the Olympic Park team will have to work hand in hand with Tourisme Montréal if it wishes to materialize its ambitions. Even if the recent decision of the City of Montreal not to go ahead with a candidacy of 514 for the next Soccer World Cup, which will take place in North America in 2026, Essiminy reassures Quebec sports fans. “In its tourism plan, the city of Montreal always targets major sporting events,” he confirms.
Listen to the Olympic Park spokesperson in the audio clip below.
“Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver are certainly markets that we have watched and will continue to study. The Canadian market is really important for us and geographically, it is less complex than for many other countries. Like everywhere else, we need the right infrastructure and the right partners,” he said.
“It’s preliminary, but the talks are going well”
Asked whether it would be a multi-year contract between the NFL and the Olympic Park, Essiminy replied that the only certainty he had was that it would be regular season games that would be played in Montreal, and that “it would be more than one game a year”.
“Obviously, it is not in 2023 that the NFL will announce if it chooses Montreal, wishes to establish the spokesperson. An organization like the NFL doesn’t move teams a month or three ahead. It’s a huge planning that can take two, three or four years to make a game outside the United States […] When they are ready, we will raise our hands.
Montreal isn’t the only city with an interest in hosting American football games. The Seattle Seahawks have already expressed interest in crossing the Canada-US border. A meeting at BC Place in Vancouver would make sense for the Washington State organization. After all, less than 200 kilometers separate the Space Needle from Stanley Park.
However, one advantage Montreal has over rival cities is that La Belle Province has already seen its share of NFL action. “It must be said that the NFL expertise in Quebec, it is at the Olympic Stadium, and that they know it,” said Essiminy, recalling that two NFL preseason games have already been held at the Olympic Stadium, in 1988 and in 1990.
The new surface makes everything possible
“They know that we have the stadium with the largest capacity in Canada, and that we have a new surface certified ”FIFA QUALITY PRO”. It works in our favor”.
It is the only course in Quebec with such certification and one of five in Canada. It is, according to Essiminy, a certification that guarantees one of the best synthetic surfaces in the world. “Now, when we take steps internationally, we can say that we offer the best on the market,” said the spokesperson proudly.
Essiminy explains that previously, the Olympic Stadium did not own the synthetic playing surface on which its sporting events took place. In fact, the organizers rented a surface depending on the event, in this case soccer or football.
Before the pandemic hit, Essiminy and his gang had resolved to get a surface of their own, and they wanted it to be top of the line. As a matter of fact, the organizers went all out, and the installation cost nearly $700,000. The surface is now permanent, and will be covered when non-sporting events are held in the stadium, such as the Metallica show next August.
CF Montreal is also holding its training camp at the Stadium, and the players greatly appreciate the novelty. Midfielder Mathieu Choinière notably gave the score of 10 out of 10 to the surface.
In his appearance at La Dose this morning, Essiminy explains how they went about obtaining the ”FIFA QUALITY PRO” certification, whether from the development of the pitch to the traction and sliding tests which are carried out . Listen to the episode of La Dose included above for all the details.
