With Grey Cup coming to Calgary, talks to replace McMahon Stadium underway

There’s renewed interest in the future of McMahon Stadium following the announcement Calgary has been tapped to host the Grey Cup in 2026.

The 113th Grey Cup is set for Nov. 15, 2026 at McMahon Stadium, and will mark the sixth time the city has hosted, with the last in 2019.

At Friday’s announcement, Canadian Football League (CFL) Commissioner Randy Ambrosie said he stood by comments he made that McMahon Stadium is “terrible” and needs to be replaced, the last time Calgary hosted the CFL final.

“I’m not going to back away from the fact I believe the city needs a new stadium for the CFL, it needs a new stadium for the Calgary Stampeders,” Ambrosie told reporters. “It would be disingenuous to say anything else.”

However, Ambrosie said the CFL is satisfied the aging facility can host the championship game again, and that the Stampeders and the city will “work together to make the most of this facility.”

McMahon Stadium was built in 1960 and is currently the second oldest facility in the CFL; it will be 66 years old when the ball is kicked off for the 113th Grey Cup.

While the building is owned by the University of Calgary, it’s the McMahon Stadium Society that oversees its operations and upgrades.

The society’s chair, Steve Allan, told Global News conversations have been ongoing about a replacement for the aging facility with hope hosting the Grey Cup could push those conversations further.

“The fact that we have the Grey Cup coming really helps us focus on how we can get this done,” Allan told Global News.

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Last year, city council approved a concept plan to revitalize the Foothills Athletic Park with a new fieldhouse and upgrades to the stadium, but the majority of those plans remain unfunded.

The University of Calgary told Global News at the time it “is not in a position to provide financial support” to the revitalization work but is supportive of the plan.

“I think the onus is on the university to get on with it,” Allan said, noting the institution’s success with developing the University District.

“They don’t put any investment into it because they’ve got so many priorities as a post-secondary institution.”

According to Allan, stakeholders gathered this past spring to discuss options for a new stadium with “no merit” in investing in costly revitalization work on the building.

Those talks also include other locations for McMahon’s replacement, Allan said, dependent on the university’s lease on the current facility.

“That’s the opportunity to really unlock some money to help us build a new stadium somewhere in Calgary, not on the McMahon lands,” Allan told Global News. “I think we need a new location.”

He also noted the stadium’s current capacity of 35,400 is too big for the current teams playing there.

The Calgary Stampeders aren’t the only users of McMahon Stadium as it will soon play host to the Calgary Wild FC women’s soccer team, while it’s also used by local amateur sports.

“We’ve had lots of conversations about the facility and some of the needs it has, and those conversations are ongoing,” Alberta’s Tourism and Sport minister Joseph Schow said Friday.

Calgary Stampeders president Jay McNeil said he is hopeful a new stadium will be built in the future now that work is underway on Scotia Place, after years of negotiations between the Calgary Flames and the city.

“Until the event centre was done, there was not going to be any talk of a football stadium,” McNeil said. “Now that deal is done and the hole is in the ground, I will have a conversation with anybody that wants to listen and there has been conversations.”

The University of Calgary directed Global News to the McMahon Stadium Society for comment.

Upgrades are currently underway at McMahon, including a new artificial turf field, and McNeil said there are plans to expand the concourse for the championship game in two years.

According to Allan, a new stadium isn’t in the cards to host the Grey Cup in 2026, but he does have a hopeful timeline in mind.

“You get about eight years out of the turf,” Allan told Global News. “I hope that this is the last time we put artificial turf down at McMahon.”

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