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“Like trying to watch a game in a submarine”: Ticats’ Guelph press box setup may need work

andrew bucholtz

CFL games are being regularly played in two new venues this season, with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers permanently relocating to the new Investors Group Field and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats spending this season at the University of Guelph's Alumni Stadium, and both of those stadiums appear to have one common issue: press boxes ill-suited to the elements. In Winnipeg, the press box is covered by a roof but open to the air on the sides, which isn't conducive to coverage in November and has prompted the league to tell the Bombers they won't get a Grey Cup until it's fixed. The weather didn't affect coverage in the game in Winnipeg thus far (the terrible WiFi did, though...), as the Bombers hosted Montreal on a gorgeous June night in Week One. In Guelph, however, the press box has already proved to be a substantial issue thanks to the torrential rains during Hamilton's 30-20 loss to Edmonton Sunday. Here's a report of how bad it got (more photos are available at that link) from Chris O'Leary of The Edmonton Journal:

Before Sunday’s game started, I got a direct message on Twitter from Murray McCormick at the Regina Leader-Post. He asked me how the facilities were, press-wise, in Guelph. I read his message, looked through the plastic tarp/window setup that was in the makeshift press box/tent setup that the Ti-Cats have in Guelph and I wrote him back and said, “If it rains, we’re screwed.”

By the end of the first quarter, that’s where we were. ...

Before the game started, with the sun shining and the bad weather that was forecast for Sunday seemingly behind us, the people in the press box agreed to roll up the plastic windows that were over the press box, so we could see the game better. That worked for most of the first quarter but when the weather turned, things got ugly. You couldn’t see what was happening on the field, the plastic got foggy and water started to leak in around the plastic and spread out on the floor. And then it just kept on raining and raining and raining. With water finding its way in everywhere, I made my laptop live up to its name and put it in my lap for the rest of the game. At halftime another Ti-Cats staffer came in and actually squeegeed the floor in the press box.

“This is like trying to watch a game in a submarine,” my colleague from the Edmonton Sun, Gerry Moddejonge said.

Whenever the rain seemed to let up — there was talk of the storm being off of the radar at halftime — it always came back, always determined to test everyone’s patience. The worst of the weather came in the final two minutes of the game, with the rain rattling off of the roof of the tent, blurring whatever we tried to see outside. I saw the game, but I feel like I need to actually sit down and watch it again on TV to see everything that happened.

That's certainly far from a glowing review of the Guelph setup as it pertains to the press. Of course, on one level, that's not a huge complaint: most fans had no shelter from the rain whatsoever, and neither did the players or coaches. Stories of being soaked to the bone filled Twitter afterwards. Still, media concerns aren't insignificant either: there's extra need for a warm and dry environment when you're using expensive electronics, and there is value to the league in the stories reporters file from games. Media coverage tends to help promote the CFL's product, and that's important from a perspective of both boosting attendance (and gate sales) and TV ratings, so providing reporters with a way to do their job should (and generally does) matter to the league. That's why the CFL's stepped in to force amendments to the Winnipeg press box. It's going to be interesting to see if the league decides to ask for changes to the Guelph setup as well in the wake of this, or if this is written off as just a one-time problem thanks to the specific weather issues.