Rogers Place | ?m | ?s | Katz Group | HOK

[Tropical]

True and this is with Edmonton's free reign over concerts coming to Alberta for the most part given the Saddledome's building constraints. Once Calgary's new arena comes online, it's going to get even tougher. Hopefully more and more things to fill up the arena, and an effort to get the district to offer more than banks.

Once Calgary's new arena comes online, I expect more concert growth here. The economics of travelling to Alberta for stops in both cities are that much more attractive.

 

[yeggator]

I'm more optimistic on the "sum being greater than the total of its parts scenario" idea, where, rather than Calgary and Edmonton's two venues competing for concerts, they make Alberta as a whole more attractive for more tours. Edmonton and Calgary are both similarly sized large cities (with even larger regional cachements across Western Canada) and will grow even larger by the time the new arena is done. Plus, it's an easy drive between the two. It would be silly for a concert tour to skip either city when there are no longer technical limitations. Of course, we can't get complacent, but Explore Edmonton is getting stable funding, so hopefully they can continue to do the grunt work of bringing big tours to Edmonton. Stadium concerts will still be big up here though.

 

[BASE]

I agree Edmonton is a major city with a world class venue, not worried about missing out on too many acts. It could though mean a bit less economic impact with less out of town draw if Calgary gets their own dates for the same shows. Competition can breed some good innovation though hopefully as Edmonton has been able to sit back and watch Calgary not really compete for some shows due to roof limitations at Saddle dome as far as I understand.

 

[Yeggy]

True and this is with Edmonton's free reign over concerts coming to Alberta for the most part given the Saddledome's building constraints. Once Calgary's new arena comes online, it's going to get even tougher. Hopefully more and more things to fill up the arena, and an effort to get the district to offer more than banks.

It will likely be easier, actually.