1.
Commonwealth Stadium (Edmonton)
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Its main tenant is the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League, although it is also used for athletics, soccer and rugby union, as well as concerts. The stadium has a capacity of 56,302, making it the largest in Canada. Construction commenced in 1975 and the venue opened ahead of the 1978 Commonwealth Games and it received a major expansion ahead of the 1983 Summer Universiade, when it reached a capacity of 60,081. The stadium had remained, for a time, the only CFL venue with natural grass. Events at the stadium include four Grey Cups, the CFLs championship game, FC Edmonton has since 2011 played its Canadian Championship matches at Commonwealth Stadium. The venue also hosted matches during the 2014 FIFA U-20 Womens World Cup, in rugby, Commonwealth has hosted the 2006 Womens Rugby World Cup and three editions of the Churchill Cup. The stadium is listed as a potential site for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The main stadium in Edmonton was Clarke Stadium, which opened in 1939 and was built on a 38-acre plot of land, work on applying to host the 1978 Commonwealth Games started in the early 1970s. With both federal, provincial and city funding backing the bid, it called for a renovation of the citys various sporting venues. The original plans called for Clarke Stadium to be rebuilt and expanded to host the athletics events, by 1974 there was consensus that Clarke Stadium would not be sufficient and that an all-new stadium should be built. Several locations and sizes were discussed, with Edmonton City Council in January 1975 landing on building a 40,000 seat venue next to Clarke Stadium, the venue was designed by Ragan, Bell, McManus Consultants. The city also decided to build to new venues, Kinsmen Aquatic Centre. They based their design on Jack Trice Stadium in the US city of Ames, part of the public support for the stadium came from it being built to also support being used by the Eskimos. The plans were met with opposition from local residents, there were also discussions regarding the necessity of a $50,000 royal retirement room and the allocation of training and office space to the Eskimos. The largest discussion was related to whether the stadium needed a roof or dome, as the roof would cost $18.2 million, there was limited public support and the stadium was built without one. In an attempt to further the process, the Eskimos offered to pay $1.6 million towards the roof. An enclosement would not be permitted used during the Commonwealth Games, an alternative design, which would have cost an additional $7.3 million, was launched by the Eskimos in August 1975, but rejected by the city council. A major concern for the city council were the large cost overruns which were being experienced in Montreal at the time, excavation started in December 1974 and saw the removal of 400,000 cubic meters of earthwork
2.
Edmonton
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Edmonton /ˈɛdməntən/ is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, the city anchors the north end of what Statistics Canada defines as the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor. The city had a population of 932,546 in 2016, making it Albertas second-largest city, also in 2016, Edmonton had a metropolitan population of 1,321,426, making it the sixth-largest census metropolitan area in Canada. Edmonton is North Americas northernmost city with a population over one million. A resident of Edmonton is known as an Edmontonian, Edmontons historic growth has been facilitated through the absorption of five adjacent urban municipalities and a series of annexations ending in 1982. Known as the Gateway to the North, the city is a point for large-scale oil sands projects occurring in northern Alberta. Edmonton is a cultural, governmental and educational centre and it hosts a year-round slate of festivals, reflected in the nickname Canadas Festival City. It is home to North Americas largest mall, West Edmonton Mall, in 1754, Anthony Henday, an explorer for the Hudsons Bay Company, may have been the first European to enter the Edmonton area. By 1795, Fort Edmonton was established on the north bank as a major trading post for the Hudsons Bay Company. The new forts name was suggested by John Peter Pruden after Edmonton, London, the home town of both the HBC deputy governor Sir James Winter Lake, and Pruden. In 1876, Treaty 6, which includes what is now Edmonton, was signed between the Aboriginal peoples in Canada and Queen Victoria as Queen of Canada, as part of the Numbered Treaties of Canada. The agreement includes the Plains and Woods Cree, Assiniboine, and other governments of First Nations at Fort Carlton, Fort Pitt. The area covered by the treaty represents most of the area of the current provinces of Saskatchewan. The arrival of the CPR and the C&E Railway helped bring settlers and entrepreneurs from eastern Canada, Europe, U. S. the Edmonton areas fertile soil and cheap land attracted settlers, further establishing Edmonton as a major regional commercial and agricultural centre. Some people participating in the Klondike Gold Rush passed through South Edmonton/Strathcona in 1897, in November 1905, the Canadian Northern Railway arrived in Edmonton, accelerating growth. During the early 1900s, Edmontons rapid growth led to speculation in real estate, in 1912, Edmonton amalgamated with the City of Strathcona, south of the North Saskatchewan River, as a result, the city extended south of the North Saskatchewan River for the first time. Just prior to World War I, the boom ended, many impoverished families moved to subsistence farms outside the city, while others fled to greener pastures in other provinces. Recruitment to the Canadian army during the war contributed to the drop in population
3.
Alberta
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Alberta is a western province of Canada. With an estimated population of 4,196,457 as of July 1,2015, it is Canadas fourth-most populous province and its area is about 660,000 square kilometres. Alberta and its neighbour Saskatchewan were districts of the Northwest Territories until they were established as provinces on September 1,1905, the premier has been Rachel Notley since May 2015. Alberta is bounded by the provinces of British Columbia to the west and Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Territories to the north, and the U. S. state of Montana to the south. Alberta is one of three Canadian provinces and territories to only a single U. S. state and one of only two landlocked provinces. About 290 km south of the capital is Calgary, the largest city in Alberta, Calgary and Edmonton centre Albertas two census metropolitan areas, both of which have populations exceeding one million, while the province has 16 census agglomerations. Tourist destinations in the province include Banff, Canmore, Drumheller, Jasper, Alberta is named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, the fourth daughter of Victoria, Queen of Canada, and Albert, Prince Consort. Princess Louise was the wife of John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne, Lake Louise and Mount Alberta were also named in her honour. Alberta, with an area of 661,848 km2, is the fourth largest province after Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia. To the south, the borders on the 49th parallel north, separating it from the US state of Montana. The province extends 1,223 km north to south and 660 km east to west at its maximum width, with the exception of the semi-arid steppe of the south-eastern section, the province has adequate water resources. There are numerous rivers and lakes used for swimming, fishing, there are three large lakes, Lake Claire in Wood Buffalo National Park, Lesser Slave Lake, and Lake Athabasca which lies in both Alberta and Saskatchewan. The longest river in the province is the Athabasca River which travels 1,538 km from the Columbia Icefield in the Rocky Mountains to Lake Athabasca, the largest river is the Peace River with an average flow of 2161 m3/s. The Peace River originates in the Rocky Mountains of northern British Columbia and flows through northern Alberta and into the Slave River, Albertas capital city, Edmonton, is located approximately in the geographic centre of the province. It is the most northerly city in Canada, and serves as a gateway. The region, with its proximity to Canadas largest oil fields, has most of western Canadas oil refinery capacity, Calgary is located approximately 280 km south of Edmonton and 240 km north of Montana, surrounded by extensive ranching country. Almost 75% of the population lives in the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor. The land grant policy to the served as a means to populate the province in its early years
4.
The Sports Network
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The Sports Network is a Canadian English language sports specialty service. Via a 20% share in the Bell Media subsidiary CTV Specialty Television, TSN is the largest specialty channel in Canada in terms of gross revenue, with a total of $400.4 million in revenue in 2013. TSNs networks focus on sports-related programming, including live and recorded event telecasts, sports talk shows, TSN holds regional television rights to three of the NHLs seven Canadian franchises. TSN also receives an amount of programming through its minority partner. The TSN licence currently comprises five 24-hour programming services, from its launch until 2006, TSN operated as a single, national service. On August 25,2014, the primary TSN service was re-structured into four 24-hour feeds—TSN1, TSN3, TSN4, and TSN5—with each designated as the primary TSN network for each region of Canada. However, the task was complicated by claims by CBC that it owned the rights to the NHL. With the help of a Molson employee who was a friend of Gordon, in 1991, TSN acquired rights to the IIHF World U20 Championship, otherwise known as the World Juniors, which were previously broadcast by CBC. S. College football bowl games, regarded as a sporting event of the holiday season in Canada. Due to CRTC regulations on the ownership of broadcasters, Labatt was forced to sell TSN. The Sports Network launched its website TSN. ca on October 1,1995, alternate programming could make up a maximum of 10% of the TSN schedule—an average of 2.4 hours a day. In 2000, after ESPN blocked two attempts by the Canadian partners to sell NetStar to Canwest, CTV Inc. acquired the Canadian partners shares, CTV Inc. was acquired by Bell Canada and The Woodbridge Company as part of the joint venture Bell Globemedia in 2001. As a result of its purchase of TSN, CTV would be forced to sell its sports network CTV Sportsnet. Following the acquisition, TSN would move its operations to CTVs Agincourt complex, however, Sportsnet would not move from Agincourt until 2008, which led to the now-competing networks sharing the same building as their headquarters. This oddity would become a joke between personalities on both networks, who commonly referred to jumping between the two networks as crossing the parking lot. The CRTC, however, objected to plans to rename TSN as ESPN Canada, citing concerns that it would sound more like the channel was ESPNs Canadian affiliate, and that ESPN had de facto majority control. Beginning in 2006, the CRTC officially allowed TSN to operate national secondary digital feeds with limited amounts of alternative programming, following this development, TSN began to use such a feed to broadcast additional programming that could not be aired on TSN due to scheduling conflicts or other events. On August 29,2008, the feed evolved into a new 24-hour channel, similar to ESPN2, TSN was officially permitted to use these streamlined conditions of licence on February 1,2010
5.
ESPN2
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ESPN2 is an American basic cable and satellite television network that is owned by ESPN Inc. a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and the Hearst Corporation. As of February 2015, ESPN2 is available to approximately 94,379,000 pay television households in the United States, ESPN2 launched on October 1,1993 at 7,30 p. m. Eastern Time. The youthful image was reflected in its overall presentation, which featured a graffiti-themed logo. ESPN2 also featured several news programs focused on specific sports, such as NFL 2Night, NHL 2Night. In 1995, ESPN2 introduced the BottomLine, a persistent news ticker which displayed sports news, the BottomLine would later be adopted by ESPN itself and all of its future properties. On-screen graphics used a color scheme instead of red to differentiate it from ESPN. On February 12,2007, the ESPN2 branding was stripped from most on-air presentation and replaced with ESPN, sports events presented on ESPN2 originally tended to be alternative sports such as poker, billiards, lumberjacking, extreme sports and, more recently, drum and bugle corps. In 2011, ESPN2 also acquired broadcast rights to delayed coverage for some American Le Mans Series events, the channel has also become ESPNs home for tennis coverage. The showpieces are all four of the Grand Slam tournaments, the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. Also featured on ESPN2 are the ATP World Tour Finals and U. S. -based tournaments, including the ATP Masters 1000 events at Indian Wells and Miami, as well as the US Open Series. ESPN2 formerly broadcast matches of the UEFA Champions League, until rights for that tournament moved to Fox Soccer, in 2003, ESPN2 began broadcasting Major League Lacrosse games. In March 2007, ESPN2 and the agreed on a new broadcast contract that will run until the 2016 season. ESPN2s former flagship show, the morning sports/entertainment program Cold Pizza, achieved success and saw several format. In January 2006, it was supplanted by the television simulcast of ESPN Radios Mike and Mike in the Morning, in May 2007, Cold Pizza moved from New York City to the ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut and was renamed ESPN First Take. After ESPN became part of a new broadcast contract with the association, in return, ESPN2 programming is often seen on ESPN during blackouts of games in certain markets. ESPN2 also often carries SportsCenter at times when the broadcast on ESPN is delayed by an event that overruns into one of the programs scheduled timeslots. The documentary would usually air for two hours, where the first hour would cover the production of the nights show on ESPN. The second hour usually spent time at production control while covering reaction to the nights developments, both ESPN and ESPN2 carried ABC News coverage of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and The Pentagon on September 11,2001
6.
Grey Cup
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The Grey Cup is the name of both the championship game of the Canadian Football League and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing Canadian football. It is contested between the winners of the CFLs East and West Divisional playoffs and is one of Canadian televisions largest annual sporting events, the Toronto Argonauts have 16 championships, more than any other team. The latest, the 104th Grey Cup, took place in Toronto, Ontario, on November 27,2016, the trophy was commissioned in 1909 by the Earl Grey, then Canadas governor general, who originally hoped to donate it for the countrys senior amateur hockey championship. After the Allan Cup was later donated for that purpose, Grey instead made his trophy available as the Canadian Dominion Football Championship of Canadian football. The trophy has a silver chalice attached to a base on which the names of all winning teams, players. The Grey Cup has been broken on several occasions, stolen twice and it survived a 1947 fire that destroyed numerous artifacts housed in the same building. The Grey Cup was first won by the University of Toronto Varsity Blues, play was suspended from 1916 to 1918 due to the First World War and in 1919 due to a rules dispute. The game has typically been contested in an east versus west format since the 1920s, the Edmonton Eskimos formed the Grey Cups longest dynasty, winning five consecutive championships from 1978 to 1982. While the Stanley Cup was created in 1893 as the Canadian amateur hockey championship, Grey instead offered an award to the Dominion amateur rugby football championship beginning in 1909. He initially failed to follow through on his offer, the trophy was not ordered until two weeks prior to the first championship game. The first Grey Cup game was held on December 4,1909, the trophy was not ready for presentation following the game, and the Varsity Blues did not receive it until March 1910. They retained the trophy in the two years, defeating the Hamilton Tigers in 1910 and the Toronto Argonauts in 1911. The University of Toronto failed to reach the 1912 Grey Cup, the Varsity Blues refused to hand over the trophy on the belief they could keep it until they were defeated in a title game. They kept the trophy until 1914 when they were defeated by the Argonauts, Canadas participation in the First World War resulted in the cancellation of the championship from 1916 to 1918, during which time the Cup was forgotten. Montreal Gazette writer Bob Dunn claimed that the trophy was later rediscovered as one of the heirlooms of an employee of the Toronto trust company where it had been sent for storage. Competition finally resumed in 1920 with the 8th Grey Cup game and it was the University of Torontos fourth, and final, championship. Competition for the Grey Cup was limited to member unions of the CRU, the Western Canada Rugby Football Union joined in 1921, allowing the Edmonton Eskimos to challenge. Facing the Argonauts in the 9th Grey Cup, the Eskimos became the first western team –, the Argonauts entered the game with an undefeated record, having outscored their opposition 226 to 55 during the season
7.
Shaw Communications
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Shaw Communications Inc. is a Canadian telecommunications company that provides telephone, Internet, television, and mobile services all backed by a fibre optic network. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Shaw provides services mostly in British Columbia and Alberta, with systems in Saskatchewan, Manitoba. Through its subsidiary Freedom Mobile, Shaw provides mobile services in areas of British Columbia, Alberta. The companys chief competitor is Telus Communications, Shaw was founded as Capital Cable Television Company, Ltd. in Edmonton, Alberta, in 1966. The company changed its name to Shaw Cablesystems Ltd. and went public on the TSX in 1983, however, two swaps, in 1994 and 2001, with Rogers Cable have resulted in its assets being restricted to Western Canada and a few areas of Northern Ontario. In 1999, Shaw spun out its media properties into a second publicly-traded company, in February 2003, the Florida systems would be sold to Time Warner Cable, while the Texas systems were sold to Cequel III, as part of its then-Cebridge Connections subsidiary. In 2008, Shaw entered the AWS spectrum auction with the intention of becoming a wireless phone provider. The auction ended July 2008, giving Shaw Communications enough spectrum to build a network in its home provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba. This spectrum ultimately went unused and was sold to Rogers Communications in January 2013, in July 2009, Shaw announced its acquisition of Mountain Cablevision, in September, Rogers sued Shaw to block the sale, citing violations of a non-compete clause. However, the suit was dismissed by the Ontario Superior Court. The purchase was approved by the CRTC on October 22,2009, the acquisition was Shaws first cable property east of Sault Ste. Marie since the 2001 swaps with Rogers and Cogeco, on April 30,2009, Shaw announced a deal to acquire three television stations — CHWI-TV in Windsor, Ontario, CKNX-TV in Wingham, Ontario and CKX-TV in Brandon, Manitoba — from CTVglobemedia. However, it was reported on June 30,2009 that Shaw has backed out of the deal and is declining to complete the purchase. CHWI-TV would remain on the air as is, CKNX-TV would become a repeater of London station CFPL-TV in September 2009, canwests newspapers were not part of the Shaw deal and were sold separately to Postmedia Network. The acquisition was completed on October 27,2010, after CRTC approval for the sale was announced on October 22, the campaign was designed by the Vancouver-based agency Rethink, who were also responsible for Bell Canadas beaver characters Frank and Gordon. In April 2013, Shaw Business Solutions took over Enmaxs Envision subsidiary, the acquisition was completed for $225 Million. In 2014, Shaw partnered with Rogers Communications to launch Shomi,1,600 of Shaws 14,000 employees were affected by the consolidation and cuts. In 2013, Shaw attempted to begin developing an IPTV-based platform for its television services, however, after experiencing issues developing the platform, Shaw took a $55 million write-down in June 2015, and announced that it was licensing Comcasts cloud-based X1 architecture
