SMS Equipment Stadium has a new lead football tenant.
At a press conference Friday morning it was announced that the Fort McMurray Monarchs of the Alberta Football League will be making Shell Place their new home.
“We are tremendously excited to welcome the Fort McMurray Monarchs as the anchor football tenant at SMS Equipment Stadium,” said Annette Antoniak, Chief Executive Officer of the RRC. “This summer is shaping up to be an exciting season filled with football with the Monarchs and baseball with the Fort McMurray Giants, and we are delighted to join with these partners to present new opportunities for residents of the region to enjoy sport entertainment options in our community.”
“This really is a great step for our community, we’ve had the facility built and I’m a person who says “I dream, I build, I believe” and this is what happens, I believed when we built this field we would have dreams come true and this is only the stepping point that we’re going to start with,” said Mayor Melissa Blake.
The Monarchs played a handful of games at SMS Equipment last season and were able to average between 400 and 600 fans. The goal this year is to average over 500 per game.
“It’s great for our program, it’s great for the community and I think at the end of the day, the few games that we had here last year made them realize that we can do well here,” said Monarchs President, Jesse Maddox.
The Monarchs are coming off a very successful second season in the AFL. The team finished with a 7-1 record in the regular season, going all the way to the AFL finals before losing to the Calgary Gators.
On field success will once again be a primary focus for the club but they are also hoping to make a major impact in the community away from the gridiron.
“We want to be competitive on the field but also off the field, we want to fill the stands as best as possible so this year the focus is getting more fans that are children and families…we want to get more of the family aspect involved and we’re doing a lot of partnering with a few places in town that are going to help us bring more kids out and families,” said Maddox.
Securing the Monarchs is just one of the many projects the Regional Recreation Corporation has in the works. With the two CFL games taking place in the summer of 2015, it remains uncertain if the CFL will return.
“I have talked to the CFL and we’ve talked to them about coming up here to do their training camps and they absolutely love the stadium,” said Antoniak. “The problem is, they’re all locked into long term deals with the stadiums they’re currently operating in so maybe down the road.”
Until then, Fort McMurrayites will be treated to a high level of Football with 11 of the Monarchs having CFL experience on their resumes.
The season kicks off May 28 when the Monarchs host the Calgary Wolfpack. Other homes dates will be June 4, June 18 and August 6.
Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased online or at the Shell Place box office. Season tickets are $55.00 while single game tickets are $8.00 for children and $15.00 for adults.
