The newly hired vice-president of business operations for the Calgary Stampeders is all too aware of the challenges facing the team. They’ve got a stadium that’s well past its best-before date and have seen their season ticket base erode over the past couple of years.Sign up to receive daily headline news from the Calgary Herald, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.
He was a three-time CFL all-star, a six-time West Division all-star and won two Grey Cups in his 13 years with the team between 1994 and 2007. “There’s such a big legacy with this team and this club in the city and it’s so engrained in the fabric of the society,” McNeil said. “A lot of people don’t know that, so it’s about getting back out there and creating the excitement again.”It’s a role he’s uniquely suited for.
“The business of football and specifically the business of CFL football is a little bit different,” McNeil said. “Fortunately, I’ve been incredibly lucky to continue to be a part of the league, I was vice-president of the players association for eight years after I retired and I still am a trustee on the CFL pension board.
While the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan Roughriders have all moved in to new stadiums in the last decade and the Toronto Argonauts got new digs when they took up residency at BMO Field and the Ottawa Redblacks benefited from major renovations to TD Place Stadium, the Stampeders are still playing in a stadium that was built in 1960.
There are challenges in every job, though, and while McNeil isn’t shying away from them, he also sees a huge opportunity ahead.