When the proposed Atlantic Schooners CFL franchise announced a season-ticket drive in late 2018, Rob MacCormick spent $100 on a deposit for two seats.
The Windsor Junction, N.S., sports fan wanted to support the team. He also hoped that if the franchise came to fruition, more concerts would come to the city because of the stadium the team needed to construct as part of the venture.
MacCormick wasn’t alone in placing a deposit. The Canadian Press reported in December 2018 that 6,000 people had done the same. At $50 a ticket, that’s at least $300,000.
CBC News spoke to 10 people who said they paid the deposit. Eight — including MacCormick — said they did not receive refunds.
“When you go a pair at a time, it certainly does add up, and maybe somebody should be accountable to this,” said MacCormick.
As the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, the CFL venture disappeared from the public conversation. Two affiliated companies behind the idea — Schooner Sports and Entertainment and Maritime Football Limited — have had their registrations revoked in the Registry of Joint Stock Companies.
Schooner Sports and Entertainment sought municipal and provincial funding to build a 24,000-seat, $110-million stadium in Shannon Park. The space would have been used for community sports and major concerts as well.
In December 2019, Halifax council voted to give the proponents $20 million, but only if a list of conditions were met.
“We’re thrilled. We thank council for their due diligence and very spirited debate. We’re very excited to move forward,” said Schooner Sports and Entertainment partner Anthony LeBlanc.
By April 2020, LeBlanc had taken an executive role with the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. However, he remained a director with Maritime Football Limited, the Registry of Joint Stock Companies information shows.
MacCormick said he used to get the odd email from Schooner Sports and Entertainment about things like town hall events. He even received a holiday email encouraging him to buy tickets for loved ones. But the emails eventually dried up.
“Over time, I felt that the deposit was gone and it was $100, not the end of the world, but you know, it just felt like things weren’t going to happen,” said MacCormick.
The CFL maintains an Atlantic Schooners website. While updates on the state of the franchise are several years old, the site still pulls in fresh stories from the league’s website.
Jason Mullis, a diehard CFL fan who lives in Gatineau, Que., also put down a deposit for season tickets. He bought tickets because he wanted to see an East Coast franchise that would create a coast-to-coast league and establish a much-sought 10th team.
Mullis, who has driven across the country to attend games at all CFL stadiums, has a Facebook page called the Cflhobo that he uses to share his passion for the league.
He planned to purchase season tickets for a Halifax franchise, but would have donated most of them given geographic constraints.
Mullis said he’s not concerned about the refund money, but said he saw some online chatter from unhappy fans.
“People were upset. ‘Oh, I haven’t heard nothing. Where’s our money?'” he said.”But, I don’t worry about it. If you really want it back, you can complain enough, you’ll get your money back.”
CBC contacted officials with Schooner Sports and Entertainment. LeBlanc agreed to an interview, but later sent along a statement instead.
Proponents say they will launch a refund portal
In it, he said the proponents are setting up a portal to honour new refund requests. He said information on the portal will be released shortly.
LeBlanc said that when Schooner Sports and Entertainment shut down in 2023, the company had no assets or liabilities, and had been offering refunds to season ticket holders for five years.
“These deposits were and continued to be refundable, with a significant number of deposit holders seeking refunds,” he said in the email. “All of the requests that were submitted through proper channels have been honored.”
LeBlanc said the effort to bring a CFL franchise to Halifax involved “significant and material financial obligations, all of which were honored.” He said Schooner Sports and Entertainment partnered with organizations that included architectural, public relations, government relations and marketing firms.
Schooner Sports and Entertainment also partnered with the CFL on a 2019 game that was held in Moncton, N.B., that led to “significant and material financial losses,” said LeBlanc.
The organization decided to spike the CFL franchise, in part, because of a lack of appetite to help fund the project.
“With the onset of the pandemic, all public sector entities made the very prudent decision to pause, and eventually withdrew agreements and suspended ongoing discussions regarding the project,” said LeBlanc.
