For the first time ever, British Columbia’s capital city will host a Canadian Football League regular season game, The BC Lions announced Wednesday morning that the CFL’s Touchdown Series will be taking the show out west as the Lions will host the Ottawa Redblacks in Victoria, BC on Saturday, August 31, 2024.
Touchdown Pacific is the 8th edition of the CFL’s Touchdown series, first known as Touchdown Atlantic going back to a 2005 preseason game in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The following year a game was scheduled to be played in Halifax once again but due to the Ottawa Renegades being suspended of operations by the CFL the game was never played. In 2010, Moncton, New Brunswick was the first time the TD Atlantic series had been a regular season game, after another two games in 2011 and 2013, the series was put on hold from 2014-2018. TD Atlantic has been a big hit for the league in recent years, selling out tickets to games within twenty-four hours and now the Canadian football league looks to target the west coast.
TD Pacific will kickoff the OK Tire Labour Day weekend slate of games across the league. The matchup between The BC Lions and Ottawa Redblacks will be played at Royal Athletic Park near Downtown Victoria. In 2007 Royal Athletic Park hosted the U-20 FIFA World Cup which had a 10,500-attendance high for a game during the tournament, The CFL hopes to add temporary seating to get capacity up around 14,000. Next years game will be the first football game played at the park since 2008 when the Victoria Rebels called the field home. Royal Athletic Park has had countless tenants over the years dating back to 1908, predating the first Grey Cup in 1909.
The CFL’s Touchdown series is a fantastic way to branch off and establish roots in other communities outside of their nine host cities, being able to show case your on-field product in multiple places like this is the spark the league needs to ignite a passion for the Canadian football league across the entire country. Last years event was held at Huskies Stadium in Halifax, NS, they had an attendance of 11,555 and generated over 10 million dollars in economic impact for the city. Touchdown Pacific will be a huge measuring stick opportunity for the CFL to determine engagement from coast to coast, especially with how desperate the league is looking for a stable foundation to place a tenth franchise.
Touchdown Pacific is one of two big events the province of British Columbia is hosting during the 2024 CFL season, starting in August labour day weekend and of course Grey Cup 111 will be played at BC Place next November. This game could be a game changer for Canadian football in western Canada more specifically in the province of BC, a market that has been on an upward trajectory since owner Amar Doman took over the BC lions in August 2021.
Ottawa Redblacks offensive Tackle and 2023 First overall pick Dontae Bull will be making his return home for the first time since his days at Belmont secondary. Dontae Being able to play in his hometown in front of family and friends will make the game that much more special. Tickets for Touchdown Pacific have not gone on sale yet, you can contact the BC Lions ticketing department or visit their website for more information.