
Shell Place is a sports, recreation and mixed use complex in
Fort McMurray
Fort McMurray ( ) is an urban service area in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Alberta, Canada. It is located in northeast Alberta, in the middle of the Athabasca oil sands, surrounded by boreal forest. It has played a significa ...
,
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
, which includes SMS Equipment Stadium, a multi-purpose stadium and performance venue, Legacy Dodge Field, a softball and baseball tournament facility, as well as a field house, badminton centre, non-profit and meeting spaces, and recreation trail.
Shell Place is a $127 million addition to the preexisting MacDonald Island Park. SMS Equipment Stadium has close to 5,000 fixed seats and is capable of holding over 20,000 people.
The stadium hosted "
Northern Kickoff", a June 13, 2015 season-opening exhibition game between the
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ...
teams
Edmonton Eskimos
The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Comm ...
and the
Saskatchewan Roughriders
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division.
The Roughriders were founded i ...
, the first major sporting event held at the new facility as well as the most northerly outdoor professional football game in history. In a last-minute addition to the
2015 CFL schedule, the
Toronto Argonauts
The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...
also hosted a regular season home game against the Eskimos at Shell Place on June 27 of the same year.
The
North American Soccer League's
FC Edmonton
FC Edmonton was a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club was founded in 2010 and competed in the North American Soccer League (2011–2017), North American Soccer League (NASL) from 2011 to ...
played two regular season games at Shell Place during the
2015 NASL season
The 2015 North American Soccer League season was the 48th season of Division II soccer in the United States and the fifth season of the North American Soccer League. It was contested by eleven teams including two from Canada. Jacksonville Armada ...
. On July 5, the host Eddies faced the
San Antonio Scorpions
The San Antonio Scorpions were an American professional soccer team based in San Antonio, Texas. Founded in 2010, the team made its debut in the North American Soccer League in 2012. The Scorpions played at Toyota Field, a soccer specific stadium ...
for the Wood Buffalo Cup, named for the
Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo
The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (abbreviated RMWB) is a specialized municipality in northeast Alberta, Canada. It is the second largest municipality in Alberta by area and is home to oil sand deposits known as the Athabasca oil sands ...
. On August 2, FC Edmonton played Canadian rivals
Ottawa Fury FC
Ottawa Fury Football Club was a Canadian professional soccer club based in Ottawa, Ontario. The club competed in the North American Soccer League and USL Championship and played its home games at TD Place Stadium.
The Ottawa Fury FC were d ...
.
Due to the
2016 Fort McMurray Wildfire
On May 1, 2016, a wildfire began southwest of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. On May 3, it swept through the community, forcing the largest wildfire evacuation in Alberta's history, with upwards of 88,000 people forced from their ho ...
, the
Fort McMurray Giants played their inaugural home games in Edmonton, and returned to Shell Place on June 29.
References
External links
*
Buildings and structures in Fort McMurray
s
North American Soccer League stadiums
Soccer venues in Alberta
Baseball venues in Alberta
Canadian football venues
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