McMaster, Hamilton Tiger-Cats form partnership

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[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/helmets.jpg” caption=”Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Marauder helmets square off.”]The Hamilton Tiger-Cats have announced a major partnership with McMaster's Department of Athletics and Recreation.

Under terms of the two-year agreement, the Tiger-Cats will handle all corporate sales and ticket sales for the McMaster football program. Ticket requests for McMaster football events will now be handled directly by the Ticats' business operations while Ivor Wynne Stadium, home of the Ticats, will also host all Marauder home football games for the next two years.

“We're very pleased to be on board with McMaster,” Tiger-Cats president David Sauve remarked. “This is a relationship that will create a lot of opportunities for both organizations.”

The partnership is highlighted by 'Football Day in Hamilton' on Saturday, September 17, 2005. The provincial gridiron battle will feature a McMaster-Western contest kicking off at 2:30 p.m. before the Ticats take the field at 7 p.m. to face the Calgary Stampeders. Fans will be granted admission to both games with a single ticket.

Attendance for the event should eclipse the record for most fans attending a CIS game at Ivor Wynne Stadium (14,227  Vanier Cup, November 27, 2004), the most fans to watch a McMaster University football game (12,464  Yates Cup, November 8, 2003) and could potentially break the record for highest attendance ever for a CIS conference football game. The current CIS conference mark of 26,764 was set in 1950 at Varsity Stadium, when the University of Western Ontario defeated the University of Toronto 41-3.

As part of this partnership, McMaster will be home to the Tiger-Cats training camp again this season. After a successful 2004 camp, Ticats coaches and players will return to McMaster in 2005. McMaster's facilities will be used for housing and training.

Tickets for McMaster games range in price from $5 to $10. A 'Mac-Pack,' consisting of tickets to all four McMaster home football games  including Football Day in Hamilton — is also available from $29 to $78. Fans looking for ticket information should call the Ticats sales department at 905-547-CATS.

“McMaster is confident that the partnership can take the McMaster football program to the next level,” said Therese Quigley, director of McMaster Athletics and Recreation.

(Source: Hamilton Tiger-Cats)