The Brier in Newfoundland? The bid is going in

Five years ago, I would have said this wasn't possible. Now, I'm kind of hoping it happens. Because if it does, the party would be off the hook. 

According to The Telelgram, a group including Brad Gushue is going to bid to bring the 2017 Tim Hortons Brier to St. John's. Yup as in Newfoundland and Labrador.  Gushue said the key will be showing the CCA it has the ability to put bums in the seats.

“There are going to be other bids and we need to make sure ours is the best,” says Gushue, the reigning 11-time provincial men’s champ who has been runner-up (2007) and a third-place finisher (2011) at the Brier. 

“If we can show that we’ve sold a whole bunch of event passes two years in advance, it’s going to be really hard for the CCA to say no to us.” 

With a little under two months before they officially submit the bid package, Sport Tourism Event Partnership (STEP) St. John’s and its partners launched a ticket-deposit campaign at the Bally Haly Country Club on Wednesday asking curling fans to make a $50 advance towards a full-event pass.

The arena, Mile One Centre, has a capacity of about 6,200, roughly the same number as was in the arena in Kamloops, B.C., which was the first medium-sized centre to hold the Brier in some time. That showed the N+L group that the CCA was willing to move into different markets with fewer seats. But the key will be filling those seats -- that didn't happen in Kamloops and the Brier was a dud.

Gushue said the Brier did will go in in about two months.