Hamilton Tiger-Cats hold out on city payment over stadium deficiencies

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are withholding a $1.4 million payment to the city due to numerous inadequacies with the newly-built Tim Hortons Field.

Although the multi-purpose venue is considered complete, there are notable shortages Ti-Cats president Scott Mitchell believes will hinder business operations. Among those are obstructed viewing in some seating areas, audio and video difficulties, and problematic pay systems.

Mitchell said the team will gladly provide their part of the licensing agreement they have with the city, which is essentially the $1.4 million being sheltered, once the city has contractors fix the issues.

"It's like being a tenant in a building, you don't pay rent until you move into the building," Mitchell told Emma Reilly of the Hamilton Spectator. "It's either complete as per the license agreement, or it isn't."

As for the city of Hamilton, Coun. Lloyd Ferguson believes Mitchell's criticism are trivial.

"They're petty — they're very, very small," he said.

Despite the perceived severity of the shortcomings, Ferguson believes some may be resolved, while others cannot. The city and Infrastructure Ontario, the agency supervising the stadium's construction, may have to strike a settlement as a result.

"The obstructed views can't be fixed. Period. There's going to be a settlement that we'll take up with (IO) afterward."

It's unknown when exactly the stadium's issues will be repaired. The Ti-Cats are not scheduled for a home game until Aug. 3, Week 6 of the CFL schedule.