Growing up in the United States, football is a huge part of our culture. Along with that, as professional sports leagues in the US have become substantial businesses competing with each other for attention, the overall game day experience has vastly improved over the years.
The experience at Stade Molson, not even factoring in the score of the game (the Alouettes lost, 50-11, I believe), was average at best. First off, the parking situation was challenging. Stade Molson, located on McGill University's campus, is on the edge of downtown Montreal on the slopes of Mount Royal, which means that parking came at a premium. My wife and I paid $40 to park relatively close to the stadium, which honestly, is a price I've only ever seen at incredibly premium US sports events, like an All-Star game or a playoff game. In times past, we've had to park even higher up the hill and had to meander through a steep grass area with trees to get down to the stadium.
The ticket prices, similar to the parking, were incredibly high. The following night, my wife and I saw a minor league baseball game in Vermont, and the entire cost of the trip (ferry tickets, game tickets, food, souvenirs) was cheaper than just the two Alouette tickets. While the tickets were cheaper than those at an NFL game, it certainly was more expensive than the average college football game--and college football games are much more enjoyable than the Alouettes' experience. While the game-day crew tried their hardest to engage the crowd with prompts to make noise on the opponent's second down and cheerleaders at every media break, it couldn't cover up the fact that the crowd was largely disinterested in the Alouettes (in fact, Johnny Manziel had more fans there than the Alouettes did) and the play on the field was a big step back compared to US professional football (the NFL, namely). Part of this was due to the incredibly poor play by the Alouettes, who struggled to block, defend the middle of the field and move the chains. Midway through the first quarter, they were down, 28-0, to the Ti-Cats.
The seating was another downside. For the amount that we paid for each ticket, my expectation is that we would sit in seat-back chairs. This was not the case. We sat on a bench in the bleachers, squeezing in with the people next to us. While I've heard that the Alouettes' ownership has vastly upgraded Stade Molson over the years, the facility still paled in comparison to the amenities at any NFL or NCAA Division I game. The food was pretty average, and given that Montreal is an incredibly cultured city, I was hoping that there would be some local cuisine that would have been featured; I would have gladly paid a little bit extra for food that showcases how great a food city Montreal is.
I will say, however, that the staff was mostly pleasant to deal with, and they were bilingual in both French and English, so it was a huge help with us being English monoglots in a Francophone province.
Essentially, it boils down to this: while my wife and I live about an hour south of Montreal in New York, we'll likely do something else in Montreal next summer when we have an itch to visit the city and wait until college and NFL football season in the States to get our football fix.