Touchdown Atlantic Touchdown Atlantic ( ) is a series of Canadian Football League games played in the maritime provinces . In 2003 , the league had struck a committee to examine the feasibility of adding a tenth team , with the leading candidate cities being Quebec City and Halifax . An exhibition game between Ottawa and Montreal was held in Quebec City in 2003 at PEPS Stadium . Before the suspension of the Renegades , league commissioner Tom Wright had indicated that Halifax was the leading candidate for expansion . With the success of Touchdown Atlantic 2010 , Moncton has moved into position of front runner for CFL expansion . As every CFL field has an artificial surface , the Touchdown Atlantic game is the only CFL game played on grass all season . However , artificial turf has to be laid over the track at each end of the stadium in order to accommodate the end zones . Exhibition games . The first exhibition pre - season game was played in Halifax , Nova Scotia , at Huskies Stadium in June 2005 . The game was between the Toronto Argonauts and the Hamilton Tiger - Cats and ended in a 16 – 16 tie . The game was to gauge Halifax ' s support for a potential CFL expansion team , which would likely be named the Schooners . Temporary seating was added to boost the capacity to 11 , 000 . The game sold out . It was also used by the league to test its instant replay challenge system which was implemented in the 2006 CFL season . Another game was to be played on June 3 , 2006 in Halifax at Huskies Stadium with temporary seating for a capacity of 11 , 000 fans . This game was canceled after the suspension of the Ottawa Renegades . They were supposed to play the Montreal Alouettes . Prior to the official Touchdown Atlantic series , Saint John , New Brunswick , hosted a pair of exhibition games in 1986 and 1987 . In 1986 , the Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeated the Montreal Alouettes 35 – 10 at Canada Games Stadium before 11 , 463 fans . The following year the Alouettes returned to the Port City and lost 14 – 13 to the Hamilton Tiger - Cats ; the Alouettes would fold a week later . Regular season games . In October 2009 , it was officially announced that the Edmonton Eskimos would face the Toronto Argonauts in Moncton , New Brunswick , on September 26 , 2010 , in the first regular season game ever in Atlantic Canada . That game was referred to as Touchdown Atlantic . The game was played at the new Moncton Stadium on the campus of Université de Moncton in front of a reported sell - out crowd of 20 , 725 . Tickets went on sale to the general public on March 25 , 2010 , with a one - day pre - sale being conducted the day before . After 32 hours of being up for sale , the 2010 Touchdown Atlantic was announced as a sellout on March 25 , 2010 . The Eskimos won the game 24 – 6 thanks to their 247 interception return yards on six interceptions , the second most interception return yards in CFL history . A 2011 Touchdown Atlantic game , somewhat erroneously known as Touchdown Atlantic II , has been confirmed for the 2011 CFL season , again in Moncton . The Hamilton Tiger - Cats were the designated home team and faced the Calgary Stampeders on September 25 , 2011 at Moncton Stadium . Hamilton won the game , 55 – 36 . No Touchdown Atlantic was held in 2012 . The 2013 edition of Touchdown Atlantic will feature the Tiger - Cats hosting the Montreal Alouettes in Moncton . Potential for Moncton expansion . Moncton is now considered a frontrunner for a Canadian Football League franchise in Atlantic Canada , according to the commissioner . The success of a September 26 game in Moncton — the CFL ’ s first regular season game in Atlantic Canada — has cemented Moncton in this role . Also , Moncton is considered a front runner for expansion because of its centralized location in the region , since it is likely that a team in the region would represent all three maritime provinces due to the region ' s small population . Moncton officials negotiated to temporarily host the Hamilton Tiger - Cats for the 2013 season while Ivor Wynne Stadium is demolished and Pan American Stadium is under construction , however the Tiger - Cats ( citing a desire to play at a stadium closer to home ) later announced they would be playing eight of their nine home games at nearby Guelph , with the ninth being the Touchdown Atlantic contest .