[innsertnamehere]

I believe this reduces the total field length by 20yd (10 from the end zones, and 10 from reducing each half by 5 yd

Yes, it would match the field length to the NFL. The fields would remain ~12 yards wider than an NFL field though.

 

[T-Bor]

Yes, it would match the field length to the NFL. The fields would remain ~12 yards wider than an NFL field though.

I think we're talking about field = end to end. I.e. including the end zones

NFL = 100 yards + 10 x 2 = 20 yard endzones. 120 total. 52.5 yards wide
CFL = 100 yards + 15 x 2 = 30 yard endzones. 130 total. 65 yards wide

 

[T-Bor]

I know some CFL purists may hate shortening the field, I have to think that turning this newfound area at either endzone into an open bar area is going to massively increase the fun factor.

BMO lacks any real areas where you can just stand and watch the game with a drink. The Skydome experience is massively improved after they added this.

 

[Mihairokov]

I know some CFL purists may hate shortening the field, I have to think that turning this newfound area at either endzone into an open bar area is going to massively increase the fun factor.

BMO lacks any real areas where you can just stand and watch the game with a drink. The Skydome experience is massively improved after they added this.

I understand the purpose but this leans more into turning the sport into an event more than getting people involved in the sport. I did the patio thing once in Ottawa with a work group and although OSEG got some of our money none of us really walked away CFL fans with plans on going to more games.

Problem with the whole BMO patio idea is that tallboys start at $16, and for groups who are looking to spend decent money at an event they're probably going to gravitate towards the more major league options down the street instead.

 

[guavadelic]

Pretty drastic changes for a commissioner who's been in the job for less than six months.

 

[T-Bor]

Pretty drastic changes for a commissioner who's been in the job for less than six months.

No disagreement there

I understand the purpose but this leans more into turning the sport into an event more than getting people involved in the sport. I did the patio thing once in Ottawa with a work group and although OSEG got some of our money none of us really walked away CFL fans with plans on going to more games.

Problem with the whole BMO patio idea is that tallboys start at $16, and for groups who are looking to spend decent money at an event they're probably going to gravitate towards the more major league options down the street instead.

The main difference is that you're not going after the $10,000-per-game suite crowd. You're going after the $100 let's-be-5-feet-from-the-action crowd.

It's the same logic of why Marlies or Scepters games are a blast. Pay a fraction of the price but you can be 20 feet from the bench

 

[GenerationW]

They sold an additional 5-7K tickets this weekend because the Argos ticket granted all-day access to CNE and to the Blue Rodeo concert at Budweiser Stage. Let's not pretend like the Argos are drawing 20K out to BMO on their own. And, that makes two CFL teams who have used concerts to sell tickets for their games this season.

There was a concert at BC Place. There was no concert at BMO field and no access to Blue Rodeo. Those are the same how?

Hamilton did a concert a few years ago. The Super Bowl and Grey Cup have concerts every year. What do you have against concerts? I cannot abide by this anti-concert mentality.

TFC and Argos aren't really in the same conversation when a single player at TFC makes more than the entire valuation of the Argos franchise.

I'm shocked -- SHOCKED -- that it's all about worshipping the filthy lucre for you. More on that later.

Because there's money to be made and that's how sport in this country works. Without MLS we probably don't have CPL.

Sport? Do you mean sports?

Again, i'll be interested to see what 2026 holds for the Argos and for the CFL in general, as Bell has removed themselves from MLSE and their contract with CFL ends after 2026. I doubt Rogers steps up and gives the CFL $50M/year when Ed wants an NFL team to add to his infinity gauntlet and when that CFL team prohibits further expansion of other MLSE properties at BMO.

Bell still needs summer content, the CFL's new commissioner worked at TSN, and Rogers has baseball for summer viewing. Hard to see any of that changing.

Ed can dream all he wants. The NFL would only to come Canada for one-off money games like they've been doing in Europe (South America this year, Australia next year......).

Exactly this. If they want to host the Argos at BMO then build it properly….Tottenham Stadium is a perfect example. But we all know Toronto won’t ever do that, so I’ve always advocated that Lamport Stadium be given to the Argos to play in….if the Toronto Wolfpack could fill it up, I don’t see how the Argos couldn’t.

Everybody wins….BMO finally can build a proper North stand and the Argos can finally sell out a 8000 seat stadium.

I agree. Soccer Canada should dip into their billions hidden in offshore accounts and build a stadium like Tottenham so that fans of Toronto's imitation Liverpool team can be happy.

Not sure where you are even getting TV viewership data considering it's now behind a paywall that doesn't tell us how many people are watching (Apple.TV).

No idea about their ratings, but anecdotally I've seen many comments on sports forums from presumably casual fans who stopped following the team after the Apple deal.

Everybody wins? Toronto may be the worst football market on the continent but Lamport Stadium is woefully inadequate even for the Argonauts. It would be a disaster for football, football fans, our national football league, not to mention this storied franchise. They're the 2nd oldest pro football team (founded in 1873) in North America in the city that invented the sport. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are the oldest (1869). I doubt most Torontonians are even aware of this.

Torontonians .may not have any respect for their own culture but Toronto's pro football team deserves better. Not that you did this but the utter disregard, and sometimes outright disdain, for Canada's domestic football league never ceases to amaze me. Whether one likes football or not, the Toronto Argonauts and our pro football league deserve better.

The irony here is that the arrival of the Jays, the Raptors, and Paul Godfrey's decades long attempt to get a Toronto NFL team have either destroyed or diminished local Canadian sports culture. We are now whores to American sports leagues and big events like the Olympics (see: two bids) and the World Cup. In this respect we actually are the 51st state. Elbows way down..

I don't think any of us have any obligation to support the CFL to the degree that CFL fans seemingly want to point fingers outside of their homes. I can't think of any other fanbase that perpetually acts like this.

Oh please. TFC fans clearly fired the first shots over a decade ago. The Argos raised no protest when the Jays arrived at Exhibition Stadium in 1977 and destroyed the football configuration. The Argos and the Jays said nothing when the Blizzard moved there in 1979. And as if fans of a team founded in 1873 don't have the right to defend their team. This childish sense of entitlement by TFC fans is beyond pathetic.

Blizzard were a soccer team by the way.

Wolfpack had no issue attracting near-Argos crowds for their short run at Lamport, i'm sure the Argos could take a swing at the venue when they're eventually let go from BMO, but they'd be better off escaping to the hinterlands instead, depending on who wants to pay for a stadium for them to play in.

Lamport is a hole, and the Wolfpack never attracted near-Argo crowds.

BMO Field is operated by MLSE who are now owned by Rogers, so there is incentive to remove the Argos from BMO if they're looking to focus on properties they care more about. TV deals do keep most leagues afloat but not often are TV carriers sold mid-deal. Given that most other economic indicators for the CFL are in decline, including in-person attendance and TV ratings, it bears to question why Rogers would want to contribute the $50M/year that Bell was willing to part with for a product that conflicts directly with another of theirs (the Jays) and prevents expansion of a facility that another of their properties uses (TFC), along with hindering events they would like to host more of (CMNT/CWNT).

Based on how the Argos have been handled for the upcoming World Cup tenancy I get the feeling they were told to get lost. Maybe that's a sign of things to come for 2027. They could have used the WC break to play games in Atlantic Canada, or Guelph, or London, but instead are wandering the wilderness out West. I'm sure the CFL is eager to get tickets sold for those games in venues they don't need to build from scratch in markets they don't need to fight in.

I shouldn't have to explain the difference in being the tenth best league in the world's most popular sport, and being the 2nd best league of a specific sport only played in the US.

Operated by MLSE, owned by the city.

CFL attendance is up. Can't comment on ratings as they are hard to find.

Rogers sold those three 2026 Argo home games, one to Hamilton and two out west, for one reason: to make the most money. Could have sworn you said making money was how things work. Good thing for you MLS decided not to operate during the World Cup or else TFC would be in the same boat with lost home games.

Only Sports Illustrated (surprise) has MLS in the top ten. "World's most popular sport" doesn't even translate outside Europe and South America (maybe Africa). Soccer pales in comparison to basketball in China and the Philippines, and to baseball in Japan and Korea. It's a fringe sport in population centres like south Asia and the United States, and it's a fringe sport here.

Pretty sure MLSE already manages Lamport for the city

MLSE did for awhile, but now it's back with the city.

These leagues and their owners are choosing upfront money ahead of courting casuals and growing their fanbases. They'll see the results in the coming decades.

MLS has been accused of being a Ponzi scheme league, so it'll be fascinating to see what happens with the next TV contract and after expansion fees dry up. Maybe that billionaire guy will make another attempt to buy MLS and institute promotion/relegation like he wanted.

The monkey paw has curled:........

Argos get pushed out of BMO for World Cup, don't host any home games in Ontario or elsewhere as replacement, and now their current owners are partnering with a direct nearby competitor for eyeballs. In an already-crowded sports market MLSE is bringing in the nearest NFL team. At a time when CFL fans are clamouring for other Canadians to support their league in their "buy Canadian" fervour this seems like an especially bad omen for the future of the Argos within MLSE.

I have no problem with this at all. Great arrangement for both sides..

I think we're talking about field = end to end. I.e. including the end zones

NFL = 100 yards + 10 x 2 = 20 yard endzones. 120 total. 52.5 yards wide
CFL = 100 yards + 15 x 2 = 30 yard endzones. 130 total. 65 yards wide

Almost correct: NFL fields are 53 1/3 yards wide.

I know some CFL purists may hate shortening the field, I have to think that turning this newfound area at either endzone into an open bar area is going to massively increase the fun factor.

BMO lacks any real areas where you can just stand and watch the game with a drink. The Skydome experience is massively improved after they added this.

Purists are idiots. Football on both sides of the border has gone through countless changes. Once upon a time there were no hashmarks, so some players had to line up outside the field of play if the previously play ended out of bounds.

End zone fan sections are definitely part of the field changes.

 

[Mihairokov]

There was a concert at BC Place. There was no concert at BMO field and no access to Blue Rodeo. Those are the same how?

One ticket for all three. Admittedly slightly different from BC's ploy of selling concert tickets with a football game as an encore.

Hamilton did a concert a few years ago. The Super Bowl and Grey Cup have concerts every year. What do you have against concerts? I cannot abide by this anti-concert mentality.

Nothing really against it, I just need folks who navel-gaze over attendance numbers to understand that when the CNE is on usually Argos crowds go up because their tickets are packaged with CNE, as above. It's not because the Argos have somehow become more popular overnight.

I'm shocked -- SHOCKED -- that it's all about worshipping the filthy lucre for you. More on that later.

When we're talking about North American franchise sports unfortunately everything revolves around money. I wish it wasn't that way but that's the way it goes.

Bell still needs summer content, the CFL's new commissioner worked at TSN, and Rogers has baseball for summer viewing. Hard to see any of that changing.

If Bell is shedding spending I don't know how they can really warrant $50M/year propping up the CFL. Perhaps they still have money to burn but they've been exiting most ventures (TIFF lead sponsor, etc.) over the past few years. I'm sure if they wanted to they could simply have TSN show more reruns of Baseball's Funniest Plays from four years ago, or podcast bros on camera talking about the Leafs in July in the event that they have time to fill.

Sport? Do you mean sports?

Are you unfamiliar with British English?

And as if fans of a team founded in 1873 don't have the right to defend their team.

Strange how a team that is 150+ years old has never seemingly owned and operated its own independent stadium. You'd think after a while they would figure that out so they wouldn't have to jump around every few decades.

CFL attendance is up.

Compared to when, COVID years?

Rogers sold those three 2026 Argo home games, one to Hamilton and two out west, for one reason: to make the most money. Could have sworn you said making money was how things work. Good thing for you MLS decided not to operate during the World Cup or else TFC would be in the same boat with lost home games.

Think the primary difference here is that when TFC lose three home matches they're not shedding a third of their total home games for a given season.

Is there a source anywhere that says MLSE sold these matches to other teams?

MLS has been accused of being a Ponzi scheme league

People have been saying this for 20 years and yet the league keeps growing and improving. Waiting for that bubble to burst any day now.

 

[torontowest91]

could they not do concerts at bmo field

 

[Civdis]

With these new dimensions, could we see a more permanent seating area in the north end below the patio deck?

 

[EastYorkTTCFan]

could they not do concerts at bmo field

They did once, and it was a logistical nightmare. It was Genesis on their last tour. Basically, everything from the food building to the stadium was closed off, and they had all of the production trucks park there. The only way to get to the west side of the stadium was to walk around the entire stadium or the food building.

 

[SubHuman]

They did once, and it was a logistical nightmare...

That was also the first year the stadium was open, and had artificial turf.
In this 2014 article, "the facility is owned by the city and covered by a union agreement with the workers ... the wages called for in the union agreement add $100,000 to the cost of every event compared with the other venues in the city. This means concert promoters shun BMO".

 

[nightstreak]

Toronto Stadium Shows Off First Phase of World Cup Upgrades | UrbanToronto

Toronto’s preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup reached a milestone last Tuesday as media were invited into BMO Field for a tour of the first phase of renovations. Led by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment COO Nick Eaves and FIFA World Cup 26 Toronto Secretariat Executive Director Sharon...

urbantoronto.ca

“We’re creating a world-class stadium here that can be used as part of the leveraging for other major events to come in the future”

LMAO!

They can't be serious. Look, a bunch of off the shelf displays added to the corners of the field (where seats should actually be) does not a world class stadium make. The most significant improvements that they're adding to the stadium to make it World Cup eligible — but just barely — are going to be removed at the event, along with the bulk of the expense that is simply disappearing.

This is the world class control room. No, seriously.

This is not a "world class stadium". It's just not.

Photos by Joon Choi

Look, I get that Toronto doesn't have the market to pull off a true world class soccer stadium, at least not yet. There's nothing wrong with admitting that. But making claims that would get them laughed out of a room with actual world class soccer organizations is embarrassing.

 

[Amare]

Toronto Stadium Shows Off First Phase of World Cup Upgrades | UrbanToronto

Toronto’s preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup reached a milestone last Tuesday as media were invited into BMO Field for a tour of the first phase of renovations. Led by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment COO Nick Eaves and FIFA World Cup 26 Toronto Secretariat Executive Director Sharon...

urbantoronto.ca

LMAO!

They can't be serious. Look, a bunch of off the shelf displays added to the corners of the field (where seats should actually be) does not a world class stadium make. The most significant improvements that they're adding to the stadium to make it World Cup eligible — but just barely — are going to be removed at the event, along with the bulk of the expense that is simply disappearing.

This is the world class control room. No, seriously.

This is not a "world class stadium". It's just not.

Photos by Joon Choi

Look, I get that Toronto doesn't have the market to pull off a true world class soccer stadium, at least not yet. There's nothing wrong with admitting that. But making claims that would get them laughed out of a room with actual world class soccer organizations is embarrassing.

Well I mean, it's Toronto are you surprised?

The city boasts that we have world class everything. World class food, world class restaurants, world class transit, traffic, streets, garbage bins, sewers, etc. Everything is apparently world class here.

 

[Blixtein]

This venue is a world-class embarrassment.