Hamilton TD Coliseum Renovations | ?m | 4s | OVG | BBB

BCTed said:
Bookings have been pretty quiet lately. I remember discussion of 120+ events and 1 million-plus people going through the gates each year. I think both numbers are looking pretty unlikely in 2026. (And also would look unlikely with a full-time hockey tenant in the mix).
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Unless it's a huge event, they usually get announced a 3-6 months ahead of time, in addition, with The Rock and potential AHL tenant I can imagine quite a few dates are in the process of being booked before booking concerts.
 
Chris R. said:
Unless it's a huge event, they usually get announced a 3-6 months ahead of time, in addition, with The Rock and potential AHL tenant I can imagine quite a few dates are in the process of being booked before booking concerts.
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Stuff is being booked at other places and not necessarily during times that overlap with hockey or lacrosse seasons --- there is stuff being booked in both overlapping and non-overlapping times. Scotiabank Arena has ten concerts scheduled in August and TD Coliseum has zero. Madison Square Garden just booked Harry Styles for 30 shows, 14 of which are in October, which is when both the NHL and NBA kick up. Scotia just announced a Lionel Ritchie concert in July today.

I am not necessarily saying that TD Coliseum is in quite the same league as these others, but we are hopeful that it will be not too far off. No matter what, it certainly seems like things have been quiet lately. Hopefully big things are to come.
 
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BCTed said:
And just like that, we have a fresh summer booking: Ne-Yo and Akon on June 27. Keep 'em comin'!
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Damn. Throwback.

I'd suggest everyone be patient. It's a brand new venue. I assume they worked their butts off to open with a bunch of hits. But moving forward it will likely continue to be a small trickle of small, mostly mid-sized artists, and a few larger events.

No criticism of these two, nor the artists already booked, but I'm sure most can see the majority are previously popular bands who are now basically riding out that fame. There's a few that are definitely still doing well NIN comes to mind, but the majority are on the downward trajectory of their career certainly.
 
Andrea Bocelli will return to Hamilton’s TD Coliseum on Dec. 19, on his 2026 Romanza 30th Anniversary World Tour. The tour will have two waves of presale before the general tickets go on sale on Feb 6. at 10 a.m. Presale tickets will be available to eligible Amex card members for select North American dates starting Feb. 4 at 10 a.m.
 
Bocelli's return is good. I believe he sold out the first time, or came very close.

I had/have no idea who Ne-Yo and are. Did a quick search and I still can't tell if they're a newer act or a legacy one, and don't know if they're popular.

Keep 'em coming.

Hopefully we get some bigger acts. Of course, most of the artists today could be big and I wouldn't know since I'm an old fart.
 
berklon said:
Bocelli's return is good. I believe he sold out the first time, or came very close.

I had/have no idea who Ne-Yo and are. Did a quick search and I still can't tell if they're a newer act or a legacy one, and don't know if they're popular.

Keep 'em coming.

Hopefully we get some bigger acts. Of course, most of the artists today could be big and I wouldn't know since I'm an old fart.
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Ne-yo: think high class r&b soul type music. Ne-yo is very famous, and a personal favourite of mine.
 
berklon said:
Bocelli's return is good. I believe he sold out the first time, or came very close.

I had/have no idea who Ne-Yo and are. Did a quick search and I still can't tell if they're a newer act or a legacy one, and don't know if they're popular.

Keep 'em coming.

Hopefully we get some bigger acts. Of course, most of the artists today could be big and I wouldn't know since I'm an old fart.
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NeYo and Akon were huge in the mid 2010s. NeYo's most recognizable song to me is "Time of our Lives" and Akon is probably "Smack That".

Bocelli is interesting to come back for a round 2. The Italians must have loved it. And if Sopranos is any indication they absolutely do (I have no idea if my Italian family are or were fans).
 
Chris R. said:
NeYo and Akon were huge in the mid 2010s. NeYo's most recognizable song to me is "Time of our Lives" and Akon is probably "Smack That".

Bocelli is interesting to come back for a round 2. The Italians must have loved it. And if Sopranos is any indication they absolutely do (I have no idea if my Italian family are or were fans).
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Yeah Ne-yo's song that put him on the map is probably "let me love you" although he had other classics like "sexy love" and "miss independent" which is probably my favourite as its very empowering to women, esp. african american women - he always dresses super classy in his videos, there is a real class vs trash feeling with Ne-yo, kinda like usher. And yeah I'd have to agree - 2010s was probably his big time to shine.
 
narduch said:
Not to be a dick but PWHL probably has bigger ambitions than Hamilton
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The thing with the PWHL is the entire league is owned by one person/entity. So there's a greater likelihood they'll go to the best markets, for both growth and ticket sales.

This is contrary to the NHL where top markets like Hamilton are barred from entry due to individual owners of each team having differing agendas. MLSE has kept HAMILTON out as it would affect their monopoly on the region. Yet the Coyotes we're propped up in Phoenix for 30 years.

The best bet for Hamilton is the PWHL in terms of "prestige", though my personal preference would be OHL and then AHL.

But what we should really hope for is a competitor league to the NHL such as the WHA. The briefly announced 3 on 3 league with a salary cap of $25M would fit the bill. That would attract some name talent from the NHL and could become a big enough threat to the NHL that they have to claim Hamilton with an NHL franchise.
 
Been there 3 times now. First time i was in the Loge and it was fantastic. Great seats, access to a bar area, etc. The other two times was just 100 level seating. I was there on Saturday for a Rock game and showed up early enough where I got to wander around and my opinion of it has lessened. my seats were in 119 and i was heading there from 112 and hit a wall at 118. I asked how to get to 119 and they told me i had to go up to 300 level and around and down into it from there...weird, but fine. I get my area in 119 and the regular seats just felt so rickety. The guy sitting beside me actually broke his chair in the 4th quarter. the left side plastic snapped from the railing. The cement floor in my area was freshly painted but you can see giant divots in it so i guess they didn't re-pour it they just painted it over. Lastly and i know this is weather related but painting everything black looks AWFUL in the winter as everything looks completely filthy with all the salty boots coming in and walking around. I simply don't know where the money went in this renovation but I am happy they're getting bookings so i suppose it's still money well spent? I'm going to try to get Loge seating whenever I go in the future.
 
UrbanOzz said:
Been there 3 times now. First time i was in the Loge and it was fantastic. Great seats, access to a bar area, etc. The other two times was just 100 level seating. I was there on Saturday for a Rock game and showed up early enough where I got to wander around and my opinion of it has lessened. my seats were in 119 and i was heading there from 112 and hit a wall at 118. I asked how to get to 119 and they told me i had to go up to 300 level and around and down into it from there...weird, but fine. I get my area in 119 and the regular seats just felt so rickety. The guy sitting beside me actually broke his chair in the 4th quarter. the left side plastic snapped from the railing. The cement floor in my area was freshly painted but you can see giant divots in it so i guess they didn't re-pour it they just painted it over. Lastly and i know this is weather related but painting everything black looks AWFUL in the winter as everything looks completely filthy with all the salty boots coming in and walking around. I simply don't know where the money went in this renovation but I am happy they're getting bookings so i suppose it's still money well spent? I'm going to try to get Loge seating whenever I go in the future.
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My understanding was that the arena was in dire need of repairs. Based on watching almost daily, it appears the money went toward a few things that I suspect wouldn't be immediately obvious:

1) Completely new HVAC system.

2) All new kitchen ventilation hardware.

3) I believe all elevators and escalators were replaced or heavily refurbished. Prior city reports indicated all escalators were at their end of life.

4) They resealed the roof.

5) Derusted and painted the entire exterior.

6) Replaced numerous exterior windows.

7) Replaced every single chair (quality notwithstanding).

8) Replaced all lighting in the entire venue, inside and out. This includes running all new electrical through most of the facility.

9) I could be wrong, but I believe the bathrooms had fully new fixtures installed, his means new toilets, stalls, sinks, etc.

10) Restructured much of the interior removing stairs to York Blvd.

11) Hundreds of employees on site most days, earning salary. (100 employees making $60,000/year multiplied by 1.5 years is $9,000,000 alone.

12) Permits, financing costs, crane and equipment rental.

Things are expensive. For a completely perfect arena, you'd likely be looking at $500,000,000-$700,000,000. Rogers centre cost $400,000,000, but was in my opinion better maintained, and most of the upgrades were smaller more quality of life upgrades.
 
thanks for the reply. Makes sense. I guess i was hoping for something a little more drastic (similar to some of the original renderings). that being said, i'm glad Rock is back, i'm glad there's better bands coming in, and i'm glad the city got a hockey team back (better than ohl). I tried to go to Merit Brewery before the game and they were COMPLETELY FULL which was a delight to see, even though i had to find a new place. So it's definitely having a positive impact on the restaurants in the area too.

Toronto Rock need to work out their referee mics as they sound like a muffled mess with lots of loud feedback whenever they try to communicate their penalties.
 
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