Toronto Rogers Centre Renovations | ?m | ?s | Toronto Blue Jays | Populous

[Northern Light]

Update: Looks like the new stadium idea is dead. There will be only a modest $250M spent on renovations.

Blue Jays decide to upgrade Rogers Centre - VenuesNow

Rogers Centre, shown here on Aug. 21, 2021 for the Detroit Tigers-Toronto Blue Jays game, will be renovated at a cost of $200 million to $250 million, sources

venuesnow.com

Not surprising.

I mapped out the potential options early on and I couldn't find a way to make it make sense economically. (without large-scale public subsidy)

 

[Northern Light]

Now if only Toronto gets an NFL team and a new stadium either in Downsview Park or Portlands Area

I can't fathom why we would even want one.

8 home games per year (excluding playoffs) hardly seem like justification for that kind of investment.

I'm not even deriding the sport (though I admit I find the NFL roughly akin to watching paint dry)

Rather, I'm comparing the arguable payback/spin off vs the other pro-sports, as well as considering venue land area and cost.

I'd be happy to see us take a pass on the NFL

 

[TJ O'Pootertoot]

It really seems like they're in a perfect trap.
The stadium is not a great baseball stadium but it is a very solid, functional building.
It's in an ideal location.
As the team just experienced, temporary relocation is not ideal.
There's no appetite for public funding.
A new stadium would cost, who knows, $2B? A proper reno would still cost hundreds of millions.

With the Argos gone and $250M on the table, I think they could go a long way to opening concourses, improving seating, recladding and otherwise making a lot of big and little improvements. It's not as ideal as a new stadium - but it probably makes the most sense for all concerned.

 

[Towered]

It really seems like they're in a perfect trap.
The stadium is not a great baseball stadium but it is a very solid, functional building.
It's in an ideal location.
As the team just experienced, temporary relocation is not ideal.
There's no appetite for public funding.
A new stadium would cost, who knows, $2B? A proper reno would still cost hundreds of millions.

With the Argos gone and $250M on the table, I think they could go a long way to opening concourses, improving seating, recladding and otherwise making a lot of big and little improvements. It's not as ideal as a new stadium - but it probably makes the most sense for all concerned.

I certainly wouldn't want to see any public funding go towards building a new stadium.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

I certainly wouldn't want to see any public funding go towards building a new stadium.

Especially not a Rogers-owned stadium - and on top of the recent intra-family feud.

AoD

 

[Mercenary]

I can't fathom why we would even want one.

8 home games per year (excluding playoffs) hardly seem like justification for that kind of investment.

I'm not even deriding the sport (though I admit I find the NFL roughly akin to watching paint dry)

Rather, I'm comparing the arguable payback/spin off vs the other pro-sports, as well as considering venue land area and cost.

I'd be happy to see us take a pass on the NFL

I am so glad that Canada is moving away from this kind of mindset that your opinion is a minority one. I love the NFL and definitely want a team in Toronto. The Skydome is a relic of the 1980s and we need a world class stadium. Getting an NFL team will allow us to build a world class stadium which can be used to host great open air music concerts, NFL Games and other events. If you build it, they will come.

 

[TJ O'Pootertoot]

I am so glad that Canada is moving away from this kind of mindset that your opinion is a minority one. I love the NFL and definitely want a team in Toronto. The Skydome is a relic of the 1980s and we need a world class stadium. Getting an NFL team will allow us to build a world class stadium which can be used to host great open air music concerts, NFL Games and other events. If you build it, they will come.

I didn't know Paul Godfrey posted on these boards! Welcome, sir!

 

[Northern Light]

I am so glad that Canada is moving away from this kind of mindset that your opinion is a minority one. I love the NFL and definitely want a team in Toronto. The Skydome is a relic of the 1980s and we need a world class stadium. Getting an NFL team will allow us to build a world class stadium which can be used to host great open air music concerts, NFL Games and other events. If you build it, they will come.

You're welcome to your preferences; I'm not sure that opinion expressed on this forum, or polling data would support your assertion that broad public views align w/your own.

see:

Survey results indicate many Canadians don’t want NFL here at expense of CFL | Globalnews.ca

A new national survey indicates many Canadians don't want the NFL here at the CFL's expense but may also reinforce the biggest challenge facing the Canadian league.

globalnews.ca

Perhaps you have different data?

 

[TJ O'Pootertoot]

There was a time I thought the NFL would come up here and this POV kind of made sense. I think that time has passed. The Bills aren't going anywhere, there's no sense the NFL is expanding soon, everyone here who loves the NFL already has their teams, there's nowhere to put a stadium etc. Yeah, the Argos are a niche team and so it feels like there's an opening, and I would never say never... but I don't see an NFL team or stadium happening here in the near future.
(At this point, I'd really settle for a full season of being able to attend home games for any of the 3 major franchises we have already!)

 

[Mercenary]

You're welcome to your preferences; I'm not sure that opinion expressed on this forum, or polling data would support your assertion that broad public views align w/your own.

see:

Survey results indicate many Canadians don’t want NFL here at expense of CFL | Globalnews.ca

A new national survey indicates many Canadians don't want the NFL here at the CFL's expense but may also reinforce the biggest challenge facing the Canadian league.

globalnews.ca

Perhaps you have different data?

First of all that that is a National Survey asking if they want an NFL team at the expense of CFL. So it will biased due to the team being placed in Toronto at the expense of lets say Saskatchewan Roughriders.

An accurate poll should only involve people who live in the GTA and ask them if they are interested in having an NFL Team.

They could have conducted a similar poll in 1992, asking are you interested in having an NBA in Canada at the expense of the NHL, and it would have had the same sentiments.

I have a good pulse of this city, there is a big fan base for the NFL and if we had an NFL team with reasonably priced tickets, it will do very well. Not the 100 dollars for nosebleeds that Bill Series was charging.

 

[Mercenary]

There was a time I thought the NFL would come up here and this POV kind of made sense. I think that time has passed. The Bills aren't going anywhere, there's no sense the NFL is expanding soon, everyone here who loves the NFL already has their teams, there's nowhere to put a stadium etc. Yeah, the Argos are a niche team and so it feels like there's an opening, and I would never say never... but I don't see an NFL team or stadium happening here in the near future.
(At this point, I'd really settle for a full season of being able to attend home games for any of the 3 major franchises we have already!)

There are plenty of places to place a Stadium. Downsview Park is one area. It's centrally located, near major subway lines, highways.

Another is the Portlands Area. Once the East Harbor station is built up, it could serve as a transit gateway to the new Stadium.

 

[TJ O'Pootertoot]

Yeah, I know - I don't know why I said there's nowhere to put it. I meant more, I don't think there's an appetite here for a second stadium. That's really an American thing, to have like a full baseball stadium next door to a football stadium etc.

Like I said, not impossible but I think very, very unlikely.

 

[Northern Light]

First of all that that is a National Survey asking if they want an NFL team at the expense of CFL. So it will biased due to the team being placed in Toronto at the expense of lets say Saskatchewan Roughriders.

An accurate poll should only involve people who live in the GTA and ask them if they are interested in having an NFL Team.

They could have conducted a similar poll in 1992, asking are you interested in having an NBA in Canada at the expense of the NHL, and it would have had the same sentiments.

I have a good pulse of this city, there is a big fan base for the NFL and if we had an NFL team with reasonably priced tickets, it will do very well. Not the 100 dollars for nosebleeds that Bill Series was charging.

The survey admittedly lacks a GTA focus; though it does have an Ontario-only breakdown:

 

[picard102]

I have a good pulse of this city

I have a good pulse of this city and I know zero people in the city that have ever expressed interest in an NFL team, let alone regularly watched the NFL.

 

[Mercenary]

Yeah, I know - I don't know why I said there's nowhere to put it. I meant more, I don't think there's an appetite here for a second stadium. That's really an American thing, to have like a full baseball stadium next door to a football stadium etc.

Like I said, not impossible but I think very, very unlikely.

The era of dual purpose stadiums was a very 1980s thing and that's over. Skydome was among the last to arrive with that kind of arrangement. But since that time, Baseball specific stadiums has been the way to go. Look at Camden Yards. It has a great environment.

I admit, it's going to be challenging bringing an NFL team here. But there is a strong business case for it. Need a visionary to bring it to fruition. Kevin O'Leary Maybe.