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

[Bjays92]

I think it has to do with Covid. The capacity is higher with the roof open.

When the roof is closed, they need to open all the exits for proper ventilation.

This is correct. They started with it open the other day, closed it mid game due to weather and then opened it again as soon as the weather passed. First time they ever did that.

Also I was at the game last night. I love this ballpark and I see no reason why they need tear it down and build a new one. It's iconic and beautiful and is a great atmosphere for baseball. I'd hate to see it go.

 

[TJ O'Pootertoot]

I think it has to do with Covid. The capacity is higher with the roof open.

When the roof is closed, they need to open all the exits for proper ventilation.

This is basically correct - the capacity is higher for outdoor venues (15,000) so they are treating it like an outdoor venue, which means keeping the roof open for all games. Last weekend there was looming rain so they kept it kind of half-closed, so it was ready to go. When it rained, they closed it, opened the doors and pumped the a/c, so it changes all the air every 15 mins. When the rain stopped, they opened it again, which is also atypical.

[posted at the same time as above but, hey, can't have too much information! ]

 

[C-mac]

I don't think people would have a problem with the weather in an open-air stadium. The Jays played in an open air stadium for nearly 15 years before relocating to SkyDome.

That said, it would be wise for any new stadium to have a retractable roof.

It probably makes the most sense to just stick with the stadium they already have.

This makes no sense and they absolutely won't be doing that. The stadium is completely outdated, it's way too big and in need of upgrades that just aren't worth the money.

They need a stadium that players like (helps attract free agents) and that looks good on T.V to get more viewers.

It was outdated 4 years after it opened when Camden Yards came along. By the late 1990's it was one of the worst stadiums in baseball but we were stuck with it as it was only 10 years old. By the time we get a new stadium, it will be 40 years old.

 

[C-mac]

a roof isn't an issue at all if they build an outdoor stadium that can close instead of an indoor stadium that opens (like we have now). that way we have an open air stadium and on rainy days, they just close the lid.

This

 

[Richard White]

This

The problem is though that outdoor stadiums are usually limited in both size and concessions. BMO for example has one long row of concessions below the stands and some little things between the levels (but nothing major).

Scotiabank for example has concessions on every level much like Rogers Centre does. It all comes down to what you want in a stadium. You can't have your cake and it eat too.

Indoor and outdoor stadiums are designed differently.

 

[C-mac]

The problem is though that outdoor stadiums are usually limited in both size and concessions. BMO for example has one long row of concessions below the stands and some little things between the levels (but nothing major).

Scotiabank for example has concessions on every level much like Rogers Centre does. It all comes down to what you want in a stadium. You can't have your cake and it eat too.

Indoor and outdoor stadiums are designed differently.

For starters, they want to make stadiums smaller now. That's part of the reason after Skydome was built all these baseball only stadiums has less seats. In baseball you have 81 home games a year, the average attendance is like mid 30,000 with about 42,000 being on the high end. That's way too many empty seats. Looks like crap on T.V and wasted space.

There are currently a bunch of outdoor stadiums that you can close the the lid in MLB.

Safeco field
Miller Park
Minute Maid Park
Marlins Park
Chase Field

 

[Translude15]

The problem is though that outdoor stadiums are usually limited in both size and concessions. BMO for example has one long row of concessions below the stands and some little things between the levels (but nothing major).

Scotiabank for example has concessions on every level much like Rogers Centre does. It all comes down to what you want in a stadium. You can't have your cake and it eat too.

Indoor and outdoor stadiums are designed differently.

BMO was built relatively cheaply and in stages so their layout and concession offerings are limited relative to the current capacity of 30,000. Scotiabank was built with modern amenities in mind and with the direct purpose of siphoning corporate season ticket holders away from the SkyDome. Their incentive was to build more, not less.

Whatever new stadium the Jays build will absolutely be less than 45,000 seats likely in the 40 - 42,000 range at most. MLB doesn't require massive stadiums with 50,000+ capacity anymore, save for the Yankees and Dodgers.

 

[Richard White]

BMO was built relatively cheaply and in stages so their layout and concession offerings are limited relative to the current capacity of 30,000. Scotiabank was built with modern amenities in mind and with the direct purpose of siphoning corporate season ticket holders away from the SkyDome. Their incentive was to build more, not less.

Whatever new stadium the Jays build will absolutely be less than 45,000 seats likely in the 40 - 42,000 range at most. MLB doesn't require massive stadiums with 50,000+ capacity anymore, save for the Yankees and Dodgers.

True. Whatever stadium goes in, they need to remember the creature comforts as they make or break a stadium.

Nobody wants to go down 2 levels and line up for half an hour to get snacks.

 

[Bjays92]

Maybe you don't get full attendance for regular season games (but this is an issue for some teams even with only 30k seats, some have a hard time drawing 10k)

But I'll take 42k in the playoffs over 30 any day

 

[Richard White]

Maybe you don't get full attendance for regular season games (but this is an issue for some teams even with only 30k seats, some have a hard time drawing 10k)

But I'll take 42k in the playoffs over 30 any day

In the event they make it into the playoffs, that stadium will sell out. Smaller is not necessarily always better.

 

[C-mac]

Guys, 42k is about the right amount. It's enough that when the team is going well and selling out, it's a decent size crowd that will make a lot of noise and look great, but when things are going well and it's not sold out, you have some patches of empty seats. Scatter about 10k seats, as opposed to 20k empty seats like Skydome when the whole 500 level is empty.

 

[urbanexplorer]

From what I've heard from my friends at Oxford, this will be a retrofit of the existing stadium not a completely new build.

 

[C-mac]

From what I've heard from my friends at Oxford, this will be a retrofit of the existing stadium not a completely new build.

If that's the case, I think the goal will be the end product will look like a completely different stadium. There's no doubt the location is perfect.


Rogers wants to capitalize on the lease they have from Canada Land Corp. The lease goes until 2088, so while they don't own the land, it's prime real estate and the current stadium is taking up way too much of that space. You put the added bonus of what it will for the Jays product, it's a no brainer. A proper retro fit will be hard to do, but there are some pretty smart engineers out there. I'm sure it would be done in stages where every off season they would complete a phase at a time or something like that.

 

[OakvilleGreg1]

If that's the case, I think the goal will be the end product will look like a completely different stadium. There's no doubt the location is perfect.


Rogers wants to capitalize on the lease they have from Canada Land Corp. The lease goes until 2088, so while they don't own the land, it's prime real estate and the current stadium is taking up way too much of that space. You put the added bonus of what it will for the Jays product, it's a no brainer. A proper retro fit will be hard to do, but there are some pretty smart engineers out there. I'm sure it would be done in stages where every off season they would complete a phase at a time or something like that.

They should stucco the outside as a re-fresh and add digital signage to the large blank walls. On the inside, align the seats to look at the infield (football configuration now), get rid of the Jay shops that separate the concourse from the seating, and eliminate big swaths of seating on the 500 level - replace them with go-to attractions like the popular West Jet sky deck.

 

[sixrings]

They should stucco the outside as a re-fresh and add digital signage to the large blank walls. On the inside, align the seats to look at the infield (football configuration now), get rid of the Jay shops that separate the concourse from the seating, and eliminate big swaths of seating on the 500 level - replace them with go-to attractions like the popular West Jet sky deck.

Stucco?! Oh I see you’re from Oakville and think that means modern versus cheap.