Left Field Line – 328ft (100m) Left-Centre – 368ft (112m) Left-Centre Power Alley – 381ft (116m) Centre Field – 400ft (120m) Right-Centre Power Alley – 372ft (113m) Right-Centre – 359ft (109m) Right Field Line – 328ft (100m) Backstop – 60ft (18m)
Surface
AstroTurf (1989–2004) FieldTurf (2005–2010) AstroTurf GameDay Grass 3D (2010–2014) AstroTurf 3D Xtreme (2015) AstroTurf 3D Xtreme with dirt infield (2016–present)
The stadium was renamed "Rogers Centre" following the 2005 purchase of the stadium by Rogers Communications, the corporation that also owns the Toronto Blue Jays.[5][6] The venue is noted for being the first stadium to have a fully retractable motorized roof, as well as for the 348-room hotel attached to it with 70 rooms overlooking the field.[7] It is the last North American major-league stadium built to accommodate both football and baseball.
History
Background and design
The idea of building a domed stadium can be traced back to the bid that Toronto lost to Montreal as the Canadian candidate city for the 1976 Summer Olympics. In the proposal, an 80,000–100,000 seat complex would be part of the planned Harbour City development on the site of Maple Leaf Stadium.[8]
The contemporary impetus for building an enclosed sports venue in Toronto came following the Grey Cup game in November 1982, held at the outdoor Exhibition Stadium. The game, in which the hometown Toronto Argonauts (also known as the Argos) were making their first Grey Cup appearance since 1971, was played in a driving rainstorm that left most of the crowd drenched, leading the media to call it "the Rain Bowl". As many of the seats were completely exposed to the elements, thousands watched the game from the concession section. To make a bad experience even worse, the washrooms overflowed. In attendance that day was Bill Davis, the Premier of Ontario, and the poor conditions were seen by the largest television audience in Canada (over 7.862 million viewers) to that point.[9] The following day, at a rally for the Argos at Toronto City Hall, tens of thousands of people who attended the game began to chant, "We want a dome! We want a dome!"[10]
Seven months later, in June 1983, Davis formally announced a three-person committee would look into the feasibility of building a domed stadium at Exhibition Place. The committee consisted of Paul Godfrey, Larry Grossman and former Ontario Hydro chairman Hugh Macaulay.[11]
The committee examined various projects, including a large indoor stadium at Exhibition Place with an air-supported dome, similar to BC Place in Vancouver. In 1985, an international design competition was launched to design a new stadium, along with selection of a site. Some of the proposed sites included Exhibition Place, Downsview Airport, and York University. The final site was at the base of the CN Tower not far from Union Station, a major railway and transit hub. The Railway Lands were a major Canadian National Railway rail switching yard encompassing the CNR Spadina Roundhouse (the desolate downtown lands were part of a master plan for revitalizing the area, which includes CityPlace). Ultimately, the Robbie/Allen concept won because it provided the largest roof opening of all the finalists, and it was the most technically sound.
The stadium was designed by architect Rod Robbie and structural engineer Michael Allen and was constructed by the EllisDon Construction company of London, Ontario and the Dominion Bridge Company of Lachine, Quebec. The stadium's construction lasted about 2+1⁄2 years, from October 1986 to May 1989. The approximate cost of construction was C$570million[12] ($1.2billion in 2023 dollars[13]) which was paid for by the federal government, Ontarioprovincial government, the City of Toronto, and a large consortium of corporations.[14][15]
Financing
The stadium was funded by a public–private partnership, with the government paying the largest percentage of the cost. The initial cost of $150million was greatly underestimated,[16] as the final cost was C$570million ($1.2billion in 2023 dollars[13]).[12] Two levels of government (Metro Toronto and provincial) each initially contributed $30million ($63million in 2023 dollars[13]).[12][16][17] This does not include the value of the land that the stadium sits on, which was owned by the Canada Lands Company (a Crown corporation of Canada) and the City of Toronto and was leased for $900,000 a year through 2088.[18]Canada's three main breweries (Labatt's, Molson, and Carling O'Keefe) and the Toronto Blue Jays each paid $5million ($10.5million in 2023 dollars[13]) to help fund the stadium.[17] An additional 26 other Canadian corporations (selected by invitation only) also contributed $5million,[17] for which they received one of the 161 Skyboxes with four parking spaces (for ten years, with an opportunity for renewal) and a 99-year exclusive option on stadium advertising. The initial cost of leasing a Skybox ranged from $150,000 to $225,000 ($315,040 to $472,560 in 2023 dollars[13]) a year in 1989– plus the cost of tickets for all events.
The then unusual financing structure created controversy. First of all, there was no public tender for supplies and equipment. Secondly, companies that paid the $5million fee, such as Coca-Cola, TSN and CIBC, received 100 percent stadium exclusivity,[12] including advertising rights, for the life of their contract that could be extended up to 99years. Third, the contracts were not put up for bid, meaning there was some doubt the contracts were made at a market rate: Pepsi stated at the time that had it known the terms of the contract it would have paid far more than $5million for the rights. Local media like NOW Magazine called the amount charged to the companies "scandalously low".[19]
Construction of the Ontario Stadium Project was spearheaded by lead contractor EllisDon. Several factors complicated the construction: The lands housed a functioning water pumping station that needed to be relocated, the soil was contaminated from a century of industrial use, railway buildings needed to be torn down or moved, and the site was rich with archaeological finds. One of the most complex issues was moving the John Street pumping station across the street to the south of the stadium. Foundations to the stadium were being poured even as the facility (in the infield area) continued to function, as construction on its new location had yet to be completed.
Because the stadium was the first of its kind in the world, the architects and engineers kept the design simple (by using a sturdy dome shape) and used proven technologies to move the roof. It was important the design would work and be reliable as to avoid the various problems that plagued Montreal's Olympic Stadium. The 31-storey-high roof consists of four panels: one (on the north end) is fixed in place and the other three are moved by electrically driven 'train' engines, that run on high-strength railway rails. The roof, which takes 20 minutes to open, was made out of steel trusses covered by corrugated steel cladding, which in turn is covered by a single-ply PVC membrane.
Because of its location south of the major railway corridor, new pedestrian connections had to be built; the infrastructure was part of the reason for the high cost of the stadium. The SkyWalk is an approximately 500-metre (1,600ft) enclosed walkway that leads from the base of the CN Tower and via a bridge connects to Union Station (and is part of the Path network). The John Street cable-stayed bridge was built to provide north–south passage over the rail tracks, linking Front Street with the stadium.
Construction at the site, which at one time was south of the shoreline, unearthed over 1,500 artifacts. These included a 200-year-old French cannon used as ballast for a ship, cannonballs, pottery and a telescope.[20] The stadium was completed two months late, having been planned to open for the first regular season game of the 1989 Toronto Blue Jays season; the team played the first two months of its home schedule at Exhibition Stadium that year.
Naming
SkyDome wordmark (1989–2005)
The official name prior to and during construction was the 'Ontario Stadium Project' but was widely referred to in local media as simply 'the Dome' or 'Toronto Domed stadium'. As completion neared the name "SkyDome" was chosen as part of a province-wide "name the stadium" contest in 1987. Sponsored by the Toronto Sun, ballots were offered for people to submit their suggested name, with lifetime seats behind home plate to all events at the stadium (including concerts) as the prize. Over 150,000 entries were received with 12,897 different names. The selection committee narrowed it down to four choices: "Towerdome", "Harbourdome", "SkyDome", and simply "the Dome". The judges' final selection was SkyDome. Premier David Peterson drew the prize-winning entry of Kellie Watson from a lottery barrel containing the over-2,000 entries that proposed "SkyDome". At the press conference announcing the name, Chuck Magwood, president of the Stadium Corporation of Ontario (Stadco), the crown corporation created to run SkyDome,[21][22] commented: "The sky is a huge part of the whole roof process. The name has a sense of the infinite and that's what this is all about." Kellie Watson received lifetime seating of choice at SkyDome, which is still honoured after the stadium was renamed to Rogers Centre, under new ownership.
Opening
Opening of the 600th McDonald's Canada location at the SkyDome in August 1989 with a performer in a Ronald McDonald costume in attendance; the McDonald's location has since been replaced.
The stadium officially opened on June 3, 1989, and hosted an official grand opening show: "The Opening of SkyDome: A Celebration", broadcast on CBC Television the following evening hosted by Brian Williams. With a crowd of over 50,000 in attendance, the event included appearances by Alan Thicke, Oscar Peterson, Andrea Martin of SCTV, impressionist André-Philippe Gagnon and rock band Glass Tiger. The roof was ceremonially "opened" by Ontario Premier David Peterson (no relation to Oscar) with a laser pen. The roof's opening exposed the crowd to a downpour of rain. Despite audible chants of "close the roof", Magwood insisted the roof remain fully open.
Financial problems and fallout
The stadium became a thorn in the side of David Peterson's Ontario Liberal government for repeated cost overruns. After the Liberals were defeated by the NDP in the 1990 Ontario election, a review by the new Bob Rae government in October 1990 revealed Stadco's debt meant the Dome would have to be booked 600days a year to turn a profit, almost twice as many days as there are days in a calendar year. The stadium income was only $17million in its first year of operations, while debt service was $40million. It was determined the abrupt late inclusion by Stadco of a hotel and health club added an additional $112million to the cost of the building.
As the province slipped into a recession, Rae appointed University of Toronto professor Bruce Kidd and Canadian Auto Workers President Bob White to the Stadco board to help deal with the stadium's growing debt, but the original $165million debt had increased to $400million by 1993.[12][16] Stadco became a political liability, and in March 1994, the Ontario government paid off all outstanding Stadco debts from the government treasury and sold the stadium for $151million to a private consortium that included Labatt Breweries, the Blue Jays' owner.[16][23]
In November 1998, the stadium, which Labatt then owned as 49 percent of total, filed for bankruptcy protection,[24] triggered after disastrous Skybox renewal numbers. Most of the 161 Skybox tenants had signed on for 10-year leases; a marked decrease in interest in the stadium's teams and the construction of the Air Canada Centre, which hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors, resulted in few renewals for Skybox leases. That same month, the Blue Jays re-signed for an additional ten years in the facility.[16]
In April 1999, Sportsco International LP bought the stadium out of bankruptcy protection for $80million.[23]
Purchase and renaming
Rogers Centre wordmark on the exterior of the stadium. The stadium was renamed in 2005.
In November 2004, Rogers Communications, parent company of the Blue Jays, acquired SkyDome, excluding the attached SkyDome hotel, which had been sold to Renaissance for a reported $31 million in 1999, from Sportsco for about $25million– roughly four percent of the cost of construction.[23]
On February 2, 2005, Ted Rogers, President and CEO of Rogers Communications, announced a three-year corporate contract to change the name of SkyDome to Rogers Centre. The name change remains controversial and is unpopular with many fans, most of whom continue to refer to it as SkyDome in opposition to increased commercialism from the purchase of naming rights. One example is a 25,000-name petition started by TTC bus driver Randy Rajmoolie.[25] A baseball diamond in Toronto's Trinity Bellwoods Park is officially named SkyDome after the stadium's former and popular name.[26]
After the purchase, Rogers refurbished the stadium by, among other things, replacing the Jumbotron with a Daktronics video display, and erecting other new monitors, including several built into the outfield wall. They also installed a new FieldTurf artificial playing surface.[27]
In May 2005, the Toronto Argonauts agreed to three five-year leases at Rogers Centre, which could have seen the Argonauts play out of Rogers Centre up to and including 2019. The team had the option to leave at the end of each of the three lease agreements.[28] Proposed plans to lock Rogers Centre into its baseball configuration permanently in order to install a natural grass surface forced the Argonauts to relocate to BMO Field before the 2016 season.[29][30][31]
In November 2005, Rogers Centre received a complete makeover to "open" the 100 Level concourse to the playing field and convert 43 luxury boxes to "party suites". This required some seats to be removed, which decreased overall capacity.[32]
In April 2006, Rogers Centre became one of the first buildings of its size to adopt a completely smoke-free policy in Canada, anticipating an act of provincial legislature that required all Ontario public places to go smoke-free by June 1, 2006.[citation needed]
Alcohol was not available to patrons of Rogers Centre on April 7, 2009, as the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) imposed the first of a three-day alcohol suspension at the stadium for "infractions (that) took place at certain past events", according to the press release.[33]
Major renovation in the 2020s
By 2020, with the Rogers Center over 30 years old and one of the oldest stadiums in MLB, Rogers had begun to explore options for the long term home of the team. Rogers Communications and Brookfield Asset Management reportedly discussed replacing Rogers Centre with a smaller, baseball-specific stadium plus residential towers, office buildings, retail stores and public space. The new venue would be constructed on the southern end of the current stadium and adjacent parking lots, while the mixed-use development would be built on the northern portion of the site. An alternate site was also been considered for a new baseball park at Quayside in Toronto's east end next to Lake Ontario.[34]
However, the Blue Jays instead decided to undertake a major $400 million renovation of the stadium's interior in two phases, during the 2022–2023 and 2023–2024 offseasons.[35] The objective of the renovations was to extend the ballpark's shelf life by another 10–15 years, while continuing to plan for a new stadium or more significant rebuild of the Rogers Centre within the next 10 to 12 years.[35][36]
2022–2023
Interior after the second phase of renovations in 2024
The first phase of the renovations was designed by Populous and involved re-orienting outfield seats to face home plate, raising bullpens, adjusting the outfield dimensions to be asymmetrical, adding social spaces with bars in the outfield sections of the 500 Level (the highest level), and removing some seats to widen all remaining seats, thereby reducing capacity to 41,500 attendees.[37][38] The 2023 Blue Jays home opener was moved a few days later to accommodate the first phase of the renovation.[39]
2023–2024
The second phase involved re-orienting the infield seats to face home plate, the addition of cupholders to the seats in the 100 Level, as well as reducing the size of foul territory, improving the dugouts for the Blue Jays and their opponents, and the addition of LED backstop advertising to cover the entire backstop, which is much more visible during television broadcasts.[40] Following the second phase, capacity of the stadium was reduced further to 39,150.[38] The 2024 Blue Jays home opener was also moved a few days later to accommodate the second phase of the renovation.
Significant improvements to the facility since opening in 1989 include:
Exterior roof lighting that can be programmed for themes and events.
The Blue Jays clubhouse was substantially renovated, including a larger training room, an open concept lounge and personal lockers. In total, the clubhouse expanded from 12,000 to 24,000 square feet (1,100 to 2,200m2).
Main level concourse expansion, making the space brighter, more fan-friendly with expanded wheelchair seating.
The FieldTurf was upgraded to AstroTurf Gameday Grass for 2010.
The main video board was upgraded in 2005, from a JumboTron to a modern Daktronics video board, measuring 33 by 110 feet (10 by 34m).
Jays Shop – Stadium Edition, was expanded to an 8,000-square-foot (740m2) retail space along the main concourse (2007).
Two video boards were built into the outfield fence that each measure 10 by 65 feet (3 by 20m). These boards provide player stats, out-of-town scores and other information related to the game and league.
A continuous, ribbon-style video board was installed on the facing of the 300 Level, providing statistics and scores.
Installation of 150 new 42-inch (1.07m) flat-screen video monitors in the main- and second-level concourses, bringing the number of stadium monitors to around 300.
Upgrade of the entire field lighting system in a two-month conversion process with all 840 of the 2,000-watt bowl lights replaced.
A centre-field porch (later named the WestJet Flight Deck) in the 200 Level was added following the removal of the windows of the former Windows Restaurant (2013, $2 million).[41][42]
The AstroTurf Gameday Grass was upgraded to AstroTurf Gameday Grass 3D Extreme for the 2015 season.
A full dirt infield was installed for 2016;[43][44] for the previous six seasons, Rogers Centre was the only MLB ballpark with sliding pits.[45]
A two-year, $10 million roof upgrade, completed for the 2017 season, updated the aging OT network and control system to speed up the opening and closing process, reduce monitoring staff requirements, and added a rooftop weather station to better predict incoming weather systems.[46]
A new AstroTurf field was installed prior to the 2021 season. The new turf is attached to the floor, so the stands will no longer be able to be rolled and will be permanently locked into baseball configuration.[47]
Further lighting and video board upgrades were made for the 2022 season.
For the 2024 The Eras Tour by Taylor Swift, new antennas were installed in the Rogers Centre for 5G Wi-Fi, at a cost of $8 million. Also, the stadium street entrance was renamed “1 Taylor Swift Way” specifically for the concerts.[48]
Stadium features
Several restaurants have views of events. The former Windows restaurant looked onto the playing field
The stadium's field without its turf in 2006. The stadium's FieldTurf could be removed for events such as concerts and trade shows.
The venue was the first major team sports stadium in North America with a functional, fully retractable roof (Montreal's Olympic Stadium also had a retractable roof, but due to operational issues, it was replaced with a permanent fixed roof). The roof is composed of four panels and covers an area of 345,000 square feet (32,100m2). The two middle panels slide laterally to stack over the north semi-circular panel, and then the south semi-circular panel rotates around the stadium and nests inside the stack. It takes 20minutes for the roof to open or close.[49] It is not possible to move the roof in cold weather because the mechanism that closes the roof could fail in cooler weather.[50]
The original AstroTurf installation was replaced with FieldTurf from 2005 to 2010. The FieldTurf took about 40 hours to remove for events such as concerts or trade shows, as it used 1,400 trays that needed to be stacked and transported off the field. Prior to the 2010 baseball season, to reduce the amount of time required to convert the playing field, a new, roll-based version of AstroTurf was installed. Similar to FieldTurf, the installation uses a sand- and rubber-based infill within the synthetic fibres.[51] Rogers Centre is one of five venues in Major League Baseball that use artificial turf (the others are Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, LoanDepot Park in Miami, Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, and Chase Field[52] in Phoenix, Arizona) and was the last venue to use "sliding pits" before switching to a full dirt infield for the 2016 baseball season. Before the Argonauts moved out, the pitcher's mound could be lowered or raised hydraulically when converting from baseball to football (or vice versa).[53]
The use of natural grass was long thought to be unfeasible since the stadium was designed as a closed structure with a roof that opens, and as such, the interior was not intended or built to deal with weather, including low temperatures and drainage. As of the 2020 season, they are one of two teams to have never played a home game on grass at their main stadium[citation needed] (the Tampa Bay Rays played some home games in 2007 and 2008 at Champion Stadium in Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida,[54][55][56] and during the 2020 and much of the 2021 seasons, due to travel restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Toronto Blue Jays were playing most of their home games at their AAA affiliate's home stadium of Sahlen Field in Buffalo, New York[57] with the Blue Jays also playing home games in TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Florida, during the first two months of the 2021 season). Along with Tropicana Field, the Rogers Centre warning track consists of brown turf, which does not provide any tactile differences from the rest of the field.
However, the Blue Jays have long explored the possibility of converting the Rogers Centre to a natural grass surface, and plans were examined in order to install a grass field by 2018 to allow enough time for research and growing of the sod.[58] Installing grass would require digging up the floor, adding a drainage system, and installing 30cm (1ft) of dirt. The stadium would need to be permanently locked into its baseball configuration; the lower stands, which roll into position for football, would be permanently fixed in position for baseball.[59][60][61] The plan became more definite when Rogers renewed the Argonauts' lease through 2017, but ruled out any further extensions; in May 2015, it was announced the Argonauts would move to BMO Field for the 2016 season.[29][30][31] The Blue Jays subsequently confirmed the Argonauts' early departure would not accelerate their own plans to install grass in 2018,[62] though it did allow for a dirt infield to be installed for the 2016 season.[63] However, it does not appear likely the field will be converted to natural grass, as no further announcements for replacing the surface have been made since, and the field continues to retain its artificial surface.[64]
There are a total of 5,700 club seats and 161 luxury suites at the Rogers Centre. The complex had a Hard Rock Café restaurant until December 2009 when the restaurant closed after its lease expired.[65] The Toronto Marriott City Centre Hotel is also within Rogers Centre with 70 rooms, and a restaurant and bar called the Sportsnet Grill overlooks the field.[66] The Blue Jays in partnership with theScore Bet announced plans in April 2022 to create a new premium branded flagship sports bar and restaurant that would be open 365 days a year at the Rogers Centre and provide sports betting lines, including for daily fantasy sports.[67]
Over $5million of artwork was commissioned in 1989 ($10.5 million in 2023 dollars):
The Audience is a depiction of larger-than-life fans by Michael Snow above the northeast (shown) and northwest entrances of Rogers Centre
The Audience– by Michael Snow is a collection of larger-than-life depictions of fans above the northeast and northwest entrances. Painted gold, the sculptures show fans in various acts of celebration.
A Tribute to Baseball– by Lutz Haufschild, above the Southeast and Southwest entrances of Gate 5.
The Art of the Possible– by Mimi Gellman, inside along the north side of the concourse on the 100 Level. The glass and steel sculpture incorporates the signatures of 2,000 builders of SkyDome, and is a tribute to their work. Some of the artifacts found during excavation, such as musket balls and pottery, have also been included. The brightly illuminated sculpture became an issue to baseball players when the stadium first opened. The bright lights were considered a distraction to batters.
Salmon Run– by Susan Schelle, outside by the Southeast entrance in Bobbie Rosenfeld Park; it is a large fountain with various stainless steel salmon cutouts.
The stadium's parking lot is located under the stadium itself. The underground parking lot is divided into four sections (Sun, Moon, Star, and Cloud) and the ramps within the stadium correspond to these sections, while the fifth section, the Hotel Zone, being the northernmost section, is reserved for hotel uses by the Toronto Marriott City Centre Hotel directly above this section.[69]
Panorama of the interior seating and field for Rogers Centre in 2006
Rogers Centre video board
The Rogers Centre video board is 33 feet (10m) high and 110 feet (34m) across. The panel is made up of modular LED units that can be replaced unit by unit, and can be repaired immediately should it be damaged during an event. Originally, this screen was a Sony Jumbotron, which was the largest in North America at the time of the stadium's opening,[79] but it has since been replaced a few times. There are also two ribbon boards made up of LED that run along the East and West sides of the stadium interior. Each board is 434 feet (132m) long by 3.5 feet (1.1m) high. In addition, two video boards make up parts of the left and right outfield walls while the stadium is in baseball configuration. These are 65 feet (20m) wide by nearly 10 feet (3.0m) high.
The main video board was upgraded again for the 2022 Blue Jays season, this time by using more modern technology and adding four "wings", two on each side of the central part of the main video board with the lower wings on each side being wider, making the main video board no longer rectangular. This was to accommodate the windows of the hotel behind the main video board.
The Blue Jays have won two World Series championships at Rogers Centre, hosting Games 3, 4, and 5 of the 1992 World Series and Games 1, 2, and 6 of the 1993 World Series at the stadium, then known as SkyDome, with Game 3 of the 1992 series the first World Series game ever played in Canada. The stadium also hosted the 1991 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. The 1991 American League Championship Series was the first Major League Baseball playoff series played entirely indoors with the first two games at the Metrodome in Minneapolis and the final three at SkyDome.
Besides baseball, Rogers Centre was the original home of the National Basketball Association's Toronto Raptors, who played at the venue from November 1995 to February 1999, while the Air Canada Centre (later renamed Scotiabank Arena) was being planned and built. It proved to be somewhat problematic as a basketball venue, even considering it was only a temporary facility. For instance, many seats theoretically in line with the court were so far away that fans needed binoculars to see the action. Other seats were so badly obstructed that fans sitting there could only watch the game on the replay boards. For most games, Rogers Centre seated 22,900 people. However, the Raptors sometimes opened the 500 Level, which is the stadium's uppermost level, when popular opponents came to town, such as the Chicago Bulls when Michael Jordan was a member of the team, expanding capacity to 29,000 and held over 36,000 attendees at one point.
Football
The Rogers Centre's field arranged for Canadian football with some seats in the 500 Level closed off and replaced with large banners
Rogers Centre hosted Canadian football from opening in 1989 to 2015, as the Argonauts moved to BMO Field in 2016. In November 2007, it hosted the 95th Grey Cup, its first since 1992 and third all-time. It was the 56th Grey Cup hosted by the city of Toronto since the championship's inception in 1909.
From 1989 to 2003, SkyDome hosted the Vanier Cup championship of Canadian Interuniversity Sport (later renamed U Sports in 2016) football.
Rogers Centre was also the venue for the 43rd Vanier Cup on Friday, November 23, 2007, just two days before Grey Cup Sunday. It was the 16th Vanier Cup hosted at the venue, returning after a three-year absence in which it was hosted by Hamilton, Ontario (2004 and 2005) and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (2006). It was the 40th Vanier Cup hosted by Toronto since that championship's inception in 1965.
The National Football League's Buffalo Bills announced its intentions to play five "home" games (and three pre-season games) in Rogers Centre in October 2007, so beginning the Bills Toronto Series; the first of these regular-season games took place on December 7 of the 2008 season versus the Miami Dolphins.[82] It marked the first time an NFL team has established a "home" stadium outside the United States for regular-season games. The Bills played a preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Rogers Centre on August 14, 2008; the Toronto Series was played every year through the 2013 season.
From the mid-2000s, soccer matches have been regularly held in SkyDome / Rogers Centre; they had been rarely played at the venue when its AstroTurf surface had been in place.[83] Examples of soccer (association football) matches:
On June 8, 2005, an international soccer friendly between Serbia and Montenegro and Italy took place, ending in a 1–1 draw.[83]
On May 25, 2010, the stadium hosted a friendly soccer match between Italy's ACF Fiorentina and Juventus FC with Fiorentina winning 1–0.[84]
On July 16, 2010, the stadium hosted a friendly soccer match between England's Manchester United F.C. and Scotland's Celtic F.C. Manchester United F.C. defeated Celtic F.C. with a score of 3–1. The match was played on a temporary grass surface harvested from Burford, Ontario and transported via 18 tractor-trailers.[85]
On July 21, 2012, the stadium hosted the friendly between Toronto FC and Liverpool F.C., a match that finished in a 1–1 draw.[86]
On November 19, 2013, Rogers Centre hosted a friendly soccer match between Brazil and Chile, a match that finished in a 2–1 victory for the Brazilian side.[87]
On May 31, 1997, the venue hosted a post-Olympic track and field event that pitted Olympic track champions Donovan Bailey and Michael Johnson, in a 150m race billed as a competition for the title of the "World's Fastest Man", given media disputes over that title during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Bailey won the race, completing it in a time of 15 seconds and winning the $1.5 million prize. Johnson pulled up lame at the 110m mark claiming a quadriceps injury.
Rogers Centre is the site of several major high school and collegiate sporting competitions, such as the Prentice Cup for baseball. Since 2008, the Rogers Centre is the host of the Greater Toronto high schools' Metro Bowl.[108] On April 30, 2011, UFC 129 was hosted at Rogers Centre, in the first major mixed martial arts event to ever be held in Ontario after the province lifted a ban on prizefighting. Due to overwhelming demand for tickets (with the initial slate of 42,000 selling in around half an hour), the UFC and Rogers Centre reconfigured the event for 55,000 tickets. The event broke a UFC attendance record set at UFC 124 in Montreal, and also set records for the largest single-day gate revenue in both UFC (surpassing UFC 66 by at least double) and Rogers Centre history.[109]
On March 1, 2025, WWE will return to the Rogers Centre for the first time since WrestleMania X8 to host their annual Elimination Chamber premium live event.
Music concerts
Preparations taking place at the Rogers Centre before a U2 concert
The stadium has several concert configurations, including smaller Theatre (capacity 5,000 to 7,000) and Concert Hall (formerly SkyTent; capacity 10,000 to 25,000).[112] Due to the stadium's design and building materials, the acoustics are poor, and the loudness/quality can vary greatly around the stadium. Its popularity with artists and fans has diminished over the years, and the Scotiabank Arena now hosts most major concerts. The SkyTent, a group of acoustical curtain sails hoisted on rigging above the floor, helps reduce sound distortion and improve sound quality by dampening reverberations around the stadium.[113]
Soon after its opening, the stadium became a popular venue for large-scale rock concerts and is the largest indoor concert venue in Toronto.[114] Artists have included:
Taylor Swift, the American singer-songwriter performed at the Rogers Centre as part of The Eras Tour from November 14 to 16 and subsequently November 21 to 23rd, making her the first artist to schedule six shows on a single tour at Rogers Centre.[127]
Other uses
Rogers Centre contains 143,000sqft (13,300m2) of exhibition space, allowing it to host a variety of events year-round.
In addition to being a venue that hosts sports, concerts and other events, the Rogers Centre also houses the head offices of a number of businesses. The Toronto Blue Jays have its office headquarters in the building and until 2008, the Toronto Argonauts did as well. It is also the home of the head offices of Ticketmaster Canada and Zuffa Canada, the former also having the main Ticketmaster outlet (ticket centre) for eastern Canada, at the south end of the building beside Gate 9.[130][131][132]
In addition, the building contains the Toronto Renaissance Hotel, a Premier Fitness/Health Club, (formerly) a Hard Rock Cafe (now John Street Terrace), and (formerly) Windows Restaurant (now WestJet Flight Deck). From 2006 until its closure in 2009, the Hard Rock Cafe only opened when there was a performance in the building.[65] On non-event days, there are daily tours of the Rogers Centre.
Billy Graham Mission Ontario Youth Rally: This meeting, on June 10, 1995, is conceivably the most attended event in the stadium's history. The attendance of 72,500 was boosted by performances by several Christian music groups, and by extensive seating on the field. There were as many as 30,000 people outside, watching the event on screens around the stadium.[133]
Toronto Argonauts: The 1991 Eastern Division Final played against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers drew a crowd of 50,386. The smallest crowd for an Argonauts game occurred on July 13, 2001, when 11,041 people watched Toronto lose 30–16 against Winnipeg[135]
Toronto Raptors: A March 24, 1996, game against the Chicago Bulls drew a crowd of 36,131. For this game, the basketball venue was reconfigured to accommodate more fans due to the popularity of the visiting team, which basketball superstar Michael Jordan played for during this time. The expansion Raptors handed the record-setting Bulls one of their ten defeats that season, winning 109–108.
Mixed martial arts: UFC 129 sold 55,000 tickets for the highest single-day event gate in the stadium's history and set new world records for the sport.[137]
Timeline
1986– October 3– SkyDome's ground is broken.
1987– June 3– The stadium is officially named "SkyDome".
1989– June 2– Dress rehearsal for opening ceremony, family/friends of volunteer performers invited to attend. First unofficial "wave" performed at SkyDome.
1989– June 3– SkyDome officially opens, hosting a live opening night gala.
1989– June 5– SkyDome plays host to its first Blue Jays game. The Blue Jays lose 5–3 to the Milwaukee Brewers.
1989– July 17– First Doubleheader at Skydome and the Jays win both games beating the Angels.
1989– Athletics' Jose Canseco hits a home run into the fifth deck of SkyDome, off Toronto Blue Jays' pitcher Mike Flanagan. It is an estimated 480-foot (150m) shot, although one journalist estimated it to be at least 500 feet.[138]
1989– November 5– Rest of the World defeats West Indies by 11 runs in longest game (cricket) hosted by SkyDome
1995– June 22– During a game against the Milwaukee Brewers, two acoustic panels fall off the inner ceiling in the seventh inning, injuring seven fans. The game is not stopped.[139]
1995– July 9– A worker dies when installing lights for a computer show (falling 7.6 metres (25ft))
1998– November– SkyDome files for bankruptcy protection.
1998– SkyDome is purchased out of bankruptcy by Sportsco.
2001– April 12– A scheduled Blue Jays' game against the Kansas City Royals is cancelled due to the retractable roof jamming during a test run, damaging the roof and sending debris crashing to the field below.[140]
2001– August 3– The retractable roof is ordered closed in the third inning of a Toronto Blue Jays' game against the Baltimore Orioles at the request of home plate umpireTim Welke, as a swarm of thousands of aphids descends on SkyDome.[141]
2001– Oct 5– The second doubleheader at SkyDome and the Jays win both games again beating the Cleveland Indians.
2002 – March 17 – WrestleMania X8 sets the SkyDome attendance record of 68,237.
2005– February 2– Rogers Communications buys the stadium and renames it Rogers Centre.
2011 – April 30 – Rogers Centre holds its first UFC event, UFC 129. It is the first to be held in a stadium and was the biggest MMA event in North America at that time.
2015– July 26– Rogers Centre holds the closing ceremony of the 2015 Pan American Games.
2015- November 6- The last Argonauts game hosted at Rogers Centre before the team's move to BMO Field in the next season. The Argonauts won against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers with a score of 21–11.[142]
2018– April 16– A scheduled Blue Jays' game against the Kansas City Royals is cancelled due to the retractable roof having a hole as a result of the mid-April 2018 ice storm.[144]
2018– April 17– The third doubleheader in Blue Jays history at Rogers Centre and the Blue Jays would remain unbeaten in doubleheaders at Rogers Centre as they beat Royals 11–3 in Game 1 and 5–4 in Game 2.
Left: Rogers Centre with roof closed Right: Rogers Centre with roof openedThe field-level seating rotates on tracks to make the stadium easier to reconfigure
The stadium roof had a patent, which prevented its design from being easily copied: U.S. Patent #4676033. The patent was filed on May 1, 1986, and published June 30, 1987, to dome designers, architect Rod Robbie and structural engineer Michael Allen.[149] The patent expired in 2006.
The original mascot of the stadium was a turtle by the name of Domer. Domer has not been widely used since the mid-1990s, although he did make a return on June 6, 2014, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Rogers Centre.[150]
When the retractable roof is open, people standing on the observation deck of the nearby CN Tower can look down on the field.
Over 50million people have visited SkyDome/Rogers Centre.[citation needed]
When the roof is open, 91 percent of the seats and 100 percent of the field is open to the sky, covering an area of 3.2 hectares (7.9 acres).[citation needed]
The roof weighs 10,000 tonnes (11,000 short tons)[151] and is held together by 250,000 bolts.[citation needed]
The stadium's inward-looking hotel rooms have regular two-way windows, yielding instances of what some could consider indecent exposure and leading to nicknames such as "SexDome" and "Exhibitionist Stadium". When SkyDome first opened, a couple engaging in sexual intercourse was televised on the scoreboard Jumbotron during a baseball game, thanks to illumination from stadium lighting despite the room's lights being off. Days later, a man was caught masturbating during a game in full view of the packed stands. The man, later tracked down by a Sports Illustrated reporter, calmly said, "I thought they were one-way windows."[152] Patrons now have to sign contracts stipulating they will not perform any lewd acts within view of the stadium. The last reported such instance occurred in 1996.[153] Occasionally, broadcasts will zoom into humorous instances from these hotel rooms, such as a pillow fight during the 1992 World Series.[154]
When the stadium first opened, the Toronto Transit Commission was worried about the challenge of moving the large crowds. As a way to streamline the entry to the subway and to encourage public transit use to the stadium, all tickets for the first 30days also worked as a Metropass, which was the commission's monthly pass.[citation needed]
The stadium corporation has been requested to help in the planning of other venues from the U.S., the Netherlands, England, Australia, New Zealand, to Singapore, China and Germany (Source: Rogers Centre Press release).
It was the most expensive stadium in both the Canadian Football League and Major League Baseball, constructed at a price of C$570million[12] (C$1.2billion in 2023 dollars[13]). This record was passed by the New Yankee Stadium at a cost of US$1.5billion. If Montreal's Olympic Stadium (which was formerly the home field of the Expos, only used for CFL playoff games since the late 2000s and MLS playoff games since the mid-2010s) were counted, it would take the title, with a 1976 cost of C$1.6billion (C$3.36billion in 2023 dollars[13]).
Because of the orientation of the baseball playing field at Rogers Centre, when a player is at bat, the direction he is facing looks farther to the west than at any other Major League Baseball park.[155]
The stadium is the setting of the climax in the 2022 Pixar animated film Turning Red, in which the fictional boy band 4*Town performs a large-scale concert during which the stadium is partially destroyed. As the Toronto-set film's time period is set in 2002, the stadium is referred to by its original SkyDome name.[156]
The exterior part of the venue has been used in M. Night Shyamalan's 2024 film, Trap,[157] which was renamed "Tanaka Arena" for the story's outline, hosting a Lady Raven concert, who is the movie's popstar.
Gallery
Interior of the stadium in 2005. Rogers refurbished several parts of the stadium after its acquisition, including replacing the Jumbotron with a Daktronics video display.
The roof of the Rogers Centre illuminated during the night in 2008.
Exterior entrance to one of the two Jays Shop locations at Rogers Centre.
The Toronto Argonauts are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Founded in 1873, the team is the oldest existing professional sports team in North America still using its original name, as well as the oldest-surviving team in both the modern-day CFL and East Division. The team's origins date back to a modified version of rugby football that emerged in North America in the latter half of the 19th century. The Argonauts played their home games at Rogers Centre from 1989 until 2016, when the team moved to BMO Field, the fifth stadium site to host the team.
Sahlen Field is a baseball park in Buffalo, New York, United States. Originally known as Pilot Field, the venue has since been named Downtown Ballpark, North AmeriCare Park, Dunn Tire Park, and Coca-Cola Field. Home to the Buffalo Bisons of the International League, it opened on April 14, 1988, and can seat up to 16,600 people, making it the highest-capacity Triple-A ballpark in the United States. It replaced the Bisons' former home, War Memorial Stadium, where the team played from 1979 to 1987.
Canadian National Exhibition Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on the grounds of Exhibition Place. Originally built for Canadian National Exhibition events, the stadium served as the home of the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL) from 1959 to 1988, the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1977 to 1989, and the Toronto Blizzard of the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1979 to 1983. The stadium hosted the Grey Cup game 12 times over a 24-year period.
Commonwealth Stadium is an open-air, multipurpose stadium located in the McCauley neighbourhood of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It has a seating capacity of 56,302, making it the largest open-air stadium in Canada. Primarily used for Canadian football, it also hosts athletics, soccer, rugby union and concerts.
BC Place is a multi-purpose stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Located at the north side of False Creek, it is owned and operated by the BC Pavilion Corporation (PavCo), a crown corporation of the province.
Winnipeg Stadium was a multipurpose stadium in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Varsity Stadium is an outdoor collegiate football stadium located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is home to the Toronto Varsity Blues, the athletic teams of the University of Toronto. Athletic events have been hosted on the site since 1898; the current stadium was built in 2007 to replace the original permanent stadium built in 1911. Varsity Stadium is also a former home of the Toronto Argonauts, and has previously hosted the Grey Cup, the Vanier Cup, several matches of the 1976 Summer Olympics soccer tournament, and the final game of the North American Soccer League's 1984 Soccer Bowl series. It is located next to Varsity Arena.
The ICCU Dome is an indoor multi-purpose athletic stadium in the western United States, located on the campus of Idaho State University (ISU) in Pocatello, Idaho. It is the home field of the Idaho State Bengals of the Big Sky Conference and sits at an elevation of 4,560 feet (1,390 m) above sea level.
BMO Field is an outdoor stadium located at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Constructed on the former Exhibition Stadium site and first opened in 2007, it is the home field of Toronto FC of Major League Soccer (MLS) and Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL). BMO Field is owned by the City of Toronto and managed by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which owns both Toronto FC and the Argonauts. The stadium's naming rights are held by the Bank of Montreal, which is commonly branded as "BMO". It is one of two Canadian stadiums which will host matches of the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup. An expansion for the tournament will bring the stadium's capacity to 45,736 seats.
The J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome is an indoor multipurpose stadium in the southwestern United States, located on the campus of Northern Arizona University (NAU) in Flagstaff, Arizona. It is primarily used as the home of the NAU Lumberjacks football and both men's and women's basketball teams of the Big Sky Conference. The seating capacity is 11,230, with 10,000 permanent seats and 1,230 seats in portable bleachers.
The 70th Grey Cup, also known as the "Rain Bowl", was the 1982 Grey Cup Canadian Football League championship game between the Toronto Argonauts and the Edmonton Eskimos. The Eskimos, who were making their sixth consecutive appearance in the CFL championship game, defeated the Argonauts 32–16 on the Eskimos' way to their fifth straight Grey Cup. The game was played on Sunday, November 28, 1982, at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.
A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used for multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a design philosophy that stresses multifunctionality over speciality. It is used most commonly in Canada and the United States, where the two most popular outdoor team sports—Canadian football or American football and baseball—require radically different facilities. Football uses a rectangular field, while baseball is played on a diamond with a large outfield. Since Canadian football fields are larger than American ones, the design specifications for Canadian facilities are somewhat less demanding. The particular design to accommodate both is usually an oval, although some later designs use an octorad. While building stadiums in this way means that sports teams and governments can share costs, it also presents some challenges.
The city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, has a long history of sport. It is home to a number of clubs, including the Granite Club, the Royal Canadian Yacht Club, the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club, the Argonaut Rowing Club, Toronto Argonauts football club, the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club, and the Badminton and Racquet Club. A number of heritage venues have developed in Toronto such as: Christie Pits, Coca-Cola Coliseum, Varsity Arena, and Maple Leaf Gardens. Toronto is also the location of the Canadian Football League's headquarters.
The 2005 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's 29th season in Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing third in the American League East with a record of 80 wins and 82 losses. This was the first 162-game season since 1993 that Blue Jays hitters would combine for less than 1,000 strikeouts. This was also the team's first season as Canada's only MLB team, as the Montreal Expos relocated and became the Washington Nationals at the end of the 2004 MLB season.
The 1992 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's 16th season of Major League Baseball. Toronto finished first in the American League East for the fourth time with a record of 96 wins and 66 losses, closing the season with an attendance record of 4,028,318. Toronto was not swept in a single series all year, becoming the first team in 49 years to accomplish the feat.
The National Football League (NFL) has been playing games in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, since 1959 when an interleague game between the Chicago Cardinals of the NFL and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL) took place at Exhibition Stadium. Subsequently, a number of neutral site preseason and regular season games between NFL teams have been staged in the city. Toronto is one of five cities outside the United States, along with London, Mexico City, Frankfurt and Munich, which have hosted regular season NFL games.
The Bills Toronto Series was a series of National Football League (NFL) games featuring the Buffalo Bills played at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The original series began in the 2008 season and ran through 2012. The Bills were originally scheduled to play eight home games over five seasons as part of the agreement, which included one regular-season game each of the five years and one pre-season game on the first, third and (originally) fifth year of the series. This included the first regular-season NFL game played in Canada, which the Bills lost to the Miami Dolphins. The agreement was renewed for five additional years, with an annual regular season game and one preseason game, on January 29, 2013, but following the 2013 contest it was announced that the 2014 game had been postponed for a year. On December 3, 2014, it was announced that a deal had been reached to terminate the remainder of the contract, ending the Bills' experiment in Toronto.
The 2015 Toronto Argonauts season was the 58th season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 143rd season overall. The Argonauts finished with a 10–8 record, but lost the East-Semi Final to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
↑ "Rogers Centre – Facts". Rogerscentre.com. Rogers Stadium Limited Partnership. Archived from the original on October 6, 2015. Retrieved November 19, 2011.
↑ "Fun Facts and Figures". Rogers Stadium Limited Partnership. October 9, 2015. Archived from the original on October 6, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
↑ One of the more notable concerts, as shown in the documentary Truth or Dare.[120] The touring show had become extremely controversial due to the risqué visuals and performances. When the concert arrived in Toronto, police were alerted that the show might violate local obscenity laws. The police were on site for the concert and threatened charges without changes. The show went on as planned, however, without any legal action taken.[121]
External links
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†= Team's stadium under construction or refurbishment at time 1 = A team used the stadium when their permanent stadium was unable to be used as a result of damage.
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