Former names | Aviva Centre (2015–2022) Rexall Centre (2004–2015) |
---|---|
Address | 1 Shoreham Drive |
Location | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Coordinates | 43°46′17.60″N79°30′43.40″W / 43.7715556°N 79.5120556°W |
Public transit | Pioneer Village station |
Owner | Tennis Canada |
Capacity | 12,500 (Stadium Court) 11,000–14,000 (concerts) |
Field size | 28,240 m2 |
Surface | Hard, Outdoors |
Construction | |
Built | 2004 |
Construction cost | USD $ 45 million |
Architect | Robbie Young & Wright Architects Inc. |
Project manager | O.P. McCarthy & Associates Inc. |
Tenants | |
National Bank Open presented by Rogers (Men) (ATP 1000) (2004–present) National Bank Open presented by Rogers (Women) (WTA 1000) (2004–present) 2015 Pan American Games | |
Website | |
https://sobeysstadium.com/ |
Sobeys Stadium, formerly Aviva Centre and Rexall Centre, is a tennis stadium in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 12,500-capacity Stadium Court is the largest stadium at the tennis complex. Sobeys Stadium is the venue for the National Bank Open presented by Rogers, a professional tournament on the ATP World Tour and WTA circuits, held annually. Beginning 2021, Sobeys Stadium hosts the men's tournament in odd-numbered years and the women's event in even-numbered years, with the other gender's event held in Montreal in those years. The facility also is a year-round tennis training facility. The main stadium is occasionally used for seasonal concerts. Sobeys Stadium is located on the grounds of York University's Keele Campus in North York, Toronto.
Built in 2004, the main venue holds 12,500 spectators. [1] There are 11 other small courts next to the stadium. All twelve courts use the DecoTurf cushioned acrylic surface, the same surface as the US Open Tennis Championships. The stadium has 39 executive suites and two party suites. [2]
Sobeys Stadium is also the home of the Toronto offices of Tennis Canada and the Ontario Tennis Association. The grounds serve as the national and provincial tennis training centre year-round, offering 16 courts (eight of which are indoors). The stadium is also used for the staging of interuniversity competitions and practices and winter training. During the academic year, a discounted fee on indoor courts is offered to York students weekdays during daytime hours. This is the venue for York University's Convocation Ceremony every year.
The facility is located on the northwestern edge of York University's, south-east of Jane Street and Steeles Avenue West, at the intersection of Shoreham Drive, and Pond Road. To the west of the facility are forested park lands along the Black Creek. The Saywell Woods and Stong Pond are located to the south and east of the facility.
The stadium was built to replace the National Tennis Centre, which was demolished in 2003. The facility opened on July 26, 2004 as the Rexall Centre in a naming rights deal with Rexall pharmacy chain. The first match at the stadium was an opening round match between Andre Agassi and Tommy Haas attended by 10,500. [3] It is one of two venues for the Canadian Open, alternating hosting the men's and women's events annually with IGA Stadium in Montreal.
In 2011, the stadium became the venue for the BlackCreek Summer Music Festival, a series of concerts of jazz, opera, popular and symphonic music. [4]
In 2014, the venue was named as the host of the tennis events at the 2015 Pan American Games. [5]
In 2015, the venue was renamed the Aviva Centre after reaching a new naming rights deal with British multinational insurance company Aviva.
In 2017, Aviva Centre hosted the opening ceremonies for the 2017 North American Indigenous Games.
In 2022, the stadium was renamed Sobeys Stadium after Canadian supermarket chain Sobeys acquired the naming rights to the venue, giving Empire Company naming rights to both major Tennis Canada venues (the Montreal stadium had been named after its IGA brand since 2018). [6]
In February 2015, Toronto Police Service announced the discovery of a "mystery" tunnel located a few hundred metres from the facility, a story which later became popular. [7] [8] It was later revealed to be a "man cave." The two men in their mid-20s who excavated the cave had no criminal intent and are not affiliated with York University, Rexall Centre (as it was then called), or the Pan Am Games, and the tunnel was created as a hobby. [9] The Toronto Sun identified one of the men as 22-year-old Elton McDonald. He faced an $800 fine instead of receiving a criminal record. McDonald's employer said that he borrowed and lost his tools used to dig the tunnel. [10]
The facility is located on Shoreham Road, which connects to Jane Street, just south of Steeles Avenue. There are an estimated 7,000 parking spaces in the vicinity. [4] Pioneer Village subway station of Line 1 Yonge–University is situated a short walk from the stadium or transit users can take the 106 Sentinel bus between the stadium and the subway station.
Rogers Centre is a retractable roof stadium in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated at the base of the CN Tower near the northern shore of Lake Ontario. Opened in 1989 on the former Railway Lands, it is home to the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). Previously, the stadium was also home to the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL) played an annual game at the stadium as part of the Bills Toronto Series from 2008 to 2013. While it is primarily a sports venue, it also hosts other large events such as conventions, trade fairs, concerts, travelling carnivals, circuses and monster truck shows.
Sobeys Inc. is a national supermarket chain in Canada with over 1,500 stores operating under a variety of banners. Headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia, it operates stores in all ten provinces and accumulated sales of more than C$25.1 billion in the fiscal 2019 operating year. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Empire Company Limited, a Canadian business conglomerate.
Northlands Coliseum is a defunct indoor arena in Edmonton, Alberta, on the north side of Northlands. It was used for sports events and concerts, and was home to the Edmonton Oilers of the World Hockey Association (WHA) and National Hockey League (NHL), and the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League (WHL). The arena opened in 1974, and was later known as Edmonton Coliseum, Skyreach Centre, and Rexall Place, before returning to the Northlands Coliseum name in summer 2016.
IGA Stadium, originally called Stade Du Maurier and formerly Stade Uniprix, is the main tennis court at the Canadian Open tournament in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Built in 1996 and completed the following year, the centre court stadium currently holds 11,815 spectators. The stadium grounds is located in Jarry Park within the borough of Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension.
The original National Tennis Centre in Toronto was located in the north end of York University's Keele Campus next to the Metro Toronto Track and Field Centre.
The 1999 Pan American Games, officially the XIII Pan American Games or the 13th Pan American Games and commonly known as Winnipeg 1999, was a major international multi-sport event that was held from July 23 to August 8, 1999, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and surrounding towns and cities. Canoeing competitions started the day before the games officially began. Approximately 5,000 athletes from 42 nations participated in the games to vie for a total of 330 medal events in 34 sports and 42 disciplines.
The Keele Campus is the main campus of York University in the North York district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It occupies roughly 1 square kilometre of land and is situated between Jane Street to the west, Keele Street to the east, Steeles Avenue West to the north and Finch Avenue West to the south. It is the largest post-secondary campus in Canada at 457 acres (185 ha).
The 2015 Pan American Games, officially the XVII Pan American Games and commonly known as the Toronto 2015 Pan-Am Games or Toronto 2015, were a major international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Pan American Games, as governed by Pan American Sports Organization (PASO). The games were held from July 10 to 26, 2015 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; preliminary rounds in certain events began on July 7, 2015. These were the third Pan American Games hosted by Canada, and the first in the province of Ontario. The Games were held at venues in Toronto and 17 other Golden Horseshoe communities. The Pan American Games and 2015 Parapan American Games were organized by the Toronto Organizing Committee for the 2015 Pan and Parapan American Games (TO2015).
The 2015 Pan and Parapan American Games venues were mostly located in the host city of Toronto, Ontario, though some events required facilities located elsewhere. Besides Toronto, fourteen other municipalities in Southern Ontario hosted competitions: Ajax, Hamilton, Innisfil, Markham, Milton, Minden, Mississauga, Mono, Oro-Medonte, Oshawa, Palgrave, St. Catharines, Welland and Whitby.
The 2015 Parapan American Games, officially the V Parapan American Games and commonly known as the Toronto 2015 ParaPan-Am Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities, celebrated in the tradition of the Parapan American Games as governed by the Americas Paralympic Committee, held from August 7 to 15, 2015, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Marking the first Parapan American games hosted by Canada, and the second major Paralympic sports event hosted by Toronto since the 1976 Summer Paralympics, the Games were held at venues in Toronto and four other Golden Horseshoe communities. Both the Parapan American and Pan American Games were organized by the Toronto 2015 Organizing Committee (TO2015).
The Markham Pan Am Centre is a multi-purpose community and aquatics centre located in the new downtown area of Markham, Ontario, Canada.
The Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre is a sports complex in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Co-owned by the City of Toronto and the University of Toronto Scarborough, it is operated by TPASC Inc., with programming offered by both the university and Toronto Parks, Forestry & Recreation. It is located on the northern grounds of the university's campus near the intersection of Highway 401 and Morningside Avenue.
York Lions Stadium is an outdoor sports stadium on the Keele Campus of Toronto's York University in the former city of North York. It is home to the York Lions, the varsity teams of York University, the Toronto Arrows of Major League Rugby and York United of the Canadian Premier League. The facility was primarily built for the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games, where it hosted track and field events and the opening ceremony. In 2021, the stadium's running track was removed to expand the playing surface used for football and soccer.
Tennis competitions at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto were held from July 10 to 16 at the Rexall Centre, which was known as the Canadian Tennis Centre for the duration of the games due to naming rights. A total of five events were contested. Argentina topped the medal table, with gold medals in the men's singles and mixed doubles, while hosts Canada also achieved gold in the women's doubles event.
The men's singles tennis event of the 2015 Pan American Games was held from July 10–15 at the Canadian Tennis Centre in Toronto, Canada.
The men's doubles tennis event of the 2015 Pan American Games was held from July 11–15 at the Canadian Tennis Centre in Toronto, Canada.
The women's singles tennis event of the 2015 Pan American Games was held from July 11–16 at the Canadian Tennis Centre in Toronto, Canada.
The women's doubles tennis event of the 2015 Pan American Games was held from July 12–16 at the Canadian Tennis Centre in Toronto, Canada.
The mixed doubles tennis event of the 2015 Pan American Games will be held from July 12–16 at the Canadian Tennis Centre in Toronto, Canada.
Media related to Aviva Centre at Wikimedia Commons