BMO Field

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BMO Field
BMOFieldLogo.png
Toronto FC Anthems BMO.jpg
Location 170 Princes Boulevard
Toronto, Ontario M6K 3C3
Coordinates 43°37′58″N 79°25′07″W / 43.63278°N 79.41861°W / 43.63278; -79.41861Coordinates: 43°37′58″N 79°25′07″W / 43.63278°N 79.41861°W / 43.63278; -79.41861
Broke ground March 29, 2006[1]
Opened April 28, 2007
Expanded 2010
Owner City of Toronto
Operator MLSE Ltd.
Surface FieldTurf 2006 to 2009
Grass 2010 to present
Construction cost CAD$62.9 million
($67.6 million in 2013 dollars[2])
Architect Brisbin Brooks Beynon Architects (BBB Architects)
Project manager PMX, Inc.[3]
Structural engineer Halcrow Yolles[4]
Services engineer The Mitchell Partnership Inc.[5]
General contractor PCL Constructors Canada Inc.[6]
Capacity 21,859 (soccer)[7]
28,000 (concerts)
Field dimensions 105 × 68 metres
Tenants
Canada men's national soccer team (2007–present)
Toronto FC (MLS) (2007-present)
Toronto Nationals (MLL) (2008)
Canada national rugby union team (2011–present)

BMO Field (pron.: /ˈbiːmoʊ/) is a Canadian soccer stadium located in Exhibition Place in the city of Toronto. The open-air structure can seat up to 21,140 [8] spectators, depending on seating configurations. It is owned by the City of Toronto, and managed by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. It opened on April 28, 2007 with a 1–0 loss by home side Toronto FC against the Kansas City Wizards.

The stadium hosted the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, at which time it was known as the National Soccer Stadium. It also hosted the MLS Cup 2010 on November 21, 2010.

Contents

History [edit]

BMO Field is the fifth stadium to be located at its exact location at Exhibition Place. The most recent was Exhibition Stadium, former home of the Toronto Argonauts and Toronto Blue Jays, which lost its permanent tenants with the opening of SkyDome (Rogers Centre since 2005) in 1989. Exhibition Stadium was demolished in 1999.

The stadium was part of Canada's successful bid to host the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup.[9] The original plan was for the site to be located at York University, with the university contributing $15 million toward the cost of the new stadium. However, the university was forced to back out in May 2005.[10] The eventual site was moved to the location of demolished Exhibition Stadium and then-existing Sports Hall of Fame building.

On May 11, 2006, Major League Soccer announced that Toronto FC would join the league as its thirteenth (and first Canada-based) team in 2007. The league considers soccer-specific stadiums to be a critical part of its strategy; MLS commissioner Don Garber has been adamant that expansion teams must have plans for a soccer-specific stadium in place to be granted a franchise. These facilities are thought to improve overall crowd atmosphere (because they are smaller than stadiums built primarily for NFL football or CFL football), and may allow teams to control most revenues generated by their facilities.

On August 31, 2006, the Toronto Star reported that BMO Financial Group purchased the naming rights to the stadium, known then as the National Soccer Stadium.[11] BMO is the stock ticker symbol of the Bank of Montreal, whose operational headquarters are in Toronto, despite its Montreal name (though the bank still has its legal corporate headquarters in the namesake city). The symbol is often pronounced "BEE-moe", as are references to the bank itself. On September 20, 2006, stadium webcam viewers watched as a banner was raised on the West Grandstand renaming the stadium "BMO Field". The name was later announced on the team's official website. It was referred to under the National Soccer Stadium name in official references to the FIFA U-20 World Cup, as non-FIFA-supporting sponsors were not permitted references.

BMO Field is also touted as one of the possible "home venues" for Canada's national Rugby Union team. The team has played at least two matches at the venue to date, including one against the United States in 2011 and another against Italy in 2012. Canada's home game against Ireland in 2013 is also expected to be played at BMO Field.[12]

Since its opening [edit]

The grand opening celebration took place on May 12, 2007.[13]

The only music concert thus far at BMO Field was performed by progressive rock group Genesis on September 7, 2007.

The 2008 MLS All Star game was held at BMO Field on July 24, 2008 versus West Ham United F.C. of the English Premier League.

In 2009, the Toronto Nationals of Major League Lacrosse began playing their home games at BMO Field. The team moved over to Lamport Stadium for 2010 and have since moved to Hamilton in 2011.

On July 18, 2009, BMO Field had its first alcohol suspension, due to an incident that occurred on May 21, 2008, regarding alcohol consumption by a minor.[14]

In November 2009, it became public that the owners of the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League were in discussions with the City of Toronto over the possibility of moving from the Rogers Centre to BMO Field, potentially as early as the 2010 CFL season.[15] The CFL agreed to study the feasibility of the Argos playing at BMO Field, which was built too short to fit a full length CFL field.[16] According the MLSE chief operating officer Tom Anselmi, without significant renovations BMO Field could only fit a 100-yard field with 15-yard endzones or a 110-yard field with 10-yard endzones, which is 20-yards short of the standard 110-yard field and 20-yard endzones.[17] On December 16, 2009, the Argonauts officially abandoned the idea following receipt of the CFL study, which stated that "Canadian football could not be played there in its current state."[18] As of 2010, Toronto FC are contemplating the possibility of expanding the facility. BMO Field could accommodate an additional 8000 spectators without making fundamental changes to the existing facility, increasing the ground's total capacity upwards of 30,000.[19]

The BMO Field became the first venue outside of the United States to host the MLS Cup in 2010 featuring the Colorado Rapids defeating FC Dallas 2–1.

Historic goals [edit]

The first goal at BMO Field was scored by Eddie Johnson for Kansas City Wizards in a 1–0 Major League Soccer win over home side Toronto FC in the stadium opener on April 28, 2007. The first ever Toronto FC goal at the stadium was Danny Dichio's first-half strike against Chicago Fire on May 12, 2007 (also his club's first ever MLS goal).

The first goal at BMO Field scored by a Canadian came at the official opening on May 11, 2007, in an U-20 friendly between Canada and Argentina. David Edgar scored a penalty in a 2–1 defeat for Canada, just four minutes after Alejandro Gomez had scored the first ever international goal at the stadium.

Costa Rica's Víctor Núñez scored the first ever senior international goal in a 1–1 friendly draw with hosts Canada on September 12, 2007, just minutes before Dwayne De Rosario scored Canada's first senior goal at the stadium.

The first Toronto FC goal scored by a Canadian at BMO Field was in a June 25, 2007 friendly against Aston Villa of the English Premier League. Andrea Lombardo scored an equalizer at BMO Field's south end to make it 2–2 before Aston Villa ran out 4–2 winners. The first MLS goal at BMO Field scored by a Canadian came when Miguel Cañizalez scored for Toronto FC in the second minute of their 2–1 defeat to Columbus Crew on September 22, 2007, snapping an 824-minute MLS goalless streak.

On May 19, 2007, Bolivian forward Jaime Moreno scored his 108th MLS goal on a penalty kick for D.C. United in their 2–1 win over Toronto FC at BMO Field, tying him for the all-time league lead with Jason Kreis. Moreno has since taken sole ownership of the record.

On May 22, 2009 Merrick Thomson, of the Toronto Nationals, scored the first MLL goal at BMO Field in a 15-11 win for the Nationals in their home opener.

On August 7, 2009 Gabe Gala, of Toronto FC, scored the second ever goal by a Canadian against the Spanish giants Real Madrid in an exhibition match at BMO Field, which Real Madrid won 5-1. Julian de Guzman scored the first goal when he scored the winner playing in La Liga against Real Madrid.

Management, ownership and funding [edit]

Toronto FC is owned and operated by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. (MLSE), owners of the National Hockey League's Toronto Maple Leafs and the National Basketball Association's Toronto Raptors. In addition, MLSE contributed towards the cost of the building of the stadium. With a total costs of $62.9 million[20] ($72 million including land), contributions came from multiple sources. MLSE contributed $8 million towards the construction of the stadium and $10 million towards securing the naming rights of the stadium, which they later resold to the Bank of Montreal for $27 million over 10 years.[21][22] The Canadian Federal Government contributed $27 million, with Ontario's government adding an additional $8 million. Toronto paid $9.8 million and has the ownership of the stadium. (All figures are in Canadian dollars.)

2015 Pan American Games [edit]

During the 2015 Pan American Games, BMO Field is scheduled to host rugby sevens competition. Due to sponsorship rules with the Pan American Sports Organization, the facility will be known as the "National Soccer Stadium" (this despite the fact that no soccer is, at least under current plans as of 2012, slated to be played at the stadium; soccer is instead slated for the New Hamilton Stadium).[23]

Stadium specifics [edit]

A view of BMO Field's East Grandstand, looking eastward towards downtown Toronto

BMO Field originally used FieldTurf rather than a natural grass pitch, which had attracted some criticism.[24][25] However in 2009, Toronto City Council voted to approve installation of a permanent, natural grass surface beginning in 2010, after MLSE promised to cover all costs of installing and maintaining the surface.[26][27] Previously, a temporary grass turf was laid in August 2009 for an international friendly against Real Madrid, which was later donated to a local public school stadium.[28]

The seats are entirely red with the exception of a design on each of the main stands. On the east side, the design is a large maple leaf while on the lower west stand the design spells out "TORONTO", and has a portion of the Toronto FC logo. The south stand has "BMO" spelled out.

Field of play dimensions are 75 yards wide × 115 yards long or 68 m wide × 105 m long, meeting FIFA standards.

A variety of Kentucky Bluegrass was installed in the spring of 2010, along with a state of the art drainage system and heating system in the field. The first game on natural grass was Toronto FC's home debut on April 15, 2010 versus the expansion Philadelphia Union.

Attendance records [edit]

The largest attendance overall at the stadium was on April 13, 2011 for a regular season MLS game when Toronto FC hosted the Los Angeles Galaxy in front of 22,453 fans.

MLS [edit]

Season Season Average Highest gate Lowest gate
2007 20,130 20,522 19,123
2008 20,120 20,461 19,657
2009 20,344 20,902 19,843
2010 20,453 22,108 18,394
2011 20,267 22,453 16,313
2012 18,681 20,071 14,623

See also [edit]

Portal icon Association football portal
Portal icon Toronto portal

References [edit]

  1. ^ "Work Begins on Toronto Soccer Stadium". Guelph Mercury. March 9, 2006. 
  2. ^ Canadian inflation numbers based on Statistics Canada. "Consumer Price Index, historical summary". CANSIM, table (for fee) 326-0021 and Catalogue nos. 62-001-X, 62-010-X and 62-557-X. Last modified: 2011-01-25. Retrieved January 16, 2012
  3. ^ Projects - PMX Inc.
  4. ^ "National Soccer Stadium at Exhibition Place". pcl.com. Archived from the original on October 16, 2006. Retrieved April 20, 2012. 
  5. ^ BMO Field - The Mitchell Partnership
  6. ^ http://www.pcl.com/projects/Active/0900345/index.aspx
  7. ^ http://pressbox.mlssoccer.com/sites/mlsdigitalpr.drupalgardens.com/files/Toronto%20FC%202012%20Media%20Guide.pdf#overlay-context=content/club-media-guides
  8. ^ http://www.torontofc.ca/news/2012/01/reds-sell-35000-seats-ccl
  9. ^ http://www.fifa.com/en/media/index/0,1369,102457,00.html
  10. ^ http://www.yorku.ca/mediar/archive/Release.asp?Release=879
  11. ^ Toronto Star (thestar.com) (Toronto) http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1156974612483&call_pageid=968350072197&col=969048863851 |url= missing title (help). 
  12. ^ http://www.espnscrum.com/scrum/rugby/match/fixtures/international.html
  13. ^ http://toronto.fc.mlsnet.com/news/team_news.jsp?ymd=20061204&content_id=79841&vkey=news_t280&fext=.jsp&team=t280
  14. ^ "Argentine star Tevez moving his act across town to Manchester City". Toronto Star. 2009-07-14. Retrieved 2009-07-15. 
  15. ^ "Argos to leave Rogers Centre?". The Globe and Mail (Toronto). 2009-11-26. Archived from the original on 30 November 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-02. 
  16. ^ "CFL to study new venue for Argos". CBC News. November 28, 2009. Archived from the original on 2 December 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-02. 
  17. ^ "Argos Not Banking On BMO Just Yet". Retrieved 2009-12-02. [dead link]
  18. ^ "Statement Regarding CFL Feasibility Study on BMO Field". Archived from the original on 20 December 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-16. 
  19. ^ Girard, Daniel (March 18, 2009). "MLSE Spies Big BMO Field Expansion". Toronto Star (Toronto). 
  20. ^ "BMO Field, MLSE delivers financial return to City of Toronto". Retrieved 2011-02-23. 
  21. ^ "BMO Field to be Home for Toronto FC and Canada’s National Soccer Teams". Retrieved 2009-12-02. 
  22. ^ "Real Salt Lake negotiating deal for stadium name rights". Retrieved 2009-12-02. 
  23. ^ Toronto 2015 - Rugby Sevens
  24. ^ "Don't use artificial grass in Toronto FC stadium: players". globeandmail.com. Retrieved 2007-02-12. 
  25. ^ The Globe and Mail (Toronto) http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/council-approves-grass-at-bmo-field/article1308091/ |url= missing title (help). 
  26. ^ "Beckham hopes to play against DC". BBC News. August 10, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-09. 
  27. ^ "Saputo Stadium to Host Canada's World Cup Qualifier". tsn.ca. Retrieved 2008-04-22. 
  28. ^ "Real Madrid too powerful for Toronto FC". CBC News. August 7, 2009. 

External links [edit]

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current
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