It looks like there is still a slim chance that the Argonauts will Not end up at BMO Field:
"Braley is open to negotiating a move to a renovated BMO Field, owned by the city of Toronto and operated by Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment. President and CEO Tim Leiweke has floated the idea of an expanded 30,000-seat stadium with a hybrid grass/turf field to accommodate both Toronto FC and the Argos.
Still, Braley said he’s also had discussions with the suburban cities of Mississauga and Vaughan as prospective landing spots for the Argos, who will be orphaned after the 2017 season. Rogers Centre intends to install a grass field for the baseball Blue Jays and won’t extend the CFL team’s lease beyond that date."
http://www.canada.com/sports/Braley+...521/story.html
Thank you for posting the same article in yet a third thread. It has been said in other threads, Braley building a facility for the Argos with a majority of his own money was most likely a bluff. All Braley has to do to get the Argos in to BMO Field is sign an agreement for most likely 20 years at $0. I would say the chances are extremely slim Braley will turn that deal down and build another facility.
Markham & Vaughan interested in being home to York U. campus:
http://www.yorkregion.com/news-story...york-u-campus/
This is another possibility to get some government funding.
Richmond Hill is going to make a bid too:
Richmond Hill makes pitch for university campus
Among several York Region municipalities wanting campus
http://www.yorkregion.com/news-story...ersity-campus/
I suspect these stadium threads will become much more frequent until something is announced.
Yeah, it's amazing we haven't had much traffic on this topic lately. So get ready for a year or so of speculation.
In (slightly) related news, someone on riderfans has noted that Raptors play at home at 1 o'clock on Nov. 17, and speculated the Eastern Final might be moved to prime time. Speaking personally I would be in favour of that. I'd hate waiting all day for it to start, but the buzz created by a prime-time game would be cool, IMO. I thought the atmosphere and buzz were amazing at the 2004 Eastern Semifinal although a lot of that was likely due to its Friday night time slot.
Back in 2003-05, the league had playoff games at 3:30 pm and 7:00 pm EDT and those times certainly worked well for TV ratings and didn't work too badly for attendance either. I think that most of us on here can fondly recall the Argos beating the Als on a Sunday night in the '04 East Final before 50k at the Big Owe and a large prime time audience on CBC. You are right, Paul, that the Friday night playoff game worked out beautifully for the Argos. I think that moving the East Final this year to 4:00 pm with the West Final right after would work nicely. The Argos drew 44k for an East Final at SkyDome that started at 3:30 pm IIRC in 2005.
Cameron Dukes + Dan Adeboboye + Kevin Mital + David Ungerer + Damonte Coxie + DaVaris Daniels + Dejon Brissett = Unstoppable Force
Agree completely. "The suburbs" is not a single location that can be easily catered to. BMO Field is the best of all possible evils.Originally Posted by paulwoods13
Also agree about moving the game time up for the eastern final but you'd think they'd already have determined that if it was going to happen. Tickets for the 1:00 pm slot went on sale within minutes of last night's win.
Those start times would be nice, but as Mulder said, this is TSN doing. It was a lot easier back then with CBC as they were a lot more flexible with their schedule. Prime sports property or not, TSN is still hot for the NFL.
It is going to be a mess downtown that Sunday. 40000 (hopefully) for the east final, 200k for the parade and a couple of dozen for the bouncingball game. This all could have been avoided, but as we all know, it's all Chris Rudge's fault. Sorry, I couldn't resist. I'm just mocking some posters on this and other football forms.
I'm still a firm believer in Downsview. I like the idea on being downtown in the Portlands, but I can't see anything happening there until the next iceage retreats. Downsview seems to be the best available spot, right at the old supply depot. It's central to pretty much everywhere, right on a GO and subway station with lots of room to park and party.
How about the RAPTORS switching their time ? This is a very important play-off game , not JUST a game a couple of weeks into the schedule !
I was about to suggest the Portlands ; clearly the big plans that were once pegged for there are gathering dust .
BTW , this subway relief has been bandied about since the late '60's ; so we shouldn't count on that .
Raps, Real Sports, then Argos. Sounds like an awesome day.
talk about traffic, wait 'till the 17th of november....raptors game + santa claus parade + eastern final = chaos
Did you guys see the game between Carolina and Tampa Bay on Thursday? Tampa Bay's grass looks dead. If we play with Toronto FC in BMO, it will be the same.
As far as I know, Downsview does not have a GO station at the moment, but the TTC's website for its proposed York-Spadina subway extension says GO Transit "has committed to cost sharing for this fully-integrated, multi-modal transit facility." Even if that happens (and with transit planning in the GTA, who knows?) the station presumably will be part of a northern GO line and not accessible from east or west. So for those who rely on transit and/or hate to drive in Toronto traffic, getting there would be an ordeal if they live anywhere other than on the subway line or the northern line served by that new GO station.
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