Argos at BMO Field

[Midnight Blue]

I just have to chime in here. I've always thought that 40,000 minimum seats would not be outrageous.

We are in a period of history, where we may be witnessing the potential re-birth of Argonaut Football.


We're moving into an open air stadium (with partially covered stands), we have the potential for great new marketing for the Team, a return to a traditional and historic venue (or close to the old one), and a chance to take it to the next level.

Think big, think positive. If you build it, they will come. Smallish stadiums, send a negative, defeatist message out into the world. A return to the glory days of old, demands at the very least, the attitude that this is gonna work; this is gonna be great. This is going to be amazing.


Past failure doesn't guarantee future success. But neither does it exclude it.

Expecting 30-35,000 attendance per game is not unreasonable.

Sell the top 5,000 on both sides (of a 40K stadium) to student groups, visiting tourists and dignitaries, or touring Nuns if you have to, at a cheaper price. Make it super-affordable. Allow Football to be re-born in this town.

Hallelujah !


Fortune favours the Bold !



Ka' Pla !

[T-Bone]

If you build it, they will come.

The only person that talked about building a stadium for the Argos was Braley and if you ask me that was a bluff. I'm pretty sure the city told MLSE if they want the plans for BMO Field expansion to be approved they need to include the Argos which brings us to where we stand now. It's hard to justify the cost of a 30,000+ seat stadium with only 10 guaranteed dates a year.

[Invader]

The only person that talked about building a stadium for the Argos was Braley and if you ask me that was a bluff. I'm pretty sure the city told MLSE if they want the plans for BMO Field expansion to be approved they need to include the Argos which brings us to where we stand now. It's hard to justify the cost of a 30,000+ seat stadium with only 10 guaranteed dates a year.

Every other CFL franchise has a football stadium to play in, what's so different about Toronto? It's not like the costs are prohibitive, as BMO cost only $63 million to build. Even with the renovations BMO will still probably be the dumpiest stadium in the league, generating the lowest revenue streams for its CFL team.

I know Brunt said in his recent video that it makes no sense to build a 25,000-seat stadium for the Argos...but why not, it seems to make sense everywhere else? I think this is more of a reflection of the negative attitude much of the media has against the Argos and their 5th-place ranking in Toronto's sporting pecking order.

The main problem with the Argos is the small season-ticket base the team has to start from, by far the lowest in the CFL. But I wonder if other CFL teams had televised all their home games for 30 years with their stadium half empty, that that might have dwindled their season ticket base over time?

The Argos have a very strong walkup crowd, by far the biggest in the league, drawing more total fans than the Alouettes did in 2012. So the fans are there. I believe there will be a high demand for Argo tickets in an outdoor stadium with a natural grass field.

While it perhaps makes no sense for the Argos to build a stadium with Ticats visits in mind, but the reported 15,000 Oskee-wee-wees who were among the 36,000 at last years EDF, paid their ticket money directly into the Argos bank account. A very nice bonus for the owner who'd have to turn away all those fans at a renovated BMO.

[ArgoRavi]

I just have to chime in here. I've always thought that 40,000 minimum seats would not be outrageous.

We are in a period of history, where we may be witnessing the potential re-birth of Argonaut Football.


We're moving into an open air stadium (with partially covered stands), we have the potential for great new marketing for the Team, a return to a traditional and historic venue (or close to the old one), and a chance to take it to the next level.

Think big, think positive. If you build it, they will come. Smallish stadiums, send a negative, defeatist message out into the world. A return to the glory days of old, demands at the very least, the attitude that this is gonna work; this is gonna be great. This is going to be amazing.


Past failure doesn't guarantee future success. But neither does it exclude it.

Expecting 30-35,000 attendance per game is not unreasonable.

Sell the top 5,000 on both sides (of a 40K stadium) to student groups, visiting tourists and dignitaries, or touring Nuns if you have to, at a cheaper price. Make it super-affordable. Allow Football to be re-born in this town.

Hallelujah !


Fortune favours the Bold !



Ka' Pla !

The only time this franchise has drawn as many as 40k per game was between 1976-80. That happened to be a very different time in Toronto too as the Argos were dominant in the the Toronto market in the summer/fall and the Leafs were dominant in the winter/spring. Those days are long gone. I don't think that having 25k-30k seats is being defeatist; it is being realistic.