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Reviving this old thread in light of the fact that the Argonauts moved from Rogers Centre to BMO Field and the 2016 Grey Cup was also held in the BMO Field.

For those you who attended an Argonauts game at both Rogers Centre and BMO Field or even the Grey Cup at both stadiums, which venue would you say is better for a good football game day experience?

It looks like most fans in Toronto are willing to be exposed in the winter weather elements and watch a game outdoors than the cozy indoor environment where is a lack of good atmosphere.

According to this author, ranking the CFL stadiums BC Place ranks as #4 while #1 is Mosaic Stadium.


And in this slightly older video from 2015, BC Place ranks #1:


In both videos, it mentions that BC Place opened in 1983 but doesn't mention that it was highly renovated in 2011 which by itself essentially makes it a re-open in 2011.

Both videos have good overhead views of the interior of the stadiums.

Do you agree with the rankings in the videos?

As a stadium, BC Place would have to ranked near the top. If the roof were truly retractable and not a small opening, arguably the best stadium in the land for its durability, scoreboard, and downtown location.

However, as a CFL stadium, it is wanting. Way too large. Even with the sails and a lower bowl (only) configuration, you need at least 23,000 for critical mass (to give it a "vibe" and ambiance).


DH

interesting reading through this old thread (after so much has changed in stadiums) . I've seen both baseball (1999 and 2004) and football (1999) at Rogers Centre--the Argos game was front row midfield from high up (like BC Place before they closed off Level 4). I didn't have an issue with the ambiance, it was October and the roof was closed. I thought the sight-lines were very good. I haven't yet been to a game at BMO--maybe next summer, but one serious issue for the players is the end zone where the turf ends and is all hard surface--the result of a too short soccer field adapted for football. I've seen a few instances on TV where players have stumbled when transitioning surfaces, and they have complained publicly.

Reviving this thread with these three videos.

If you've always wanted to see a backstage tour of the renovated BC Place stadium, then here's your change to see a tour of...

The roof control room and catwalk.


The Lions locker room and kitchen.


Outside the roof.

I have only visited 3 stadiums (BC Place, BMO and TD Place) so I don’t have a lot of experience to draw upon. But I have been very impressed with TD Place in Ottawa. Public transit is free, lots of volunteers to help you out, cheap(er) 50/50, free wifi, friendly fans, lots of choice re. pubs and grub, nice setting in Landsdowne near the Rideau. Just a great place to catch a game.

Definitely got to catch a game at Mosiac soon. And when the Schooners start play, we are hoping the Lions offer an Operation Orange trip to Halifax. They may wind up with a terrible stadium but it is a great city with great people. I think watching a game out that way would be awesome.

Reviving this old thread as I came across an excellent site that shows a lot of pictures of all the CFL stadiums. And that includes great pictures of the interior of the stadium, exterior of the stadium, and in many cases pictures of the concourse:

https://stadiumjourney.com/cfl/



The author of that section has also written an detailed review of the stadium, which includes the food & drink, atmosphere, location, fans, accessibility, extras and return in investment.

For those of you who attended a CFL game over the last couple of seasons - can you please provide an overall review of the stadium?

Interesting to note that this thread was initiated back in 2007. Of those 9 stadiums only Commonwealth and McMahon and to a lesser extent Molson remain largely intact. Nothing much has changed at McMahon. Commonwealth has replaced all their seats and expanded some of the concession areas by adding on outside the old concourse footprint. Molson has seen 5000 seats added and overhauled their concession and concourse areas at least on the downtown side which is where I've watched games. I haven't been to the mountain side of Molson to know what is different there. BC Place received a massive strip down to the frame rebuild. Argos are now in BMO which has terrific sightlines. CanadInns and Mosaic/Taylor are no longer while Ivor Wynne and Frank Clair were for the most part torn down and replaced on the same site.

Hambone wrote: ↑

Wed May 20, 2020 11:39 am

Interesting to note that this thread was initiated back in 2007. Of those 9 stadiums only Commonwealth and McMahon and to a lesser extent Molson remain largely intact. Nothing much has changed at McMahon. Commonwealth has replaced all their seats and expanded some of the concession areas by adding on outside the old concourse footprint. Molson has seen 5000 seats added and overhauled their concession and concourse areas at least on the downtown side which is where I've watched games. I haven't been to the mountain side of Molson to know what is different there. BC Place received a massive strip down to the frame rebuild. Argos are now in BMO which has terrific sightlines. CanadInns and Mosaic/Taylor are no longer while Ivor Wynne and Frank Clair were for the most part torn down and replaced on the same site.

Excellent point, Hambone. Since this thread was created 13 years ago, 6 of the 9 stadiums had extensive renovations if not downright replaced. So just like in America in which new stadiums are popping up left and right in the last 20 years, the same thing can apply to Canadian stadiums as well.

There are some recent videos on why multi-purpose baseball and football stadiums failed and why separate stadiums were built over the last 2 decades:


When BC Place was built in 1983, there were high hopes that Vancouver would land an MLB team but that never happened. If they did get a baseball team, I wonder if the team would still use BC Place:
https://images.dailyhive.com/2018071723 ... -place.png

That said, most cities that have both an NHL and NBA team still share the same arena, and cities that have both a CFL/NFL and MLS team share the same stadium as well. I wonder if there will be ever a time in which even hockey, basketball, football, baseball, and soccer teams will have their own exclusive stadium.

Can you think of a city that has at least three professional sports teams with each team having its own exclusive stadium that is not shared by another pro sports team? One city that I can think of is Montreal as their Canadiens, Alouettes, and Impact having their own stadium and had the Expos still been based in Montreal, they would still be using Olympic Stadium.

Still perplexed why the province decided to blow $600m on putting lipstick on the pig that is bc place.

You'd have to think the lions and whitecaps would be far more successful in a 25,000 seat open air stadium. Yes we have rain, so cover the stands.

I really enjoyed games at tempire field back in 2010 or whenever. And it was a piece of junk in a bad location.

Imagine spending 600 shmil on a beautiful new stadium near water with mountains, sunshine, skyscrapers. Make it expandable to 40,000 and you have the big concerts coming by too.

Robbie wrote: ↑

Wed May 20, 2020 10:10 pm

That said, most cities that have both an NHL and NBA teams still share the same arena, and those that have both an CFL/NFL and MLS teams share the same stadium as well. I wonder if there will be ever a time in which even hockey, basketball, football, baseball, and soccer teams will have their own exclusive stadium.

Can you think of a city that has at least three professional sports teams with each team having its own exclusive stadium that is not shared by another pro sports team? One city that I can think of is Montreal as their Canadiens, Alouettes, and Impact having their own stadium and had the Expos still be based in Montreal, they would still be using Olympic Stadium.

Actually Robbie only 8 MLS teams share the same facility with other pro sports teams:

CFL (2):
Toronto - TFC & Argos
Vancouver - Lions & Whitecaps
NFL (5):
Seattle - Sounders and Seahawks
New England - Patriots & Revolution
Chicago - Bears & Fire
Atlanta - Falcons & Atlanta United
Nashville - Titans & Nashville SC
MLB (1):
New York - Yankees & NYC FC

Half of MLS's stadiums are purpose built soccer specific venues 20 years old or newer with capacities of 25000 or less. Another 3 or 4 are college facilities shared with university sports teams.

Huge Talent wrote: ↑

Thu May 21, 2020 9:49 am

Still perplexed why the province decided to blow $600m on putting lipstick on the pig that is bc place.

You'd have to think the lions and whitecaps would be far more successful in a 25,000 seat open air stadium. Yes we have rain, so cover the stands.

I really enjoyed games at tempire field back in 2010 or whenever. And it was a piece of junk in a bad location.

Imagine spending 600 shmil on a beautiful new stadium near water with mountains, sunshine, skyscrapers. Make it expandable to 40,000 and you have the big concerts coming by too.

It's an old argument but I think fans across the league, and sports fans in general, have a much higher opinion of B.C. Place than do some Lionbackers. And for late fall or winter playoff games or Grey Cups, there's no place better. Many diehard fans on the Prairies don't like sitting in outdoor stadiums in November, and the sight lines in B.C. Place are much better than in other indoor venues that have been used for football.

Here's a review of all current CFL stadiums from Murray McCormick of the Regina Leader-Post, who has many good things to say about B.C. Place:
How does Roughriders' new home stack up against the rest of the CFL?

Hambone wrote: ↑

Thu May 21, 2020 10:28 am

Robbie wrote: ↑

Wed May 20, 2020 10:10 pm

That said, most cities that have both an NHL and NBA teams still share the same arena, and those that have both an CFL/NFL and MLS teams share the same stadium as well. I wonder if there will be ever a time in which even hockey, basketball, football, baseball, and soccer teams will have their own exclusive stadium.

Can you think of a city that has at least three professional sports teams with each team having its own exclusive stadium that is not shared by another pro sports team? One city that I can think of is Montreal as their Canadiens, Alouettes, and Impact having their own stadium and had the Expos still be based in Montreal, they would still be using Olympic Stadium.

Actually Robbie only 8 MLS teams share the same facility with other pro sports teams:

CFL (2):
Toronto - TFC & Argos
Vancouver - Lions & Whitecaps
NFL (5):
Seattle - Sounders and Seahawks
New England - Patriots & Revolution
Chicago - Bears & Fire
Atlanta - Falcons & Atlanta United
Nashville - Titans & Nashville SC
MLB (1):
New York - Yankees & NYC FC

Half of MLS's stadiums are purpose built soccer specific venues 20 years old or newer with capacities of 25000 or less. Another 3 or 4 are college facilities shared with university sports teams.

Thanks for pointing this out, Hambone. I stand corrected and I guess I didn't do my clear research and the examples from Vancouver, Toronto, and Seattle confused me. Taking a look at the cities that have both a MLS and CFL/NFL team but use different stadiums, they are:

Montreal
Cincinnati
Washington DC
Philadelphia
Denver, Colorado
Dallas
Houston
Los Angeles
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Kansas City
San Jose (representing San Francisco)

So 11 MLS teams have their own stadiums, while 8 MLS teams share it with their NFL team.

Let's see which of those 8 MLS teams will be the next to get their own stadium.

I don't think Seattle will be one of them considering that their Sounders get 40,000+ attendance and as such, it doesn't make sense to build another 40,000+ stadium. Memorial Stadium in Seattle Center where the Sounders of the USL/A-League is way too small.

I don't think Vancouver will be one of them either as Swangard Stadium is too small, and in the 2000's there was talk of a Whitecaps Waterfront Stadium but was eventually abandoned. Land is scarce in Vancouver as they are constrained by water, mountains, and the U.S. border unlike cities that are landlocked and can expand in all four directions. I guess one possibility is to rebuild Empire Fields, but given the fact that they decided to demolish it after BC Place was renovated makes that very unlikely as well.

B.C.FAN wrote: ↑

Thu May 21, 2020 10:53 am

Huge Talent wrote: ↑

Thu May 21, 2020 9:49 am

Still perplexed why the province decided to blow $600m on putting lipstick on the pig that is bc place.

You'd have to think the lions and whitecaps would be far more successful in a 25,000 seat open air stadium. Yes we have rain, so cover the stands.

I really enjoyed games at tempire field back in 2010 or whenever. And it was a piece of junk in a bad location.

Imagine spending 600 shmil on a beautiful new stadium near water with mountains, sunshine, skyscrapers. Make it expandable to 40,000 and you have the big concerts coming by too.

It's an old argument but I think fans across the league, and sports fans in general, have a much higher opinion of B.C. Place than do some Lionbackers. And for late fall or winter playoff games or Grey Cups, there's no place better. Many diehard fans on the Prairies don't like sitting in outdoor stadiums in November, and the sight lines in B.C. Place are much better than in other indoor venues that have been used for football.

Here's a review of all current CFL stadiums from Murray McCormick of the Regina Leader-Post, who has many good things to say about B.C. Place:
How does Roughriders' new home stack up against the rest of the CFL?

Gonna respectfully disagree. Just look at attendance. I can attest, first hand, that bc place is a cavernous vibe killer. IMHO.

Yes, I have said many times that B.C. Place is great for "special events" (Grey Cups, Rugby 7's, major soccer tournaments or qualifiers)...but a total vibe killer for the CFL regular season. TSN recently aired Geroy Simon's record-setting receiving game from 2012 against the Bombers. There were 29,351 in attendance (oh how I'd kill for that today!), but with both levels open, it still looked empty. Closing the upper level has not helped. If anything, it has effectively disqualified those fans who wish to sit at mid-field because many regard end-zones as sub-par seating (and seating behind the goal lines is a significant part of the inventory!).

An outdoor 24,000 stadium in the right location and on the SkyTrain line would energize an apathetic fan base. Look at how well the Vancouver Canadians draw. Most fans probably can't name a single (A) player and a roster that is nearly completely turned over year-over-year! How do you think that team would draw in a stadium with a partially open roof?

The Lions could still move big playoff games under the dome, like the Alouettes have done on occasion. It would be the best of both worlds. Ideally it would be shared with the Whitecaps for economies of scale, located in Gastown with a view of the mountains, and look like Camden Yards in Baltimore. A brick exterior to match the neighbourhood.


DH