- BMO Field
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BMO Field 
Location 170 Princes Boulevard
Toronto, Ontario M6K 3C3Coordinates 43°37′58″N 79°25′07″W / 43.63278°N 79.41861°WCoordinates: 43°37′58″N 79°25′07″W / 43.63278°N 79.41861°W 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 presentConstruction cost CAD$62.5 million
($67.3 million in 2011 dollars[2])Architect Brisbin Brooks Beynon Architects (BBB Architects) General Contractor PCL Constructors Canada Inc.[3] Capacity 23,000 Field dimensions 105 × 68 meters Tenants Canada men's national soccer team (2007-present)
Toronto FC (MLS) (2007-present)
Toronto Nationals (MLL) (2009)
2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup
MLS Cup (2010)
MLS All-Star Game (2008)
Canada national rugby union team (2011)BMO Field (
/ˈbiːmoʊ/) is a Canadian soccer stadium located in Exhibition Place in the city of Toronto. The open-air structure can seat up to 21,800 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 is accessible by public transport via the Exhibition GO Train station, the 509 Harbourfront and the 511 Bathurst streetcar lines, as well as the 29 Dufferin and 193 Exhibition Rocket bus routes. Parking is also available within walking distance to the stadium.
The stadium is known as the National Soccer Stadium for international FIFA matches. It hosted matches for the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, including the final. It also hosted the MLS Cup 2010 on November 21, 2010.
Contents
History
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 and was demolished in 1999.
The stadium was part of Canada's successful bid to host the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup.[4] 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.[5] 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.[6] BMO is the stock ticker symbol of the Bank of Montreal, whose operational headquarters are in Toronto, despite its Montreal name. 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 are not permitted references.
The grand opening celebration took place on May 12, 2007.[7] MLS commissioner Garber has declared that the 2008 All-Star Game would take place at BMO Field. The hosting rights to the 2010 MLS Cup was also later awarded.
The only music concert thus far at BMO Field was performed by classic 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.[8]
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.[9] 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.[10] 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.[11] 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."[12] 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.[13]
During the 2010 MLS Cup, the Colorado Rapids defeated FC Dallas 2–1.
Historic goals
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 Victor 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
A panoramic view of BMO Field prior to a Toronto FC match in 2009
Toronto FC is owned 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[14] ($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.[15][16] 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.)
Stadium specifics
A view of the BMO Field from the grandstands looking east.BMO Field originally used FieldTurf rather than a natural grass pitch, which had attracted some criticism.[17][18] 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.[19][20] 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.[21]
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 vs. the expansion Philadelphia Union.
Attendance records
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
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 References
- ^ http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/1011714581.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Mar+29%2C+2006&author=&pub=The+Guelph+Mercury&desc=Work+begins+on+Toronto+soccer+stadium&pqatl=google
- ^ Canadian inflation numbers based on data available from Consumer Price Index, by province (monthly) (Canada) Statistics Canada. Retrieved August 21, 2011 and Consumer Price Index, historical summary Statistics Canada. Retrieved December 7, 2010
- ^ http://www.pcl.com/projects/Active/0900345/index.aspx
- ^ http://www.fifa.com/en/media/index/0,1369,102457,00.html
- ^ http://www.yorku.ca/mediar/archive/Release.asp?Release=879
- ^ 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.
- ^ http://toronto.fc.mlsnet.com/news/team_news.jsp?ymd=20061204&content_id=79841&vkey=news_t280&fext=.jsp&team=t280
- ^ "Argentine star Tevez moving his act across town to Manchester City". Toronto Star. 2009-07-14. http://www.thestar.com/article/665622. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
- ^ "Argos to leave Rogers Centre?". The Globe and Mail (Toronto). 2009-11-26. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/football/argos-to-leave-rogers-centre/article1379458/. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
- ^ "CFL to study new venue for Argos". CBC News. November 28, 2009. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/story/2009/11/28/sp-argos-bmo.html. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
- ^ "Argos Not Banking On BMO Just Yet". http://www.nationalpost.com/sports/story.html?id=2284202. Retrieved 2009-12-02.[dead link]
- ^ "Statement Regarding CFL Feasibility Study on BMO Field". http://www.argonauts.ca/article/statement-regarding-cfl-feasibility-study-on-bmo-field. Retrieved 2009-12-16.
- ^ Girard, Daniel (March 18, 2009). "MLSE spies big BMO Field expansion". Toronto Star (Toronto). http://www.thestar.com/sports/article/603933.
- ^ "BMO Field, MLSE delivers financial return to City of Toronto". http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/February2011/23/c5131.html. Retrieved 2011-02-23.
- ^ "BMO Field to be Home for Toronto FC and Canada’s National Soccer Teams". http://www2.bmo.com/news/article/0,1083,contentCode-5889_divId-4_langId-1_navCode-116,00.html. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
- ^ "Real Salt Lake negotiating deal for stadium name rights". http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695264964,00.html. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
- ^ "Don't use artificial grass in Toronto FC stadium: players". globeandmail.com. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Page/document/v4/sub/MarketingPage?user_URL=http://www.theglobeandmail.com%2Fservlet%2Fstory%2FRTGAM.20060927.soccer-turf28%2FBNStory%2FSports%2Fhome&ord=1161707942696&brand=theglobeandmail&force_login=true. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
- ^ The Globe and Mail (Toronto). http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/council-approves-grass-at-bmo-field/article1308091/.
- ^ "Beckham hopes to play against DC". BBC News. August 10, 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/6937950.stm. Retrieved 2007-08-09.
- ^ "Saputo Stadium to Host Canada's World Cup Qualifier". tsn.ca. http://www.tsn.ca/soccer/story/?id=235495&lid=headline&lpos=secStory_soccer. Retrieved 2008-04-22.
- ^ "Real Madrid too powerful for Toronto FC". CBC News. August 7, 2009. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2009/08/07/sp-tfc-real.html.
External links
- BMOField.com
- Release of Naming Rights Sale
- BMO Field Construction Photos
- Soccer stadium Web site, including construction webcam
- Video Tour of BMO Field
- Cathal Kelly. "FC or TFC ... the fans will decide". Toronto Star, 5 Apr 2007.
Events and tenants Preceded by
first stadiumHome of
Toronto FC
2007 – presentSucceeded by
currentPreceded by
first stadiumHome of
Toronto Nationals
2009Succeeded by
Lamport StadiumPreceded by
Qwest FieldHost of the
MLS Cup
2010Succeeded by
TBDToronto FC The Club Stadiums BMO Field • Lamport Stadium (TFC Academy)Culture and Fan Base Rivalries Key Personnel Owner: Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment • Director of Player Development: Paul Mariner • Head Coach and Technical Director: Aron WinterHonors (3)Canadian Championship (3) 2009 • 2010 • 2011Seasons (5) 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011Website: torontofc.caMajor League Soccer stadiums Current BC Place • BMO Field • Buck Shaw Stadium • CenturyLink Field • Columbus Crew Stadium • Dick's Sporting Goods Park • Gillette Stadium • The Home Depot Center • Jeld-Wen Field • Livestrong Sporting Park • Pizza Hut Park • PPL Park • Red Bull Arena • Rio Tinto Stadium • RFK Memorial Stadium • Robertson Stadium • Toyota Park
Former Arrowhead Stadium • Cardinal Stadium • CommunityAmerica Ballpark • Cotton Bowl • Dragon Stadium • Empire Field • Foxboro Stadium • Giants Stadium • Houlihan's Stadium • Invesco Field at Mile High • Lockhart Stadium • Mile High Stadium • Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum • Ohio Stadium • Raymond James Stadium • Rice–Eccles Stadium • Rose Bowl • Soldier Field • Spartan Stadium
Future Current stadiums in Major League Lacrosse American Legion Memorial Stadium · Harvard Stadium · Ron Joyce Stadium · Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium · Sahlen's Stadium · Selby Field · James M. Shuart Stadium · Sports Authority Field at Mile HighCategories:- Event venues established in 2007
- National stadiums
- Major League Soccer stadiums
- Soccer venues in Canada
- Sports venues in Toronto
- Toronto FC
- Bank of Montreal
- Venues of the 2015 Pan American Games
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