BMO Field

BMO Field is an outdoor stadium located at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the home stadium of MLS team Toronto FC and the CFL team Toronto Argonauts. It was built on the site of the former Exhibition Stadium. The stadium was first opened in 2007. BMO Field hosted matches during the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup and 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. The stadium has also hosted rugby union matches.

Bmo Field 2016 East Stand.jpg
BMO Field in May 2016
Location in Toronto##Location in Ontario##Location in Canada
Address170 Princes' Boulevard
LocationToronto, Ontario
Coordinates43°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
Public transitAdd→{{rail-interchange}} Template:GOs
Add→{{rail-interchange}} Harbourfront
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OwnerCity of Toronto
OperatorMaple Leaf Sports & Entertainment
Capacity25,000 (football)
30,000[1] (soccer)
(expandable to 40,000)
Record attendance40,148 (NHL Centennial Classic)[2][3][4]
Field size105 × 68 metres (115 x 74 yards) (soccer)
134 × 59 metres (146 x 65 yards) (Canadian football)
Surface
Construction
Broke groundMarch 29, 2006
OpenedApril 28, 2007
Expanded2010
2014–16
Construction costCan$62.9 million
($NaN in 2020 dollars[5])
Can$120 million (2014–2016 renovation)
ArchitectBrisbin Brooks Beynon Architects (BBB Architects), Gensler (expansion)
Project managerPMX, Inc.[6]
Structural engineerHalcrow Yolles
Services engineerThe Mitchell Partnership Inc.
General contractorPCL Construction[7]
Tenants
Toronto FC (MLS) (2007–present)
Canada men's national soccer team (2007–present)
Toronto Nationals (MLL) (2009)
Toronto Argonauts (CFL) (2016–present)
Toronto FC II (USL) (2018)

Construction

BMO Field is the fifth stadium to be built at its exact location at Exhibition Place. The most recent was Exhibition Stadium, which was demolished in 1999.

On May 11, 2006, Major League Soccer announced that Toronto FC would join the league as its 13th (and first Canada-based) team in 2007, with BMO Field being its own stadium.

Recent developments

In August 2017, Toronto FC II, which normally hosted their games at the Ontario Soccer Centre, announced that it would move its home games to BMO Field and Lamport Stadium, starting with the 2018 season. The team moved their home games to BMO Training Ground for the 2019 season, after they dropped to the USL League One.

It will host matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. [8]

History

Soccer

 
Toronto FC crowned as the MLS' 2017 Eastern Conference champions at BMO Field.

Toronto FC played their first game at BMO Field on April 28, 2007. The grand opening celebration took place on May 12, 2007.

The 2008 MLS All-Star Game was held at BMO Field on July 24, 2008 versus Premier League team West Ham United.

BMO Field has hosted several MLS Cup matches, and was the first stadium outside of the United States to host the event in 2010, when the Colorado Rapids won 2-1 against FC Dallas. The first MLS home playoff game held at BMO Field saw Toronto FC defeat the Philadelphia Union 3–1 on October 26, 2016. BMO Field hosted the MLS Cup again in 2016, as Toronto FC won the MLS Eastern Championship and hosted the Seattle Sounders in the final. Seattle won the match 5–4 on penalties, after a goalless draw after extra time.[9]

On December 9, 2017, BMO Field hosted its second consecutive MLS Cup in 2017. The match was a rematch between Toronto FC and the Seattle Sounders, who played each other in the 2016 MLS Cup. Toronto FC won 2–0, and became the first MLS team to complete a domestic treble, and was the first Canadian team to win the MLS Cup.

2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup

 
A game between the New Zealand, and Portugal U-20 soccer teams at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

BMO Field hosted the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, the first major tournament held at the stadium. The stadium saw the Canadian Under-20 squad once. The stadium also saw six knockout stage games including the Final; which was won by Argentina. Due to FIFA sponsorship regulations, the venue was referred to as the "National Soccer Stadium" during the event.

Date Team #1 Result Team #2 Round Attendance
July 1, 2007   Canada 0–3   Chile Group A 20,195
July 2, 2007   Portugal 2–0   New Zealand Group C 19,526
  Gambia 0–3   Mexico
July 5, 2007   New Zealand 0–1   Gambia
  Mexico 2–1   Portugal
July 8, 2007   Chile 0–0   Austria Group A
July 11, 2007   United States 2–1 (AET)   Uruguay Round of 16
July 12, 2007   Argentina 3–1   Poland
July 14, 2007   Austria 2–1   United States Quarterfinal
July 19, 2007   Chile 0–3   Argentina Semifinal
July 22, 2007   Chile 1–0   Austria 3rd Place Match
  Czech Republic 1–2   Argentina Final 19,526

2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup

BMO Field hosted the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. Canada played in Toronto for the first two match days, with Korea DPR, Finland, and Ghana in their group. National Soccer Stadium also hosted a quarterfinal match on August 16.

Date Team #1 Result Team #2 Round Attendance
August 5, 2014   Canada 0–1   Ghana Group A 20,195
  Finland 1–2   Korea DPR
August 8, 2014   Canada 3–2   Finland
  Ghana 0–3   Korea DPR
August 13, 2014   Korea Republic 2–1   Mexico Group C
  Costa Rica 0–3   New Zealand Group D
August 16, 2014   Korea DPR 1–1 (3–1 on penalties)   United States Quarterfinal

2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup

Date Team #1 Result Team #2 Round Attendance
July 14, 2015   Jamaica 1–0   El Salvador Group B 16,674
  Canada 0–0   Costa Rica

Canadian football

The Argonauts moved to the renovated BMO Field, starting with the 2016 season. On October 1, 2015, BMO Field was awarded the rights to host the 104th Grey Cup, which was played on November 27, 2016.[10] On June 11, 2016, the Argonauts played their first game at the stadium, a preseason (exhibition) game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The Argos won that game 25–16.[11] On June 23, the Argos played their first regular season game at BMO Field, where they lost 42–20 to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.[12]

Hockey

On January 1, 2017, BMO Field hosted an NHL outdoor game, the NHL Centennial Classic, in honour of the Toronto Maple Leafs' and the NHL's centennial seasons. The Leafs hosted the Detroit Red Wings, in a rematch of the 2014 NHL Winter Classic, which was held three years before.[13] The venue was referred to as "Exhibition Stadium" for its duration, as Scotiabank (a direct competitor to BMO), was title sponsor of the event.[14]

Date Away team Result Home team Spectators
December 31, 2016 Detroit Red Wings Alumni 4–3 Toronto Maple Leafs Alumni
January 1, 2017 Detroit Red Wings 4–5 (OT) Toronto Maple Leafs 40,148

Concerts

As of 6 October 2020, the only music concert at BMO Field was performed by the progressive rock group Genesis on September 7, 2007.

Milestones

 
View of the stadium immediately after the Toronto FC scored their first goal in club history on June 12, 2007.

The first goal at BMO Field was scored by Eddie Johnson for the 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 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 MLS goal).

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

Costa Rica's Víctor Núñez scored the first senior international goal in a 1–1 friendly draw with hosts Canada on September 12, 2007, shortly 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 league 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 the Columbus Crew on September 22, 2007, snapping an 824-minute MLS goalless streak.

The first Toronto FC MLS playoff goal was scored at BMO Field in the 15th minute by Sebastian Giovinco on October 26, 2016 in front of 21,759. In the same game, the first Toronto FC playoff goal scored by a Canadian was by Jonathan Osorio in the 48th minute; the final score was 3–1 over the Philadelphia Union.

In Canadian football, the first CFL points scored at BMO Field was a Toronto Argonauts completed touchdown pass caught by Vidal Hazelton, thrown by Logan Kilgore, in a June 11, 2016 exhibition Argos win; final score 25–16.[11] The first CFL regular season points scored at the stadium was a conceded safety touch of 2 points by Canadian Argos kicker/punter Lirim Hajrullahu in a 20–42 loss on June 23.[12] The first regular season points scored by the Argos at BMO Field was a successful field goal kicked by Hajrullahu in the same game. On July 25, the Argonauts won their first regular season game at their new home, defeating the Montreal Alouettes 30–17.

Attendance records

The largest attendance for any event at the stadium was on January 1, 2017, when the Toronto Maple Leafs hosted the Detroit Red Wings in the NHL Centennial Classic in front of 40,148 people.[4] The largest attendance for a Major League Soccer game was on December 10, 2016, when Toronto FC hosted the Seattle Sounders FC in the 2016 MLS Cup Final in front of 36,045. The largest attendance for a Canadian Football League game was the 104th Grey Cup played before 33,421 on November 27, 2016.

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
2012 18,681 20,071 14,623
2013 17,639 21,700 12,627
2014 22,086 22,591 18,269
2015 23,451 30,226 16,382
2016 26,787 36,045 20,011
2017 27,394 30,584 15,175
2018 26,628 30,799 14,823
2019 25,048 28,989 22,651

CFL

Season Season
average
Highest
gate
Lowest
gate
2016 16,380 33,4211 12,373
2017 15,015 24,929 11,219
2018 14,211 18,104 10,844
2019 12,789 16,734 9,819

Notes: 1 104th Grey Cup game between the Ottawa Redblacks and Calgary Stampeders.

Rugby

The largest crowd for rugby at BMO Field and in Canada occurred when the Canada national rugby union team hosted the New Zealand Māori All Blacks before 22,566 people on November 3, 2013.[15] The Maori All Blacks won the match 40–15.

BMO Field Media

Related pages

References

  1. Stejskal, Sam (December 8, 2016). BMO Field 101: Toronto FC's stadium set to host MLS Cup after facelift. MLS Digital. https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/12/08/bmo-field-101-toronto-fcs-stadium-set-host-mls-cup-after-facelift. Retrieved March 30, 2020. 
  2. Kevin, McGran (January 1, 2017). "Overtime in Centennial Classic? Naturally". Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/sports/leafs/2017/01/01/overtime-in-centennial-classic-naturally.html. Retrieved June 23, 2018. 
  3. "Game Summary". National Hockey League. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
  4. 4.0 4.1 "Game HQ". ESPN. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  5. Inflated values automatically calculated.
  6. "Projects". PMX Inc. February 26, 2013. Archived from the original on November 26, 2013. Retrieved September 10, 2013.
  7. "National Soccer Stadium at Exhibition Place". PCL Construction. Archived from the original on October 16, 2006. Retrieved April 20, 2012.
  8. "FIFA announces Toronto and Vancouver as Canadian Host Cities for the FIFA World Cup 2026". bmofield.com. BMO Field.
  9. "Seattle Sounders beat Toronto FC on penalties to win 2016 MLS Cup". ESPN FC. December 10, 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
  10. "104th Grey Cup Presented By Shaw coming to Toronto in 2016". Toronto Argonauts. October 1, 2015. Archived from the original on October 3, 2015. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
  11. 11.0 11.1 "2016-06-11 – Hamilton Tiger-Cats vs. Toronto Argonauts (2268)". CFL.ca. June 11, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  12. 12.0 12.1 "2016-06-23 – Hamilton Tiger-Cats vs. Toronto Argonauts (2276)". CFL.ca. June 23, 2016. Retrieved June 28, 2016.
  13. "Detroit Red Wings, Maple Leafs set to play outdoor Centennial Classic". Detroit Free Press (Gannett). March 9, 2016. http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2016/03/09/detroit-red-wings-centennial-classic/81556774/. Retrieved March 10, 2016. 
  14. "Limited number of Centennial Classic tickets on sale". Press release. November 18, 2016. https://www.nhl.com/news/red-wings-maple-leafs-centennial-classic-tickets-on-sale/c-283536408. Retrieved November 19, 2016. 
  15. "Rugby Canada (Design, Hosting, Registration & Administration tools by esportsdeskpro.com)". Rugbycanada.ca. Retrieved March 24, 2014.[dead link]

Notes

  1. North side FieldTurf end-zone for Canadian football

Other websites

Events and Tenants
Preceded by
first stadium
Home of
Toronto FC

2007–present
Succeeded by
current
Preceded by
Stadion Galgenwaard
Utrecht
FIFA U-20 World Cup
Final Venue

2007
Succeeded by
Cairo International Stadium
Cairo
Preceded by
Rogers Centre
Home of
Toronto Argonauts

2016–present
Succeeded by
current
Preceded by
Qwest Field
Host of the
MLS Cup

2010
Succeeded by
Home Depot Center
Preceded by
Investors Group Field
Host of the
Grey Cup

2016
Succeeded by
TD Place Stadium