GenerationW
Senior Member
A lot of Argo fans hate the sight-lines for football in the dome, or hate the dome itself. Another issue is scheduling. Rogers claims it requires 36 hours to switch from one configuration to the other. After baseball and other events are factored in, Rogers gives the Argos the choice of only 12-15 dates to schedule 10 games. The Argos couldn't find a date for this year's pre-season game because of baseball one week and concerts the next, and there are two Tuesday games on this year's schedule. Most suburban fans want weekend games. The Argos also make no money from suites, concessions or parking in the dome, so the team might end up pursuing a new stadium whether or not they get evicted.The real problem is that the Argos have an awful average attendance of around ~20,000 and play only 8(!) home games a year. That on a year when they win the damn thing!
A terrible team like TFC on the other hand plays something like 20-25 home games any given season with an average attendance of ~20,000 people while finishing at the bottom of the table.
If the Argos were such an important institution to Torontonians, they would be filling up the stadium 8 times a year and wouldn't risk being evicted by Rogers.
That said, I favour letting them continue to use the skydome even if it means the absence of real grass.
I don't know what they're announcing but there's no way TFC is averaging anything close to 20K this year. And the main difference between the two teams can be found in TV ratings. Even in a down season, the Argos completely obliterate TFC in that department.
And exactly who would that be? Remember that the NFL explicitly prohibits corporate ownership so it would have to be an individual. A team on top of that would cost that individual at least another billion. Not to mention that the Bills own NFL territorial rights to Toronto, so unless there's a plan in place for them to permanently move here, the Bills will never allow another team to move here. So I call bullsh;t unless I see this white knight reveal himself.In the Olympic bid scenario the government would build the stadium in partnership with whomever would take it over for the nfl franchise. So if the stadium cost 900 million to make the government would pay about 1/3rd and the nfl team the other 2/3rds. The government sells it as a way to get part of the stadium paid for so they aren't really out the entire stadium. If you think that a nfl stadium is going to be built in Toronto without government help then you are simply wrong. Almost every stadium in this day and age gets a government kick in of some sort.
The Leafs got zero public funding for the ACC, and after the Skydome fiasco and the recent farce of BMO starting its life as a multi-purpose facility and ending up as a soccer-specific stadium, I can't see the municipal, provincial or federal government giving a dime to the richest pro sports league on the planet, especially if you're talking about a team that does not and may never exist.