Manning, speaking at his end-of-season media availability, also revealed that TFC hope to retain seating in the north end next season - with permanent expansion of BMO Field a possibility down the line - and introduce safe standing in the south end no later than 2020....
“I really am looking at the north stand, and keeping that and making that a permanent addition to the stadium. And then there was a couple of little premium areas that we may make permanent, so that’ll add probably 1,400-or-so seats.
“And then as we continue forward, [expansion is] something we’ll look at. Let’s get through a couple of seasons selling out every single game, and then we’ll probably look at what are the opportunities for us to add 4,000 or 5,000 seats permanently.”
Manning is targeting the 2019 season for the introduction of safe standing in the area of the stadium inhabited by the club’s supporters’ groups, but promised it would be in place by 2020 at the latest.
“It’s something we’ve talked about,” he said. “It’s something I want to do.
“We would have to make a capital investment to make the whole south end standing room, and that’s something we’re looking forward to do.
“It will be done. Mark my words. It will be done.
“It won’t be done for next season. My hope is we can get that done for the 2019 season and I’ve told everyone downtown I’d like to have it done at least by 2020, because I think having the safe standing would be such a big... look, they stand all game anyway.
“Sometimes we get chairs broken - it takes out a lot of hassles, actually. So we’re hoping to get that done.”
Manning appeared to suggest the safe standing will take the form of rail seating, as has been popularized by Bundesliga stadiums, to ensure that the south end can be used normally for Toronto Argonauts games.
“It’ll still have a fold-out seat,” the president added. “That’s where that capital improvement comes in - we have to get it so that it’s fold-out.
“During TFC games, it obviously would just be folded back because they don’t sit anyway.”
