This course tour will take you on a tour of the Rogers Centre, the home of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Credit: Rogers Centre Twitter
Pitch overview
Home team: Toronto Blue Jays
Located in: Toronto City
Owner: Rogers Communications
Regular spectator capacity: 49282
Highest admission record: 52383, (other use 68237)
Pitch surface: Artificial turf
Stadium structure: can be switched to the ceiling
Course dimensions: Left outfield 328 feet (100 m) / Left outfield 375 feet (114 m) / Centre midfield 400 feet (120 m) / Right midfield 375 feet (114 m) / Right outfield 328 feet (100 m)
Construction History: Construction began on October 3, 1986, and opened on July 3, 1989
Construction cost: $570 million
When it comes to major leagues' most luxurious home stadium, the Blue Jays' Rogers Center must have a place. Because the stadium has two major attractions – first, it is the first to have a fully retractable roof; second, it is also the last large stadium in North America to accommodate both American football and baseball events.
Source: CFL official website
However, this is not the first home of the BlueBirds in Toronto, the venue used by the BlueBirds from 1977 to 1989 was the Canada International Exhibition Stadium, and this venue is also a dual-purpose stadium, but the disadvantage of this venue is that it has no roof. In fact, the City of Toronto had the idea of building a dome stadium since 1968 and added the plan to the bid for the Olympic Games, but this plan was not implemented when the bid for the 1976 Olympics failed.
And what really touched the fans was 1982, when the exhibition stadium was also the home of an American football team in Toronto, and that year they reached the final final for the first time, but the sky was not beautiful, the game ended with a downpour, not only the game was greatly affected, but most of the audience was drenched, and the media even called the game "rain bowl". To make matters worse, the governor of Ontario also attended the match, so seven months later, the governor personally led the study of building a large stadium in Toronto that could be capped.
The look like when the top is completely sealed
In two years, the committee finalized the proposal for the stadium, and it took another 2 and a half years for the stadium to be officially completed, which is now the Rogers Center. However, at that time, the stadium was not called by this name, but "Sky Dome", because it was the first stadium with a retractable roof, so fans simply called it the nickname "Dome". The stadium was also a dual-purpose baseball stadium until 2015, and in 2005, Blue Jays owner Rogers Communications bought the stadium and renamed it the Rogers Center.
Image source: Greenfly
In the beginning, the stadium used natural turf, but since 2005, the stadium has added the function of hosting concerts or large-scale commercial events, and it takes employees 40 hours to clean up the natural turf in order to restore the use of the game. So before 2010, the stadium installed a new type of rollable artificial turf, which made Rogers Center one of the five major league courts that use artificial turf.
The stadium is best known for its luxurious accommodation, with up to 5,700 card seats and a 348-room hotel with 161 luxurious suites, 70 of which overlook the course. There is also a restaurant and bar overlooking the pitch, so fans can choose to eat and drink while watching the ball, or enjoy the best game in the hotel room.
Image credit: MLB Cathedrals Twitter
In addition, the stadium now has more than $9.2 million worth of art, including sculptures, fountains, and although some sculptures have been complained about by players for reflective problems, this has also become a major feature of the Rogers Center.
Sculpture The Audience Credit: Toronto Blue Jays Twitter
Such a comfortable viewing experience makes the stadium the main venue for Toronto's sporting events, in addition to baseball and American football, it was also the home of the Toronto Raptors basketball team, and also hosted football, motorcycle, wrestling and mixed martial arts events. The game with the largest number of spectators on the pitch was wrestling. Although the Blue Jays have found temporary home games in Buffalo and Dunedin, Florida in the past two seasons due to the impact of the epidemic, when it comes to the Blue Jays' home stadium, most people first think of the Rogers Center.
It's also too comfortable to be able to watch the ball in a hotel room! If you had the chance, would you choose to lie in bed and watch the game or sit close to the pitch and have a hi together?