Jarrek Posted June 29, 2007 Share Posted June 29, 2007 http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Sports/Soccer/2007/06/29/4299480-sun.html No plans to expand BMO Field Fri, June 29, 2007 By LANCE HORNBY With sellouts projected for the rest of Toronto FC's inaugural season and big crowds expected for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup, will Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Ltd. consider expanding 20,000-seat BMO Field already? Yes and no, says MLSEL president and chief executive Richard Peddie. "We're putting in extra seating for the David Beckham game (with L.A. Galaxy vs. TFC) on Aug. 5," Peddie said. "But beyond that we have no plans to increase. "Naturally, we're thrilled at the crowds and that we have 3,000 people on our season's tickets waiting list. There are people around Major League Soccer who've said we're the first stadium that truly makes the crowd the 12th man in a game. "But part of the experience of TFC games is that it's an intimate stadium, that you can hear everything that our loudest fans in the (south end zone) are chanting. You don't want to lose that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted June 29, 2007 Share Posted June 29, 2007 I wonder where that extra seating for the one game will go - the north end? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free kick Posted June 29, 2007 Share Posted June 29, 2007 An extra three thousand seats is quite significant. Yeah, the only place that I could think of would be in that beer garden patio wth the tables and pasasol. Problem is, IMO that area adds the most esthetic appeal to the facility. I would hate to see it go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest speedmonk42 Posted June 29, 2007 Share Posted June 29, 2007 If you can do this for Beckham, why the fck would you NOT do it for the U20? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianSoccerFan Posted June 30, 2007 Share Posted June 30, 2007 Just tell Jack Warner he can keep the ticket proceeds from it and he'll have a stand in the north end by tomorrow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbailey62 Posted June 30, 2007 Share Posted June 30, 2007 quote:Originally posted by speedmonk42 If you can do this for Beckham, why the fck would you NOT do it for the U20? You'd have to ask the CSA that question. TFC has nothing to do with that move ... or in this case non-move. db Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAS Posted June 30, 2007 Share Posted June 30, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Free kick An extra three thousand seats is quite significant. Yeah, the only place that I could think of would be in that beer garden patio wth the tables and pasasol. Problem is, IMO that area adds the most esthetic appeal to the facility. I would hate to see it go. The 3,000 number refers to the waiting list for season tickets. It doesn't say how many extra seats there will be for the Beckham game. I'm sure there wouldn't be much paperwork involved in getting a few hundred extra people in (I guess it might be for extra media, sponsors, radio giveaways, or even late gate sales to partially curb the already rampant scalping for this game), using temporary seating. Permanent seating, however, probably involves City Hall (their property), the Fire Marshall, and tons of other BS. MLSE is looking at their Leafs/ACC situation, and possibly Montreal Alouettes/Molson Stadium, and seeing the benefits of having pent-up demand and waiting lists for season tickets. I expect a 20-50% price increase with the biggest hit in the very popular and underpriced South End. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarrek Posted June 30, 2007 Author Share Posted June 30, 2007 Yeah, I wouldn't be suprised if the Supporters Section tickets are anywhere from $275-$300 next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAS Posted July 1, 2007 Share Posted July 1, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Jarrek Yeah, I wouldn't be suprised if the Supporters Section tickets are anywhere from $275-$300 next year. At a bare minimum, the $200 seats go to $240 (20% increase), and the $240 to $280. A 50% increase for the supporters section would mean $200 becomes $300. Since it is too late to add a new team for 2008, there will be an unbalanced schedule again, so they would likely keep the same 30 game schedule. That means 15 home games, which works perfectly with a $300 price tag as it equals a nice and even $20/game. Another possibilty, which I would support, would be to drop the voucher system and just make the season tickets for the regular TFC games. Like it or not, there are alot of stupid people out there who can't grasp the concept and are bitching that they were "promised" 20 games and they see the two "void" vouchers as them being short-changed. The high number of season tickets holders with vouchers in a small stadium also makes it impossible for MLSE to bring in the really big Euro clubs and make a profit while charging reasonable prices. It is either play lesser clubs, or lose money on the friendlies - and you know how MLSE operates. Season Ticket holders would still get first shot at the tickets, and hopefully with a small discount, but they would have to purchase them separately so that prices could be set to match the size of the club being brought in. It would also avoid having people pay for tickets that they don't want. With over 500K Portuguese in the area, I would never have believed that a game against a great and historic club like Benfica would draw less than all the regular TFC games, but that is what happened. Aston Villa could do worse. This would also make it easier to transfer over to the Rogers' Centre for matches against the superclubs like ManU, LFC, Chel$ki, Barca, Juve, ect. The problem, of course, is that with many fans currently choosing to abandon their more expensive seats to sneak into the South End during games, MLSE will jack the prices up to $300 WITHOUT INCLUDING ANY VOUCHERS! A 50% price increase + the loss of vouchers would be brutal, but quite possible as MLSE knows that the seats would still sell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macksam Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 I think that more or less likely they will expand the stadium to 30 000 or 40 000 when they get the Gold cup in 2009 and if they get the Women's World Cup after that. They will definately expand it when Waterfront Stadium expands their stadium to 30 000 no doubt. BMO field was initially designed to be expanded to 30 000 seats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 They won't expand by 50% by 2009. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPB Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 Re the temporary addition of seats -- maybe in the space on the ground between the ad-boards and the wall of the stands? Probably fit 3-5 rows in some parts. Maybe room for 1,000 seats close to the pitch. And, as someone already said, the beer garden area -- another 500 seats, maybe? And there has to be room on the bench for the true fan, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RealGooner Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Jarrek you can hear everything that our loudest fans in the (south end zone) are chanting. You don't want to lose that. How would you lose that? More people means a louder park man. Peddie is a moron. Peddie told me to my face at Fox and Fiddle in toronto that 'demand is good'. MLSE wants pent up demand so they can play their leafs game again and drive up prices. I hope he understands he isn't dealing with Leaf fans. I guess he might have to find out the hard way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macksam Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 Yeah, he is an idiot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VPjr Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 I can foresee adding about 1000-2000 seats on the north end of the stadium within 3-5 years but that is about it. MLSE wants to keep these tickets in short supply...that is called capitalism...nothing wrong with that. Limiting supply builds fierce interest and ensures that people renew season ticket packages because the buyers of these packages know that there will always be a market for their tickets if they want to sell some. I've already got my money set aside to renew my seats for next year. If they want to make any changes to BMO Field, they should seriously look at putting some sort of roof over the supporters section and East Side stands so that the park can be even louder than it is already. I know that the place is already loud but the sound does not travel well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brodycheese Posted July 9, 2007 Share Posted July 9, 2007 Word from inside organization is 2 years and it will be expanded I'm not sure in what capacity but just giving you what I've heard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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