TORONTO — The Canadian Football League, local organizers and partners are rolling out the welcome mat for the 2023 edition of Touchdown Atlantic. Various events and celebrations are planned for the CFL’s East Coast classic on July 29.
Since this is an Argo home game, is MLSE paying for most of the costs for Touchdown Atlantic? or is the CFL paying for it? Temp stands, concessions, press boxes etc must be costly.
TDA is a league event. As the home team, the Argos are paid a guaranteed amount by the league… Given the uniqueness of the event with additional travel and player per diem costs I believe both teams also receive some additional monies. TDA is not intended to be a money maker and at best is operated on a break even basis.
I wouldn’t think they would make much from just 10,000 fans
True… at $100 per seat and under $50 for standing areas, the gate would likely maxout at about $1million…
They don’t really care about the Argos, or their fans. This TDA has been going on for it seams nearly 20 years, and every single one has been considered an Argos home game. Fans of every other team get to see 9 home games a year, but Argo fans only ever get 8. Even when the event was in Fort McMurray, it was an Argos home game. They were playing Edmonton, a stone throw away from Edmonton. but they can’t cheat Edmonton fans out of a home game, only Toronto. Either get it done and put a team out East already, or end these TDAs and stop cheating Argo fans.
Ticket revenue will be $880,000 and sponsorship another $650,000 - total revenue from the game $1.7 Million but the costs are $1.9 Million - a loss of $200k
But it does bring in tourists who will snap up all the hotel rooms, go to restaurants bars etc
That makes sense… certainly not a money maker.
Why it’s always an Argo home game is a product of Toronto’s poor attendance… they get a guarantee for this type of event which likely exceeds their typical revenue at BMO field.
No it’s a money loser, here is the breakdown
Yet, during many years, teams like Ottawa have had worse attendance, but they were never asked to have a home game away from home. Still, there are some in Toronto who still believe Ken Rogers’ dream that he could get an NFL team into Toronto. If he could only drive the Argos out of business… There was a time when you went to an Argos game at Rogers Stadium and all you could see were advertisements for the Buffalo Bills. When MSLE was planning to buy the Argos, only 2/3 of MLSE actually bought in. The Rogers third didn’t want it. Only later did they give in. That said, I still think they would have better attendance if fans could go to a game on a summer weekend, and not find it is in another province.
Ancient history.
MLSE owns the Argos and they have put a lot of money into the team. I don’t think any other owner would put up with 12k average, year after year. Just be happy that MLSE pays the bills and they have put together a great team this year.
I get how frustrating it is for Argo fans to have their team treated like s**t over and over again. It was disingenuous for Rogers to put roadblocks in place in both obtaining a lease at BMO, after terminating the Argos at Skydome and then objecting to MLSE’s purchase of the team. Fortunately, Bell held their ground and both issues were eventually resolved. The Toronto sports media has long played a significant role in marginalizing the Argos and the CFL with their misguided idea that somehow the existence of the Argos was the reason the “centre of the universe” doesn’t have an NFL team.
Ancient history - move on.
MLSE are great owners and even Rogers on board.
The Argos now have an ideal schedule which they didn’t have at the Rogers Centre due to the Jays having to play over 80 games in 6 months.
Argos now in an ideal stadium in an ideal location with great owners.
Any word on whether the storms in Halifax will require the game to be moved? They are under a state of Emergency until August 5th, so I have a hard time believing they will be able to host this year.
Sports are all about history… ancient and recent. The long decline of the Argos on the Toronto sports scene was not simply an organic shift in tastes or preferences but a series of intentional decisions by both the City of Toronto (Metro) and the elitist sports media which have always viewed Toronto as “too good” for the CFL. The refusal of the city of Toronto in 1967 to renovate Maple Leaf Stadium to MLB standards led to the 1974 Exhibition Stadium renovation… a mere 7 years later. The result being a suitable for it’s time football stadium, turned into a facility which was a bad baseball stadium and a terrible football stadium with the field of play offset at a 30 degree angle to the stands. Ultimately unacceptable for either sport… and of course, the Argos were relegated to accept whatever leftovers they were offered.
As for Rogers, they’re “on board” for reasons other than being supportive. More to do with their seeking to absorb Shaw Cablesystems into their sphere and not wanting a western Canada backlash against that deal which was only recently approved.