I used to go to Blue Jays games about back in the 90's & mid-2000's with my parents, those were sweet fond memories!!!!!! In my heart it will always be Skydome!
I have been to 3 games this year, and only once did I actually sit in my seats. That new outfield has an atmosphere and it's so much fun watching a game out there at the Catch bar. They sell a limited amount of general admission tickets for $20 with no seat and you can just hang out in the outfield. Highly recommended to anyone who can get those tickets, I think they sell out pretty quick. Otherwise, just buy cheap nosebleeds and go hang out in one of the outfield districts. along with these renovations, they have also improved their craft beer and food options. Shapiro was responsible for similar upgrades and renovations in Cleveland before he came to Toronto. I can't wait to see what they do with that awful lower bowl. I'm sure it's going to be a massive improvement. I used to cry and beg for a new stadium in Toronto, but now i'm team Skydome (I will never call it Rogers Centre) There is nothing comparable to the atmosphere in that building when it's full and the Jays are winning!
The hard rock cafe was not the restaurant in centrefield. That restaurang was called windows and it was removed in 2013. Hard rock was above and to the right, you can see it in your photo with the red neon hard rock signage. Above windows restaurant there was another open air restaurant called Sightlines. It closed last year as part of the renovations.
I have spent multiple nights at the Mariott in Rogers Centre and once in a room with a view during an actual game. It was a great experience, loved it !!!
In regards fo the major capacity change, I too wonder about that large of a change as they removed a couple thousand seats in the upper deck in the far outfield. They actually removed seats in the 200 and 100 levels to make room for the new standing areas, but i am surprised it is 8000. I believe standing room tickets are not factored into seating capacity as this is why its common to see teams having attendance higher than capacity.
As a season ticket holder, I’m stoked for the lower bowl Renos next year! The club areas won’t be done until after all star break but the seating should be amazing.
I was in Skydome back in 1990 to watch CFL football. It was a beautiful, and on a great site. Nice to see they are fixing up the interior now that it is not a multi-purpose facility.
Couple of factoid checks: The Hard Rock was in right field. The big "greenhouse" resturant was called Windows. The Argos were asked to leave to rebrand baseball park. Hotel opened as Skydome Hotel. Marriott is more recent.
Wasn't that hotel also a Ramada at one point? Also, I keep forgetting the Argos were forced out. I always think for some reason that they left on their own volition because 2015 caused so much havoc on their schedule, with the Pan-Am Games and the 2015 MLB Postseason, plus the Argos couldn't sell out the 'Dome unless it was playoffs/Grey Cup so they wanted a more intimate venue.
It was The Renaissance for decades. Then recently became a Marriot. There are probably more Marriot hotels downtown than any other hotel brand. There are several and some are split with residence.
Love this stadium... don't give af what others think. BTW, world's first retractable roof stadium, first with a hotel and first with the Sony Jumbtron.
The roof operates on rail tracks. Railroad tracks were based on the width of a horse's ass. So the modern marvel that is Skydome is all based on something as simple as a horse's ass. I hope to see another 30 years out of this building.
As a Jays fan who lives in BC I love the improvement they made with the lighting. Games where the roof is closed look so much better on TV now. And even though the primary color is still blue they use a couple different shades in the seats and facings and outfield walls to break it up. I like that they moved the left field wall in so that home runs don't just land in the bullpen or extra storage space. If they had to do this all over again I'm sure they would have this building closer to the water, and have more of the skyline visible, but at least they've invested money in keeping it up. Rogers bought a controlling share of the team in 2000, but bought the stadium in 2004 for just $25 million. That's a deal even factoring in inflation, as there's no way a stadium with this concept is made today for anything less than $1 billion.
Ngl, they've kept the stadium up quite well, especially with the recent renovations. It's a lively and well-maintained place to catch a ballgame. At the very least, they could've done a lot worse compared to other fields in the MLB.
Renovations scheduled for this off-season will apparently include three new "premium clubs". 1) The Batting Tunnel Club situated behind home plate on the third base side will have "....a sports bar atmosphere with a direct view over the Jays dugout". 2) The Home Plate Club located directly behind the home plate will offer an "....unprecedented culinary experience, prestigious best-in-ballpark seats, and the only membership with access to all three clubs" .3) The Lounge located behind home plate on the first base side will be "...the largest of the three clubs and offer a private and intimate atmosphere where fans can host colleagues, family and friends along with an expanded culinary menu, live preparation chef's table, and in-club entertainment from pre to postgame".
Not sure whether the Argos were forced out or just decided to move to BMO Field at the Exhibition Grounds because it's a bad look when you're only drawing 10,000 fans in a 40,000+ stadium. Toronto FC was not happy about it since they felt the Argos would ruin the turf at BMO.
They kicked people out for having sex in their hotel rooms?! 😳 Actually, I'd blame the architect, and not the people staying there! They DID get a room... 😏😆
The New Hampshire Fishercats' (AA affiliate of the Blue Jays) Northeast Delta Dental Stadium has a hotel just beyond the outfield in left field and has views of the stadium as well.
I've stayed at this hotel one time for a work event and it was really really nice. Not the best to get to by car and hopefully the ttc isn't delayed. Will always be the skydome to me
Most of us here in Toronto still call it the Dome.. Oh You can have sex in the rooms, Just close the blinds. Noting they can do about it. There is no rule against it.
The Skydome is as iconic to Toronto as the CN Tower... I am honestly not surprised if it becomes heritage listed at some point even if its just a brutalist slab off industrial materials assembled above some old railroad tracks...
Although you can't watch a game from your room, the Omni in San Diego is connected to Petco Park. It was nice to be in our room and ready for bed about 10 minutes after the game ended.
I once thought why dosen’t every stadium have a hotel attatched and house the visiting players, but then everybody will know where the visiting players are.
The 2025 all star game is yet to be determined so there is hope for the Rogers centre there. Citizens Bank park will host the game in 2026 to celebrate America's 250th birthday.
Okay that's cool the skydome is awesome the Rogers center now he should have kept a multi-purpose so they could host more events other than baseball like football having sex in the hotel and in baseball stadium was awesome 😎 the amazing part is so that on the jumbotron is better than the game that is awesome that is a great feature American sports stadiums don't do that why I don't know great video keep up the great content the the Depeche Ginger😅
Love the Jays but the renos are horrible. Seats are smaller. They are dark blue so hot as you know what when roof open and dark as a can be when roof closed. No cup holders anymore. The Park area is cheaply made. The other new areas are too narrow and too crowded where security just pushes you through. The best areas are the old hallways as nice and wide. The renos are garbage they destroyed the place and next year getting worse with too much luxury upgrades. Heck one original season ticket holder tickets went from $15,000 to $137,000 a year. Stupid money to pay for brutal reno.
to bad they dont spend money on their players vladdy had to go to arberation lost chapman and merrifield now they are crying for players ps votto will save them
Wind is the only obstacle when it comes to using grass at Skydome. The Bluejays have been doing wind tunnel tests at the University of Guelph for atleast 2 or 3 years now. There won't be a transparent roof until they solve the wind problem. The outside of the building has a lot of windows and vents that can be repurposed. They are working with scale models to see how a vacuum effect can be created inside the building. The University of Guelph has a state of the art wind tunnel. I know The Bluejays are using the facility because they put out a couple of short videos during phase 1 of the renovation that addresses grass/sod and lack of wind inside the stadium. The roof can also not be left open 24-7 because by design the stadium has zero resistance to water because there is no drainage system. So the roof must be closed at any hint of precipitation. Since there is no drain system for any rain water, they can't leave the roof open seasonally to have natural wind in order to grow grass. I didn't even know you needed wind in order to grow grass until the renovations at Skydome began and I saw their president doing a tour with media. Creating wind at Skydome is an interesting subject. I wonder how much money the BJs have spent on wind research so far. I am sure this is going to be priority #1 after the lower bowl is completed.
@junkbox_ Thanks! I knew about the drainage issue, but, like you, the wind issue is new to me. U of G has a top end sodgrass institute. I'll have to watch this a little closer in their communications.
