Article and photos by Joe Mock, BaseballParks.com
A shorter version of this article appeared in USA TODAY Sports Weekly. It is used here by permission
TORONTO, Ontario Americans take for granted that there are 29 Major League Baseball teams within the country to root for. Canada has precisely one.
And make no mistake about it: the Toronto Blue Jays place great importance on their role as Canada’s team.
| Rogers Centre renovation stats |
| Total cost: 400 million Canadian dollars, all privately funded |
| First phase of renovation: Completed for 2023 season – created social spaces, elevated bullpens, moved outfield seats closer to the field |
| Second phase of renovation: Mostly completed for 2024 season – replaced playing surface, new lights, rebuilt 100-level seating, new clubhouse and dugouts, new accessible seating on field level |
| Demolition: 29.5 million pounds of materials were removed and recycled |
| Capacity: 39,150, down from 49,282 in 2022 |
| New dimensions: LF – 328′; LCF – 368′; CF – 400′; RCF – 359′; RF – 328′ |
| Food service vendor: first year for Legends |
| New stadium lights: Musco Lighting |
| Architect: Populous, Derek Sommers design lead |
| Construction: PCL |
| To be completed by mid-2024: Season-ticket-holder lounges underneath 100 level seats |
| Betcha didn’t know: Parking is scarce adjacent to Rogers Centre. This isn’t a problem since the majority of fans take public transportation to games. |
Take Joey Sugai. The 41-year-old flew from Calgary, Alberta just to see the Blue Jays play their first home games of the 2024 season. It’s a trip he’s made often during the past two decades.
Prompting this trip, though, was the allure of a $400-million (Canadian) renovation of the stadium with the retractable dome. “I wanted to see all of the new social spaces – that and the fact there was a promotion where I could get this ticket for just $9.”
Sugai made sure he was in line when the gates opened so he could run to the Canada Dry Bleachers adjacent to the visitors bullpen. He claimed a prized spot on the third row of the section that holds only 250 fans.
By arriving a little earlier than Sugai, Zoe Jenkins snared a first-row position. She also outdid his trip to Toronto by almost 2,000 miles, as she traveled from her home in Nottingham, England to see the reimagined stadium.
“It’s nice being able to watch the pitchers warm up,” she says of her front-row spot. “It’s a really nice atmosphere down here, plus you have an amazing view for the money.”
This is all exactly what Rogers Communications, owners of Canada’s team and its stadium, wants to hear. Since they asked for no public funds, they provided the entire $400 million for the renovations. And with none of the bureaucratic red tape which would’ve added years to the process, it was completed in just two offseasons.
Baseball first
SkyDome, as Rogers Centre was called when it opened in 1989, had certainly become dated over its first three decades. It was originally conceived as a multi-purpose facility for the Canadian Football League, NBA, soccer, events like WrestleMania and, of course, the Blue Jays. And the sightlines for baseball were simply never like that of a baseball-only facility.
If Rogers Communications was willing to spend $400 million on renovations, why not apply that amount to the construction of a brand-new ballpark elsewhere in Toronto?
“We have an amazing location where our fans can literally get here no matter who they are,” explains Marnie Starkman, the team’s executive VP of business operations. “Whether it’s GO Train from east and west, subway, streetcar (or) Uber, this is the best location. After games, you can spill out to the streets and head to the bars and the restaurants. You can head down by the waterfront. We’ve got the aquarium and the (CN) Tower.
“This location is key.”
| Location is key |
 |
| Marnie Starkman is the Blue Jays’ executive VP of business operations. She laid out the reasoning for ownership’s $400 million CAD expenditure on renovations rather than a brand-new ballpark: “We have an amazing location …” |
Perhaps more than any other big-league team, Blue Jays fans take public transportation to games, typically ending up at Toronto’s Union Station, a short walk from Rogers Centre. So the noticeable lack of parking close to the facility isn’t a problem to be fixed.
Starkman stresses that the emphasis was clearly on improving Rogers Centre, not replacing it. “The reality is our location is unbelievable, so our focus was to do something generational for the next 10 to 15 years with the ballpark that we have.
“Our goal was to turn a 1989 multi-purpose venue into a ballpark, where we play baseball first.”
In concert with sports-architecture firm Populous, the renovations were done in two phases. The first phase drastically changed the outfield seating sections into a series of “neighbourhoods,” (yes, with a “u”) as Rogers Centre had been severely lacking in social gathering spaces. These were completed prior to the 2023 season.
“Social spaces are how people watch baseball now, right?” notes Starkman. “They want to experience three innings in their seats, three innings at a drink rail or in a bar, three innings at a kid’s zone. We didn’t have any of that.”
A beautiful example of turning seldom-sold seats into social gathering spaces is the Corona Rooftop Patio (see photo below). This replaced seats in the 500 level with a beer garden, reminiscent of The Rooftop space that turned almost-always-empty seating sections in the upper deck of right field at the Rockies’ Coors Field into bars and upscale eateries. These have proven to be immensely popular with Denver’s younger adults — a demographic that hadn’t been buying tickets for baseball games prior to the arrival of The Rooftop. The Blue Jays are experiencing similar results.
The second phase of the renovations was completed prior to the 2024 season. It necessitated a complete demolition of the field-level seating sections and rebuilding them with new seats that all face the infield and are closer to the field (note the orientation of the lower-level seats in the photo at the top of this page). This also permits the concourse at the rear of the sections to be significantly wider, and allows season-ticket-holder restaurants under the seats. The arrangement now resembles new MLB parks built this century, much like Truist Park in Atlanta, including new premium seats between the dugouts and opulent lounges underneath.
While the renovations certainly extend the lifespan of Rogers Centre, Derek Sommers, associate principal at Populous, says the changes convey a lot about the Blue Jays and their ownership. “It was an honor working with a team with such great vision. (They are) a club that clearly loves their city and has a deep understanding of the needs and expectations of their millions of fans throughout Canada and abroad.”
Sommers added that the front office’s confidence carried over to all of the entities working on the renovations, and “made for clear priorities throughout the project’s development. With fan experience always as the foremost goal, that allowed the team to stay open-minded and nimble, giving our work plenty of room for new and innovative ideas. Ultimately, this shows how a ballpark can reflect the fans (and) the whole region in a meaningful way.”
Upgrading hot dogs
Starting this season, Legends oversees the food and beverage served to Rogers Centre fans. The firm formed as a joint venture of the Dallas Cowboys and New York Yankees in 2008.
“There really was method to the madness” of making so many changes at once, says Starkman. “A big part of changing the fan experience is changing the food and beverage experience. And we have obsessed over that, and we’ll continue to obsess over that. We have no better partner to do that with than Legends.”
A big hit on the upgraded menus are the hot dogs. While fan-favorites like Schneiders Ballpark Hot Dog and Footlong Hot Dog are still around, there is now a Hot Maple & Bacon Hot Dog ($11.49 CAD). It features a 100% Canadian beef wiener marinated in hot maple syrup for several hours before serving it on a fresh bun with garlic aioli and a sprinkling of beef bacon. It is sweet and it is delicious. It’s shown on the right below.
You’ll also find a Signature Poutine Hot Dog ($10.49 CAD, left above). If you’ve visited this region, you’ve no doubt encountered Canadians’ obsession with poutine, which is typically cheese curds and gravy over French fries. This new take, though, combines fried potato chunks, cheese curds and gravy over an upscale beef wiener, all served on a soft bun.
Yes, it’s as messy to eat as it sounds (pro tip: use a fork), but it is worth it.
As a nod to the food carts that are found everywhere on Toronto streets and municipal parks, there are new Stuffed Jamaican Patties (two for $15.89 CAD — photo below) filled with spicy jerk chicken, coleslaw, and BBQ sauce — all from local suppliers. “It’s a Rogers Centre take on a Toronto classic,” notes Shania Bremer, the team’s coordinator of business communications. Also look for poke bowls ($18.49) featuring sushi-grade fish.
The true-blue fans
While infield seating changes are brand new for 2024, fans have been enjoying the social spaces in the outfield since last year. Laura Stacey particularly enjoys the family atmosphere of TD Park Social, which replaced seldom-sold seats high above left field. She recently brought her son Saxon, 9 (see photo), to watch his favorite player Vladimir Guerrero, Jr.
“As an adult, it’s even more enjoyable coming here now because the kids can play while we get to watch the game,” she notes. “And it feels much more like you’re attending a game in a place meant for baseball now. They really did a great job on all of the changes.”
Not all fans are fond of the renovations, though.
Brothers Mitch and Neil Flagg have attended Blue Jays games since they were kids, as their father always had tickets and switched off which son he took to games. Mitch, 54, now has his own season tickets. “Real Jays fans have a hunger for the World Series,” he says. “There’s nothing about these changes that gives me optimism that it will help the product on the field.” He also noted that the newly rebuilt field-level stands mean that he can no longer see balls hit into the corners near the foul poles.
When I asked Neil, 52, if he felt that additional revenue generated from the new seats and social spaces would result in additional investment in the team’s payroll, he responded, “No. I’m skeptical.
“The $400 million was spent on the rich people sitting near home plate, and what’s now in the corners are all about drinking” he adds. “The best thing about Rogers Centre was when 50,000 fans were here for big games, and there was so much energy. Now I fear that this home-field advantage has been lost.”
All of the changes have reduced the seating capacity from 50,516, when the Blue Jays won the World Series in 1992 and 1993, to 39,150 now.
“As it relates to home field advantage, I have absolutely no concern about that,” says Starkman in response to the criticism about the reduced capacity. “If you heard this ballpark on the home playoff games that we’ve had, and even our home opener (this year), it’s loud. Our fans are loud and proud.”
Regarding the “rich people” who sit close to the field, she explains, “The reality of the premium seats is a lot of our season-ticket members moved into these seats. We have true-blue fans sitting there. I know that from talking to them, and I know that from how passionate they were in the relocation process. So I am not worried.”
About there being a connection between the renovation and money for payroll, “they really are two separate discussions. We needed to deal with the building, regardless of what the payroll would have been. That was our responsibility to our fans and to the generation to come.”
Player impact
So while the changes were mostly to improve fan amenities and create a physical space more like a classic ballpark, the players are seeing upgraded facilities, too.
Starkman notes that the Blue Jays “really emphasized providing the best-in-class facilities for our players and (their) families. And if we have taken care of that, that allows them to have an environment to succeed.”
Renovations affecting players are new artificial turf, less foul territory, new dugouts, brighter lighting of the field (these resemble daylight more than any stadium lights I’ve ever seen), new raised bullpens, an enlarged clubhouse with every imaginable amenity, and a lounge for players’ families.
“It looks absolutely beautiful,” Blue Jays outfielder Kevin Kiermaier told SportsNet Canada. “I love the upgrades. The clubhouse, the field, everything is amazing. Eighty-one games here this year, it’s going to be a blast.”
Or as Zoe Jenkins (see photo), who came all the way from the UK to see the reimagined Rogers Centre, puts it, “It’s all pretty epic.”
Please leave a comment below with your thoughts about Rogers Centre and/or this review.