TORONTO — It was a loss in the standings but president Michael Copeland calls the Toronto Argonauts‘ BMO Field debut a big success.
Over 24,000 watched Toronto’s season-opening 42-20 loss to Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Thursday night. It was the Argos’ first game at BMO Field following 27 seasons at Rogers Centre and while it wasn’t a sellout, fans were loud and engaged, something they weren’t at the domed facility.
"The core fans love the intimacy of the stadium, of getting up close to the team," Copeland said Friday. "The 20-something generation is one that has individual choices … so we have to let them craft their experience and I think that’s what played out.
"There’s some validation that if you give people the license to do something and the tools, they’re going to do it in a way they love and that’s what I saw."
The kickoff of the 2016 CFL regular season offered much more than just football on a brilliant summer evening.
Prior to kickoff the Strumbellas and Kardinal Offishall performed at a free concert near the stadium. And 250 spots were sold in two separate parking lots where fans could tailgate before the contest. Women riding bicycles sold $4 beer as patrons couldn’t bring their own due to provincial liquor laws.
Jacob Hoggard, the lead singer of the Canadian pop group Hedley, performed the national anthem. Then former Argos Joe Theismann, Damon Allen, Raghib (Rocket) Ismail and Mike (Pinball) Clemons all received warm ovations as they participated in the coin toss. Toronto Mayor John Tory wasn’t so lucky.
Ticats supporters immediately began chanting "Argos Suck" before the game. Toronto supporters countered by showering Hamilton players with boos when they came on to the field.
For the first time in a long time, it sounded and felt like a football game. Yet Copeland remains unfazed it wasn’t sold out.
"It’s about building a sustainable, long-term, committed fan base and (Thursday night) was a huge leap towards that," Copeland said. "There’s no doubt in my mind we’ll have sellouts and many of them.
"It takes time to build. I think with what we’re doing we can rapidly accelerate that process but we’re in this for the long haul and building it the right way."
TSN announced Friday the game attracted an average audience of 692,000 viewers, a 39 per cent increase from Toronto’s 2015 opener. Unfortunately, the Argos’ play wasn’t as impressive.
Toronto starter Ricky Ray, who missed most of last season recovering from shoulder surgery, was sacked six times. He finished 26-of-36 passing for 282 yards and two TDs, but surrendered a pick-six and lost fumble to Ticats’ linebacker Simoni Lawrence, the East Division’s top defensive player last season.
Hamilton quarterback Jermiah Masoli — starting in place of injured incumbent Zach Collaros (knee) — was 27-of-37 passing for 318 yards and three TDs. He was especially sharp on two third-quarter drives after Toronto pulled to within 25-20, going 15-of-15 passing with touchdown strikes of 19 and 30 yards to Brandon Banks and former Argo Chad Owens, respectively.
BMO Field drew lavish praise from Kent Austin, Hamilton’s head coach/vice-president of football operations.
"This really is a great venue," Austin said. "They’ve got a nice environment here, they really do.
"It’s a great change for them."
Copeland’s challenge now is maintaining that momentum with Toronto not returning to BMO Field until July 13 against Ottawa. The Argos visit the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Thursday and B.C. Lions on July 7.
"There are some little tweaks we have to change to make lineups shorter and make sure people can get their beer faster, things like that," Copeland said. "It’s only the second time a football game has been played at that stadium so I think there are some things we can do operationally that will improve but there’s nothing major I’d change.
"Once we get to the point where it’s efficiently running then you can think to add on but this isn’t about doing too much … we don’t have to over-think it."
