Last week the Toronto Argonauts played their final game in the Rogers Centre as they move to BMO Field next season hoping to recreate the atmosphere the franchise enjoyed at Exhibition Stadium in the 1970s and ’80s.
Attendance numbers had flagged in recent years—the Argos averaged 35,069 their first year in 1989, and the number dropped to just 17,791 this past season. That said, they played a slew of memorable games in the building first known as SkyDome and exit with a 123-96-1 record.
In this edition of the CFL roundtable, our expert panel debates the question:
What is your lasting memory of the Rogers Centre as a football venue?
DONNOVAN BENNETT: The 100th Grey Cup where a Canadian from Toronto scored the winning touchdown in Andre Durie and a Canadian who grew up in the Toronto area was named Most Outstanding Canadian in Ricky Foley. The building was full and it was cool to have a ticket to the game. That might have been more about Justin Beiber at halftime than the home team in the game but the bottom line is for that night at least the Rogers Centre was a great football venue. It gave a glimpse of what CFL football in the country’s biggest city could be. Sadly the franchise and league was never able to fully capitalize on that moment and sustain that momentum.
JUSTIN DUNK: Doug Flutie displaying pure CFL greatness for the Argos in 1996 and 1997 on the old SkyDome turf.
ARASH MADANI: When the confetti had fallen and the pomp and circumstance was over, in a home locker room drenched in beer and cheap champagne, there was Adriano Belli. It wasn’t long after the Argos had won the 100th Grey Cup in their own backyard. Belli, a Toronto boy who came out of retirement after sitting out the 2011 season for a shot at winning a title for his hometown team, sat there in the locker room with a sheepish grin on his face. Belli had snapped the trophy into two pieces, then went around kissing everyone in sight. Not sure what can ever top that.
JAMIE THOMAS: That it was never a good fit for the CFL. Too big and not intimate enough for the game and the fans, and the Argos were not the main tenant. It led to the disaster in 2015 where the team played “home” games in Ft. McMurray, Ottawa and Hamilton, which was terrible for the Argos and the league.