BMO Field

BMO Field is a soccer-specific stadium located in Exhibition Place in the city of Toronto. The open-air structure can seat up to 20,500 spectators, depending on seating configurations. It is owned by the City of Toronto, and managed by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. It opened on April 28, 2007 with a 1-0 loss by home side Toronto FC against the Kansas City Wizards.

Aside from the adjacent parking lot, the stadium is accessible by public transport via the Exhibition GO Train station, the 509 Harbourfront and the 511 Bathurst streetcar lines, as well as the 29 Dufferin and 193 Exhibition Rocket bus routes.

The stadium was known as the National Soccer Stadium during international FIFA competitions, including the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

	Capacity		20,844
	Opened		April 28, 2007

BMO Field is the fifth stadium to be located at its exact location at Exhibition Place. The most recent was Exhibition Stadium, former home of the Toronto Argonauts and Toronto Blue Jays, which lost its permanent tenants with the opening of SkyDome (now Rogers Centre) in 1989 and was demolished in 1999.

The stadium was part of Canada’s successful bid to host the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. The original plan was for the site to be located at York University, with the university contributing $15 million toward the cost of the new stadium. However, the university was forced to back out in May 2005. The eventual site was moved to the location of demolished Exhibition Stadium and then-existing Sports Hall of Fame building.

On May 11, 2006, Major League Soccer announced that Toronto FC would join the league as its thirteenth (and first Canada-based) team in 2007. The league considers soccer-specific stadiums to be a critical part of its strategy; MLS commissioner Don Garber has been adamant that expansion teams must have plans for a soccer-specific stadium in place to be granted a franchise. These facilities are thought to improve overall crowd atmosphere (because they are smaller than stadiums built primarily for NFL football or CFL football), and may allow teams to control most revenues generated by their facilities.

On August 31, 2006, the Toronto Star reported that BMO Financial Group purchased the naming rights to the stadium, known then as the National Soccer Stadium. BMO is the stock ticker symbol of the Bank of Montreal, whose operational headquarters are in Toronto, despite its Montreal name. The symbol is often pronounced “BEE-moe”, as are references to the bank itself. On September 20, 2006, stadium webcam viewers watched as a banner was raised on the West Grandstand renaming the stadium “BMO Field”. The name was later announced on the team’s official website. It was referred to under the National Soccer Stadium name in official references to the U-20 World Cup, as non-FIFA-supporting sponsors are not permitted references.

The grand opening celebration took place on May 12, 2007. MLS’s commissioner has declared that the 2008 All-Star Game will take place at BMO Field, as well an MLS Cup by the year 2012.

The only music concert thus far at BMO Field was performed by classic rock group Genesis on September 7, 2007.

The 2008 MLS All Star game was held at BMO Field on July 24, 2008 versus West Ham United F.C. of the English Premier League.

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