All about 2026 world cup is bigger And Toronto’s stadium is no exception.
The renovations to the home of MLS’s Toronto FC and the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts are part of a $100 million renovation project that also includes the addition of 17,000 temporary seats.
“With upgrades completed, including temporary seating and permanent legacy enhancements, attending a game at Toronto Stadium will be an unparalleled experience,” Sharon Bollenbach, executive director of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Toronto Secretariat, said in a statement.
Toronto Stadium is better known as BMO Field, but its name was changed during the World Cup due to sponsorship agreements based on FIFA naming conventions.
Initial reviews of the renovations, which raised capacity to a FIFA-low 45,000, were positive.
On May 9, Toronto FC opened up its temporary stands to fans for the game against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami. The match drew a crowd of over 44,000, a venue record.
“I was really concerned about the safety of the facility,” said John Paul Agius, who was sitting in temporary seating with his family for the game. “I had seen pictures of it under construction and comparisons to Rogers Stadium in Downsview, a local temporary concert venue, and all the complaints about it gave me a preconceived notion that it was definitely unsafe.”
However, Agius said the seats were much better than expected.
“That was the most surprising thing. The seat felt incredibly solid and secure, with no perceptible movement at all,” he said. “The view was amazing. I loved sitting there.”
This match also served as a trial run for the World Cup. Toronto Stadium will host six games, the first of which will be Friday’s opener between Canada and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
This is not the first time a stadium has been temporarily expanded. In 2016, 6,000 seats were added to the stadium to host the CFL Championship Gray Cup, MLS Cup, and NHL Centennial Classic.
The seats will be similar to those used in 2016, with improved technology, said a spokesperson for Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which announced the renovations and costs in March.
“I think they’re going to do exactly what they set out to do, which is host passionate fans from all over the world in a safe way,” said Luis Miguel, who was sitting in the north stands during the game against Inter Miami. “I think a lot of the problem is just people online creating panic.”
Temporary bleachers have been used in past World Cups. In 2018, Russia’s Yekaterinburg Arena added 12,000 seats outside the stadium’s original footprint, reaching its minimum seating capacity of 35,000 at the time.
The scaffolding section behind each of Toronto’s goals mirrors the stands in Yekaterinburg, where four group stage games were held.
Toronto Stadium renovations 16 stadiums We are ready to host a 5-week long tournament.
In the United States, several NFL stadiums have undergone renovations to meet FIFA regulations.
The seven venues in the United States that had artificial turf laid on top of that were natural turf. Other stadiums, such as New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, have removed seats to accommodate a larger field.
Despite the extensive renovations, Agius says the renovations shouldn’t take away from the excitement of a game in Toronto.
“It’s probably going to have the best atmosphere of any stadium because the structure of the stadium is similar to a British-style stadium. There’s a very intimate atmosphere, and that extends to the new seating,” Agius said. “The atmosphere will be electric and no one will notice you are sitting in the temporary stands.”
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Owen Cameros is a student at Penn State University’s John Curley Center for Sports Journalism.
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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
