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Rogers Centre

SkyDome redirects here, for other uses, see SkyDome (disambiguation)

Rogers Centre, formerly known as SkyDome, is a multi-purpose stadium in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated next to the CN Tower near the shores of Lake Ontario. It is home to the American League's Toronto Blue Jays, the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts, the site of the annual International Bowl American college football bowl game, and as of 2008, the National Football League's Buffalo Bills' second playing venue. While it is primarily a sports venue, it also hosts other large-scale events such as conventions, trade fairs, and concerts. The stadium was renamed "Rogers Centre" following the purchase of the stadium by Rogers Communications in 2005.

The venue was noted for being the first stadium to have a fully-retractable motorized roof, as well as for the 348-room hotel attached to it, with 70 rooms overlooking the field. It is also the most recent North American major-league stadium built to accommodate both football as well as baseball, although some of the newer baseball parks have been known to host the occasional college football game (AT&T Park, Chase Field, and Safeco Field, to name a few).

History

Rogers Centre was designed by Rod Robbie & Michael Allen and was constructed by the EllisDon Construction of London, Ontario. The stadium's construction lasted about two and a half years, from October 1986 to May 1989. The approximate cost of construction was $600 million (CAD) which was paid for by the federal government, Ontario provincial government, the City of Toronto, and a large consortium of corporations.

Background

A cold, rain-soaked Grey Cup game in November 1982, held at the outdoor Exhibition Stadium, spurred the process of looking for a new stadium. The game was tormented by cold weather and rains, the washrooms overflowed, and spectators were exposed to the harsh weather. In attendance was Ontario Premier Bill Davis, and the misery of that day was seen by over 7,862,000 television viewers in Canada (at the time the largest TV audience ever in Canada ). The following day, at a rally at Toronto City Hall, tens of thousands of people who were there to see the Grey Cup winners began to chant, "We want a dome! We want a dome!" So too did others who began to discuss the possibility of an all-purpose, all-weather stadium. (As a point of interest, the 1983 Grey Cup Game was played at the newly opened BC Place domed stadium in Vancouver).

Seven months later, in June 1983, Premier Davis formally announced that a three-person committee would look into the feasibility of building a domed stadium at Exhibition Place. The three-person committee was composed of Hugh Macaulay, former Hydro chairman, William Bremner, Vickers and Benson Co. Ltd. chairman, and Lionel Schipper, Schipper Enterprises president.

Over the next few years various tangible projects emerged, including a large indoor stadium at Exhibition Place with an air-supported dome, similar to BC Place. In 1985 an international design competition was launched to design a new stadium, along with selection of a site for the stadium. Some of the sites included Exhibition Place, Downsview Airport, and York University. The final site was located at the base of the CN Tower not far from Union Station, a major railway and transit hub. The land was a major Canadian National Railway rail switching yard (the desolate downtown lands were part of a master plan for revitalizing the area which includes CityPlace). The price would be $150 million. Ultimately the Robbie/Allen concept won because it provided the largest roof opening of all the finalists, and it was the most technically sound. Others stadium designs included one that was like a bow tie, which cast a shadow over the field.

The choice of both the stadium design and its location were chosen specifically to avoid any chance of repeating the problems suffered in Montreal with their Olympic Stadium (nicknamed the "Big O"). That stadium suffered from a poorly designed retractable roof (which never really worked).

The stadium would have been Canada's first working retractable-roof stadium if they did not get Olympic Stadium's roof to finally work in 1988. With the latter's roof finally failing for good and being replaced by a permanent roof in 1992, the venue now stands as Canada's only retractable-roof stadium.

Stadium construction

Construction was done by lead contractor EllisDon. Several factors complicated the construction: The lands housed a functioning water pumping station that needed to be relocated, the soil was contaminated from a century of industrial use, railway buildings needed to be torn down or moved, and the site was rich with archaeological finds. One of the most complex issues was moving the John St. pumping station across the street to its new home south of the stadium. Foundations to the stadium were being poured even as the facility (located in the infield area) continued to function, as construction on its new location had yet to be completed. Also a locomotive watering tower was moved across the street as to be saved and to be incorporated into a new railway museum.

Because the stadium was the first of its kind in the world, the architects and engineers kept the design simple (by using a sturdy dome shape) and used proven technologies to move the roof. It was important that the design would work and be reliable as to avoid the various problems that plagued Montreal's Olympic Stadium. The 31-story roof consists of four panels; one is fixed in place and the other three are moved by electrically driven 'train' engines, that run on standard railway rails. The roof, which takes 20 minutes to open, was made out of steel trusses covered by corrugated steel cladding which in turn is covered by a single ply PVC membrane. Stadium construction and management was overseen by Chuck Magwood who was president of the Government established management company: Stadco.

Stadium financing

The stadium was funded by a public/private partnership, with the government paying the largest percentage of the tab. The initial cost was greatly underestimated, with the final tab coming in at $570 million (all dollar figures used are in Canadian funds and have not been adjusted for inflation) . All three levels of government (Metro Toronto, Provincial, Federal) initially contributed $30 million. This doesn't include the actual value of the land the stadium sits on (as it was part of a deal with the Crown agency – CN Rail). Canada's three main breweries (Labatt's, Molsons, and Carling O'Keefe) each paid $5 million to help fund the stadium. In addition 28 Canadian corporations (selected by invitation only – no tendering of contract) contributed $5 million, for which they received one of the 161 Skyboxes with four parking spaces (for ten years, with an opportunity for renewal) and a 99 year exclusive option on stadium advertising. Skyboxes initially leased for $150,000 up to $225,000 a year in 1989 – plus the cost of tickets for all events. The Toronto Blue Jays, who enjoyed the greatest financial benefit from the construction of the new stadium, contributed $5 million invested in the stadium.

But the financing wasn't without controversy. First of all there was no public tender for supplies and equipment. Secondly, companies that paid the $5 million fee received 100% stadium exclusivity for the life of their contract that could be extended up to 99 years. Some of the companies that signed on included Coca-Cola, TSN and CIBC. This exclusivity even extended to advertising. This was most notable when Pepsi-Cola was banned from raising promotional banners during a concert. Many companies signed on without the contracts being bid on. Pepsi stated at the time that had they known the terms of the contract they would have paid far more than $5 million for the rights. Local media like NOW (magazine) called the amount charged "scandalously low" (Now Dec 3-9, 1998). The media also complained about the McDonald's contract which the company paid a low yearly fee, yet charged high prices for its concession fare.

In a CBC Television interview in the days before the stadium, a member of the general public goes on to ponder "It will be interesting to see five years from now whose stadium it will be, Toronto's dome or a business centre like TD Centre". The stadium was completed two months late, having been planned to open for the first regular season Toronto Blue Jays game. Because of its location south of major railway corridor, new pedestrian connections had to be built; the infrastructure was part of the reason for the high cost of the stadium. Skywalk is a (1/2 km – est.) enclosed walkway that leads from the base of the CN Tower and via a bridge connects to Union Station (and is part of the PATH network). The John St. bridge was built to provide North/South passage over the rail tracks linking Front Street with the stadium.

SkyDome opening

The stadium officially opened on June 3 1989 and hosted an official grand opening show: "The Opening of SkyDome: A Celebration". It was broadcast on CBC television the following evening hosted by Brian Williams. With a crowd of over 50,000 in attendance, it was the first test of the new facility. The event was a showcase of Canadian talent, and included performances from a wide variety of acts. The celebrities consisted of Oscar Peterson, Andrea Martin of SCTV, impersonator André-Philippe Gagnon and rock band Glass Tiger. The roof was opened by the Premier of the Province, David Peterson, who pointed a laser pen at the ceiling to officially 'open' it. The roof opened, exposing the crowd to a downpour of rain. This while a crowd of famous Canadians sang a song on stage that was written specifically for the opening, with the lyrics: "Open up, Open up the Dome". Yet as the crowd got increasingly wet, they could be heard chanting "Close the roof". But Stadco president Chuck Magwood insisted that the roof fully open. And once open, a group of civilian skydivers flew into the now soaked stadium often skidding across the concrete floor to the cheers of the audience. By the time the roof had opened, most of the crowd had sought refuge in the concourse areas and beneath the overhangs of the various parts of the structure.

The event was broken down into the following acts:

The Opening of SkyDome – A Celebration

Act I – "Prelude to Forever" – "Oscar Peterson will perform this original composition with the Toronto Symphony."
Act II – A Tribute to the Builders of SkyDome – "An Olympic-style entrance of those who represent the thousands of people responsible for the building of SkyDome."
Act III – The Way We Were – "Featuring Theresa Pitt, the lead in Toronto’s company of Cats (the musical)."
Act IV – "We are Toronto" – "From a small settlement and a few hundred settlers, Toronto has become a true window to the world. The people of Toronto representing sixty-eight nations will celebrate the Opening of Sky Dome in their native costumes."
Act V – "Open up the Dome" – "Liberty Silver and Tommy Ambrose will perform this very special celebration number and will be joined by our 3,500 volunteer performers."
Act VI – "Open up the Dome" Finale – "Our host Alan Thicke will re-introduce the performers and will join in a final celebration of the Opening of SkyDome."

Financial problems and fallout

The stadium would later become the thorn in the side of David Peterson's Ontario Liberal government for its overspending in the venture. The Ontario Liberal Party was defeated by the Ontario New Democratic Party in the 1990 Ontario election. A review by the new Bob Rae government in October 1990 revealed that the stadium was so in debt that it would have to be booked 600 days a year to turn a profit. The stadium had only made $17 million in its first year of operations, while servicing the debt was costing $40 million. It was determined that the abrupt late inclusion by Stadco of a luxurious hotel and health club added an additional $112 million to the cost of the building. The further rush to finish the stadium also tacked on further unplanned costs.

As the Province slipped into a recession, Bob Rae appointed University of Toronto professor Bruce Kidd and Bob White (then president of the Canadian Auto Workers) to the Stadco board to help deal with the stadium's growing debt. But by this time it was too late to reverse the costs. The completed stadium started life with a $165 million debt, which ballooned up to $400 million by 1993. The stadium became a huge liability to the Provincial Government, and as the economy soured, so did public support for the so-called "white elephant". In March 1994, Bob Rae's Ontario NDP government paid off all outstanding debts from the Provincial treasury, and sold the stadium for the massively discounted price of $151 million to a private consortium (including Labatt's parent company – Interbrew).

In November 1998, the stadium filed for bankruptcy protection. One of the main reasons was that most of the Skybox contracts were up for renewal. Most of the 161 Skybox tenants had signed on for 10 year leases; this oversight in business planning, and a marked decrease in interest in the stadium's two sports teams, resulted in a massive decrease in the amount companies were willing to pay for the Skybox. In addition, the Air Canada Centre was under construction just down the road, and selling highly desired boxes for the civic favourite Toronto Maple Leafs and new upstart Toronto Raptors. Many companies could not justify owning box suites at both stadiums. That same month, the Blue Jays re-signed on for an additional ten years in the facility.

In late 1998, Sportsco International LP bought the stadium out of bankruptcy protection for $85 million. In 2004, Rogers Communications, parent company of the Blue Jays, would agree to acquire SkyDome from Sportsco for about $25 million – about 4% of the cost of construction.

Recent developments

On February 2, 2005, Ted Rogers, President and CEO of Rogers Communications, which also owns the Blue Jays, announced that his company would significantly increase the team payroll upwards of $210 million over the next three seasons, beginning in the 2005 season, and announced a three-year corporate contract to change the name of SkyDome to the Rogers Centre. After the purchase (for only $25 million), Rogers refurbished the stadium by, among other things, replacing the once state-of-the-art Jumbotron with a Daktronics ProStar screen, and erecting other new monitors, including several built into the outfield wall. They also installed a new artificial playing surface called FieldTurf.

In May 2005, the Toronto Argonauts agreed to three five-year leases at Rogers Centre, which could see the Argonauts playing out of Rogers Centre up to and including 2019. The team has the option to leave at the end of each of the three lease agreements. The Argos also announced that they will not move into a new stadium that was being planned at York University, a project which York subsequently cancelled.

In November 2005, Rogers Centre received a complete makeover in the 100 level concourse, making it larger. This required some seats to be removed, which lowered its capacity size. They also renovated 43 luxury boxes and converted some of them into larger party suites that can accommodate as many as 150 people.

In April 2006, the Rogers Centre became one of the first buildings of its size to adopt a completely smoke-free policy in Canada. The Rogers Centre made this decision in advance of an act of provincial legislature that required all Ontario public places to go smoke-free by June 1, 2006. Designated smoking rooms, or "puffers" as they were known, will no longer be available to patrons. As a result, smokers will no longer be able to smoke during events due to the pre-existing no pass-out policy, which does not allow for readmittance to the facility after exiting. A new Rogers Plus store was opened in the south end of the stadium on April 4, 2006.

Future developments

Next on the agenda is a complete makeover of the Blue Jays', Argonauts' and visitors' locker rooms.

Another project involves adding some type of façade to the exterior of the stadium, which has often been criticized for appearing "cold" and imposing (the exterior material is concrete.)

Etymology

The name "SkyDome" was coined by a private citizen Kellie Watson, of the town of Wallaceburg, who entered a Province-wide "name the stadium" contest in 1987. Sponsored by the Toronto Sun, ballots were offered for people to submit their suggested name. Over 150,000 entries were received with 12,897 different names. The selection committee narrowed it down to four choices: "Towerdome", Harbourdome, SkyDome, and simply "the Dome". The judges' final selection was SkyDome. Over 2,000 people proposed SkyDome, and as a result a winning name was drawn from all the similar entries. Premier David Peterson chose a name from a lottery barrel. The selected winner won lifetime seats to any event at SkyDome (including concerts). The two seats are located just behind home plate. (In a 2005 newspaper article that appeared after the stadium's renaming, Watson said that she had "hardly used" the tickets.) In the press conference announcing the name, Chuck Magwood (president of the Stadium Corporation of Ontario) commented: "The sky is a huge part of the whole roof process. The name has a sense of the infinite and that's what this is all about". (Before being officially named, the stadium was reported in the media as simply "the dome")

On December 18 2006, when Rogers Communications Inc. and the Toronto Blue Jays held a press conference announcing the contract extension of Vernon Wells, President and CEO Ted Rogers stated that he and his wife held a party for the Blue Jays organization at "the Dome". This proves that even though the media is told to refer to the building as Rogers Centre, Rogers himself does not refer to it as such.

Stadium features

The venue was the first major team sports arena in North America to sport a functional, fully retractable roof; Montreal's Olympic Stadium also had a retractable roof, but it was a total failure. The roof is composed of four panels and covers an area of . The two middle panels slide laterally to stack over the north semi-circular panel, and then the south semi-circular panel rotates around the stadium and nests inside the stack. It takes 20 minutes for the roof to open or close.

Even though the retractable roof would technically permit the use of natural grass, the stadium has always used artificial turf; initially AstroTurf, and FieldTurf since 2005.

The centre also has an on-site fitness club, and Hard Rock Café. The Renaissance Toronto Hotel is also located within Rogers Centre, with some of the hotel rooms overlooking the field.

Artwork – over $5 million of artwork was commissioned in 1989.

The Audience – by Michael Snow is a collection of larger than life depictions of fans located above the northeast and northwest entrances. Painted gold, the sculptures show fans in various acts of celebration.
A Tribute to Baseball – by Lutz Haufschild – located above the Southeast and Southwest entrances of Gate 5.
The Art of the Possible – by Mimi Gellman – located inside along the north side of the concourse on Level 100. The glass and steel sculpture incorporates the signatures of 2000 builders of SkyDome, and is a tribute to their work. Some of the artifacts found during excavation such as musket balls and pottery have also been included. The brightly illuminated sculpture became an issue to baseball players when the stadium first opened. The bright lights were considered a distraction to batters.
Salmon Run – by Susan Schelle, located by the South East entrance; it is a large fountain that has various stainless steel salmon cutouts.
Spiral Fountain – by Judith Schwarz.

Rogers Centre videoboard

The main video screen in the Rogers Centre is called the Rogers Centre videoboard and is also known during Blue Jays games as "JaysVision". Designed by Daktronics, the screen is high and across. The panel is made up of modular LED units that can be replaced unit by unit, and can be repaired immediately should it be damaged during an event. Originally, this screen was a Sony JumboTron before it was replaced. For a time, it was the largest of its kind in the world.

The videoboard and the stadium played host to several television events, including the series finales for Cheers and Star Trek: The Next Generation, along with live coverage of the funeral of Princess Diana. Soccer fans were able to watch the 2006 FIFA World Cup final on July 9 2006 at Rogers Centre on the state of the art video board.

Stadium usage

Sports

Besides baseball and Canadian football, Rogers Centre was the original home of the National Basketball Association's Toronto Raptors, who played at the venue from November 1995 - February 1999 until moving to the Air Canada Centre. Rogers Centre has also hosted exhibition soccer, cricket, Gaelic football, Australian Rules Football and two NCAA International Bowl games. The 1992 World Series and 1993 World Series were played at Rogers Centre. The World Wrestling Federation hosted WrestleMania VI and WrestleMania X8 at Rogers Centre.

In June 1997, it featured a well-publicized 150 metre race between sprinters Donovan Bailey and Michael Johnson. Soccer matches have been regularly held in recent years; they had been rarely played at the venue when its Astroturf surface had been in place.

Rogers Centre is the site of several major high school and collegiate sporting competitions including the Prentice Cup for baseball and, from 1989 to 2003, the Vanier Cup championship of Canadian Interuniversity Sport football (then SkyDome).

In January 2007, Rogers Centre played host to the first ever International Bowl, an NCAA college football game between Western Michigan University and the University of Cincinnati. In 2008, Rutgers played Ball State in the second International Bowl. In November 2007, it hosted the 95th Grey Cup, its first since 1992 and third all-time. It was also the venue for the 2007 Desjardins Vanier Cup on Friday November 23, just two days before Grey Cup Sunday. It was the 16th Vanier Cup hosted at SkyDome/Rogers Centre, returning after a three year absence in which it was hosted by Hamilton, Ontario (2004 and 2005) and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (2006). It was the 56th Grey Cup hosted by the city of Toronto since the championship's inception in 1909, and the 40th Vanier Cup hosted by the Toronto since that championship's inception in 1965.

The National Football League's Buffalo Bills announced its intentions to play one of its games in the Rogers Centre in October 2007; the first of these games will take place on December 7th of the 2008 NFL season vs the Miami Dolphins. It will mark the first time an NFL team has established a "home" stadium outside the United States. The Bills played a preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at the Rogers Centre on August 14, 2008.

Games in the first round of the 2009 World Baseball Classic will be played at the Rogers Centre.

In 2007 Bruce Power, Canada's largest private nuclear operating company, struck a deal with the Toronto Blue Jays that would allow the energy producing company to power the Rogers Centre with emissions-free electricity.

Concerts

Soon after its opening, the stadium became a popular venue for large scale rock concerts and is the largest indoor concert venue in Toronto; it has hosted many international acts including Madonna, U2, The Rolling Stones, Radiohead, Simon and Garfunkel, Garth Brooks, Backstreet Boys, Roger Waters, Black Sabbath, Pantera, Janet Jackson, Avril Lavigne, and Cher. For the Halloween extravaganza in 2003: Michael W. Smith, and N'Sync. The stadium has several concert configurations, including smaller Theatre (capacity 5,000 to 7,000) and Concert Hall (formerly SkyTent; capacity 10,000-25,000). Due to the design of the stadium and building materials used, the acoustics have been known to be rather poor, and the loudness/quality can vary greatly around the stadium. Its popularity with artists and fans has diminished over the years, with most stadium concerts now taking place at the Air Canada Centre. Designers did develop the SkyTent as to help reduce sound distortion and improve sound quality. The tent is a group of acoustical curtain sails that is hoisted on rigging above the floor, to help dampen reverb of the music around the open stadium.

One of the more notable concerts was the 1990 Blond Ambition Tour by Madonna. The touring show had become extremely controversial due to the risqué visuals and performances. When the concert arrived in Toronto, police were alerted that the show might violate local obscenity laws. The police were on site for the concert and threatened charges without changes. The show went on as planned, but no charges were laid. The incident is shown in the Madonna documentary Truth or Dare.

On 17 May 2008, Canadian music station Much Music announced that Led Zeppelin plans to announce four August dates. However the band's management has since denied the rumours.

On 11 September 2008 it was confirmed that Australian Rock Band AC/DC will play a show at the Rogers Centre on 7 November 2008. A second show has now been added for January 9 2009.

Other uses

Rogers Centre contains 143,000 square feet (13,000 m²) of exhibition space, allowing it to host a variety of events year-round.

It is home to several annual auto shows, with the Canadian International AutoShow in February and Importfest in October. Travelling shows like World Wrestling Entertainment (which has used the facility to host two WrestleMania events), Disney on Ice, Monster Jam and circuses also have used the venue. The Opening Ceremonies of the XVI International AIDS Conference were held at Rogers Centre on August 13, 2006.

It has also hosted many public speakers, including appearances by the Dalai Lama, Christian Evangelist Billy Graham, Nelson Mandela, and J. K. Rowling, for a book reading.

In addition to being a venue that hosts sports, concerts and other events, the Rogers Centre also houses the head offices of a number of businesses. The Toronto Blue Jays and the Toronto Argonauts both have their office headquarters located in the building, and it is the home of the head offices of Ticketmaster Canada.

Rogers Centre is the home of the main Ticketmaster outlet (ticket centre) for eastern Canada, located at the south end of the building beside Gate 7. As well, the building contains the Toronto Renaissance Hotel, a Premier Fitness/Health Club, a Rogers Plus store, a Hard Rock Cafe, and Windows Restaurant. Starting in 2006, the Hard Rock Cafe will only be open when there is a performance in the building. There are three box offices: Ticketmaster and the Argos box office are located at Gate 7, the Blue Jays box office is at Gate 9, and Rogers Centre Tours runs a box office at Gate 2. On non-event days, there are daily tours of the Rogers Centre. There are two gift shops that sell Rogers Centre and both Argonauts and Blue Jays merchandise – one at Gate 5 opened in April 2007, and one inside the Rogers Plus Store at Gate 8.

Attendance records

World Wrestling Federation's WrestleMania X8 attracted the largest ever paid crowd to SkyDome. The March 17 2002 event gathered 68,237 fans. WrestleMania VI held the previous record of 67,678 on April 1, 1990.
Major League Baseball: The 1991 All-Star Game, played on July 9 attracted 52,383 spectators.
Toronto Blue Jays Baseball: A crowd of 52,268 attended Game 5 of the 1992 World Series, which saw Toronto take on the Atlanta Braves.
CFL Football: 54,088 packed SkyDome to watch the 1989 Grey Cup Game between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Toronto Argonauts Football: The 1991 Eastern Division Final played against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers drew a crowd of 50,386.
Toronto Raptors Basketball: A March 24, 1996 game against the Chicago Bulls drew a crowd of 36,131. For this game, the basketball venue was reconfigured to accommodate more fans due to the popularity of the visiting team. Surprisingly, the expansion Raptors handed the record-setting Bulls one of their ten defeats that season, winning 109-108.
Soccer: A July 31, 2004 soccer game between Glasgow Celtic FC and AS Roma drew 50,158.

Timeline

1986 – October 3 – Official ground breaking on the site.
1989 – June 3 – Stadium officially opens, hosting a live opening night event.
1989 – June 5 – Stadium sees its first Blue Jays game.
1989 – June 5 – Fred McGriff hits the first home run ever at SkyDome.
1989 – June 7 – John Cerutti records the first Blue Jays win at SkyDome.
1989 – June 8 – Rod Stewart performs the first concert at SkyDome.
1989 – The Saskatchewan Roughriders defeat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 43-40 in the 77th Grey Cup.
1990 – ML baseball season attendance record is broken with 58 sellouts and a total crowd of 3,885,284
1991 – July 9 – Host of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game
1992 – The Calgary Stampeders defeat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the 80th Grey Cup.
1993 – October 23 – The Blue Jays win their second straight World Series championship after Joe Carter hits a walk off home run.
1995 – June 22nd – 2 acoustic panels fall off the inner ceiling in the 7th inning injuring 7 fans.
1995 – July 9 – A worker dies when installing lights for a computer show (falling 25 feet)
1998 – November – SkyDome files for bankruptcy protection
1998 – SkyDome is bought by Sportsco.
2001 – August 3 – the roof was closed in the 3rd inning of a Toronto Blue Jays game, at the request of home plate umpire Tim Welke due to a major infestation of aphids.
2005 – February 2 – Rogers Communications buys the Stadium and renames it Rogers Centre.
2007 – November 25 – Rogers Centre plays host to the 95th Grey Cup, the first in Toronto in 15 years.
2008 - August 14 - Rogers Centre plays host to a pre-season National Football League game between the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers, the first of a 5 year lease deal that will see the Bills playing occasional home games in Toronto

Facts and figures

Stadium related

Although Canada had become a predominantly metric country, initially, the outfield wall distances were signed (328' foul lines; 375' power alleys; 400' centre field) only in feet, even though 328 feet is roughly 100 metres.
The stadium roof actually has a patent, preventing its design from being easily copied: U.S. Patent #05167097. Officially registered on December 1, 1992 to dome architects Rob Robbie and Chris Allen.
The original mascot of the stadium was a turtle by the name of Domer.
The McDonald's at SkyDome, other than being the largest in North America, was the first McDonald's in the world to sell hot dogs.
When the retractable roof is open, people standing on the observation deck of the nearby CN Tower can look down on the field.
50 million people have visited SkyDome/Rogers Centre.
When the roof is open, 91% of the seats and 100% of the field is open to the sky, covering an area of 3.2 hectares (8 acres).
The roof weighs 11,000 tons, and is held together by 250,000 bolts.
The stadium's inward-looking hotel rooms have regular two-way windows, yielding instances of what some could consider indecent exposure. When SkyDome first opened, a couple engaging in sexual intercourse was televised on the scoreboard Jumbotron during a baseball game. Days later, a man was caught masturbating during a game in full view of the packed stands. The man, later tracked down by a Sports Illustrated reporter, calmly said, "I thought they were one-way windows." Patrons now have to sign contracts stipulating that they will not perform any lewd acts within view of the stadium.
When the stadium first opened, the Toronto Transit Commission was worried about the challenge of moving the large crowds. As a way to streamline the entry to the subway and to encourage public transit use to the stadium, all tickets for the first 30 days also worked as a Metropass.
The stadium corporation has been requested to help in the planning of other venues from the U.S., Netherlands, England, Australia, New Zealand, to Singapore, China and Germany (Source Rogers Centre Press release).
It is the most expensive stadium in both the CFL and Major League Baseball, constructed at a price of C$570 million. This record is expected to be passed by the New Yankee Stadium, scheduled for completion in 2009, at a cost of US$1.3 billion. However, if the cost of SkyDome in 1984 is adjusted for inflation, it would be roughly C$1.05 billion (2006). If Montreal's Olympic Stadium (which used to be the home field of the Expos, now only used for CFL playoff games) were counted, it would take the title, with a cost C$1.6 billion in 1976.