The Ultimate BMO Expansion Thread

[StandUpIfYouHateChelsea]

Alright Boys its here i know there are alot of random threads on this issue but some new numbers prove a good case for a large expansion of BMO field.

The Numbers:

16,000 Current Seasons Ticket holders

13,000 Waiting List Seasons tickets.

THATS 29,000 People!!!!! BMO needs alot of work , however i suggest if they add another deck to the east side, complete it by adding another ontop of the south end !! Photoshops will follow =)

P.s I know for a fact there are people not on the waiting list who want to acquire Seasons tickets with an increase in the stadium confirmed , you will see those app's boosted majorly

[MartinUtd]

I'd rather see the corners filled first before anything major like a second deck on the east side. Also I think part of the pull for TFC is the fact that there's such a back log of tickets. As it sounds right now there's always 1000+ empty seats at every game (regardless of the announced sell outs).. I think if we expanded to 30000 you'd really noticed the holes in the stands.

I'd hate to see this at BMO

[TorCanSoc]

Great pic. Man we owned that stadium that day. Brilliant.

[StandUpIfYouHateChelsea]

not gunna happen, for a host of reasons, Toronto is a footy city, we have ample crowd, GET THE TICKS OUTA THE SCALPERS HANDS!!!!!! log onto those site and they have hundreds of ticks , thats y theres gaps....

[MartinUtd]

Having said that, how many of those 13000 on the waiting list are or are associated with scalpers?

[StandUpIfYouHateChelsea]

i really dont think so even if you stretch it and say that 1000 of them are... thats still 12000 people! i think that the scalper problem has to be adressed swiftly, they have to be stripped of there tickets, and the ticks should be sold to a legit fan on the list..... until that happens you will see gaps in the stadium

[Fernandinho]

I think it would be best to start off small with the expansion, fill in the corners etc. but dont exceed adding 5,000 seats...with that said, the issue of scalpers still exist. So why not cap a limit of say 4 seats for all new season seat holders and go from there.

[StandUpIfYouHateChelsea]

I think it would be best to start off small with the expansion, fill in the corners etc. but dont exceed adding 5,000 seats...with that said, the issue of scalpers still exist. So why not cap a limit of say 4 seats for all new season seat holders and go from there.

i tend to not agree, the east side is more than 5k seats, at least make it the same as the lower deck for future expansion, however we will be talking about this after the seats are on........ then they will have to expand again .....at a higher price ....

i say 10-15k it will sell mite get 33-34 k but it will be a bigger revenue than the 20k we get now

[Fernandinho]

Well that was one problem I thought would arise...the fact that they would have to do another expansion which would lead to more construction costs.

Adding 10K will certainly help the demand for tickets and at the same time the scalper issue still stands (so fixing that is the key)...but Iam thinking if more "fans" were able to get tickets, than that would put a dent into the scalper situation

[james]

i herd alot of people didnt renew there season tickets for next year. We ddin't sell out every single game this year. There was a few season games that had like 19,000 or so on. When we played Vancouver there was 18,100 fans, NOT SOLD OUT. When TFC played Montreal tickets weren't really selling like hot cakes either, they didn't sell out the tickets till the night before the game. We knew this was a huge game for TFC a few weeks ahead of time.Tickets aren't as big a demand as some people think or MLSE make it look. Id say if TFC expanded to 30,000 or so TFC would get pretty good crowds but i bet not sold out for the most part, Unless maybe we are top of the league. But if they had any bottom of the league finnishes i bet your just gonna see alot of empty seats in those extra 10,000 seats that make the stadium fit 30,000.

Really id say spend the money on fixing the stadium up, add some roofs on all the stands, fill the corners in, and add a north stand similar to the South End stand and then you got a nice stadium of maybe 25,000 or so and still keep it full for the most part. If they go any bigger your just gonna start seeing more empty seats more often!

[StandUpIfYouHateChelsea]

i dont agree, i believe the reason the two canada cup games mite not have been sold out due to poor marketing, also SCALPERS! if you see empty seats .... thats scalpers not selling there tix for triple the price... also stubhub and that other ripoff ILLEGAL scalping sites.......

[rocker]

some of the empty seats later in the year were a negative side of having so many season ticket holders. When some people buy the whole season as a package, it's easy to get complacent when the team isn't doing well or the weather sucks. I am surrounded by guys who are fans of soccer but who are also clearly relatively wealthy and they don't come to every game. If those seats were always available to the general public on a game by game basis, we'd probably wouldn't see it happen. But since the games get sold out so early, the non-STH who doesn't know these guys doesn't have a way of getting the seats. So they go to "waste" (altho they are paid for).

[profit89]

keep bmo at 20K... full stadium --> keeps demand high --> keeps stadium full.. circular.

[profit89]

I'd rather see the corners filled first before anything major like a second deck on the east side. Also I think part of the pull for TFC is the fact that there's such a back log of tickets. As it sounds right now there's always 1000+ empty seats at every game (regardless of the announced sell outs).. I think if we expanded to 30000 you'd really noticed the holes in the stands.

I'd hate to see this at BMO

sad.

[MartinUtd]

i dont agree, i believe the reason the two canada cup games mite not have been sold out due to poor marketing, also SCALPERS! if you see empty seats .... thats scalpers not selling there tix for triple the price... also stubhub and that other ripoff ILLEGAL scalping sites.......

Although scalping is a big problem, I think you're giving them too much credit. In my buddies section there's a few people who were regulars and just stopped showing up. Not everyone share's the same enthusiasm as the minority on this board.

[james]

Although scalping is a big problem, I think you're giving them too much credit. In my buddies section there's a few people who were regulars and just stopped showing up. Not everyone share's the same enthusiasm as the minority on this board.

i agree, i mean ya we have lots of fans but some people think TFC are a bigger deal then they really are. I think we could sell out 30,000 tickets to a game. I just dont think we would sell 30,000 every game. Id say keep the stadium small, then it will stay full.

[james]

Also alot of people on the waitting list for season ticekt holders already go to TFC games.The waitting list makes some people think that there are 20,000 TFC fans at the game and 10,000 more on the waitting list but actually theres 10,000 fans on the waitting list but thousands of them are already at the TFC games buying single tickets. I know a few guys who couldn't get season tickets so now they just buy singles to almost every single game, once they get season tickets question is there more fans who are gonna buy there old single tickets?

[UltraSuperMegaMo]

Why not a modest north end stand?

The point about the overlap between the waiting list and the people attending the game on single game tickets is a well made point - it’s the first time I ever seen anyone make it.

[GuelphStorm2007]

If they do expand which I think will H appen in maybe 3 years time. They should put another deck on the east stand fill in corners, and build a north stand. That should be enough for 10000 more seats. which will make the capacity at 30, 500.

[Toronto Ruffrider]

Also alot of people on the waitting list for season ticekt holders already go to TFC games.The waitting list makes some people think that there are 20,000 TFC fans at the game and 10,000 more on the waitting list but actually theres 10,000 fans on the waitting list but thousands of them are already at the TFC games buying single tickets. I know a few guys who couldn't get season tickets so now they just buy singles to almost every single game, once they get season tickets question is there more fans who are gonna buy there old single tickets?

Some marketing on the part of MLSE would really help here. I know a lot of people who want to go to TFC games but do not because they assume that there are no tickets available. People need to know that, despite games being sold out, there are still single-game tickets for sale.

[Toronto Ruffrider]

Although scalping is a big problem, I think you're giving them too much credit. In my buddies section there's a few people who were regulars and just stopped showing up. Not everyone share's the same enthusiasm as the minority on this board.

To simply not show up is a waste of tickets. At the very least, just give the tickets to charity!

[Shakes McQueen]

I think upgrading to 25,000 - 27,000 would be a good investment for maybe 4-5 years down the road.

In the meantime, I'd like to see them a) fill in the corners, b) put a roof around the entire thing, and c) make it more of a real pro sports stadium, and less a set of varsity bleachers with washrooms, and frigging prawns.

- Scott

[nascarguy]

it's in the works it's all up to the city to give the ok .. Think if we make bmo hold more poeple that is just going to make the cfl want to come move in more

[james]

To simply not show up is a waste of tickets. At the very least, just give the tickets to charity!

ya, but alot of people do waste some of them. People go on holidays or cant make it to some games for whatever reason. But i really wish they just gave them back to the club so they can re-sell them rather then just waste them!

[Super]

Put a roof on the south-end and you'll have 3-5 times the volume coming from the supporters.

[Detroit_TFC]

I admit I wasn't able to come to all the home games, but I didn't have any problem selling my tickets to fellow STHs sitting next to me. To see so many empty seats yesterday just puzzles me.

[OneLoveOneEric]

Way too soon for major expansion. Several reasons for this, but for me the biggest one is price. From my conversations with the FO, MSE view seats at BMO as incredibly underpriced right now. I've seen a 20% increase in my seat price over 2 years. That's before we get grass, or a DP. The MLSE business plan, which I think was the correct thing for them to do, was "get 'em in the seats at any cost, then adjust the price". That's what's happening now. Over the next several years, tickets will continue to increase in price to line up better with the Toronto market. I'm not saying Leafs prices, but they're going to go up a lot. This will severely trim down interest in tickets, IMO, unless either TFC become contenders for the league, or the league itself becomes a much more impressive game. IMO, both will actually have to happen to support the current level of demand at significantly higher prices. Just my opinion, but I'm not pulling these thoughts out of mid-air.
My 2 cents.

[OneLoveOneEric]

I admit I wasn't able to come to all the home games, but I didn't have any problem selling my tickets to fellow STHs sitting next to me. To see so many empty seats yesterday just puzzles me.

Because people here for the most part are die hard, and assume everyone is. NHL season has started, NFL has started, european football leagues are on TV, and 95% of the public had written off TFC's season long before this game. Many here will blame it on scalpers, but the truth, as far as I can see, is that people had simply tuned out by yesterday.

[Cashcleaner]

Let's remember that even if the club doesn't sell-out for regular season games, it's always good to have additional seats for play-offs, friendlies, and Canadian team matches.

The more I think, of it the more 25,000 sounds like the sweet spot to me when you consider all of that and the value of high-demand.

[Shakes McQueen]

Another idea, but I'd also like to see them add a terrace somewhere for supporters, instead of having BMO be an all-seater. Trying to stand around those shitty little plastic seats can be awkward, and they'd be able to cram more people into the same square footage, equalling more money.

For that matter, just tear out the seats in the south end

- Scott