Will the new 50K-seat stadium in Toronto host sports?

Toronto citizens got the news on Thursday that a major new venue is coming to town, but it’s not exactly being advertised as a sports hub.

This week, Live Nation announced the plans for Rogers Stadium at Downsview Park in Toronto, a new 50,000-seat outdoor entertainment venue set to open next year and house about 12 to 15 shows each summer.

Of the capacity, 30,000 will be seats, while the rest will be standing room only. It’s only expected to exist temporarily until the property is redeveloped into a new housing development over the coming decades.

Following the opening of a new venue at the Casino at Great Canadian Resort in 2023 or History in 2021, the city has seen a few new places to see live music in the past few years.

But with Rogers Stadium blowing them out of the water in terms of size and capacity, sports fans are naturally curious about other possibilities for the new stage.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman posited in today’s episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast about the possibility of the NHL and the Toronto Maple Leafs hosting an outdoor game there.

“It’s meant to be a concert venue, but I wonder if they’re going to try to put an outdoor [NHL] game here,” Friedman said. “That is an area of the city where there is room to park, there is transit… I wonder if that’s got outdoor game possibility to it.”

The Leafs previously hosted the Detroit Red Wings for the Centennial Classic at BMO Field on January 1, 2017, while also having played road games outdoors against Detroit and the Washington Capitals.

While Friedman’s idea is just one way the stadium could be used, there’s no shortage of interest in Toronto sports or international events coming into town.

Meanwhile, Ontario Premier Doug Ford made a push for Toronto to get an NFL team at a press conference announcing the venue.

NEW – Premier Ford was asked if the Downsview site would be suitable for a Toronto NFL franchise “I believe so” he said “The NFL can’t keep ignoring the third largest market” “We need an NFL franchise here”

— Richard Southern (@RichardCityNews) September 26, 2024

While we don’t have any concrete answers exactly on if Live Nation plans on diversifying the venue, it’s fun to wonder in the meantime what possibilities Rogers Stadium could house once it’s built.