Thursday 1 August 2013

Rogers Centre Tour Experience, Toronto, ON

Gord and I love going to the Toronto Blue Jays games so we did the tour of Rogers Centre, where the Blue Jays play, this afternoon.



Rogers Centre Tour Experience is the best way to appreciate the wonders of the Rogers Centre, home of the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Team and Toronto Argonauts Football Team. Find out about past and upcoming events and learn how the stadium can change configurations from baseball, football and concert modes.

Rogers Centre Tour Experience is a one hour fully guided behind-the-scenes tour. Highlights include a visit to different levels, a press box and a luxury suite among other stops. 


We bought tickets for the 3pm tour.


While we were waiting, I walked around and took some pictures.

Looking up up up at the CN Tower

The Ripley's Aquarium of Canada is expected to open in September 2013 ... should be fun!


Recently a memorial was unveiled, paying tribute to Ted Rogers.


I looked up up up and saw people doing the CN Tower Edgewalk.  No way would I do that!


Jasmine was our guide and gave us lots of interesting information.


Rogers Centre, formerly known as SkyDome, is one of the most dynamic and versatile entertainment centres in the world. No other venue has the diversity of events that Rogers Centre hosts on an annual basis across over 200 event days. Since its opening on June 3, 1989, Rogers Centre has achieved the highest honours in the stadium entertainment industry and is a leader in corporate environmental responsibility.

Rogers Centre is the home of the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club, World Series Champions in 1992 and 1993, and the Toronto Argonauts Football Teamwho won the Grey Cup in 1991, 1996, 1997 and 2004. From 2008 to 2012, the venue also hosted Buffalo Bills football games (NFL).

Rogers Centre's capacity ranges from a few thousand to upwards of 50,000 seated guests for sport events, concerts, family shows, trade shows and conventions.

The first stop was the 200 level.  What a difference when there isn't a game going on!


Here's the view from the 200 level seats.  They were transforming the field from a football field for the Toronto Argonauts to a baseball field for the Blue Jays.  Alas, we couldn't go onto the field :(

The Renaissance Hotel surrounds the video board

The 31-storey high roof consists of four panels; one (on the north end) is fixed in place and the other three are moved by electrically driven train engines, that run on high strength railway rails. The roof takes 20 minutes to open.

The video board measures 33 feet (10 m) by 110 feet. 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.

Then Jasmine took us to a press box and a luxury suite.


Here's one of two press boxes.  This one will hold about 115 reporters.

Batter's box
First base
Pitcher's mound

The press gets to eat for about $15.


There are lots of pictures on the walls of Blue Jays.


We got to see a luxury suite ... sweet!  This one holds about 15 people and costs about $4000 per game (plus the cost of food and booze).


Then we went down to the 100 level.

They are very diligent in making sure the Astro Turf is flat.
Where they store the Astro Turf
The pitcher's mound

We went down to the first row in the 100 level.

Gord and I

It was an good tour!  It was interesting to learn more about Rogers Centre.

1 comment:

Teresa said...

That's a pretty extensive tour. As for the people doing the Skywalk thing that gave me the chills.