I'm a Leafs fan living in the Hamilton area. I've never really given a second thought to how convenient it was to have the arena right downtown but this is bang on.
Also, can I say that I hate, with fibre of my being, the corporate naming of sports centres? Zero personality. Blah.
Corporate names are awful, but sometimes also laughable. From MLB alone:
- American Family Field
- Loan Depot Park
- Rate Field
My “favourite”: one of the former names of Oakland Coliseum:
- https://O.co Coliseum
And there was the Disney-owned NHL Anaheim Mighty Ducks named after one of their movies.
The problem I have with corporate naming of sports facilities is that the name keeps changing.
Toronto's hockey arena is on it's second name since it opened, as is the baseball facility.
Every time the corporate name changes, they have to start all over building brand recognition!
Great column Shawn. My wife occasionally notes how we can be at a Leafs or Raps game in 30 minutes by TTC or a walk of minutes from work, and how rare that is. The Panthers have always had terrible attendance and The Suburban Swamp Arena is a big reason.
As someone who used to live where the red dot is, u disagree that it impacted the built héritage (unless you mean improved) as the Horticultural Building was unusable and the Cattle Castle virtually so. The rest was parking lot. It should have been better, but was still a vast improvement
I agree it should have been MUCH better, but on heritage it improved it (imo). I went to all the useless "public" meetings to try and get a done deal changed, but it was a done deal
we're also lucky with the Sceptres at coca-cola colosseum! Montreal plays in Laval, Boston in Lowell, and New York in Newark.
i feel especially grateful after the cwhl furies played out at the mastercard center and the phf 6ix at canlan it's so much easier to convince friends to join
I live in Florida and will say that Amalie Arena where the Bolts play is also a much better spot than where the Panthers play. Nothing to see in Sunrise.
Yup, and within pretty close access to Brightline MiamiCentral if you want to avoid driving to Miami. Parking can be a bit challenging there sometimes.
Just now on the broadcast as they cut to commercial they showed some beautiful beachfront resorts that are actually in Hollywood Florida. Are they scared to show the swamp?!
huge Québecois snowbird community, with a longstanding diaspora offering services (lots of health clinics and other services advertising that they offer service in French). Though much may be changing since Trump's term began ...
And the baseball stadium too! Both being downtown is something we are so lucky to have! I love being able to get something to eat, have a drink on a patio somewhere and then just walk down to a Jays game and take transit home. Imagine if they played in Newmarket or Oshawa, brutal.
Comments
Also, can I say that I hate, with fibre of my being, the corporate naming of sports centres? Zero personality. Blah.
- American Family Field
- Loan Depot Park
- Rate Field
My “favourite”: one of the former names of Oakland Coliseum:
- https://O.co Coliseum
And there was the Disney-owned NHL Anaheim Mighty Ducks named after one of their movies.
Toronto's hockey arena is on it's second name since it opened, as is the baseball facility.
Every time the corporate name changes, they have to start all over building brand recognition!
You paid real earth dollars for it, so by all means put your stamp on it. I get it.
But name it something like "the Rogers Skydome" FFS.
Scotiabank Arena ties in third place.
https://seanmarshall.ca/2024/04/03/a-walk-to-the-park-ranking-major-league-sports-venues/
(It was a great game too.)
https://bsky.app/profile/seanyyz.bsky.social/post/3lgjscccuss2a
i feel especially grateful after the cwhl furies played out at the mastercard center and the phf 6ix at canlan it's so much easier to convince friends to join
The GO fare integration makes going to games at those venues so much easier now
i quite enjoyed it, especially your description of swamp traffic
Toronto hockey fans can also be proud of their uniforms, so much class