The CFL is "keeping its fingers crossed" that interest in the '16 Grey Cup in Toronto "at a new-look BMO Field will go a long way toward solidifying the Argonauts' often tenuous place in the city," according to Terry Koshan of the TORONTO SUN. Toronto on Thursday was awarded next year's championship game, and CFL Commissioner Jeffrey Orridge said, "It makes perfect sense for us to have the Grey Cup here and really cap off the first year of the new Argos ownership." Bell Media and MLSE Chair Larry Tanenbaum purchased the team in May. Orridge, in his first year running the CFL, "acknowledged it will be a test to help ensure the Argos become relevant and hold that spot in the city." Orridge: "It is always a challenge in a large market like this. There is so much activity here in Toronto and so many forces that compete for the entertainment dollar. But certainly the Argos ... will have a great offering off the field as well in terms of BMO Field." Koshan notes Toronto Mayor John Tory, who served as CFL Commissioner from '96-'00, "realizes the challenge as well." Attendance "never has been great at Rogers Centre since the Argos began playing there" in '89. Tory said, "We have a chance now with a virtually new stadium, new ownership, to really have a fresh start for the Argos and the Argos have a lot to do with the health of the CFL" (TORONTO SUN, 10/2).
HELP WANTED: The NATIONAL POST's Scott Stinson writes giving the Grey Cup to Toronto "ought to gnash the teeth of their counterparts in Ottawa and, especially, Hamilton, where new stadiums that traditionally push a city toward the front of the hosting line are instead being passed over in favour of a return trip to the country’s weakest CFL market." But Toronto "needs all the help it can get." The months "since the sale announcement have been a staggering disaster" off the field. The Argos "will have gone through 15 weeks of the CFL season having played precisely three games" at Rogers Centre, "where they have averaged fewer than 18,000 fans per game." Next week’s game against the RedBlacks also was "moved two weeks ago to Ottawa" because of a possible AL Wild Card game, but the Blue Jays this week clinched the AL East, and Rogers Centre "will now be empty." Should the Blue Jays make the ALCS with home-field advantage, they "would have Rogers Centre dates on Oct. 17 and Oct. 23, both of which presently have Argos’ games slotted." If those are bumped, the Argos "could conceivably have an 18-game CFL season that included just five games at home." Stinson: "One can see why the league wants to do all it can to pump the CFL in this market. ... It doesn’t hurt the Argos that one of their owners, Bell, also owns TSN, the league’s broadcast partner, which would dearly love to see a CFL boom in Toronto to help turn around flagging TV ratings" (NATIONAL POST, 10/2).
