Rogers Centre - Skydome, Toronto

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I don't care how many companies own this facility and how often they'll change its name - for me this will forever be the Skydome. When it opened in the late 80's we were all agog by the retractable roof, since that seemed to spice up the otherwise dull baseball games. The Skydome really found a place in the imaginations of all Torontonians in the early 90s (93 and 94) when the Blue Jays won back-to-back World Series pennants. It was the point at which baseball replaced the much beloved game of hockey as Toronto's pride and joy. Unfortunately the subsequent strike dealt a blow to the popularity of the game from which it has yet to recover. For this reason the Skydome is rarely filled for baseball games. Its a bit more fun to simply go down to the Skydome area, see if the roof is retracted or not and enjoy the views of the city from around the Dome.

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Rogers Centre is noted for being the first stadium to have a fully-retractable motorized roof, as well as a 348-room hotel attached to it, with 70 rooms overlooking the field. It is also the most recent North American major-league stadium built to accommodate both football and baseball, although some of the newer baseball parks have been known to host the occasional college football game. While it is primarily a sports venue, Rogers Centre also hosts other large-scale events such as conventions, trade fairs, and concerts.

Rogers Center (Formerly Toronto Skydome) situated close to Lake Ontario and the CN Tower, the world's first multi-purpose retractable domed stadium, and now a defining part of the Toronto skyline.Home to the Toronto Blue Jays since the 1989 season, as well as the Argonaut Canadian Football League squad, this $500-million-plus architectural marvel (formerly known as SkyDome) is the first stadium to have a fully retractable roof. Seating more than 50,000 for baseball, the stadium boasts the world's largest JumboTron scoreboard, a 346-room hotel with some suites facing the field, and a Hard Rock Cafe with field-view seating. Guided tours operate daily depending on the event schedule: Entrance Fee is CAD12.50.

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Welcome to Rogers Centre, Toronto! The famous centre was formerly known as Skydome up to Year 2005. The world's first multi-purpose retractable domed stadium is situated in the heart of downtown Toronto which is the venue of several entertainment any season all year-round. Rogers Centre is a sports centre but also hosts other events like concerts, trade fairs, and conventions.

It is convenient to visit Rogers Centre. The Toronto Blue Jays and Toronto Argonauts are headquartered within the building. There are many attractions to see in the area, so come visit the Rogers Centre now. This is one of the places in Toronto that you should not miss.

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This remarkable stadium is most well known due to its retractable roof.
It recently changed its name from Skydome to Rogers Centre. Many people did not even realize this! There is abundance of information. I suggest diving directly to their website to read more!

SkyDome was completed in 1989 to host the Toronto Blue Jays and the Toronto Argonauts. It has a retractable roof, a Hard Rock Cafe, a hotel, and seating for 53,000 spectators. Perhaps its most famous moment came when people at the hotel stood nude at the windows in front of the whole stadium and a television audience.

On this night there was a Baseball game on and so a group of us got together and headed over to the Rodgers Centre. I expected a bigger crowd - most of the huge stadium was empty. I can't say I was taken by the whole thing - even though it was the NY Yankees vs the Jets (I think that's what their called)

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I also had the pleasure to visit the SkyDome on one trip to Toronto. It is impressive, I have to get back there though for a ball game or some event.

The tour is still impressive though and I enjoyed all the old memorabilia from the Toronto Blue Jays world series victories in the early 90s. The building is famous for its retractable roof and the size of the building itself. The entire Rogers Centre development is 12.7 acres, 143,000 square feet of exhibit space on field level, volume inside with roof closed - 56.5 million cubic feet (1.6 million cubic meters), the diameter of the building is 700 feet, the building itself is 11.5 acres (4.66 hectares) and the ceiling height is 310 feet.

During the time of my visit the place was being prepared for a Jackie Chan stunt show or something like that, so I didn't get to see the ball field diamond.

This is the Rogers Centre/Skydome located just next to the CN Tower and is the place for many sporting events, concerts, and other activities. I was surprised at just how close it is the the CN Tower. Literally, if you walk outside the Tower, you are at the Rogers Centre! A strange footnote of little consequence... I used to work for a fiber optic cable manufacturer and Rogers Cable was one of my accounts. Isn't that interesting??? Ok, go back to sleep...

One thing you should try to do is go to a baseball game. The first game I actually saw from the top of the CN tower. Hahaha, I was so frustrated looking down seeing the game going on, and wondering why I didn't have any tickets to the game! I like baseball and seeing them playing the game made me eager to go to a real baseball game myself one day.
And in May 2002 I finally got a chance to go to my first "major" baseball game, and it was great! Our friends got free tickets for the game, and invited us to join them... and of course I didn't say no :-)) I love baseball, and going to a 'real' game was something I always wanted to do.
Please take a look at the sport travel tips to see more photos of the game.

Next to the CN tower is the Skydome or Rogers Centre (as you could see in my previous tips). The Skydome is a huge stadium, which is the home of (among others) the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club.

This piece of art that you can see in the picture is on the corner of the building. It is created by Canadian artist Michael Snow and is called "The Audience" It is a portrayal of fans and it is made in two pieces : on the northeast and northwest entrances to SkyDome and is really fun to see.