None of that is confirmed (or even rumoured). There are plans to upgrade the Big O for 2026 (*if* Montreal decides to move forward with their bid), which would include a roof that can be dismantled (think Roman Colosseum). Basically, the Impact used to hold 2-3 games indoors at the stadium to kick off the season. Problems are a) the aforementioned roof can't have x inches of snow on it 24h prior to an event; b) the club needs to hit 30k just to break even on the rental; and c) everyone hates watching soccer at that stadium. On top of that, even on April 13th at SS, there's a risk of an unplayable surface (it happened a few years ago, with a one-day postponement). According to an article published today, Montreal won't have the choice to start their home schedule so late next year, so they'll either have to winterize SS (undersoil heating, pipes, seating, etc.) or go back to SO.
Yeah, but Montreal opens at league doormat San Jose. PM me if you're planning on traveling. As of this moment, I've got an extra ticket.
Thanks, but not in the cards for me. I don't think the Impact have ever gotten a result in the Bay area.
Watching games down there, year after year, on TV, and seeing how much warmer it is in Columbus or Foxboro on any given day make me think otherwse. Also check the average lows - none are as cold as Montreal, Toronto, or Minnesota. Chicago is close though ... That's wind-chill. I'm thinking more of the frozen pitch ... perhaps not an issue in Boston on plastic They've already announced they are repairing the roof. They used it in 2018 - and renovations have since started on the tower. It's a 2026 World Cup venue, and the government (which own the Big O) announced it will have a new roof by then. I'm sure we'll see cold-weather games at the Big O again ... the same way we saw them again at BMO in 2018, after 2 years of not being available due to winter renovations and the new roof installation.
I noticed the Revs are playing at Toronto on March 17. It's a night game, so I Imagine it will be pretty cold! I know TV rules the roost, but if there ever was a time that called for an afternoon game, that would be it. Aren't most TFC home games Saturday afternoons anyway?
It definitely calls for an afternoon game. But when your team is owned by the two biggest national sports TV networks, your opinions about when game times are, don't count. It's been mostly evening games for a few years - since not long after TV networks purchased the team. Which means a lot of Friday and Sunday night games too. I think it sucks personally. All I can do is hope for warm weather ... and I finally broke down and bought long underwear.
if you include the ones that end at 7 pm as day, yes. 3 were Saturday and 3 were Sunday. Only 5 are scheduled for 2019 - three on Saturdays. Paradoxically, the first two matches of the year, in March, when it's still very cold, and the sun would be really nice - are on weekend evenings. It's all about the national TV revenue
Not entirely true. From what I was told the league actually passed on some bigger networks to keep games at night during the summer to keep the crowds bigger and the soccer better (not the heat of the day). The 2019 schedule passed on some big channel (think ESPN/FOX/Univision) day spots for night spots on the undercard channel (think espn2/FS1/Unimas/UDN).
I count those games as day. If the Blue Jays start at 4:07 P.M. and end about 7:00 P.M., wouldn't you call that a day game?
nfitz's location says Toronto. I was talking from the perspective of a fan of Toronto FC and/or the Blue Jays in the city.
We have the almost annual tradition of a Galaxy-Rapids match being rescheduled after the schedule was released. The Sept. 12th game in Colorado will now be Sept. 11th: https://www.lagalaxy.com/post/2019/01/18/la-galaxy-match-colorado-rapids-rescheduled-sept-11
Another schedule change from the Rapids. The Wed. July 17th home game against Minnesota will now be Sat. June 8th https://www.coloradorapids.com/post...ds-announce-schedule-change-trio-2019-matches
I think https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/TOR/2018-schedule-scores.shtml for Blue Jays in 2018 and any equivalent site for any team should decide day or night by the start time. It calls a 4:07 P.M. start last March 31 a day game. If you go by sunset it is more complicated and invites people to disagree. Going by sunset means that two games that start at the same time in the same time zone can be one day and one night if the latitude and sunlight difference is big enough. Baseball-reference may not be official, but I don't know if MLB, MLS, or any league defines how early a game has to be to be a day game, so baseball-reference is the best I can work worth. Baseball has many statistical splits, and they are black-and-white. There is no debate about the pitcher's hand, inning, bases occupied, etc. at any one time. Do you want splits for day vs. night to factor in sunset time? If you use sunset time, how much of the game must be in daylight for it to be a day game? If you say a majority, then it has the possibility of a 4:07 P.M. game that lasted 3 hours being a day game and a 4:07 P.M. game the next week that lasted 4 hours being a night game because the difference in game length would be bigger than the difference in sunset time. I can't prove this, but I'm guessing that if you surveyed athletes who play outdoor sports, most of them would define day or night solely by start time and not by sunset. TLDR: Fans can care about sunlight and weather differences for games that start at the same time, but I think official records should only factor in start time.
Yeah, I'd call a 7pm start a "night game" regardless. And a mid-summer game in Indianapolis that starts at 7pm might end before sunset. (It's on the very western edge of the Eastern time zone)
When people eat supper varies, but it's better than using sunset. I define night as 6:00 P.M. or later. I might call 5:30 P.M. a night game for a sport that lasts 3 hours or more, but I would call 5:30 P.M. day for soccer.
Yikes - sometimes I eat supper at 10 pm! I think people are losing the context here. Which was March night games are quite cold.