Steve Milton: Big changes coming to Tim Hortons Field for Grey Cup

It's got the sense of wanderlust freedom that's become the stadium's brand, but there's also a new and field-focused intimacy of a classic football bowl.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats have revealed the dramatic reconfiguration of Tim Hortons Field for the Nov. 19 Grey Cup Game - a rendering they're calling Grey Cup: Social 2.0.

The word social' has a lot of merit at Tim Hortons Field," says Matt Afinec, president and chief operating officer of Hamilton Sports Group, which owns the Ticats and Forge FC. We've always talked about the importance of walking, talking, socializing, in different ways: your kids on the playground; your friends down in the south end zone. Social,' to us, is a bit all-encompassing."

The ability for most fans to move around the stadium has been preserved for the Grey Cup, with an open walkway through the plaza beyond the south end zone and thousands of standing spots along the west concourse and about two-thirds of the east concourse.

But in a few striking instances, the stadium will look vastly different from both the Cup game held here in December 2021, when lingering pandemic concerns overrode some planned enhancements, and, most notably, from the original renderings which had to be shelved for 2021 and were expected to be revived for the 2023 game.

We've applied the learnings from the major national and international events we've had here over the last three years to build what we think is the best configuration for our fans," Afinec told The Spectator, referring to the 2021 Cup game, and three 2022 events: the men's World Cup soccer qualifier between Canada and the U.S., the NHL's Heritage Classic and the iconic Arkells concert.

We took little pieces from each of them," Afinec said.

Most strikingly, the elevated stands beyond each end zone, which creates a traditional bowl" effect, closing the field in at both ends and significantly boosting the sense of field-level intensity for both the fans in the stadium and for the vast television audience.

All social viewing - essentially standing-only tickets - will be in the three upper tiers of the south (Mountain side) plaza, mimicking what already exists in the Stelco section in the north (Lake Ontario side) end. Those tiers will tower 30 feet above what is now the Stipley Bar in the south plaza, and sit atop two rows of railway boxcars which will house private boxes.

Those social tickets will be restricted to that area and will cost $199 when all tickets sales open to the general public on Canada Day at 10 a.m.

Prior to July 1, the only way to get a Grey Cup ticket is to buy a season ticket - an ubiquitous practice in Grey Cup cities to bolster subscriptions - and Afinec expects about two-thirds of all tickets will be snapped up by subscribers before Canada Day.

The social viewing tickets are the only tickets which have not been discounted for season ticket holders, who've had exclusive rights to buy Cup tickets since last fall. Some of those discounts run as high as 30 per cent and continue until July 1.

There are 10 price points for tickets, not counting the large number of high-income-generating private boxes that already exist or will be installed for the Grey Cup and for which there is more demand than supply.

Prices for season ticket holders range from $109 (in temporary stands flanking the scoreboard) to $539 for platinum seats. On July 1, that range will become $129 to $599.

The boxcar suites and social viewing spots above them will cover the existing stadium fence and are set back from another set of private boxes called the Touchdown Lounge, which will sit atop the head wall" that drops down to the south end zone of the field. That will replace the current Stipley Bar.

Because those structures will take up some space that was used for social viewing at the 2021 Grey Cup, capacity of the stadium is reduced to 31,000 for the Grey Cup game. Attendance was 33,000 for the bareboned '21 Cup, and normal football capacity for the stadium is just under 24,000.

But the inventory" of expensive (the club won't reveal the price) suites, combined with efficient cost practices, should counteract the smaller head count to make this a very profitable Grey Cup.

Afinec says the south-end structure will be built sometime in the fall so food and beverage services, security measures and other day-of procedures can be tested and tweaked during a couple of games before the Grey Cup.

Over the next few months, the club will gradually release - like a pressure valve - more details about the Grey Cup festival week, halftime, pre-game, and downtown entertainment acts and other attractions.

Here are the highlights of Social 2.0:

• South Plaza: Running from the current stadium fence, right across Cannon Street - the NHL outdoor game used the street for a number of promotions - there will be live entertainment, interactive games, food trucks and sponsored events in 90,000 square feet of the south plaza. The 12 Touchdown Suites" will sit at the front edge of the plaza stretching from sideline to sideline directly above the end zone, with a pedestrian thoroughfare separating them from the boxcar suites, which are topped by three levels of social viewing called The Stipley Loft. Under the original plans, halftime entertainment was to be atop a series of boxcar restaurants in the south end but, inspired by the Arkells experience, entertainment has been moved to the north side.

• North End: The current Stelco section remains in place, and will be surrounded by two banks of temporary grandstands rising high on either side of the scoreboard, stretching back into the nearby parking lot and seating 4,000 fans. Halftime, and other, entertainment will be on a stage in the Stelco area, which means no stages have to be rolled onto the field, so more time can be spent playing tunes.

• Sideline Terrace: This change has already had a soft launch" during last Saturday's Forge FC game and will remain in place the rest of both the football and soccer seasons. Nine closed-in private boxes are in the former standing room spots on the east-side concourse between the 35-yard lines. Standing room is still available on either side of the boxes and all along the west-side concourse.

Steve Milton is a Hamilton-based sports columnist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: smilton@thespec.com