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The ambitious project is meant to offset pressure from other venues that host Live Nation events, particularly the Rogers Centre, and comes as the city is witnessing a surge in demand for live entertainment.

“We already consider ourselves a top-tier market in North America, but things have changed in the last couple of years,” said Erik Hoffman, president of music at Live Nation Canada, in an interview with the Star earlier this week. “There’s an unprecedented number of stadium-level productions on the road, and while we still intend to use the Rogers Centre, they have a very full baseball schedule, so it made sense to ideate a purpose-built concert venue.”

Rogers Stadium, located on 44 acres of land at the north end of the former airport, won’t be a permanent structure. Live Nation expects the venue to operate for approximately five years before the site’s developer, Northcrest Developments, transforms the industrial land into new neighbourhoods.Ìý

”(The project) aligns with the broader vision we have for what we want to do with the site prior to development,” said Derek Goring, CEO of Northcrest, in an interview with the Star. “We have this very large site, and there are some really ambitious development plans, but we also recognize that those plans are going to take many years to materialize, and we didn’t want the land to just sit there empty while that’s happening.”

The new stadium will be entirely financed by private funds. While Hoffman would not disclose the exact cost of the project, he said it’s in the “tens of millions of dollars.� Rogers is the naming rights partner and exclusive telecommunications sponsor for the venue.

Live Nation plans to host between 12 to 15 concerts annually at the venue, from June until to the end of September, though artists have yet to be announced.Ìý

Though the facility has a capacity similar to the Rogers Centre’s, it will provide a unique concert experience, Hoffman said. The venue itself will be a horseshoelike structure with seats wrapping around the stadium floor, which can be reconfigured depending on the needs of individual events.

The facility will also feature an open-air concourse offering “elevated” food and beverage offerings, Hoffman said. “We’re going to invite people to get there early so it breaks up transportation to the site,” he added, noting the venue will host other programming before and after concerts.Ìý

Discussions between Live Nation and Northcrest only began around eight months ago, but the proposal has advanced relatively quickly compared to other projects of a similar scale.Ìý

The idea was born out of a need for a purpose-built concert space to host A-list international artists. At the time, Live Nation was facing challenges scheduling performers at the Rogers Centre during the Blue Jays’ busy summer schedule. Without this venue, Hoffman said, “we were going to have global-level artists skip over ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½.” 

Thursday’s announcement comes as a slew of major artists are expected to perform in ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ over the coming months. Taylor Swift is slated to perform six concerts at the Rogers Centre in November. Last week, Metallica announced it will play two concerts there next April.Ìý

The proposed Rogers Stadium is one of several programming initiatives that Northcrest has announced for its 370-acre property, which it took control of earlier this year. In June, the site hosted an immersive dance and theatre hybrid show as part of the 2024 Luminato Festival. The development firm also announced in April an open call for artists and programmers to reimagine some 600 metres of taxiway, activating the space with creative projects and other events.

Northcrest plans to ultimately develop the site over three decades. It’s all part of a $30-billion project to transform the land into 15 transit-oriented communities. The northern part, where the stadium will be located, will be one of the last portions of the land to be developed. Site work on the first community is expected to begin next year with major construction commencing in 2026.