WATCH ABOVE: The Toronto Argonauts are blaming understaffing after a number of security delays during the team’s home opener. The CFL club says Rogers Centre security staff was not trained in new security measures. Mark Carcasole reports.
TORONTO — By all accounts from football fans, Saturday’s Toronto Argonauts home opener against the Saskatchewan Roughriders at Rogers Centre was a blast.
It was an intense game that ended with a 30-26 Argos victory, but new security measures at the “Dome” resulted in lengthy delays before the game.
“I know people personally who missed the whole first quarter,” says Lori Bursey, President of Friends of the Argonauts, the team’s official fan club.
Tweets from fans waiting in line before the game clearly show their frustration:
While much of the anger is aimed at the team, Bursey says blame should actually be placed on the Rogers Centre, which she claims botched the security detail Saturday.
“I go though Gate 5, which is on the southeast corner of the Dome, and the lineup from that gate stretched all the way to the Aquarium,” says Bursey.
“They had two people at that gate looking through bags and a couple of metal detectors and that was it.”
Argos officials say there were over 20,000 people in attendance. Average delays of more than 20 minutes were reported.
The new security measures are the Major League Baseball standard and every team has been asked to implement them at their respective venues.
They include the use of enhanced bag searches and metal detectors.
The difference at Rogers Centre is that they’ve implemented those measures at all events: baseball, football and concerts.
Blue Jays fans lining up outside Rogers Centre for Wednesday’s game against Oakland take the added security measures in stride.
“You can never be too safe and it’s never posed a problem for me,” says Jessica Salvemina, who was decked out in an old Brett Lawrie Jays jersey.
Minutes later, Jays fan James Howlett told Global News it’s better to be safe than sorry.
“I think it’s a good idea,” he says.
“It’s a little like going through the airport now.”
The Argos have no problem with fans having to go through new security checks, but they do expect the staff doing them to be prepared.
“I think we overwhelmed them a little bit with our first home game,” says team CEO Chris Rudge.
“The gates opened late. Rogers Centre people were late for some reason. They were understaffed. The staff were not trained.”
Roger Centre officials didn’t respond to an interview request, but the Argos know the situation wasn’t ideal.
“What happened on Saturday night with regard to lineups and wait times to enter the stadium was not acceptable,” Rudge tells fans in an open letter posted on the team’s website.
“We believe it was unfair to you, our fans … Since the game, we have met with Rogers Centre staff to ensure this will not happen again.”
This season is the team’s final one at Rogers Centre before moving to BMO Field, and many fans are looking forward to the change:
“I know that we’re going to be looked after at BMO,” says Bursey.
“We won’t be treated like second-class citizens like we are at the Rogers Centre.”
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