Argos rule out BMO Field as future home

BMO Field has been rejected as a potential site for Toronto Argonauts games based on a feasibility study conducted in the last two weeks.

The club announced the findings in a brief statement Wednesday morning.

"We accept the study’s main finding that while BMO Field is a fine facility, our unique brand of Canadian football could not be played there in its current state," the club said in its news release. "In particular, extensive field measurements performed by a surveyor have indicated BMO Field cannot adequately accommodate our game."

The study had been authorized by the Canadian Football League’s board of governors during a meeting prior to the Grey Cup late last month. The league office was asked to work with the Argos on the study.

The 20,000-seat stadium was built specifically as a soccer facility and was believed to be unsuitable for football for several reasons. The playing surface had never been designed to contain a 110-yard field with deep CFL end zones.

As well, the field is being changed to grass for next season and soccer tenants would decry the abuse a grass field would take at the hands and cleats of professional football. The dressing rooms were tailored for smaller soccer rosters, and competition for dates between Toronto FC, amateur soccer teams and the Argos was seen as a problem.

The Argos had sought the feasibility study with an eye to bringing their game outdoors into a more intimate setting. The club has been a tenant at the Rogers Centre since it was opened in 1989.

"Our focus is now squarely on providing great game day entertainment in 2010 for our fans at Rogers Centre, a place we have been proud to call home for two decades," the team said in its statement.