Argos could still play at BMO Field, as MLSE's Leiweke says "We will honour that commitment."

The saga of the Toronto Argonauts and BMO Field has been a rather epic odyssey, and it's taken yet another twist. While May's reports had them being left out of the renovations thanks to federal and provincial government money not coming through, news emerged last week that Argos' owner David Braley was still pushing for the team to move there. Now, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment president and CEO Tim Leiweke told The Toronto Sun's Kurtis Larson Monday (ahead of a Tuesday groundbreaking on the renovations) that the organization is commited to including the Argonauts:

“That’s a commitment that is a legal obligation to the city and the province,” Leiweke told the Sun. “We will honour that commitment.”

Just how they're going to honour that is somewhat up in the air at the moment, as about $20 million extra is expected to be needed to make the stadium suitable for football, and no one has stepped up to provide that yet. Moreover, with construction set to get underway Tuesday, the clock is ticking; the Argonauts need to be included sooner rather than later if the renovations are going to work for them. Still, it's good for the team to see public comments from Leiweke that they're still a part of the plan, even if details are scant at the moment.

The history of the Argonauts and BMO Field makes it clear that nothing's ever settled until the end despite public comments, though. The team was initially expected to be a tenant in a shared stadium with a soccer franchise, but when the plans to build that at the University of Toronto fell through, they wound up being left out of BMO Field's construction despite city council's insistence that the facility be suitable for conversion to football. The chances of putting them in later seemed slim at first, especially once the BMO Field surface was changed to grass in 2010 (and there are still major issues with the idea of having a CFL team share a grass field with a soccer team), but endorsements from the Exhibition Place board, Toronto city council's executive committee and finally the entire council made it seem all but done. When the government funding fell through and reports surfaced that the Argonauts would be left out, it seemed like the equivalent of opening Aeolus' bag of the winds in sight of home, only to be blown off course and stranded for another decade. (That's a thoroughly appropriate metaphor for a nautical team with a name rooted in Greek mythology.)

Still, it's better to have Leiweke and MLSE officials talking about honouring their commitment to the Argonauts than to have them publicly backing away from it. Add that to the new proposed stadium for them in Mississauga, and their stadium situation's looking much better than it has in months. That Mississauga story might also cause Toronto's council to up the pressure on MLSE to do something for the Argonauts quickly. BMO Field still appears like the best and most logical destination for this franchise, and these comments suggest it could happen. Don't start celebrating until the Argonauts are actually in port, though.