Toronto Argos fans embrace new pre-game tailgating experience

TORONTO — The distinct smell of barbecued burgers wafted through the air, fans cracked open cans of beer, while chatting with friends and teenagers leisurely tossed a football back and forth, killing time before the big game. It was all the familiar scenes one comes to expect at a tailgate. But for Toronto — this was completely new.

For the first time, the Toronto Argonauts hosted a tailgating event ahead of their home opener at the refurbished BMO Field on Thursday. Despite the palpable anticipation, the Argos went on to lose 42-20 to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in their debut at BMO, slightly dampening the mood of the 24,812 spectators — 95 per cent capacity — who packed in for the inaugural match.

“It was awesome and disappointing all at once,” said Argos head coach Scott Milanovich, describing the feeling of being in an electric building, yet down 18-6 at half.

But three hours before the game got underway, the mood among the crowd filing into the parking lots was of eager anticipation of a season full of possibility. Under new owners Larry Tanenbaum and Bell Canada, who took over in the off-season, the Argos are undergoing a brand makeover, designed to reignite fandom in the city.

With the tailgating, the team wanted to create a “game-day experience” unlike any other sport offering in the city, said Sara Moore, the Argos senior vice president of business operations. “We wanted to make Toronto back into a football town and you need that football culture,” she said standing in the Ontario Place parking lot, one of two designated tailgating locations near the field.

The Argos have struggled to attract fans recently, only averaging 12,430 at home games last season, partly due to being displaced from the Rogers Centre due to the Pan Am Games and baseball playoffs, which forced them to play four home games away from home. With the Raptors and Blue Jays both going deep in the playoffs recently and the Leafs embarking on an ambitious rebuild, the Argos are fighting for attention in a market saturated with options.

Tailgating ahead of home games, the team hopes, will engage new fans. Yet Moore was unsure how Toronto fans would respond at first.

“It’s everything we wanted it to be,” she said, pleased so far with the maiden voyage. “We didn’t want to make it a corporate event. We didn’t want to make it a beer garden or anything like that. We said we’ll put up a fence, we’ll bring in some Porta-Potties and we’ll sell cheap, cold beer. Everything else is up to the fans and they’ve really embraced it.”

The beer, at $4 apiece, must be bought on-site due to existing liquor laws, but everything else — the food, the footballs, the fun — is supplied by the fans. And on Thursday, many were on hand to partake in the new tradition, like 40-year-old Dino Sepe, a lifelong Argos fan who used to attend games at Exhibition Stadium as a kid.

“It’s kind of like a rebirth right now. I’m stoked for it. I really am. I’ve always been a die-hard Argo fan, period. Love it.

“It’s what football’s supposed to be,” he said of the tailgating, while holding a can of Budweiser. His only complaint: “I wish it was a Molson Canadian,” he said of his beverage.

The Ontario Place lot was filled with cars, trucks, and even the Bucking Bronco, an epic monster truck decorated as a horse wearing a cowboy hat. Most vehicles were paired with barbecues and grills, serving up backyard grub to fans decked in Argo double blue, Ticat black and gold and, yes, even Roughrider green.

The league even joined in, stationing a pick-up truck decorated with CFL branding in the lot and served up free hot dogs and hamburgers to fans along with a photo opportunity with Grey Cup, which many fans — young and old — took full advantage of.

Also available for photo ops was fan favourite Michael “Pinball” Clemons and NFL legend and former Argos quarterback Joe Theismann, who strolled through the concrete lot, stopping to pose with fans who called out his first name — “Joe. Joe” — like he was an old pal.

“This is great,” Theismann said about the atmosphere. “Walking around, seeing everybody. What a beautiful night for a game. I mean, you just can’t beat the interaction that people are having, enjoying one another and coming here to cheer the Argos on.”

The Argos brain trust looked at how tailgates were done at several big U.S. colleges such as the University of Michigan, Notre Dame and Auburn. They studied the common elements of each to help inform how the Toronto experiment would be conducted.

At first glance, it was a success, according to both CFL commissioner Jeffrey Orridge and Toronto Mayor John Tory, also a former league commissioner, who were on hand to take in the parking lot scene.

“It was always a shame to see that the team just couldn’t get the interest here,” said Mayor Tory, who grew up cheering for the Double Blue. “But I think this has a good chance with good ownership, a new stadium, the tailgating, to win back that fan base. And there’s lots of people to go around in Toronto to support all the sports teams and I’m sure they’ll be able to support the Argos."