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Negative stories about Rogers Stadium are ‘branding poison’ for the sponsor, marketers say
As a marketing expert, Markus Giesler was aghast after hearing Coldplay frontman Chris Martin blast Toronto’s brand new Rogers Stadium onstage.
“It sent shivers down my spine,” Giesler said of Martin’s comments at the 50,000-capacity venue built to attract big acts to the city over the next five years.
When he took the stage Monday night, Martin thanked fans for persevering through logistical challenges to get “to this weird stadium in the middle of nowhere,” adding to early complaints from ticketholders about poor crowd control and transit woes to access the location in Toronto’s North York suburb.
Giesler, a professor at York University’s Schulich School of Business, said that’s “the worst case of sponsorships,” for the telecommunication giant, whose name is on the outdoor venue operated by Live Nation on land owned by Northcrest Developments.
“It’s the kind of branding poison that you’re trying to avoid at all costs,” he said.
Experts say that’s the risk that comes with putting your name on a facility you don’t own.
As of Wednesday, Rogers spokesman Zac Carreiro said Live Nation has been improving the venue’s operations and “we know they will continue to make enhancements at the stadium.”
A Live Nation Canada spokesperson said those adjustments include “improving crowd flow, easing traffic congestion, enhancing accessibility and comfort to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for all guests.”
“We’re pleased to see the changes have already had a positive impact,” the Live Nation Canada spokesperson said in an email.
Still, the early impressions could cast a shadow over Rogers’ reputation, Giesler said.
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“When the spotlight is on the venue, the brand’s name shines just as brightly, both in a good and in a bad way. And that has to do with the fact that the fan experience, in some sense, almost directly translates to how we think and how we feel about a brand,” he said.
If the fan experience is great, he said, customers are more likely to have a positive association with the brand attached to it.
For instance, last year Rogers billed itself as the company that brought Taylor Swift to Canada for six sold-out nights in Toronto and three final shows in Vancouver that many fans described as a highlight.
But the inverse is also true, even if Rogers isn’t in charge of the experience.
“I don’t think anyone really knows that Live Nation is operationally in charge. But that’s the kind of assumptions that we have. The place says Rogers, clearly Rogers must be in charge, right? But that’s not the case,” said Giesler.
Claire Tsai, a marketing professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, noted that Rogers’ size means it’s big enough to absorb the negative press, with millions of customers unlikely to change their telecom provider based on a bad concert experience.
“For existing Rogers customers, I think this is probably not going to affect them too much. But for people who are considering switching brands, maybe right now the sentiment is a little on the negative side. They may hesitate.”
However, she doesn’t believe the complaints around the stadium are likely to last.
“The venue will figure out a way to solve these problems,” she said, suspecting some complaints have been blown out of proportion.
One thing that’s less changeable is the venue’s location. It’s on the far outskirts of the city, roughly 15 kilometres north of the downtown core. It could take an hour or more to get there by subway from Union Station, the city’s main transit hub, including a trek that’s more than a kilometre from the nearest subway station.
Again on Tuesday, the Coldplay frontman referenced how remote it was, calling it a “very bizarre stadium a million miles from Earth.”
“We are solely testing the premise ‘if you build it they will come,’” Martin quipped. “I’m very grateful that you did come.”
But the location was a source of confusion for some, who thought they were attending a show at the similarly named Rogers Centre, located downtown.
Brian Ellis, who came to the show from Detroit, was among the concertgoers who booked accommodations next to the Rogers Centre under the mistaken belief he’d be able to walk to the show on Monday.
Instead, he walked a half-hour from the Sheppard West subway station where he parked his car.
On the positive side, with Rogers Stadium, the company is now associated with a purpose-built concert venue that can attract acts such as Coldplay and Oasis, said Michael Naraine, a professor of sport management at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont.
Large musical acts have had to compete with sporting events for time slots at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena and the Rogers Centre, a problem Rogers Stadium was meant to address.
The Rogers Centre — which is both owned and operated by the telecom company — also recently went through renovations that mean seats on the 100 level are no longer pointed toward the centre of the venue. Instead, they’re directed toward home base. It makes sense when the venue is being used for baseball, but not so much when it comes to other uses, he said.
“If you’re … a concert venue where the central act is going to be in the middle, you can’t really have your seats focused off stage right,” Naraine said.
But the Rogers Stadium won’t be a long-term solution to Toronto’s concert crunch, as it’s temporary by design.
Located near the former Downsview Airport, the site has been earmarked for a massive live-work-play development that’s expected to house more than 100,000 people upon its completion in a few decades.
In the meantime, University of Guelph marketing professor Timothy Dewhirst said there may not be much incentive to drastically improve the customer experience for concertgoers, given that Live Nation and Rogers own much of the city’s other medium-to-large concert halls.
“Often if there is that kind of concentration of the market there can be complacency. There isn’t sufficient competition of an alternative,” Dewhirst said. “It often leads to higher prices, and anyone that’s attended a music or sports event in Toronto can probably attest that it’s gotten very expensive.”
If music lovers want to see massive acts such as Oasis — who is performing two nights in August on their only stop in Canada — while avoiding the trek to Downsview, they’ll likely have to travel even farther: to Montreal or Detroit.
“To see them in Toronto, there really is not an alternative other than maybe to decide not to go,” Dewhirst said.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s late-game heroics resulted in three deafening ovations from the 42,260 inside the Rogers Centre on Friday.
The first roar arrived in the seventh inning when the Toronto Blue Jays catcher smacked an opposite-field two-run homer to right.
The next inning, the sellout crowd cheered as Kirk delivered a bases-loaded single to left field to score the game-tying and game-winning runs.
But the most thunderous praise from the faithful came when Kirk caught the Texas Rangers by surprise and stole his first career base.
“I didn’t know what was going on,” Kirk said through an interpreter after the 6-5 win. “Then I turned around and saw myself (standing at second base) on the scoreboard.”
The Blue Jays celebrated along with their low-key teammate’s first stolen base. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. pulled the base out of the ground and presented Kirk with the keepsake.
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Kirk stated the memento will soon be on display in his home. He also admitted he was surprised when first-base coach Mark Budzinski told him to steal second.
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“I looked around and said, ‘Are you serious?’” Kirk said.
Budzinski was serious. Kirk made history. He was holding on to the base during his post-game interview.
“The fact that he was holding it on the field post-game is even better,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “I think they’re authenticating it.”
Although Toronto starter Chris Bassitt endured a difficult outing, lasting only five innings and giving up an early three-run homer, his night ended on a high note, watching his battery mate’s late-game wizardry.
“He’s catching (all-time base stealing leader) Rickey (Henderson) slowly,” Bassitt said with a smile.
Kirk hit his homer with an 0-1 count and his single with a 1-2 count.
“Kirk, the hitter, is pretty hard to face,” Bassitt said. “So I hate to say it, but I expect it from him. There are not many guys on our team that I’d rather have up than him because he can do damage with any kind of pitch.
“I’m always happy when he’s up late in big situations.”
This was the American League East-leading Blue Jays’ 39th comeback win of the season, and second in as many games after Guerrero belted a game-winning two-run homer in the seventh inning for a 2-1 win against the Chicago Cubs on Thursday.
“I think the more you do it, the more comfortable you are when you’re in that situation,” Schneider said. “It’s not luck. It’s hard to do, but like anything, the more you do it, the better you get at it.”
Springer, Bieber updates
George Springer homered in the second of three at-bats in his rehab start for triple-A Buffalo on Friday and could return to the Blue Jays lineup on Saturday.
Righty Shane Bieber pitched seven shutout innings in Buffalo, striking out four with six hits and no walks on 90 pitches.
Bieber could make his Blue Jays debut next week, likely on the road against the Miami Marlins next Friday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 15, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk followed a two-run homer in the seventh inning with a game-winning two-run single in the eighth to push the Toronto Blue Jays to a 6-5 comeback win in the series opener against the Texas Rangers on Friday.
Kirk’s single with the bases loaded allowed the Blue Jays (72-51) to overcome a three-run deficit. Before Kirk’s deciding at-bat, Texas reliever Phil Matton (2-5) walked Daulton Varsho with the bases loaded to pull the home team within two runs before 42,260 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk and Rangers infielder Marcus Semien traded two-run homers in the bottom of the seventh and top of the eighth.
Reliever Louis Varland (4-3) registered the win with Jeff Hoffman notching his 28th save.
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Jacob deGrom pitched five shutout innings, allowing only two hits with no walks and five strikeouts as the Rangers’ (61-62) losing streak was extended to three games.
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Kyle Higashioka hammered a three-run homer in the second inning.
The three-run blow was one of only four hits off Toronto starter Chris Bassitt, who lasted five innings on 100 pitches and matched a season-high four walks with four strikeouts.
Blue Jays right fielder Nathan Lukes made a pair of defensive gems early. With his back against the wall, he jumped to take an extra base hit away from Joc Pederson in the first inning.
In the second inning, Lukes fielded Evan Carter’s rocket off the wall and caught the Rangers outfielder at second.
Takeaways
Rangers: They began the day 3 1/2 games back of the final American League wild-card spot.
Blue Jays: George Springer homered in the second of his three at-bats in his rehab start for triple-A Buffalo on Friday. Shane Bieber pitched seven shutout innings in Buffalo, striking out four with six hits and no walks on 90 pitches. Springer is expected to rejoin Toronto on Saturday, and Bieber could make his Blue Jays debut next week.
Key Moment
Kirk’s bases-loaded single in the eighth inning scored the tying and go-ahead runs.
Key Stat
Bassitt still hasn’t suffered a loss at home in 2025, going 8-0 with six no decisions.
Up Next
Lefty Eric Lauer (7-2) will face Texas southpaw Patrick Corbin (6-8) in the middle outing of the three-game set on Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 15, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
The Special Investigations Unit has concluded that there “are no reasonable grounds to believe” either officer committed a criminal offence in the death of a 16-year-old boy following an exchange of gunfire with police.
In the 10 seconds from when the first shot was fired by the teen to when the gunfire ceased, more than two dozen total rounds were fired, according to the SIU report released Friday.
The April 20 incident drew widespread attention when it was learned the deceased was just 16 years old, and after video from the incident was released to the media, prompting the Toronto Police Service to launch a professional standards investigation.
The 16-year-old was shot during a traffic stop near Bathurst Street and Sheppard Avenue West at around 11 p.m. and died in hospital the following day.
According to the SIU report, a red Infiniti G35 two-door coupe was driving eastbound on Sheppard Avenue West when it was pulled over by a police officer east of Bathurst Street, next to the apartment complex at 569 Sheppard Ave. W. There were six people in the five-occupant car, including the victim, or Complainant, who was sitting in the back right of the vehicle with someone on his lap.
The SIU said the female driver told police the vehicle was not hers, but belonged to an acquaintance, and that the officer asked them to wait while he went to his cruiser to run checks on her licence. He returned and said he smelled cannabis in the vehicle and that he wanted them to step out so it could be searched. Two more officers had arrived at this time and were standing at the passenger side of the Infiniti. The driver and front passenger exited the vehicle and the female passenger on the victim’s lap exited as well, leaving three people in the back of the vehicle, the report states.
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“The Complainant subsequently moved as if he was about to exit the Infiniti when he suddenly reached to his left with his right hand before swinging his right hand to the right in the direction of the open door. He was in possession of a semi-automatic pistol, which he fired once or twice at (an officer),” the SIU said.
That officer then drew his firearm, as did the officer by the driver door. An autopsy found that the complainant died of gunshot wounds to the head.
SIU director Joseph Martino writes in his decision that when the 16-year-old began shooting at police, “the officers could only have concluded that their lives were in immediate peril and that action of some type was imperative if they were going to survive.”
However, he notes that the 14-16 rounds fired by one officer and 10 or 11 by the other “contributed to an incredibly dangerous situation,” especially considering there were two other passengers still in the vehicle, the officers were firing across from each other, and there were three others who exited the vehicle but were still nearby.
“The number of shots fired by the officers is worthy of scrutiny, but is understandable in the final analysis given the evidence that the Complainant discharged his firearm three or four more times after the officers first started to fire.”
Martino also noted that the police were not firing “indiscriminately” as the trajectory of bullets showed the gunfire was generally aimed at the complainant.
Both subject officers declined an interview with the SIU, nor did they provide notes, “as is the subject official’s legal right,” the SIU explained. Two civilian witnesses and five witness officials were interviewed as part of the investigation, which also took into account police body camera footage, in-car camera footage, surveillance video from the area and police radio communications.
Meanwhile, Toronto police said in April that five people had been charged in connection with the traffic stop: a 20-year-old man, an 18-year-old woman, two 17-year-old girls and a 16-year-old girl.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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