It's not just baseball fans that are excited to see the Toronto Blue Jays return to Rogers Centre — local businesses are happy too.
After a 10-game road trip to start the season, Toronto hosts the Detroit Tigers in their home opener on Tuesday. Significant off-season renovations to Rogers Centre forced the Blue Jays to start the year south of the border but team president Mark Shapiro believes the changes will improve the fan experience at the ballpark and be a boon to the local economy.
The home opener will be fans' first opportunity to take in the new 500-level seats and so-called fan districts overlooking the outfield. The radically different look to Rogers Centre will be showcased in a lengthy pre-game ceremony set to begin at 6 p.m. ET, an hour before the game's start time. "Ultimately, the modernized fan experience at Rogers Centre increases the ballpark’s appeal and Toronto’s reputation as a world-class entertainment city," said Shapiro.
"It's that confluence of experiences in the same place at the same time and baseball lines up very well with that because of the frequency of the games," he said."You can see an afternoon baseball game and still get to the theatre in the evening or a concert or something like that.
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