If you build it, they will watch.

The Toronto Argonaut’s first-ever home opener at BMO Field drew an average TV audience of 692,000, a 39 per cent jump over the Argos 2015 home opener and 46 per cent jump from the league’s season-opener last season between Ottawa and Montreal.

In the Toronto-Hamilton extended market, audience levels for the game were up 83 per cent over last year’s Argos opener and audience levels peaked at 912,000 viewers during the third quarter as the Argos attempted a second-half comeback. Hamilton ultimately prevailed 42-20.

The numbers are good news for a league that saw television ratings dip 15 per cent last year – when the average audience was 590,000 – and nine per cent in 2014.