The CFL billed it as a news conference to announce that the 2016 Grey Cup was coming to BMO Field, but it was more like a party.

Correction. Thursday’s gathering, on a sun-drenched patio lounge atop the trendy Thompson Hotel felt like a mid-day soiree. Former CFL stars like Damon Allen mingled with league executives and sports industry moguls, with nearly everyone decked out in tailored suits. Servers navigated the crowd carrying hors d’ouvres while a DJ in a slim-fitting gray suit spun synthesizer-heavy ’80s funk.

The exclusive night club vibe wasn’t an accident.

While officially confirming that Toronto would host next year’s title game, CFL brass also hoped to drive home the idea that the Grey Cup isn’t just a contest but a prime-time event worthy of the league’s biggest, pickiest sports market.

In making the announcement CFL commissioner Jeffrey Orridge called Toronto “Canada’s sports capital,” and afterwards said a successful Grey Cup week — capped by the Nov. 27 championship game — is critical to the league’s long-term plans here.

“It’s going to culminate the beginning of a new era in Toronto Argonaut history,” Orridge said. “This made perfect sense with the new (Argos) ownership group coming on board, and with the newly renovated stadium, and the great new energy in Toronto behind the CFL. It was a perfect confluence of circumstances.”

The Argos are already hustling tickets, offering anyone who makes a season ticket deposit via their website a chance to buy Grey Cup seats.

And by the time the game arrives, 2016 will already have been one of the biggest sports years in the city’s history. In February ,Toronto hosts the NBA All-Star game and all the pageantry surrounding it, and in September the World Cup of Hockey returns.

Two months later, the Grey Cup comes to Toronto for the 48th time, and the first since 2012. That game and the festival associated with it generated $133 million in economic activity for the province, according to research by the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance. The study found $94.7 million of that economic activity was in Toronto alone. Figures like those catch the attention of mayor John Tory.

“I’m a believer in sports . . . and the economics of sports are very important,” said Tory, a former CFL commissioner. “All kinds of people buying tickets and patronizing restaurants . . . tourism is contributed to by these sports events. But also it’s great for the psychology of the city.”

Bringing the Grey Cup to Toronto will also culminate the Argos’ first season at a remodeled BMO Field, a move Toronto FC fans had opposed since it was first proposed.

TFC supporters argued that adding the CFL would damage the playing surface at the city-owned, MLSE-managed stadium, both functionally and aesthetically. But when Larry Tanenbaum and Bell bought the Argos in May, they made the team’s move to BMO official.

And when news of the Grey Cup surfaced Wednesday, TFC fans wondered how the stadium could accommodate two events if Toronto qualifies for next year’s MLS Cup.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

But MLSE exec Dave Hopkinson says TFC fans needn’t worry. Although Major League Soccer hasn’t yet scheduled its 2016 playoffs Hopkinson says a hypothetical title game in Toronto would take place well before the Grey Cup.

“TFC is the primary tenant,” said Hopkinson, MLSE’s chief commercial officer. “You don’t get this far into the process without having done all your homework, and we’ve done all our homework.”

Read more about: