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To get fans to games, the average ticket price will be rolled back by 23 per cent, meaning about 2,600 tickets will be sold for as low as $15 per game for season’s seat holders and $19 per game for single-seat buyers.

“At the Argos, the fanbase has struggled a little bit,” Argos president Bill Manning admitted. “We were actually priced higher than TFC and we were losing some of the family aspect of Argos games.”

He said the team won’t drop ticket prices too low or give seats away en mass, because once someone is used tickets being so cheap or getting them for free “they’ll never pay.”

However, the club will “condense” seating, by selling tickets in the lower bowl first and keeping the upper deck on the east side empty, unless demand increases to fill those seats.

The team will also nix tailgating parties in the parking lots outside BMO Field and move them into the stadium. The popular U.S. phenomenon was brought to Argos games in 2016, but provincial liquor laws meant fans had to purchase booze on-site instead of bringing it from home.

Manning, who grew up in the U.S., said Toronto’s tailgating felt “forced.”

“With the ordinances and where they are, it is hard to replicate what they do in Ohio State or with the Florida Eagles,” said Manning. “It actually costs the organization a lot of money to put that on and it wasn’t worth it with the number of people that actually did it.”

He didn’t share specifics about how tailgating at BMO Field will work, but said MLSE is toying with specials and an area at the north end of the stadium that could be built out.