TORONTO – Soccer fans unlucky enough to not have a ticket for MLS Cup 2010 still may have the opportunity to witness history.
All they have to do is stand back and look up at the large high-definition video screen affixed to the west side of Air Canada Center (ACC). The screen overlooks Maple Leaf Square, which was officially opened in a ceremony Wednesday involving project and city officials.
Spearheaded by Toronto FC parent company Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), Maple Leaf Square is being billed by the project’s proponents as a global entertainment destination and the epicenter of Toronto’s sports and entertainment district.
The Square will include Real Sports Bar & Grill and affiliated Real Sports Apparel. Though just open for a few weeks, the sports bar has already garnered ESPN Mobile’s distinction of “America’s Best Sports Bar,” in part because of the 39-foot-tall viewing screen at the 25,000-square foot facility.
The Reds will also figure into the square’s programming. Though not an ACC tenant, TFC matches will be broadcast live from the hi-def screen, as well as other soccer games. Players will make appearances at Real Sports Apparel, and the Square will play host to other soccer-themed special events.
“We all know that our fans start their day on the day of a TFC game somewhere else, so this is a great place to start,” MLSE executive vice president and COO Tom Anselmi said. “So it’s really about just being a gathering place for sports fans. And so far, so good."
Soccer first christened the Square back in July when the video screen aired matches of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. To commemorate the tournament, Real Sports Apparel stocked adidas and World Cup-licensed merchandise.
Similar to LA Live, a venue adjacent to the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, Maple Leaf Square will feature amenities beyond sports, including two 50-plus story residential condominium towers, a boutique hotel, supermarket, fine dining restaurant and commercial office space. The adjacent Air Canada Center and an office tower to the north combine with the Square to frame the street creating a public gathering area at the foot of the screen.
MLSE plans to show all sporting events inside the arena on the screen and expects around 2,000 fans to converge on the area for each event.
“We see this as a new kind of public space in the city, a new gathering place and a kind of sports and entertainment gathering place,” Anselmi said. “If there’s an event on, we want to be at the center of it.”
