Ask any sports fan who lives in Toronto what the name of its soccer stadium by the lake is called and they should easily know the answer as BMO Field.
However, as the FIFA World Cup takes over the Exhibition Grounds for six games in here in the so-called 6ix, the venue has a new name: Toronto Stadium.
Before and during Wednesday night’s match between Ghana and Panama, we searched for any evidence of the stadium’s usual name and its corporate sponsor, but came up empty.
How did FIFA take over the stadium?
When fans show up to the soccer stadium on the shores of Lake Ontario, some subtle changes can be noticed.
Namely, there’s no branding for the home of soccer in Toronto shown on the exterior, with much of if covered up in simple white sheets.
It’s a rather inelegant solution for a multi-million-dollar “problem.”
BMO — the abbreviated name for Bank of Montreal — is the naming rights sponsor of BMO Field, which is the home of MLS’ Toronto FC and the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts while also filling in as a part-time home for several other outfits.
But as BMO doesn’t have any affiliation or sponsorship deals with FIFA or the World Cup, the global soccer organization isn’t going to let any sort of free advertising slide. Especially not when hundreds of millions of dollars have been promised from other official sponsors.
Around Toronto Stadium, any mention of the banking brand was either covered or removed.
On the large awning over the stands to the south of the stadium, the company’s logo has been taken down and a FIFA logo has been erected.
On the red seats below, which are reserved for the boisterous supporters section during Toronto FC matches, several seats appear to have been replaced to scrub out the letter ‘BMO,’ which stretch across three entire sections.
BMO wasn’t the only brand stricken from the amenities, either. On something as simple as ketchup and mustard dispensers near concession stands, black tape was used to cover any logos.
What has happened at other stadiums?
While these changes don’t seem all that egregious, the lengths that FIFA has gone to in order to appease its corporate sponsors has gotten silly at other venues.
Out in California at so-called San Francisco Stadium — usually called Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers — FIFA has simply covered the Levi’s logo on the front of the stadium with a white tarp.
Levi’s, which isn’t one of FIFA’s sponsors, took the opportunity and ran with it, poking fun at the situation.
On the popular jeans brand’s Instagram account, it changed its profile picture to the silhouette of the white tarp covering the logo.
“Welcoming the world to the beautiful [redacted] stadium!” Levi’s captioned the post.
In Arlington, Tex., the home of the Dallas Cowboys, any sort of signage for AT&T Stadium has been covered up, including on the top of the massive jumbotron at midfield. Pepsi logos, of which there are many in the stadium, also have been covered with FIFA and World Cup 2026 signage.
Meanwhile, at Boston Stadium, which is actually located in Foxboro, Mass., some poor souls had quite the task on their hands. At the venue typically known as Gillette Stadium, each seat is marked with the the brand’s name on the number plate. That means that FIFA volunteers presumably were tasked with placing strips of tape on each of the 64,146 seats at the home of the NFL’s New England Patriots.
Now, the exception to this madness on the list of 16 host cities and stadiums is actually Canada’s other venue in Vancouver.
BC Place is the only stadium that hasn’t been renamed to its location by FIFA as it does not bear any sort of sponsorship in its name and refers to the province in which it is located.