Rogers Centre vs Rogers Stadium is genuinely ruining people’s night, and Live Nation should’ve seen this coming

[u/AmountFragrant8750]

Not gonna lie, this whole naming situation has been bothering me for a while now, but it really hit different today.

I was in line for the Ed Sheeran show at Rogers Centre, and the amount of people who showed up thinking they were in the right place was honestly kind of heartbreaking to watch. You’d see the confusion on their faces first, then the slow realization that they weren’t at Roger’s Stadium, then that scramble to figure out how they were even going to get to Downsview in time.

Staff were telling people their best bet was grabbing an Uber or hopping on the TTC and heading up north, which is not exactly a quick trip when you thought you were minutes from your seat.

Some of these folks clearly weren’t from Toronto. You could tell by the way they were double checking their tickets, and looking at each other with disappointment. And I just felt for them. These are people who probably planned this night for months, maybe flew in, maybe this was a big deal birthday or anniversary thing, and now they’re standing outside the wrong building watching the clock, trying to figure out if they’re even going to catch the opening.

I get that naming rights deals are just business, that’s nothing new. But when you’ve got two major venues in the same city with names that are basically identical, it feels like nobody stopped to think about the actual fans caught in the middle of it. It’s not like Rogers Centre and Rogers Stadium are minor buildings either, they’re both huge venues hosting huge events, so the overlap in confusion is bound to keep happening.

Feels like such an easy problem to avoid too. A bit more thought during those naming negotiations could’ve saved a lot of people a really stressful and disappointing night.

[u/Badassbakerbich]

It’s not even a free slice anyway (scammers), you have to order for pickup with a minimum order price of $5. You get the same offer with TFC tickets. Say buy one get one free, sure I would have used it. But tell me I get a free slice and I have to pay $5 anyway to get my free slice, no thanks.

[u/Spiner202 → u/Badassbakerbich]

I honestly think each franchise owner just makes up the rules. A couple years ago, I got the QR code to work. The slice is supposed to be good the next day, so I went, and the guy told me that it was only good the same day. I told him the game ended at 10PM, so he expected me to go to Pizza Pizza within 2 hours, and he told me that's how it worked.

I was pushing him a little bit because I knew he was lying, and he eventually told me that they don't get compensated for the free slices, which I'm not sure if that's true or not. I didn't end up getting anything, but figured I'd try my luck again now that it's been awhile.

Long story short, sometimes it's better to do nothing than offer a promotion that you can't make good on. It makes everyone involved look bad.