Hamilton’s TD Coliseum Set To Change Ontario Concert Landscape With Friday-Night Opening, Paul McCartney Concert

The stage is fully set for TD Coliseum to change the concert landscape in Hamilton, Ontario, with a $300 million project transforming a venerable hometown venue into a world-class indoor facility in a growing market.

Following today’s ribbon-cutting, a media tour on Wednesday and a soft opening private concert featuring a full set by Earth, Wind & Fire on Tuesday, TD Coliseum appears more than ready for Friday night’s grand opening sold-out concert by Paul McCartney.

“Seven hundred and forty-nine days ago, we stood here talking about a vision, a dream of what this venue was going to become, and now it’s real,” Nick DeLuco, VP and general manager of TD Coliseum for Oak View Group, said Thursday at the ribbon-cutting event that also included Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath, representatives from TD Bank, Live Nation Canada’s Wayne Zronik and Oak View Group interim CEO Chris Granger. “We truly believe we built a venue that is world-class, something for Hamilton to be proud of, something for the region to surround itself with and come to events and live entertainment here.” OVG is parent company to Pollstar.

See Also: Executive Profile: Hamilton Gets Its Shot With Nick DeLuco At Helm Of TD Coliseum

OVG interim CEO Chris Granger thanked partners, including TD Bank, the local mayor and premier’s offices, Live Nation and OVG’s tens of thousands of employees involved in making the new arena a reality, and had praise for the city and its people.

“We have found everyone here to be wonderfully friendly and industrious, hardworking and gracious with their time with us, and we feel very much a part of the Hamilton family,” said Granger. “We have also found that people tend to underestimate and underappreciate Hamilton, and we believe that ends today. At OVG, we build and we operate arenas and stadiums and convention centers all across the world. And fortunately, in my 30 years of doing what we do, I have been to almost every arena of consequence on the planet. And I can tell you that this arena lacks nothing.”

A media preview on Wednesday included up-close looks at various hospitality spaces, premium clubs and artist compound, including a sneak peek of swanky, ornate The Iron Cow restaurant located within the arena complex with a separate entrance. Developed in partnership with celebrated hometown chef Matty Matheson, the restaurant will operate during the McCartney concert, although some work is still being completed behind the scenes.

TD Coliseum, formerly known as FirstOntario Centre and opening as Copps Coliseum in 1985, already boasted a capacity of about 18,000, suitable loading docks and the ability to host sports and concerts. However, the city-owned venue’s outdated rigging grid made hanging modern large-scale productions difficult or impossible.  A replacement of the rigging grid, now with more than 250,000 pounds of loading capacity, full new seat install, upgraded acoustic paneling and cosmetic enhancements got the arena interior up to snuff, leaving most of the heavy-duty construction to be done on the perimeter.

Paul Young, SVP of project management at Oak View Group, said the concept is all about speed and convenience for touring crews loading in and out, coupled with a positive experience from the artists and their teams on stage and behind the scenes, which he said has already received positive feedback after Tuesday’s preview event. 

Gobs of previously unused space made the old Copps Coliseum ideal for this kind of project, Young said, leading to the ability to create a whole new concourse as well as hospitality spaces, including multiple clubs and spacious lounges. Each space has its own concept or aesthetic, ranging from the intimate, custom-curated Vinyl Room decked out with memorabilia, real vinyl records and cassette tapes on display (and even spinning tunes in the room) to multiple more spacious clubs, including the extra-premium TD Lounge, Rogers Club restaurant and laid-back House of Peroni. 

A purpose-built, dedicated artist compound includes five dressing rooms, a private lounge, catering space and direct stage access while expanded locker rooms and production offices support teams and touring personnel.

A unique feature of the arena is nine event-level suite spaces, offering premium hospitality and spacious seating and viewing while located within the traditional arena seating bowl area, allowing guests to enjoy the suite experience while missing none of the action on stage or on the ice. It’s a concept considered unique for a traditional arena venue, and the response from the industry and corporate Canada has been positive.

The perks and extra touches are something the city of Hamilton, population about 520,000 and an hour drive from Toronto, has not seen at its sports and entertainment venues before, and clearly local media, residents and the business community have been impressed and somewhat shocked to see the results.

“We have had customers getting emotional on sales calls about the opportunity to have these premium products back in the building,” says Billy Cranney, Vice President, Premium Sales & Service at Oak View Group.  “They’ve talked about coming to the arena as a kid and now owning a business, and being able to use seats or suites in the building to almost rejuvenate their love for the industry and for the building. And then they’re just blown away by the changes.” 

Seat licenses for all suites were mostly sold out ahead of opening, and the Tuesday night preview already saw a bump in sales, Cranney said, with the expectation of added excitement after the grand opening Friday. 

The arena opening is also personal for those involved in its development and operation, including Live Nation Canada’s Wayne Zronik, who grew up in nearby Brantford.

“We’d make a trip down to Hamilton for shopping at Jackson Square or Lime Ridge Mall, and we’d have lunch in Hess Village or go to shows at Copps or Hamilton Place,” he said. “So, as a child, for me, Hamilton was my downtown and Hamilton is really effectively the downtown of the Golden Horseshoe. Now, it has the world-class venue that it so richly deserves and it’ll attract artists, events and visitors from around the region and beyond. We couldn’t be more proud and excited to be a part of it.”

Upcoming shows include McCartney on Friday, Nov. 21, Sonu Nigam (Nov. 23); mgk (Dec. 8), Andrea Bocelli (Dec. 9); Brad Paisley (Dec. 12); the Jonas Brothers (Dec. 14), Trans Siberian Orchestra (Dec. 28) and Matt Rife (Dec. 30). 

“Ticket sales have been great, across genres as well,” Granger said. “Everything we have on sale right now is tracking very favorably, so there are no concerns on that end. I don’t want to say we were pleasantly surprised, but the numbers have been robust in every category so far.”

The Toronto Rock lacrosse club will open its nine-game home schedule on Dec. 13, and the arena’s first hockey game will be a PWHL Takeover Tour Game on Jan. 3. TD Coliseum will also host the 2026 JUNO Awards, broadcast live on CBC on March 29.