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Some more info about why they chose to move and more.


Organizers say Toronto's hosting duties for the 2026 FIFA World Cup at BMO Field, along with various changes happening at Exhibition Place meant holding the event in Toronto was no longer feasible.

"We've been on one-year deals at Exhibition Place going into the 2025 race," Atkinson said. "Moving forward, we don't want to go just one year at a time. We want to build a foundation.

Atkinson said the organization looked at its attendance numbers when considering where to move the event and found most of its audience has an easier commute to downtown Markham.

"Whether it be car or transit, this is a great place to host an event."
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It's more than a half-kilometre longer than the layout used in Toronto. Organizers say it will also have more space for fans.
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"There's going to be lots of great sightlines. We ran out of space at Exhibition Place and actually needed to add seats but we were unable to do so.
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The quote "we don't want to go just one year at a time" seems to be very different than what I heard during the press conference that Indy originally wanted to do just 1 year in Markham, until the mayor (I think) pressured them to do 5 years.



More from CTV

www.ctvnews.ca

Honda Indy changes lanes with move to Markham

The Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto is shifting gears and moving its tracks to Markham next year.
www.ctvnews.ca www.ctvnews.ca


Asked why the event is being moved north of Toronto, Jeff Atkinson, president of the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham, said the city’s upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup hosting duties was a factor.

“But that was not the only factor on our radar. If you look at Exhibition Place, it’s a great property, but they have a lot of development happening in the future. And you know, for us, I think there’s a lot of cities lining up right now to be a NTT IndyCar Series host, and if we took a year off from Exhibition Place in Ontario, this event may never come back,” he said.

At an unrelated news conference, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said it was “not logistically possible” to host both the FIFA World Cup and Honda Indy in the same summer, despite the city’s best efforts to make it work.

“We worked really hard to try to move the timing – a few weeks before or after – but somehow the Indy did not want to do that so we didn’t have much choice,” she said. The World Cup starts in June and runs until late July.

Chow admitted that while downtown Toronto will “miss” the Indy, the city will do its “best” to bring it back in the future.
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Any insights into what opportunities this opens up for Exhibition Place? Any existing/masterplan/wish-list type projects that could made possible or be more likely to move forward now that the site no longer has to accommodate the Indy? Would love to see an update to the long term vision from the city.
 
milkycontent said:
Any insights into what opportunities this opens up for Exhibition Place? Any existing/masterplan/wish-list type projects that could made possible or be more likely to move forward now that the site no longer has to accommodate the Indy? Would love to see an update to the long term vision from the city.
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- can we cancel the Ex?
- can we remove all the parking lots?

If the answer to either of those are no then....theres your answer
 
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milkycontent said:
Any insights into what opportunities this opens up for Exhibition Place? Any existing/masterplan/wish-list type projects that could made possible or be more likely to move forward now that the site no longer has to accommodate the Indy? Would love to see an update to the long term vision from the city.
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I just read that the permanent Flyer rollercoaster at The Ex was removed because of Indy's needs. Maybe they can build a new one there now.
 
kotsy said:
I just read that the permanent Flyer rollercoaster at The Ex was removed because of Indy's needs. Maybe they can build a new one there now.
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I think it was still there during the first year or two of the Molson Indy. Unless I'm mixing up memories, I think I walked under it for the first time when I was leaving the race, along with many others when I assume the fence had been pushed down.
However, the Bulova/Shell clock tower or whatever it was called at the time was torn down for the first Molson Indy. It was in the way of where the pit lane would go.

Edit: It's a little blurry because it's from 1986, but The Flyer can be seen in some of the video from the first race. The Flyer was demolished because it was too expensive, in 1992 or "after 1991 CNE" in most search results. https://www.torontojourney416.com/cne-flyer-roller-coaster/
 
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SubHuman said:
I think it was still there during the first year or two of the Molson Indy. Unless I'm mixing up memories, I think I walked under it for the first time when I was leaving the race, along with many others when I assume the fence had been pushed down.
However, I believe the Bulova/Shell clock tower or whatever it was called at the time may have torn down for the first Molson Indy.
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Might have been there for the first couple years but perhaps other changes to Ex Place meant they needed to remove it to compensate or Indy's space needs grew after the first few years.
 
Johnny Au said:
If we can get RMC to train Canadian engineers, the Ex could get a new version of Flyer, one that is a hybrid coaster. Think Steel Vengeance in Cedar Point.

en.wikipedia.org

Steel Vengeance - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

This would allow the Ex to have an amazing roller coaster that Canada's Wonderland doesn't even have.
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That would be amazing. The two coasters they bring are just family coasters. It would nice to have something more thrill-based.
 
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