Coca-Cola Coliseum

The Coliseum stands at Exhibition Place, keeping its address on Manitoba Drive where the Canadian National Exhibition has held its fair since 1922. Built between 1921 and 1922, it opened in December of that year as the CNE Coliseum, and it remains one of the oldest indoor arenas in Canada. The building sits on ground that once held the Toronto Postal Delivery Building, a structure from 1941 that served the city until 1994 before the arena took its place. The roof was raised in 2003 during a renovation, lifting the ceiling higher and increasing the seating to nearly ten thousand for special events.

Naming rights have shifted over the years. Ricoh bought the rights in 2003 for ten years, and the venue became the Ricoh Coliseum. That deal ended in 2018 when Coca-Cola stepped in, and the building took its current name. For one summer in 2015 it was briefly called the Toronto Coliseum, a temporary label that did not last. People still refer to it simply as the Coliseum, a name that has stuck through every change.

The arena holds an NHL-sized ice rink, 200 by 85 feet, and the capacity sits around 8,100 for hockey. The Toronto Marlies have called it home since 2005, and the Toronto Sceptres of the PWHL women’s league joined them. It is not the same place as Scotiabank Arena on Bay Street downtown, and the two venues have never been confused for one another.

It is not a legendary ground, just an old one that still works.