Capacity restrictions limit Rock to 1,000 at FirstOntario Centre
Photo: Ryan McCullough
Due to new capacity restrictions mandated by the Government of Ontario, the Toronto Rock will be limited to just 1,000 fans in attendance when they host their home dates at the FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton, Ontario.
The increased restrictions will apply to concert venues, arenas and theatres at 1,000 people or 50 percent capacity, whichever is less, in response to increased COVID-19 cases across the province. The changes came into effect at 12:01 AM (ET) today.
The Rock, who are still scheduled to host the Halifax Thunderbirds on January 15th, published the following statement earlier today:
Last week, the Thunderbirds were forced to move their January 8th home date against the New York Riptide due to the province of Nova Scotia banning all “in-person events such as festivals, special events, sports games or tournaments, or arts and culture performances.”
Prior to today’s harsher large-venue gathering restrictions in Ontario, the Rock were previously limited to 50% capacity at FirstOntario for their December 18th contest against the Philadelphia Wings. The 8,043 fans the team had in attendance for their Hamilton debut has been one of this season’s largest National Lacrosse League crowds.
The Calgary Roughnecks currently face a 50% capacity restriction at the Scotiabank Saddledome. The province of Alberta was recently hosting the 2022 IIHF World Junior (Hockey) Championship in Edmonton & Red Deer, but were forced to cancel the tournament due to multiple COVID-19 cases found within the teams competing.
The province of British Columbia has also restricted sports teams competing in venues with a capacity of more than 1,000 people to cap their attendance at 50%. These rules would of course apply to Rogers Arena, home of the NLL’s Vancouver Warriors.
Saskatchewan remains the only province in the country that has not mandated reduced gathering restrictions for sporting or similar events. The Saskatchewan Rush’s next home game at the Sasktel Centre is scheduled for January 18th against the San Diego Seals.
Unlike the NLL’s Canadian clubs, their US-based franchises are operating largely “business as usual” during the rapid spread of the Omicron variant over the last several weeks.
The league recently postponed their Week 5 games, stating, “We do this out of an abundance of caution which will keep the competitive balance of our league in place while making sure that our number one priority is, and always will be, the health and safety of our players, our coaches, our staff, and our fans.”
Week 6 games, which will begin on January 7th in Vancouver, are presently scheduled to proceed as planned.