FIFA’s takeover of 11 NFL stadiums (in which 13 teams play) has created various complications and annoyances, including the displacement of the New York Giants to West Virginia for training camp. It’s had a more pronounced impact on the CFL, which had started its season before the first World Cup game was played.
Toronto quarterback Chad Kelly attributes his team’s early-season struggles to the fact that the commandeering of its stadium, BMO Field, for World Cup games will result in a seven-game road trip to open the campaign.
“This is [obviously something unprecedented](https://3downnation.com/2026/07/12/chad-kelly-expresses-frustration-with-toronto-argonauts-unprecedented-road-schedule-fifa-world-cup-displacement/),” Kelly said after Toronto’s 30-21 loss at Winnipeg, via JC Abbott of 3DownNation.com. “No professional team has had to do what we’re doing right now with five straight away games, back-to-back-to-back leaving the East to go West, and it’s not easy. It’s definitely not easy. I think we’ve got to dig down. We’ve got Hamilton next; that’s close by. We have to just make it happen. We’ve got to make it work.”
Although the last of six World Cup games at BMO Field in Toronto was played on July 2, the stadium remains unavailable as temporary stands for the World Cup are removed.
And the inconvenience extends beyond the games. BMO Field also serves as the Argonauts’ practice field and main offices. Their temporary home base is more than 50 miles away from Toronto.
“We’re traveling so much every single day,” Kelly said. “Some guys are living in Toronto and driving an hour. This is something that’s very hard. It’s very hard from top to bottom, and we’re dealing with it, trying to make it the best we can work. It’s just what it is right now.”
It’s not as if the Argonauts will make up for their absence from home with a long stretch of Toronto games. Three of their home games will have been played on the road, against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Toronto has played five games on the road, winning two of them, with two more road games to come. Toronto won’t play its first true home game on August 6, with six of the final 11 games at BMO Field.