The BioSteel Centre is a basketball practice facility in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Opened on February 10, 2016, the facility is home to the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association, and operated by the team's owner, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. The 68,000-square-foot (6,300 m2) facility has two full size basketball courts, locker rooms, training and medical facilities, player amenities, and a "technologically advanced cognitive operations centre" powered by IBM Watson, which consolidates and analyzes data from many sources and represented through the centre's interactive displays and on mobile devices.
Video BioSteel Centre
History
In November 2013, it was reported that MLSE had contracted an architect to design a new practice facility for the Raptors. The team had trained on a practice court located in the ACC since its opening in 1999, and a new facility would allow this space to be repurposed into a restaurant or nightclub. An agreement was reached with the City of Toronto to construct the facility at the city-owned Exhibition Place. It will feature two courts, one of which will be open to the public, and Canada Basketball will also use the facility.
MLSE will pay the entire $30 million construction cost and lease the property from the city for $205,000 annually, subject to reassessments for inflation, for a 20-year term, with two options to extend it by a further 10 years, following which the city would take ownership of the building. MLSE has requested that the city exempt the portion of the facility that is available to the public (32%) from city taxes. Construction was scheduled to begin in November 2014, with the facility completed in time for the team's hosting of the NBA All-Star Game in February 2016.
The proposal was approved by the Board of Governors of Exhibition Place on August 14, the Executive Committee of the City of Toronto on August 20, and the Toronto City Council on August 25.
In November 2015 it was announced that the facility would be named the BioSteel Centre, after corporate sponsor BioSteel Sports Nutrition Inc..
Raptors 905, the Raptors NBA Development League affiliate team based in Mississauga, also occasionally practice at the BioSteel Centre.
Maps BioSteel Centre
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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