Editing Soccer-specific stadium (section)

==History==
[[File:Mapfre_Stadium_(Columbus,_Ohio)_-_aerial_photo.jpg|thumb|Columbus Crew Stadium (now [[Historic Crew Stadium]]) was the first soccer-specific stadium in MLS.]]
In the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, first-division professional soccer leagues in the United States, such as the North American Soccer League and Major League Soccer, primarily used [[American football]] fields, many of which were oversized in terms of seating capacity and undersized in terms of the width of the soccer field; they often used [[artificial turf]] (none of which, at the time, were approved for international soccer under FIFA rules).{{citation needed|date=November 2013}} Although many of the [[baseball park]]s had smaller capacities, natural grass, and a wider field, these parks were generally in use during summer, when North American–based soccer leagues, such as Major League Soccer, also hold their seasons, and the irregular field dimensions and sightlines were often considered undesirable.

Soccer-specific stadiums first came into use in the 1990s, after the [[multi-purpose stadium]] era.<ref name="dispatch1">{{cite news |last=Arace |first=Michael |date=September 10, 2013 |title=Michael Arace commentary: Aging Crew Stadium still has a big advantage |url=http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/sports/2013/09/10/aging-crew-stadium-still-has-a-bigadvantage.html |newspaper=[[The Columbus Dispatch]] |access-date=August 1, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Granillo |first=Larry |date=September 14, 2009 |title=Football, Baseball, and the Era of the "Superstadium" |url=http://wezen-ball.com/2009-articles/football-baseball-and-the-era-of-the-qsuperstadiumq.html |work=Wezen-Ball |access-date=August 1, 2015}}</ref>

The term "soccer-specific stadium" was coined by [[Lamar Hunt]], who financed the construction of [[Columbus Crew Stadium]], the first soccer-specific stadium constructed specifically for Major League Soccer.<ref name="dispatch1"/> In the 2000s, other Major League Soccer teams in the United States began constructing their own stadiums. Canada's first soccer-specific stadium was [[BMO Field]] in [[Toronto]], home to [[Toronto FC]]. This stadium was renovated to accommodate [[Canadian football]] for the 2016 and subsequent seasons.<ref>{{cite web |title=BMO Field |date=August 2, 2013 |url=http://www.stadiumguide.com/bmofield/ |publisher=The Stadium Guide |access-date=August 1, 2015}}</ref> The distinction is less prominent in Canada, where MLS's attendance figures are comparable to those of the domestic [[Canadian Football League]], and the CFL's wider field means fewer compromises must be made to accommodate both; [[Tim Hortons Field]] was built purposely to both soccer specifications and CFL regulations. Of the three Canadian cities that host both MLS and CFL teams, only one (Montreal) has separate stadiums for each.