During a captivating live performance at the Rogers Centre on Monday night, The Weeknd paused to address his hometown crowd with a nostalgic petition proposal. 

Performing his second After Hours Til Dawn show in Toronto, the Scarborough native and “Starboy” suggested the stadium’s name be changed back to its original and former title – the SkyDome. 

“We gotta call Mr. Rogers or whoever owns this place. We gotta call this b**ch the Skydome again,” he said during his set. 

“Do you agree with me, Toronto, or what?”

Concert-goers responded with loud cheers, offering their agreement with The Weeknd’s bold and nostalgic proposal. 

“Alright, those are all official petition signatures,” he replied.   

“That’s 40,000 signatures right now.” 

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During the first night of his After Hours Til Dawn show run in Toronto on Sunday, the performer took time to reminisce about the stadium, reflecting on his journey from city boy to “Starboy.” 

“I just want to take in this moment right now. This has been a dream for a very long time, I used to come watch Blue Jays games here, it’s crazy. Who knew a kid from Scarborough could do this, man, thank you guys so much.”

For many Torontonians, the SkyDome is more than just a name – it is a symbol of the city’s identity. Opened in 1989, the venue was a marvel of modern architecture and technology, which featured the world’s first fully retractable roof. 

On Feb. 2, 2005, the venue’s name was changed to Rogers Centre after the telecommunications company bought the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team. 

The building has remained largely the same since it first opened in the 1980s, but a multi-year, phasic, $400 million private renovation that began in 2022 transformed the venue from a multi-purpose stadium into a dedicated ballpark. 

Since then, the Rogers Centre has seen additional, smaller-scale changes, including widened concourses, updated suites, improved lighting, and new technology. 

Meanwhile, Now Toronto took to the streets to see what locals  thought of the Scarborough native’s proposal. 

“That sounds nice. When things get renamed to these corporate names, it takes a little bit of the character away from it. SkyDome has this history of these memories associated with that word, and then you put Rogers in there. It’s like, what’s Rogers? That’s just like my cellphone company,” Alan told Now Toronto on Tuesday.

“I mean, I think SkyDome is a cuter name. So, sure. I like the SkyDome better, but that’s purely out of it sounding nicer,” Ava said.

“I’m down. To be honest, I didn’t even know it was the Rogers Centre until way later. The SkyDome is a sick name. I’m for the Skydome,” Eva said. 

Others expressed a need to move forward, while others shared their lack of familiarity with the name change. 

“Keep moving it forward. Come up with a different name or something,” Julez said. 

“I don’t think I was here for that,” Angel said, not knowing the SkyDome reference. 

While some agree with The Weeknd’s sentiment, they also said they would not support using taxpayer money to revert the stadium to its original name, noting that the additional cost would not be justified.