Unfortunately for TFC fans, a deal can still be done. All it will take is $10-million from somewhere and if Braley doesn't do it there’s a strong possibility the CFL will.
There is some talk about a divide in the MLSE board room between Bell, which REALLY wants the deal to go through (CFL is TSN's biggest national rights package), and Rogers which doesn't care all that much (and may even be happy to see a TSN property take a hit). However, it’s just business. If the shareholders benefit that’s what will win the day.
It’s a long-shot this can be stopped. The only way, really, would be to convince MLSE that the move would damage TFC to the point that the deal made bad business sense. So, if you care about this issue you should go out of your way to let MLSE and TFC know what you think.
A note to your ticket rep stressing that you might give up your season seats if the Argos move in is a great start. Trying to get your message to the MLSE BoD an even better way (and I will look for public e-mails and share them if I find them).
Make no mistake, it would hurt TFC’s bottom line. The only question is how much. They would likely lose seat holders immediately, but the real problem would come down the road when the impact of having the CFL play on the pitch 11 times a year kicks in. See, that would very likely force a change from natural grass to an artificial surface.
Tim Lieweke outright said some change would be needed to the surface when he spoke about this last year. He suggested a hybrid surface like at Wembley Stadium would work. Nothing to worry about there.
In truth, the only way soccer and football can share a facility in a northern climate like this is on plastic. In 15-20 years artificial playing surface technology may be good enough that it won’t scare big name players away (thus taking away TFC’s one competitive advantage--MLSE’s wallet). That’s not the case now though.
Now, playing on plastic would eliminate the possibility of bringing in big name players to play for TFC and likely cause other MLS team’s stars to skip BMO games (taking ticket revenue with it). Remember how long it took David Beckham to play at BMO Field back when it was plastic?
To those that support the move to bring the Argos to BMO Field these concerns fall on deaf ears. In fact, the concerns of soccer seem to be completely overlooked by everyone who is talking about this issue right now. Another CP story from today had this telling Braley quote at its end.
“I do believe everyone will do the right thing that’s in the best interests of BMO Field, the city of Toronto, CFL and Toronto Argonauts. That’s what I believe will happen in the long run.”
Notice anyone missing?
So, another needed approach now is to contact media that is writing about this and demanding (we're past just asking now) that the perspective of TFC be included in the reporting of this story (Aside: If you're a lurking journo on this beat I give a good quote – DuaneGRollins@gmail.com).
One of the reasons TFC and soccer may be ignored in this is because there is a feeling by many that because BMO Field was built using some public money that it should be required to host the Argos.
To me that’s like arguing that I should be allowed to pave Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field to put in a racing oval in. You could play the CFL on concrete – we all have at recess, right? – and racing fans pay taxes. They deserve a place too. Screw the primary tenant. PUBLIC MONEY!!1!!!1!!!111!!!
The thing is that although there is no doubt the Argos have not had good leadership and have failed to cash in on the CFL stadium boom, the sport itself has been far more supported by the public purse than soccer. And by "far more" I mean "astronomically better supported." In fact, in the entire history of sports stadium projects in Canada only once* has a stadium been built for soccer--BMO Field, for the FIFA u20s in 2007 (and indirectly TFC and Canadian national teams).
The cost of that project was $73-million. Of that MLSE paid $8-million and put an additional $10-million in that they got from BMO for the naming rights. Since then MLSE has spent about $95-million in various upgrades.
The public spending was $55-million.
Again, this is the entirety of government spending on soccer stadiums all-time.
Let’s compare that to the amount of spending on CFL stadiums since 2007 (when BMO opened).
Regina: Total cost $278 million. The City spent $173-million ($100-million of which was a loan) and the province kicked in $80-million.
Hamilton: Total cost was $145.7 million with the city is contributing $54.3 million, the province $22.3 million and federal government paying the remaining $69.1 million.
Winnipeg: $200-million, of which $22.5-million was provincial grant, $7.5-million a city grant and what amounted to $170 in provincial loans.
BC Place’s roof cost $514-million. (The Whitecaps benefit from this, but let’s also remember that Vancouver refused to let the Caps build a stadium of their own that would have been entirely privately funded!)
Montreal renovations cost $29-million
And, Ottawa spent $300-million (to be fair this also includes upgrades to a hockey arena and the Fury benefit).
So, to be conservative (eliminating the loans and cutting BC Place and Ottawa in half to reflect soccer usage), we get $764,500,000 in public spending on the CFL since 2007, versus $55-million on soccer all-time. That’s 13.5% and, again, we’re being conservative. And it's all-time versus the last five years.
So, the idea that CFL fans should have their way with BMO Field because the government spent 13.5% of the public money it spent on their sport to throw soccer a bone in 2007 is a bit…selfish.
It's unfortunate TFC fans are in the position of having to fight against the needs of the Argos. As the No 4 and No 5 teams in this city (order them as you see fit, we're not having that argument now), we share a lot of similarities. Additionally, the stadium deal is really less than ideal for both sets of fans.
Sure, the Argos survive another day but they are still No 2 in their building. They get the worst dates and it will never truly be their stadium. Argos fans are fatalistic about the possibility of ever owning their own facility, but that is the only thing that can ever truly stabilize them. BMO Field is not a magic bullet (I'd anticipate a opening day sell out then a quick return to what we see at Rogers Centre) and it offers no additional revenue streams for the team. Yes, Montreal caught lightning in a bottle at Molson Stadium, but it's a pipe dream to expect the same here.
But, as bad as the deal is for the Argos it's far worse for TFC and the CSA. Playing the CFL at BMO would fundamentally change how soccer operated and would set the sport back years.
As much as I empathize with Argos fans (and I do. Although I am not a diehard fan, I do consider them my CFL team and I do go to about a game a year), the damage to soccer is just too great to sit back passively and let this happen. I wish the Argos well, but not at the expense of soccer.
It may seem hopeless, but it's important we keep fighting this.
*A pedantic argument can be made that Tim Horton's Field was built for soccer. It's the host venue for the soccer competition at the 2015 PanAm Games. However, the project was always designed to be a CFL stadium and it was the desire to build a new stadium in Hamilton that informed the decision to hold the soccer tournament in Hamilton and the design of the stadium. Additionally, there isn't a soccer team currently playing there.