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Cost of Toronto MLS Club Justifiable?


beachesl

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Robert

644 Posts

Posted - 11/10/2005 : 15:12:42

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Hats off to Kevan Pipe and the CSA. They have accomplished what they set out to do, which was to get a SSS in Toronto in order to land an MLS team in that city. This is all wonderful for the City of Toronto, however, being the governing body of Canadian soccer, how is this deal going to impact the rest of the country? Non of the three Canadian USL teams appear to be thrilled by it. The only three pro soccer franchises operating in Canada during the last decade, all feel like sacrificial lambs for the higher tiered MLS team soon to be in Toronto. Men's National Team home games of any significance in the foreseeable future will most likely all be played in Toronto. Sure Vancouver might get a match with El Salvador or Guatemala because of its large Latin American population, but how about Edmonton. Would a game with Panama draw enough support to Commonwealth Stadium to cover the rental expense of that facility? Canadian soccer fans in Winnipeg wanting to see our MNT had better start saving now, because they'll have to fly to Toronto if they want to see our boys live. Montreal has always been ignored by the CSA, and it appears that while Kevan Pipe is still in charge that this is not about to change.

So as far as the CSA is concerned, if your a soccer fan in Canada, we better start pulling for Toronto, because that's where they've placed all their eggs.

Bravo Humpty. You should have no problem finding employment in Toronto's soccer community, once the Pipe cracks on your CSA career.

Sigma

Leicester

United Kingdom

2001 Posts

Posted - 11/10/2005 : 15:18:14

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quote:

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Originally posted by Robert

Would a game with Panama draw enough support to Commonwealth Stadium to cover the rental expense of that facility?

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You only have to look back to 1996 for an example. I think they got around 8,000 for a WCQ against Panama. Although, I could be wrong because that number is just off the top of my head.

redhat

Winnipeg

Canada

1075 Posts

Posted - 11/10/2005 : 15:48:38

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quote:

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Originally posted by Robert

Canadian soccer fans in Winnipeg wanting to see our MNT had better start saving now, because they'll have to fly to Toronto if they want to see our boys live. Montreal has always been ignored by the CSA, and it appears that while Kevan Pipe is still in charge that this is not about to change.

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Canadian soccer fans from Winnipeg and Montreal HAVE flown to see

our MNT wherever they play --- Vancouver, Edmonton, Boston, Seattle,

Kingston, and even Europe. Toronto will be a good venue too.

Honestly Robert, your disdain for the CSA somewhat clouds the reality:

Toronto WILL have a stadium where soccer will be played. And that

is only a plus for Canadian soccer. Having modern infrastructure

in Vancouver and Montreal is also a plus for Canadian soccer.

And many of US will be there, as often as we possibly can.

Richard

Vancouver

Canada

1014 Posts

Posted - 11/10/2005 : 16:10:37

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Just ignore Robert the village idiot. First he was badmouthing the CSA and villifying Kevan Pipe personally for what he perceived as their failure to secure a stadium in Toronto. He lost that one big time so now he has to find something else to attack in order to sustain his campaign against the CSA and Kevan Pipe. First it's that more MNT games will be played in Toronto at the expense of the rest of canada - well what did you expect once the stadium was built Robert? Now he will be willing the MLS venture to fail.

Joe Concacaf

Canada

221 Posts

Posted - 11/10/2005 : 16:17:40

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quote:

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Originally posted by Sigma

quote:

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Originally posted by Robert

Would a game with Panama draw enough support to Commonwealth Stadium to cover the rental expense of that facility?

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You only have to look back to 1996 for an example. I think they got around 8,000 for a WCQ against Panama. Although, I could be wrong because that number is just off the top of my head.

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Close, it was 9,402 for Panama.

What was the attendence for Honduras last year? 10,000?

Sigma

Leicester

United Kingdom

2001 Posts

Posted - 11/10/2005 : 16:34:00

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9400 isn't that bad for a WCQ against Panama...

I think you are right... the Honduras friendly was around 10,000.

snake

Vancouver

Canada

507 Posts

Posted - 11/10/2005 : 16:43:22

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honduras drew 8200 to commonwealth

fetajr

53 Posts

Posted - 11/10/2005 : 16:52:15

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Top Reasons the stadium in Toronto is GOOD:

1. I can go watch the MNT/MLS live.

2. A stadium in Toronto will earn the CSA more money when they play int'l friendlies, world cup qualifiers, simply because fans from the opposing nations will come and cheer their homeside, Toronto is the immigrant central. If we really want home field advantage, why dont we put a stadium up in the Yukon so that our opponents can freeze their nuts off while we remain undefeated at home?

3. MLS will work in Toronto. A-League, NPSL or whatever you wanna call it won't work. Toronto is a city that will support sport teams that play in the best league of its kind (in North America). Look at the big leagues here, NHL, NBA, MLB. Ok, the Leafs will be sold out come hell or high water, so they are irrelevant in this case. The Raptors, and Blue Jays have their loyal following, but they've sucked in recent years so attentance is not been at capacity, but when things were going well, they were a tough ticket to find. To a lesser extent we have the NLL (lacrosse) which averages 16000 in attendance per game, i never knew lacrosse was that big here, but since the NLL is the best lacrosse league of its kind, the fans want to go. CFL in Toronto has limited potential, simply because its not the NFL. MLS is the best soccer league in North America, I am certain that it will be a hit.

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Edited by - fetajr on 11/10/2005 16:55:42

Daniel

Paris

France

2398 Posts

Posted - 11/10/2005 : 17:26:16

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Ed

Calgary

Canada

1361 Posts

Posted - 11/10/2005 : 17:34:22

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quote:

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Originally posted by Sigma

9400 isn't that bad for a WCQ against Panama...

I think you are right... the Honduras friendly was around 10,000.

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I don't recall it being very friendly. I think he was looking for numbers at Commonwealth in 2004, not the friendly at WSC in the spring of 2000.

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Edited by - Ed on 11/10/2005 17:34:57

analyst

412 Posts

Posted - 11/10/2005 : 18:14:51

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quote:

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Originally posted by Robert

Hats off to Kevan Pipe and the CSA. They have accomplished what they set out to do, which was to get a SSS in Toronto in order to land an MLS team in that city. This is all wonderful for the City of Toronto, however, being the governing body of Canadian soccer, how is this deal going to impact the rest of the country? Non of the three Canadian USL teams appear to be thrilled by it. The only three pro soccer franchises operating in Canada during the last decade, all feel like sacrificial lambs for the higher tiered MLS team soon to be in Toronto. Men's National Team home games of any significance in the foreseeable future will most likely all be played in Toronto. Sure Vancouver might get a match with El Salvador or Guatemala because of its large Latin American population, but how about Edmonton. Would a game with Panama draw enough support to Commonwealth Stadium to cover the rental expense of that facility? Canadian soccer fans in Winnipeg wanting to see our MNT had better start saving now, because they'll have to fly to Toronto if they want to see our boys live. Montreal has always been ignored by the CSA, and it appears that while Kevan Pipe is still in charge that this is not about to change.

So as far as the CSA is concerned, if your a soccer fan in Canada, we better start pulling for Toronto, because that's where they've placed all their eggs.

Bravo Humpty. You should have no problem finding employment in Toronto's soccer community, once the Pipe cracks on your CSA career.

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Have Lenarduzzi and Saputo gotten control of Robert's computer to start this thread criticizing the CSA-MLSE effort to get a MLS franchise in Toronto. After payoing decent money to watch Bob Lilley's boring team in Vancouver this past summer, its hard to justify supporting A-league teams. Hopefully the Toronto team in the MLS will be more entertaining.

Winnipeg Fury

Winnipeg

Canada

1218 Posts

Posted - 11/11/2005 : 09:23:07

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quote:

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Originally posted by snake

honduras drew 8200 to commonwealth

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And 8000 in Winipeg when it was an exhibition match.

Winnipeg Fury

Winnipeg

Canada

1218 Posts

Posted - 11/11/2005 : 09:56:59

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I look forward to attending the odd match in TO at the new stadium.

That said, the same goes for Montreal and their new stadium.

Toronto should not have a lock on our national team games, and if that is the case, I think it may be more apparent why Saputo is choked (and justifiably so), and you can certainly expect a reaction from Edmonton.

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Edited by - Winnipeg Fury on 11/11/2005 09:58:17

Daniel

Paris

France

2398 Posts

Posted - 11/11/2005 : 10:26:47

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AB might be the province that abstained from voting. The lack of national team games was referred to by Saputo in regards to reducing the capacity of SS (although I'd doubt he'll go below the 14.3k planned).

Cheeta

Winnipeg

Canada

2013 Posts

Posted - 11/11/2005 : 15:05:25

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Okay, sure, maybe I am a little hung over but damned if I can remember any Canada internationals being played out of Montreal. Seniors anyway. It's a big city, and it's not as though we've played a lot of home matchs but Geez.

Drifting a little here I know but I have to ask, would there be any reasonable home support for a footie international played out of Montreal? I only ask because if Mr. Saputo is sighting the preferential treatment Ex. is going to receive from the CSA as a reason for some of his stadium second-guessing then he must feel that Montreal as a venue for NT matchs has potential.

dbailey62

333 Posts

Posted - 11/11/2005 : 16:18:09

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quote:

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Originally posted by Cheeta

Okay, sure, maybe I am a little hung over but damned if I can remember any Canada internationals being played out of Montreal. Seniors anyway. It's a big city, and it's not as though we've played a lot of home matchs but Geez.

Drifting a little here I know but I have to ask, would there be any reasonable home support for a footie international played out of Montreal? I only ask because if Mr. Saputo is sighting the preferential treatment Ex. is going to receive from the CSA as a reason for some of his stadium second-guessing then he must feel that Montreal as a venue for NT matchs has potential.

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From what I've been able to find on the CSA site, we have to go back to 1994 for any MNT matches in Montreal.

Canada played Morroco on June 1 with 3816 in the stands of Robillard with another match played on June 10 against Spain with 5,256 in the seats.

The Morroco match was a 1-1 (Rudy Doliscat scored in the 90th minute to get us a result)draw while Spain defeated us 2 nil.

Obviously the Morroco match wouldn't have been much of a draw but the crowd still had to be a disappointment. I would have expected a bigger crowd for Spain. That said, it was a long time ago and I'm sure the crowds would be bigger now.

Unfortunately, it didn't look good on Montreal at the time with over 50k to watch the Brazil match in Edmonton and 2 20k crowds in Toronto to see Holland and Germany (in a sold out Varsity).

I have found another one. June 7 against Turkey. We lost 3 nil and no attendance is listed.

Daniel, do you recall this match?

I hope that Saputo doesn't trap himself in a stadium that is too small for possible future MLS usage. He can say that he isn't interested now but he may change his mind and I seem to recall reading that the stadium isn't expandable.

Does anybody else remember this?

db

Daniel

Paris

France

2398 Posts

Posted - 11/11/2005 : 16:41:19

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I only started following soccer with the 1994 WC so everything before that is a complete void.

In 1994, soccer in Montreal wasn't anywhere near as popular as it has become or even post-1994 with the APSL championship. It was not viewed as a spectator sport; the traditionnal fan didn't care about Canada and the youngsters weren't really the force they are now.

Montreal drew 12,000 at Molson Stadium for the women in 2003 and overpacked the Soccerplexe for another game. A well-run ticket campaign, including QSF-distribution and, on top, Impact cross-promotion, would definitely get around 8k at CCR at the least. I think that the reluctance to play in Montreal has a lot to do with the origin of the players and technical staff (barely a Québec player in the past 20 years!) as well as the "fear" of separatist sentiment or anti-Canadian sentiment. That last one is BS, as Montreal has always supported Canadian teams and players (see hockey or varying world championships). It helps if there are Québec players (for the media), but if there's a friendly in Montréal, you can bet that won't be a problem.

It's absolutely ridiculous to think that the CSA avoided a city averaging 11,000 (1,500 over capacity!) for club games when choosing WCQ sites. Also of note, CCR will get new sod for its final season as home of the Impact, which should be a huge improvement.

I doubt Saputo will change the capacity from the 14.3k mentionned to date. The stadium is expandable to 17k while still leaving one end open. I believe 22k was vaguely mentionned as the absolute biggest size (regarding the potential WYC final in Montreal for 2007).

Robert

644 Posts

Posted - 11/11/2005 : 17:13:51

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quote:

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Originally posted by dbailey62

quote:

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Originally posted by Cheeta

Okay, sure, maybe I am a little hung over but damned if I can remember any Canada internationals being played out of Montreal. Seniors anyway. It's a big city, and it's not as though we've played a lot of home matchs but Geez.

Drifting a little here I know but I have to ask, would there be any reasonable home support for a footie international played out of Montreal? I only ask because if Mr. Saputo is sighting the preferential treatment Ex. is going to receive from the CSA as a reason for some of his stadium second-guessing then he must feel that Montreal as a venue for NT matchs has potential.

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From what I've been able to find on the CSA site, we have to go back to 1994 for any MNT matches in Montreal.

Canada played Morroco on June 1 with 3816 in the stands of Robillard with another match played on June 10 against Spain with 5,256 in the seats.

The Morroco match was a 1-1 (Rudy Doliscat scored in the 90th minute to get us a result)draw while Spain defeated us 2 nil.

Obviously the Morroco match wouldn't have been much of a draw but the crowd still had to be a disappointment. I would have expected a bigger crowd for Spain. That said, it was a long time ago and I'm sure the crowds would be bigger now.

Unfortunately, it didn't look good on Montreal at the time with over 50k to watch the Brazil match in Edmonton and 2 20k crowds in Toronto to see Holland and Germany (in a sold out Varsity).

I have found another one. June 7 against Turkey. We lost 3 nil and no attendance is listed.

Daniel, do you recall this match?

I hope that Saputo doesn't trap himself in a stadium that is too small for possible future MLS usage. He can say that he isn't interested now but he may change his mind and I seem to recall reading that the stadium isn't expandable.

Does anybody else remember this?

db

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June of 1994. Over eleven years since the CSA gave Montreal the right to host a senior Men's National Team match. How long has it been since Montreal hosted a World Cup qualifying match for the senior MNT? The answer is never. How can the CSA justify this? To ignor a city that for the last few years has proven to give the best support in Canada to their pro soccer club. The city which was recently first out of the blocks for building a SSS with their own money. What's the arguement for this? That their FRENCH Canadians and won't support CANADIAN Canadians? Bull Sh_t! Do they have a right to feel shunned by the CSA? Damn right they do! Like I said, the CSA's decision is great for Toronto, but does nothing for the rest of Canada. Just ask any Canadian soccer fan in Montreal, Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Victoria, Calgary, Saskatoon, Regina, Halifax, St. John's and all points in between.

Robert

644 Posts

Posted - 11/11/2005 : 17:19:19

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quote:

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Originally posted by Richard

Just ignore Robert the village idiot. First he was badmouthing the CSA and villifying Kevan Pipe personally for what he perceived as their failure to secure a stadium in Toronto. He lost that one big time so now he has to find something else to attack in order to sustain his campaign against the CSA and Kevan Pipe. First it's that more MNT games will be played in Toronto at the expense of the rest of canada - well what did you expect once the stadium was built Robert? Now he will be willing the MLS venture to fail.

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Richard. Always nice to hear from you. How's Lorna? You know, I'm not the only one who lost big time.

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