Toronto expansion talks continues......

[RedandWhite]

Commissioner speaks about Toronto expansion (http://web.servicebureau.net/conf/meta?i=1112617491&c=15586&m=was&u=/w.xsl)

or just go to mlsnet.com.

[RedandWhite]

MLSE have until October 31st to finalize a deal or Toronto MLS is dead.

[RedandWhite]

Toronto MLS will be domestically dominated.

[Supersuperman99]

Hopefully they'll pull out a San Antonio

[Blizzard]

MLSE have until October 31st to finalize a deal or Toronto MLS is dead.

I've just seen Garber's quote on Voyageurs and that is what he said although I have a hard time believing that they would then write Toronto off. Toronto would still be a future candidate IMO. It would be just a matter of making sure all ducks are in a row and that they can beat out US opposition.

It's all very "what if" though and I do think that MLSE, MLS and the CSA will make it happen.

We're too close now to let it fail.

[fireman451]

I hope it does go through. Toronto is a great soccer town. I had the fortune of staying in downtown Toronto during WC02, your twon knows about soccer. All the cultures, ethnic neighborhoods and general citizenry were all watching matches and supporting their native teams.

Additionally, I would love to travel to TO with Section 8 and spend a long weekend there.

Good luck!

[gherter]

Commissioner speaks about Toronto expansion (http://web.servicebureau.net/conf/meta?i=1112617491&c=15586&m=was&u=/w.xsl)

or just go to mlsnet.com.

After you start that up you have to jump forward to min 35 for the conference. The music until then is good, tho.

[RealGooner]

I hope it does go through. Toronto is a great soccer town. I had the fortune of staying in downtown Toronto during WC02, your twon knows about soccer. All the cultures, ethnic neighborhoods and general citizenry were all watching matches and supporting their native teams.

Additionally, I would love to travel to TO with Section 8 and spend a long weekend there.

Good luck!

You forgot to add that with all the different ethnicities there is a huge smorgasbord of hot women up here too! ;)

[Joe MacCarthy]

MLS paves the way for Toronto expansion

By NEIL DAVIDSON
Tuesday, October 11, 2005 Posted at 5:24 PM EDT
Canadian Press

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20051011.wmls11/BNStory/Sports/

Toronto — Major League Soccer has paved the way for an expansion team in 2007 in Toronto, providing on-again, off-again plans for a stadium are nailed down by the end of the month.

Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. is spearheading the drive for an MLS team.

"We are close to finalizing a deal for '07. We've given MLSE an exclusive window through the end of the month, Oct. 31 to negotiate a deal for an expansion team," commissioner Don Garber said in a conference call.

"We're very excited about our budding relationship with MLSE ... We think they are fantastic operators, not just in hockey and basketball."

The MLS move puts some pressure on the various partners involved in the stadium project to settle their differences and get a shovel in the ground. The stadium has been an on-again, off-again affair with sites shelved at both the University of Toronto and York University.

More recently there has been disagreement between various levels of government involved in helping fund the $60-million project on whether it should be built on the lakefront at Exhibition Place or in the northern part of the city at Downsview Park.

MLSE has also agreed to help fund the 20,000-seat stadium. MLSE president Richard Peddie did not immediately return a phone call.

The federal government, which owns the Downsview land, has pledged $27 million with another $8-million from the provincial government.

The city has said it will contribute $9.5-million if the stadium goes to Exhibition Place, which now seems the more likely site.

The 12-team league added two new franchises this season: Real Salt Lake and FC Chivas, which plays out of Carson, Calif. Those expansion franchises cost $10-million (U.S.) apiece and Garber said the price tag this time round will be "slightly higher."

The league is looking for a second expansion team in 2007, with the leading candidates Cleveland, Philadelphia, Houston, Milwaukee and St. Louis, Garber said.

An MLS team would give Canadian talent a chance to develop domestically in the highest level of North American club soccer.

The outdoor stadium will also play a key role in Canada hosting the 2007 world under-20 championship.

[Joe MacCarthy]

MLS paves way for Toronto team

CANADIAN PRESS

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1129029066486&call_pageid=1044529386722&col=1044529386490

Major League Soccer has opened the door to an expansion team in Toronto, providing on-again, off-again plans for a stadium are nailed down by the end of the month.

Commissioner Don Garber said the league has done “the hard work” with would-be owner Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd., owner of the NHL Leafs and NBA Raptors, and the Canadian Soccer Association, which has done a lot of the donkey work in keeping the stadium plan alive.

Now MLS wants the stadium situation sorted pronto, with Garber looking to have a Toronto team in place in 2007. That works for the Canadian Soccer Association, which needs a showcase soccer-specific stadium to help host the 2007 world under-20 soccer championship.

“There’s not a lot of time to get this building built,” Garber said on a conference call Tuesday in announcing the Oct. 31 deadline to firm up stadium plans. “There’s no reason to wait. We want to know where we stand. But if we wait too long, then all of this drags out. Toronto loses its stadium, loses its team and then ultimately has the potential of not having a good spot to play the (under-20) World Cup.”

Up next, the proposed site at Exhibition Place has to be approved and Toronto City Council has to puts its money where the mayor’s mouth is.

The Exhibition Place board of governors has to approve the project, and several levels of City Council have to give a green light to $9.5 million in promised funding at meetings that start Oct. 26. As land-owner, the City of Toronto would own the stadium.

If all that happens, MLSE will commit dollars and “we’ll sign on the dotted line for a franchise,” said Richard Peddie, president of MLSE.

Kevan Pipe, chief operating officer of the Canadian Soccer Association, says Garber’s announcement represented a “huge step” forward in the right direction. But he acknowledged there is still work to do.

It is not the first deadline imposed by MLS. Just the most public.

“Don’s been great,” said Peddie. “He gave us a deadline in June, July, August, September, Oct. 1. And I think he’s given us his final deadline. He’s not trying to play brinkmanship. From what I can tell, he’s got other choices.”

Adding to his ultimatum, Garber said the league needs a decision for its Nov. 12 board meeting. The next gathering is slated for March, which he says would be too late.

“We are close to finalizing a deal for ’07. We’ve given MLSE an exclusive window through the end of the month, Oct. 31 to negotiate a deal for an expansion team,” Garber said.

The 12-team league added two new franchises this season: Real Salt Lake and FC Chivas, which plays out of Carson, Calif. Those expansion franchises cost $10 million US apiece.

Garber said the expansion price tag this time is “slightly higher.”

The league is looking for a second expansion team in 2007, with the leading candidates Cleveland, Philadelphia, Houston, Milwaukee and St. Louis, Garber said.

The MLS deadline puts some pressure on the various partners involved in the stadium project to settle their differences and get a shovel in the ground. The stadium has been an on-again, off-again affair with sites shelved at both the University of Toronto and York University.

More recently there has been disagreement between various levels of government involved in helping fund the project on whether it should be built on the lakefront at Exhibition Place or in the northern part of the city at Downsview Park.

The current budget of the stadium is around $62 million Cdn.

The federal government, which owns the Downsview land but now seems to have signed off on Exhibition Place, has pledged $27 million with another $8 million from the provincial government. If the city pledges $9.65 million, that leaves a little more than $17 million needed.

Part of that shortfall will be made up in selling naming rights to the stadium, a process that is already under way.

MLSE is ready to contribute the rest although it won’t say how much that is other than to say “it’s substantial.”

Garber called Exhibition Place “the perfect location.” The property is adjacent to Ontario Place on the lakefront and once housed Exhibition Stadium, the former home to the Argos and Blue Jays. It currently is home to the Ricoh Coliseum, where the American Hockey League Marlies play, and the annual CNE summer fair.

An MLS team would give Canadian talent a chance to develop domestically in the highest level of North American club soccer.

MLS is a so-called single-entity organization. That means the players are under contract to the league, which then allocates them to the individual franchises.

A team in Toronto would consist of Canadians, with perhaps a few imports just as U.S. teams are largely American with a limit on foreigners.

Canadians currently in MLS include Pat Onstad and Dwayne DeRosario (San Jose Earthquakes), Will Johnson (Chicago Fire) and Winston Marshall (FC Dallas).

While the MLS franchise carries a significant expansion fee and stadium costs, soccer represents a budget sport to Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment when compared to the five-star world of hockey or basketball.

The current salary budget for MLS teams is about $1.8 million US per squad.

“That was the price of one hockey player a year ago,” Peddie said.

The league minimum for a senior roster player was $28,000 US in 2005.

As for attendance, Peddie says if a Toronto MLS team can draw 13,000 to 15,000 per game, “that would do the job for us.”

Garber, who is always open to expansion possibilities, did not rule out other Canadian teams in the future. The Montreal Impact of the United Soccer League already have a new stadium in the works, and the Vancouver Whitecaps are also looking to build.

“The intent is in time to expand to other cities in Canada and we’re actually very excited about that,” Garber said. “We just have not put a particular timetable in place as to when exactly that would happen.”

Garber even talked of maybe convincing Canadian national team coach Frank Yallop, a former MLS coach of the year with the San Jose Earthquakes, to return to MLS.

If that were to happen, Yallop might have to give up a job. Pipe said coaching the national team is a “full-time occupation.” Yallop, who has dismissed rumours he is looking to return to a MLS team, is under contract through the end of 2006 with the national team.

[GIO17]

Well I have to admit. I was against a Canadian side coming to the American MLS. But now I really believe that this is going to happen. I hope everyone in Toronto will get their stadium. I also hope that it happens up there as well. I would love to come up to Toronto and catch my club on the road.

I believe Rogers Sportsnet will be doing the games since they are the only sports TV channel in Canada that truely cares about soccer. I know you have the Fos Soccer Channel, or Fox Sports World Canada up there. But I work at a sports news service here in NJ. I was very impressed during the Gold Cup this past summer with the coverage that the Canadian National Team got thru Rogers Sportsnet. I hope that you guys will be able to get it done.

If the Maple Leafs group that owns the stadium for their MLS side, will they allow the Toronto Lynx of the USL to use the same stadium as well? Other than that, good luck and congrats.

[torontosports]

Well as for the news its great to finally have a countdown. It's almost as exciting as the countdown to the World Cup. Don really handed them a lifeline in terms of negotiating the deal for stadium so hats off to the man.

As for the Lynx, I sincerely hope that they decide against playing in the new stadium and I hope that the facility charges more than the $1500 than Centennial charged them. The focus should be squarely on a new MLS franchise for TO and not the dismal past run by a former English professor that has gone nuts.

My sole goal now is to work for this franchise after going across Europe and Africa next summer to cover the World Cup and to cover the African soccer movement. I wish nothing but the best to my hometown of TO in getting this done and this is a bright day for all of Canadians here on the best soccer site on the planet, Bigsoccer.com
cheers

[Canadian_Supporter]

If the Lynx want to play in the new facility, why not? The new facility will need tenants to help pay for the costs.

[yankiboy]

If the Lynx want to play in the new facility, why not? The new facility will need tenants to help pay for the costs.

No disrepect intended but will even the Lynx Ultras care about the Lynx if TO gets an MLS club.

I don't expect the Lynx to survive. They struggle now. I mean let's be real, here.

By the way there was a USL club in Salt Lake before Real got there. They were the Utah Blitzzz. I know that they were 3rd division but they were very competitive. Well, we see what happened to them...

Same thing that happened to my Baltimore CFL Colts/Stallions and that was just after winning the Grey Cup. The Ravens (Browns) came to town and all of the sudden everybody forgot about the cute chick and went for the new hotter chick in town. That was the end of the Baltimore CFL franchise. The Lynx aren't even the equivalent of the "cute" chick.

How are they gonna survive?

Think about it...

[Captain Canuck]

If the Maple Leafs group that owns the stadium for their MLS side, will they allow the Toronto Lynx of the USL to use the same stadium as well? Other than that, good luck and congrats.


It won't be up to the Leafs. Exhibition Place is City-Owned land, and while the Leafs would be responsible in the short-term for operating costs, it will actually be the City that owns the Stadium. So they had bloody-well vote in favour of this (that's the sole remaining hurdle as far as I know) since they have swung the location from Downsview to Exhibition for their own benefit and they are getting a $62 million dollar stadium for just $9million of their own money, which sounds like quite a bargain to me.

[Kingston]

The Lynx, realistically speaking, are done.

A good move, however, would be for MLSE to buy the team and relocate it to, say, Hamilton to act as a farm team.

[jpg75]

The Lynx, realistically speaking, are done.

A good move, however, would be for MLSE to buy the team and relocate it to, say, Hamilton to act as a farm team.
I agree. There is no room in Toronto for a second rate anything, let alone soccer team...they may as well move the team to a more sustainable location in southern ontario (london, hamilton..heck, even ottawa). the ottawa lynx, sounds familiar! ;)

[Joe MacCarthy]

MLS franchise in Toronto?
By NEIL DAVIDSON

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Soccer/2005/10/12/1259698-cp.html

(CP) - The Canadian Soccer Association is rushing toward a Major League Soccer franchise in Toronto and the domestic game could suffer as a result, according to the Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps.

They applaud Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. for getting into soccer. And they welcome the possibility of another soccer-specific stadium in Canada - the Impact have already announced plans for a new 15,000-seat home while the Whitecaps have a called a news conference for Thursday to announce their own 15,000-seat stadium project.

But they say the time for an MLS team in Toronto is not right.

"I think we're rushing to it too quickly," Impact owner Joey Saputo said Wednesday from Montreal.

"I think there's a lot of good to it, but at the same time I think there might be a lot of bad in it and may affect us negatively. And unfortunately we're making decisions today without really looking at the full scope of how it's going to affect the game, not only in Montreal and in Vancouver and Toronto, but across the country."

Bob Lenarduzzi, director of soccer operations for the Whitecaps, is on the same page as Saputo.

"We seem to be putting far too much emphasis on one MLS team in our country, and that being a cure to our woes at the international level. I don't think it's going to work that way," he said from Vancouver.

A former national team coach, Lenarduzzi knows firsthand how Canadian soccer has paid the price for poor infrastructure.

"Everyone can blame the national team coaches, but as far as our game goes we have not been doing a good job from bottom to top," he said from Vancouver. "We need to start at the bottom. We need to build a strong foundation and move on from there.

"I think we're starting to do that. MLS coming along at a time when we're putting the bricks in place, it just seems like it's too soon."

He says Canada's pro clubs, the provincial soccer associations and CSA should be working together "from the bottom up."

Added Saputo: "I don't think we are ready. I don't think Canada is ready. . . . I don't think that by having one MLS franchise in Canada are we going to really develop the game we need to develop it."

Lenarduzzi worries a single MLS team in Toronto will continue the fragmentation that has hurt the Canadian soccer.

"That's not a knock on MLS either," he said. "I think MLS has done great things for the game in the United States. And at the appropriate time, anyone in the soccer world in Canada would love to be a part of playing in the best league in North America."

But both the Impact and Whitecaps, considered model franchises in the second-tier United Soccer League, stand to lose if the first-tier MLS comes to Toronto.

"What is going to be the reaction from the fans in Montreal, knowing they have become a second division (team)? What's going to be the reaction from the fans in Vancouver when the Whitecaps become a second division (team)?" asked Saputo.

Top players will be drawn to the MLS franchise because of its higher profile and pay.

"It's going to do that, that's a fact," said Lenarduzzi. "It's also going to probably result in, if we want to keep some of those players, spending more money than we have been spending.

"The broadcast side of it, if they're on national television, that comes back into our markets.

"What I don't want to portray is that we're upset with MLS or MLSE, We just feel the time is wrong. And it should be more of a co-ordinated approach. Especially when you've got two owners like Saputo and (Vancouver's Greg) Kerfoot."

Kevan Pipe, the CSA's chief operating officer, responds by saying the Impact are already seeing domestic talent like Sandro Grande leaving for the greener pastures of Europe.

And he argues the opportunity to hook up MLS, MLSE and the Toronto stadium project could not be missed.

"We can't wait," Pipe said. "To buy into that argument says that we wait for another five years. MLSE has many opportunities to move in many other different directions. . . . That argument has to be categorically rejected. We cannot continue to wait for other rainbows occurring on other days. The time to move is now."

Saputo doesn't see it that way.

"If it's good today, I think it'll be better in the future," he said.

"If there's an opportunity for Kevan Pipe and the CSA to have their stadium and at the same time that they have their stadium, they're able to get an MLS franchise, you grab it when it's hot," he acknowledged. "But that's not necessarily the best thing. I think what you need to take a look at is how is this particular decision going to affect development of the game across the country."

The Toronto Lynx, the third Canadian USL franchise, had previously objected to MLS in Toronto but seems to have come round to the idea of playing in the proposed new stadium, according to local reports.

Notes: The Whitecaps are planning to announce a 15,000-seat stadium on the waterfront by the cruise ship terminal near the Pan Pacific Hotel. The team, which has already bought the land, hopes the federal government may be interested in getting involved like it has with the Toronto stadium. No price tag has been set, but it is expected to be in the ball park of the $60 million the Toronto facility will cost.

[yankiboy]

MLS franchise in Toronto?
By NEIL DAVIDSON

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Soccer/2005/10/12/1259698-cp.html

(CP) -
"I think we're rushing to it too quickly," Impact owner Joey Saputo said Wednesday from Montreal.

"I think there's a lot of good to it, but at the same time I think there might be a lot of bad in it and may affect us negatively. And unfortunately we're making decisions today without really looking at the full scope of how it's going to affect the game, not only in Montreal and in Vancouver and Toronto, but across the country."

Bob Lenarduzzi, director of soccer operations for the Whitecaps, is on the same page as Saputo.

Added Saputo: "I don't think we are ready. I don't think Canada is ready. . . . I don't think that by having one MLS franchise in Canada are we going to really develop the game we need to develop it."

But both the Impact and Whitecaps, considered model franchises in the second-tier United Soccer League, stand to lose if the first-tier MLS comes to Toronto.

"What is going to be the reaction from the fans in Montreal, knowing they have become a second division (team)? What's going to be the reaction from the fans in Vancouver when the Whitecaps become a second division (team)?" asked Saputo.

Top players will be drawn to the MLS franchise because of its higher profile and pay.

"It's going to do that, that's a fact," said Lenarduzzi. "It's also going to probably result in, if we want to keep some of those players, spending more money than we have been spending.

"The broadcast side of it, if they're on national television, that comes back into our markets.

"What I don't want to portray is that we're upset with MLS or MLSE, We just feel the time is wrong. And it should be more of a co-ordinated approach. Especially when you've got two owners like Saputo and (Vancouver's Greg) Kerfoot."


Wah, Wah, Wah.

D@mn Saputo gets on my nerves... So f******** what! The Rochester Rhinos, Richmond Kickers, Virginia Beach--just off the top of my head--US based USL clubs can get MLS club broadcasts on their local cabel outlets. And that is not even talking ESPN and Fox.

It's second division soccer. In life, you usually get what you get what you pay for. The fact that some of the USL teams step up their game and beat MLS clubs is a bonus but it is not to be expected.

Saputo is full of ********. He has already made it clear that he doesn't like the MLS single entity system. He doesn't want to buy in. He doesn't want to pay that kind of expansion fee or those kind of salaries or operating expenses. Now he's crying like a little beatch. I can't stand that guy. What does he want everything given to him.

Kerfoot has a lot of ca$h to. His crying is annoying but not like Saputo. I can't stand that guy.

[toronto_sports_1 redded]

Before we get to carried away with the new stadium being built and MLS finally coming to Toronto, lets remember we have been here before with the stadium deal falling through the cracks a couple of times, first at York then
Downsview. While we all hope the stadium does get built and MLS does come to TO lets wait before we start the celebrations. This is Toronto, deals fall
apart fast here.