Re: Toronto FC to expand BMO Field to 25,000 by 2010 They should wait 3 years and see if the demand is still there once there is no more U-20 world cup and Beckham has been in the league for 3 years. Every MLS franchise starts strong out of the gate but drops back once the novelty wears off. If there is still a waiting list 3 years later then expand but not yet. Its not a bad thing to have more demand then supply.
Re: Toronto FC to expand BMO Field to 25,000 by 2010 What do you suggest that they do in the winter, when the City of Toronto -- who just happen to be the owners of the stadium -- would otherwise have the field open for public use underneath an inflatable bubble?
Re: Toronto FC to expand BMO Field to 25,000 by 2010 To many ill-informed Americans, Canada IS NOT a separate country from the US. I lived close to the Canadaian border for many years and many in the States think of Canada as a 51st. state. It is not. Toronto-TO is a very international city and, along with Montreal, has a very European feel about it. If you have never visited it, it is like NYC but cleaner! If Vancouver or Montreal wanted to get in the MLS before 2010, the new cities would just have to write a check to the Maple Leafs. It is really that simple. They want to get money. That's what the exclusive is all about. BTW, I have never experienced a crowd like the NHL Leafs in their old arena. And it was on a Monday night! Packed house and the crowd was nuts!
Re: Toronto FC to expand BMO Field to 25,000 by 2010 To many ill-informed Canadians. The staggering majority of us can go months without thinking about your country where 75% of the population chooses to live within 100 miles of the US border.
Re: Toronto FC to expand BMO Field to 25,000 by 2010 I've yet to see a single story MLSRumours has broken first, come true.
Re: Toronto FC to expand BMO Field to 25,000 by 2010 I guess I am one of the many ill-informed Americans who thought that Canada was a different country from the United States. Thanks for enlighting me on the subject, the next time I travel to Canada, I won't bother with a passport or the whole border patrol thing that I have dealt with in the past.
Re: Toronto FC to expand BMO Field to 25,000 by 2010 The exclusivity bull crap that MLSE put forth is just a way to pimp other cities. MLSE is really anal about having its team safe from ANY competition. If it were up to them, every MLS team besides Toronto would be in Europe or something, so that they can get as many fans as possible. I personally think that it is bull shit and halts the progress of Canadian soccer. BUT, I'm pretty sure that neither Montreal nor Vancouver are ready to join the MLS by 2010 anyways, so it is really redundant. Apparently they also have some other clause that would prevent another team in Ontario for a couple of more years, but since I don't imagine another team in Ontario for a LONG time (if ever), that is quite redundant as well.
Re: Toronto FC to expand BMO Field to 25,000 by 2010 5500 season tickets to see Becks once a year? No...it's much deeper than that.
Re: Toronto FC to expand BMO Field to 25,000 by 2010 A perfect storm of conditions. -Good owners in MLSE, who have bigtime cache in Toronto since they also own the Leafs, and who did a great job marketing the team. -New Team -New Stadium, built in a great location. -MLS signing Beckham, legitimizing the league to some of the fence-sitters in Toronto. Their season ticket sales leapt in volume when Beckham signed, and with every game sold out, there's now a bit of a big event/hard-to-find-ticket bump in interest. This coupled with the atmosphere at the games, which is no doubt attracting even more interest in being at the stadium, the team has become a hot ticket. Good for them, and good for MLS. I'm not sure if it can be replicated, short of an expansion team bringing in a huge star of their own, or interest in the league overall swelling dramatically. I guess we'll find out with the next several expansion teams if another one can catch the lightning in a bottle that Toronto has found.
Re: Toronto FC to expand BMO Field to 25,000 by 2010 Wait, which is it? European or like NYC? Montreal has a much more European feel to it in my opinion, but I liked Toronto a lot more than I like most American cities.