Well, there was no rain Seattle last year; hopefully there'll be no snow in Toronto this. Congrats Toronto. It's a great city and should be a great place to have an MLS Cup.
i hope they can temporarily expand the stadium-- 21 000 seems like a small seating 4 an mls final-- any1 know what the TO owners will do? will they bring in grass at the dome 4 the game and pack in a huge crowd of over 40 000? just wondering
It was just cold as all hell.* Congrats to Toronto - I think they held Garber's feet to the fire to make good on the promise they made, and MLS would rather get the "foreign-soil" final out of the way sooner rather than later, but I think Toronto will do a great job. *I know, it was like 40 degrees or something, hardly a Midwest winter blast, but when we get snow less often than they do in Florida, that's pretty cold.
Toronto's weather in November is hardly comparable to Yellowknife's. It was about 60F last year on the day of the MLS Cup final. And, it's really no different at all from what the weather in New York would be (or Chicago, Boston and Columbus). Yes, it is possible that it could be cold (although it's equally possible it will be mild), but I can’t remember the last time there was snow on the ground in November. If we get a dusting nine times out of 10 it melts on contact with the ground. We typically don’t get snow consistently until about mid-December.
Don pretty much spilled the beans on this yesterday on the press conference, in so many words. He basically answered a question about RBA hosting the cup by saying "Yeah, not in the first year so much." And then a Toronto reporter followed up and Don essentially said "Yeah, they have droppd some cash and have packed it out for 3 years but I was worried about the weather until some smart ass texted me during last year's rainy final in Seattle and said the weather was sunny and 55 in Toronto." But the question remains, they cannot be seriously thinking about putting the MLS Cup final in a stadium that only holds 21K can they? Is that the sound of $1M of revenue being flushed down the toilet from having less than half the attendance of last years 46K I hear?
Word to the wise: Anyone in the Northeast who has designs on going better think about getting a passport if you don't already have one. Just telling them where you where born or flashing your license doesn't cut it anymore. Don't wait until the last minute!
I think yes. Not that the economics make the most sense for that one game but most of the teams in the league play in stadia with a capacity of significantly less than 30 000. So unless you're going to restrict the MLS cup to only a handful of teams or require teams to leave their SSS for their local football stadium to host the cup you're going to have to accept smaller (but sellout) crowds at the final. Actually, if you're an American coming over you should still be able to get to the game with a driver's license. You just won't be able to get back home to the US again without a passport. Maybe Toronto should advertize to US fans: "Come for a game - stay for a lifetime."
With all these whack-job teabaggers and Republicans running around here, it may be a very enticing thought!
MLS Cups and attendance in the SSS (mostly) era: Code: 2001 Columbus Crew Stadium 21,626 2002 Gillette Stadium 61,316 2003 Home Depot Center 22,000 2004 Home Depot Center 22,000 2005 Pizza Hut Park 21,193 2006 Pizza Hut Park 22,427 2007 RFK Stadium 39,859 2008 Home Depot Center 27,000 2009 Qwest Field 46,011 BMO Field will fit right in with a lot of that.
I'm pretty sure that the 2003 and 2004 games at the HDC were announced 27,000 sell outs. Not 22,000 as listed above.
i think the point is if you can ave 40K or more fans you are best served doing that. isn't there some place in Toronto with a larger capacity? I would fully expect that in the future any MLS city that hosts the MLS Cup with a less than 25K stadium may very well look to have it in another larger stadium. like if philly gets the game in the next couple of years i would imagine they would hold it at the Linc. it is no slight on BMO but say TFC makes the final. what is more important playing at BMO or playing someplace that 40K or 50K or more fans can attend?
you couldn't see TFC in the MLS CUP final and filling Rogers Center with 50K fans like the Grey Cup? like this ...
i guess that is a consideration. they would have to figure out if the lost potential revenue at BMO would or would not be greater than the cost of moving it to the Rogers center. excellent point.
It was a while ago (late 90's) I remember getting home from a Bills/Jets game in Buffalo. It was freezing rain in Buffalo. We turn on the Grey Cup (Flutie was playing) in a crazy snowstorm in Hamilton.
Whoops. Corrected attendance: Code: 2001 Columbus Crew Stadium 21,626 2002 Gillette Stadium 61,316 2003 Home Depot Center 27,000 2004 Home Depot Center 27,000 2005 Pizza Hut Park 21,193 2006 Pizza Hut Park 22,427 2007 RFK Stadium 39,859 2008 Home Depot Center 27,000 2009 Qwest Field 46,011
$21,800 fans in a packed stadium doesn't bother me so much. I would, however, hope that Toronto fans come out in droves and choose a club to support with much the same ferver that they exhibit in TFC matches. If they do, $21,800 fans will seem like $40K. If not, well, Toronto has done a lot of great things for MLS and they deserve it. I would, however, like to see them improve a bit on the pitch. Why are they struggling so much?
Good advice for people not in the Northeast, too. Even if you would only consider going if your team makes it.
I don't mind toronto selection for the cup. That means that NY is a sure shot for 2011.. And of course chicago will be hosed for 2 more years it seems.
Is it the city that is given the rights to host MLS Cup, is the club, or is it the venue? It doesn't make it clear in the article, and the assumption is of course that BMO will host it. However, is it beyond the realms of possibility that Toronto feels it can sell well in excess of 40,000 for the game and gets a favorable rent on SkyDome for what is a one off game?
I think the article is pretty clear that it would be at BMO Field. In addition to the comments about the improvements to the stadium, this part of the article is specifically referring to BMO Field.