Yeah, tricky for the seasons being. But, if say the CFL or MLS moved their post-season to the late spring, playoff conflicts likely would be less of an issue for TFC (and the Argonauts).
CFL won't be moving their playoffs - it's been July-November for 100+ years. Realistically you can't play outdoors on the Canadian prairies between December and March - and late summer to late fall is the traditional CFL season.
Thanks for hammering home the point that long-term MLS might really need to consider getting "the most important part" of its season (the post-season) out of the way of American/Canadian Football leagues' seasons. After all, Garber does seem to indicate that is a question operationally of when, not if with the MLS schedule.
I was thinking more San Siro due to the roof. It's worth pointing out that the temperature for kickoff at last year's Grey Cup in Regina was -4º(~25ºF).
We definitely do, but you have to keep in mind that most other top division professional soccer leagues have teams in very small population areas, cities and countries. The US has much larger population and many more large cities than most other countries with a popular soccer league. I know I am just stating the obvious but just trying to make sure we don't get too cocky about MLS attendance compared to other leagues (I never thought I would have to make a statement about MLS fans not getting cocky about attendance).
just to back up part of your point: # of UK Metro Areas with 1,000,000+ Population = 12 (11 if you don't count Scotland since it's teams don't play in the England pyramid): London 13.7m, Birmingham 3.8m, Manchester 2.5m, Leeds/Bradford 2.3m, Liverpool 2.2m, Newcastle 1.6m, Sheffield 1.6m, Portsmouth/Southampton 1.5m, Nottingham/Derby 1.5m, Glasgow 1.3m, Cardiff 1.1m, Bristol 1m # of US/Canada Metro Areas with 1,000,000+ Population = 52 (US), 6 (CAN)
Not sure what known facts are being ignored, but here's the link to and video of Garber's "not an if, it's a when" comment: http://www.mlssoccer.com/video/2013/12/07/halftime-mls-commisioner-don-garber-talks-espn-crew
Most other soccer leagues don't have several other sports above it in the audience pecking order. MLS fans have every right to be cocky about it. Also, here's the full PDF presentation of the stadium plans.
Looks like $120million for the upgrade and it will be going ahead. http://www.torontosun.com/2014/03/16/mlse-plans-to-spend-big-bucks-to-upgrade-bmo-field
Not to mention that most of those metros are split between various teams: London: 13 league teams Birmingham metro: Aston Villa, Birmingham, Wolves, Walsall, WBA, Greater Manchester: Manchester United, Manchester City, Bolton, Rochdale, Wigan, Stockport, Oldham, Bury Leeds/Bradford: Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield Liverpool: Liverpool, Everton, Tranmere Sheffield: Sheffield Wednesday, Sheffield United Glasgow: Rangers, Celtic, Queens Park, Partick Thistle Bristol: Bristol City, Bristol Rovers etc. etc.
Leiweke says some interesting things about TFC's game day experience for the fans: “When you walk into the building for a TFC game, you won’t know the Argos play there,” Leiweke said. “We’re not painting logos, so there won’t be a centre logo. The CFL logos in the end zones will be underneath the stands so you won’t see them. We’re going to work at making sure the lines go away.” He said it was an additional $30-million commitment to make moveable stands a reality. “We live in a different age and world now where the creativity and technology we can use to move stands in and out, to use paint that goes away, to ultimately use a turf system that gives both sides a green grass. We’re going to do all we can to protect the purity of the sport.” Leiweke’s always speaking in soccer terms. He also quashed fears of BMO Field going back to artificial turf here Saturday, saying they’ll use an expensive hybrid surface utilized by big clubs around the world. “We think we know how to work the schedule out,” Leiweke said. “We have eight Argos games a year. We’ll figure this out.” He added that an MLS game will never be played the day after a CFL game, but the reverse is possible. Leiweke has always proven himself to be a winner and seems to have always helped through his vision to take this league to new unseen levels. It's very possible in a few short years that this Toronto team could become the premier club in MLS. If Leiweke pulls this off, it maybe the 2nd biggest turn around of a MLS franchise in recent history.
As for the hybrid grass in Toronto.... If Toronto can make this work, Seattle can go to hell. No excuses whatsoever.
And we inch forward . . . .http://www.torontosun.com/2014/03/19/citys-executive-committee-approves-bmo-field-expansion-funding
The greatest mayor in history. Dude is calling out people via youtube. Doing Drugs. Getting Drunk Publicly. Celebrating in the streets like a hooligan. Man is a hero. Proof that the dream is possible. Sarcasm (for those who took offense)