Interested to see what MLS fans in the United States have to say about a possible Canadian expansion team!
There are still many US cities that are equal/better candidates for expansion without some of the headaches (i.e. roster composition, currency variation, FIFA approval, etc). Unless Toronto builds a 30,000 SSS (not plans, has one on the ground) and has a big-time investor lined up beating down the MLS door, I wouldn't consider it until MLS has already added some of the big markets in USA (Seattle, Houston, Philly, Cleveland, Minneapolis/St. Paul, San Antonio) and a couple other "regional town" teams (Ok City/Tulsa, Rochester, St Louis, Atlanta, San Diego, Charlotte/Research Triangle NC). I realize that not all of these US cities will come up with viable stadiums/ownership groups either, but I am sure that some of them (maybe 6) will make good bids before too long.
I dont think expanding to Canada is a great idea. A Canadian team would need to be all Canadian plus int'l players. Otherwise the most of the team would me American. As far as i know only 1 Canadian is in the league. Dwayne DeRosario Its just all screwy. I'd stay out of it if i was Garber.
I've already said this elsewhere...If MLS allows a team in Canada, I will no longer follow the league.
I HATE the idea. It really dispresses me to think of a Canadian team in MLS. The MLS should be the American first division, not the North American first division. Wasn't there already a NASL? Look how that turned out. I do however sincerely hope that Canada does get its own league. I think it would be good for CONCACAF and liven up CONCACAF Champions Cup. So Canada, here's hoping you do it on your own. Instead of leeching onto MLS.
If MLS can find an owner/operator in Canada with funds to go all out to support a team, invest in the league and willing to build a world class SSS- then I say go for it. If it's a Canadian MLS team playing at a High School Stadium, I say MLS should stay south of the border.
One on hand, a strong soccer presence in Canada would be great for our country. We have a great rivalry with Mexico an additional rivalry with our neighbor, Canada would be great, if they can improve (I don't want to hear how Canada won the Gold Cup four years ago). Is Toronto the way for MLS the way to go. Hopefully no. Either keep the Canadian teams in the A-League, or begin a new Canadian League. How many trans-border sports are keeping their heads above water in any sport in Canada. The hockey teams struggle financially (Ottawa, Quebec, Winnipeg), basketball (Vancouver), baseball (Expos). Again, when franchises take in Canadian money, but have to pay players in American dollars, it causes financial hardships for these teams. If we can help the Canadians get a league up-and-running, great. I think it will be beneficial to the US, since we have a very good relationship with Canada. As soon as America figures out how to run a succeful league, we'll lend a hand.
      Actually, there are now two (although ironically, they're now both on the same team). -G
I've always thought it would be a good idea to have some clubs in Canada. Honestly, I don't understand the hostility here.
Not so ironic considering that Yallop (coach) is a Canuck. And I am sure (even though I am usually a Canadian basher) that there would certainly be more Canadians in the league if they did not have to meet the same International player standards that all of the other foreign players must meet. There simply aren't enough good Canadians to compete for the "precious" 3 Senior International slots on each team. Those generally go to impact players (on DC UTD, they are Galin Ivanov, Hristo Stoichkov - until he gets his green card - and Ryan Nelson). A team also gets up to two transitional internationals (Eliseo Quintanilla and Jose Alegria). The new Canadian goalkeeper has a green card, so he doesn't take up one of the international slots. Many foreign players who played college soccer in the US have green cards.
I don't see any problem... Canadians didn't seem to have any problems with US cities joining the NHL, even though at the time most of us didn't even know which end of the hockey stick to hold. To me, the size of the population is going to make it very difficult for Canada to have their own 1st Division. But if the MLS takes off in Canada, I believe that they will ultimately form a strong 3rd soccer power in North America and that can only help the sport in both countries. I just don't understand the resistance to this idea. I mean, the Canadians don't eat smelly food, use their women for pack animals, or talk funny. (OK, maybe they talk a little funny, but it's relatively easy to understand them.) They're not going to play in flannel shirts are they? If they've got the stadium and the bucks to back it up, then roll out the ball and lets play.
Re: I don't see any problem... Jeffrey Ross, the greatest living comedian, had this joke on Kimmel the other night: I'm going to be on a Canadian version of Joe Millionaire. It's going to be called Joe $679,000. Stop playing with Monopoly money and you can join our league.
Re: I don't see any problem... How come Belgium, Holland, Sweden, Norway, Portugal, Denmark, Scotland other European countries with equivalent or smaller populations than Canada do just fine then? There would be complications to having teams in both countries. Do you suddenly make Canadian players equivalent to domestics (for all of the teams) or for just the Canadian teams? Do they get extra allocations for Canadian players? (The latter two options give them access to a player pool the other teams don't have equal access to). Do you restrict the number of US players on Canadian teams? (This would restrict the Canadian teams' access to a player pool the US teams have access to). Do you pay players in $US? How do you handle the fluctuations in the exchange rate? Most of the Canadian members of the major sports leagues struggle to compete with their US rivals. In the NHL, Toronto and Montreal (US-owned) are the only very solid franchises from the balance sheet perspective. Vancouver does okay. The Toronto Raptors do okay, but struggle to sign free agents due to tax and salary disadvantages. The Grizzlies left Vancouver. The Expos are failing and the Blue Jays are a shell of themselves after being extremely popular in the mid-90's. The US franchises are typically much richer - and someday (hopefully) MLS may not be single-entity and/or strictly salary-capped. In that situation, it would likely be tough for Canadian teams to hold their own. Plus, is it really in our interest to participate, in a significant way, in the player development of the CSA? Granted, European Union-member leagues have to provide open access to one another's players, but one of the founding reasons of the MLS was to give the greatest possible opportunity to US players in the hopes of developing our National Team pool and depth. As a result, we let in a few players per team from other countries. This adds to the quality of the competition without taking away too many spots from US players. Besides, FIFA does not lightly grant permission for leagues to include foreign teams. The United Kingdom examples (Berwick, Wrexham and Swansea) are often cited, but they exist for historical reasons. In fact, the existance of the separate "national" teams in the various home territories of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales were especially granted by FIFA since they are technically one nation. There are very few exceptions to this rule (Monaco-Le Championnet, Vaduz-Swiss First Division) and they are much more understandable than Canada (given that it has 30,000,000+ people).
Why the hostility? So long as the investors and stadium are in place, what's so bad about expansion to Canada? All I've heard so far is rhetoric and blank bile. It increases the television market, the audience generally, and, simply by adding a team, the general stature of the league. If basketball worked out all right in Canada, I see no reason MLS couldn't (soccer's a slightly bigger deal than basketball in Canada, and MLS' expectations are lower than the NBA's). And if these boards have been getting all razzed up about the possibility of Oklahoma City getting a team, Oklahoma City without an investor and without a stadium getting a team, who are we to thumb our noses at Canada? Sure, it would create some bureaucratic hassles for the MLS headquarters folks, but then I don't have too much sympathy for them, they've spent six years doing little but create bureaucratic hassles for themselves.
Re: Why the hostility? You and I have different barometers of "worked out all right" I guess. I don't even follow the NBA and I know the Canadian teams had problems, so it wasn't exactly a state secret. Americans So let's make it even harder for them to make money. Good idea.
How about a compromise? We'll let a Canadian team in, but they only get two points for a win. And Canada has to pass a law referring to Canadian bacon as ham, since that's what it is.
Columbus qualifies as a raging success in this league because they draw, what, 16,000 fans 14 times a year? If Toronto's got a stadium and an owner, do you really think they can't reach that level of success?
I'm all for it. If Uncle Phil can find a some canucks with cash money and a stadium, then why not? But only if the team is called FC Take Off, You Hosers.
It'll all be worked out... I'm sure that when Toronto enters the league, Canadian players will be treated as domestic players for all teams. But most of the Canadians will be playng for Tonronto. The MLS has always had a policy to try to allow teams to accumulate players with local interest. How do you think Landon ended up at SJ? And why do you thing Adu will be laying his MLS ball at DC United? (Oops, maybe you weren't supposed to know that yet.) And when Canada becomes one of the major soccer powers in North America, they will be #2 behind the US. Mexico's a wonderful country and I love to travel there, but choking appears to be part of their culture.