Good points Gordon. One thing for sure you dont see people from the East saying VCR should not get a team, but as soon as anyone suggests MTL Tor get a team the Doyels and Kramerheads of the west start to crap on it.
That may explain the motivation for the new Stade Saputo. It's possible the city of Montreal currently gets most of those revenues at Claude Robilliard. The Whitecaps lose out that way at Swangard to the city of Burnaby.
Ok, I was going to keep out but you've mentioned Krammerheads name three times like your baiting him. You've got a yellow card from before and your rep in the past isn't too exemplary. Nuf ced?
People have already mentioned this, but its really matters who is getting all that parking, drink, and food revenue. I don't know what kind of deal Montreal gets on the food and drink sales. And if they get a fair chunk of that revenue it might make sense in their business model to give away so many tickets. Here in Vancouver, as stated earlier, the Whitecaps don't have the luxury of getting any of the money from the food and drink sales. This means other than packing their stadium and the slight possibility of attracting a few new fans giving out free or low prices tickets don't help the club. The whitecaps seem to have found a pretty good balance in ticket costs here as most games, played in half decent weather are close to selling out the 5,700 seat stadium. Taking nothing away from montreal, putting a very competitive and entertaining team onto the pitch has as much if not more to do with their high attendance than their low ticket prices.
Know where you are coming from. You never seem to see or hear southern Ontario people trashing the West but it seems to be more socially acceptable to act like that out west where Toronto or Montreal is concerned. Personally I'd prefer TO to get it first but if Vancouver is the foot in the door for Canada where MLS is concerned then I'll back them all the way because it would be good for Canadian soccer and I'm sure it would be a huge success.
There have been plenty of bashes of the west by a few eastern posters on the two sites I've frequented. And there is a tendancy for a few of the Southern Ontario crowd to call TO bashing whenever some pretty legit concerns about Toronto are raised. Like for instance, the spotty attendance for the lynx and the relatively modest crowds the Blizzard drew in NASL compared primarily to the Whitecaps. But I recognize that it is only a few and not the majority of S.O. posters by any stretch. I also think that there are some unfair criticisms directed at Krammerhead who appears mostly to be putting some perspective on Montreal's attendance relative to Vancouver. Really, this is not a bash of the east, nor of the Impact: Posted by the K-Head: "I was listening to yesterdays Montreal game. 33 minutes in the commentators were going on how fans were still streaming into the building. Of course they were, the freebies were still being handed out until they decided to take the attendance count. Thes same "fans" were also the ones the announcers mentioned were leaving early in the 80th minute. Maybe they'd still obliterate other cities attendance but not if their ticket prices were the same as other cities. Like I said, check out their average attendance before freebies and low ticket prices. That's the difference." I think that is a legit point of view, and I don't think that K-head is diminishing the accomplishment of the Impact by saying so, especially given that a trillion backwater USL communities who can not draw flies using the same tactics whichis something Krammerhead would, has actually, freely admit. He does tend to be somewhat acerbic in his style, so you have to allow for that and sometimes it turns off his readership, but its his style and it ain't goona change It is also consistent with his posting history on this manner, along with his objection to "theme" nights, kids zones, family based marketing, mascots, blaring music and dancers/cheerleaders. So i'd encourage those of you who are put off to back away from that and consider what he is saying on its merits. The rebutal that those "freebies" and "discounts" are drinking beer and buying merchandise is also legit, because Montreal is certainly not hurting in the revenue flow given their ability to sign and keep players who at least equal to those Vancouver has, and probably just a little bit better.
I say toronto because there is nearly 7 million people in the GTA and surrounding area not to mention the diversity of toronto theres little italy college street greektown chinatown, the list goes on and on what i am getting at is with toronto's diversity (many of which come from cultures where soccer is huge) you can easily support an MLS team and if its a success in toronto then in a few years expand to montreal and vancouver
Toronto can hardly support a USL team with those 7 million people. Also why should getting an MLS franchise in Vancouver and Montreal hinge on whether it succeeds in Toronto?
basically because the usl does not have the marketability like the mls does the mls has billionaire owners and corporations in on it so it has alot of funding and sponsorship its like how the OHL st mikes majors average a moderate attendance wheras the leafs sell out nearly every game. Would you say that toronto is not a good hockey market becuase the majors do not do very well absolutely not!! the lynx struggle because the usl is not as big of a league as mls with less sponsorship and no tv contract and its not as much as montreal and vancouver depending on toronto its basically that the financial success of the first canadian mls team will depict whether or not mls will expand into other canadian markets
As a Yank, I don't really have a preference. I FREAKING LOVE TO. I JUST LOVE IT UNLIKE ANY CITY OUTSIDE OF THE US. But I also love MONTREAL. I have never been to VANCOUVER, but my wife has and my parents have and they love it. I hope to get their one day. Hopefully, I will be able to see a Whitecaps game when I do. Having said that, I have to ask myself "IF MLSE wasn't involved in all of the MLS talk, would Don Garber be jocking for Toronto so freaking hard when we have several cities on this side of the border that really would like an MLS franchise?" Of course, I do not have an answer. If we are going to expand to Canada, then if MLSE wasn't in the equation, would Montreal and/or Vancouver both be in the running? Or would the IMHO too common American tradition of considering TO the de facto capital of Canada be at play? Just a thought. The whole thing touches a lot of nerves North of the Border and here down South too... It's tricky.
Montreal and Vancouver are the front runners until someone decides to off them. Sad considering there would only be room for one Canadian team in MLS.
There's a difference between marketability and history. The reason why the leafs are a big draw is because they've been around for years and "were" successful in the past. Add to that that hockey is Canada's major sport and you have yourself a success story. Look at the Blue Jays. Their attendance is 5th worst in the majors and last i checked MLB was the 2nd biggest pro league in North America. No offense to Toronto but they are what i like to call a novelty city. They get all excited once the product arrives because they get that acknowledment that they are a big city and can compete with the big boys then it's all downhill from there. Just look at the games that Team Canada played in the World Cup of Hockey and ask any fan that watched games in both Montreal and Toronto to compare the difference in atmosphere. Personally, i dont even care if the Montreal would put a team in MLS. I'm perfectly happy with the Impact in the USL. What i would like to see is the champion from MLS play the champion of the USL for some other trophy, that's all i'm asking for.
Ok, so why did the Vancouver Grizzlies the Montreal Expos and Alouettes fail then? The novelty of basketball and Baseball and CFL football wore off, is what you are saying right? Last time I checked Toronto still had its professional Hockey, Baskeball, Baseball, Football, Lacrosse and yes, soccer teams. Vancouver and Montreal are welcome to get their own MLS teams, I support both efforts. However lets be clear that Toronto has a peerless record in Canada of supporting pro sports teams. Its the only Canadian city mentioned by name by the MLS comissioner as a solid expansion prospect. I'm sure he has done his homework on TO. Thats all I want to say. Good luck to all three cities in nurturing pro soccer. Can we stop sniping at eachother now?
of course that atmosphere at the games would be different look at how much the tickets costed in toronto the only people here that could afford them were the suits on bay street and yes the jays have poor attendance but it is rising with the new additions to the rogers centre also jays tickets were way to expensive for the quality of play you get on the field that would explain why 2 dollar tuesdays are such a success