EDITORIAL: "It's all gone quiet over there..." But does TFC really care?

The blurst of times.

With apologies to the majority of the BMO Field population (circa 2007-2013), Toronto FC's image was built in large part on the visage of the South Stand. Now in no way are we claiming that the supporters in the south are more valuable or important than any others in the ground but it was the sizzle of the "European atmosphere" that TFC immediately harnessed to carve their place in Toronto's crowded sports entertainment market.

For the first few seasons, the club and its "benevolent" owners were handed a sweet gift from PR heaven - an organic (for the most part), grassroots supporter culture that was the talk of the town. Nary was a TFC ad or promo seen without the obligatory smoke-strewn, flag-waving, streamer-laden "Ultra" supporter that most other MLS markets lacked at the time. Word was out - Toronto had "the best fans in the league (TM)" and MLSE was more than happy to bottle it. The team thingamajig could come later.

Sadly, in true MLSE fashion, their promotional eyes grew too big for their belly and the fervent support they were so happy to promote was not rewarded... but rather milked. BMO Field ticket prices rose and game day expenses grew while expensive friendlies were shoehorned in on the back of this seemingly unquenched thirst for local football. Again, all while failing to meet the one request their fiery fans salivated over - a competitive side of their own.

Seven long and very unfruitful seasons later and the South Stand is a shadow of its former self. Large patches of empty seats and most noticeably an atmosphere that has gone from "European" down to "USL" levels. It is not a from lack of desire, no, TFC fans deserve all credit for still even discussing this team, rather it is the death by a thousand cuts of broken promises, greed and sheer drudgery. With the lowering in volume in the south, the rest of BMO Field has followed to become a fairly passion-free ground. The question is: do TFC and their owners actually care?

EDITORIAL : You wanna put what, where? Rationale and the Argos at BMO Field

So they removed the President of Toronto FC and during the brief press conference it was revealed that MLSE is "kinda" still looking at shoehorning the Argos into the ground. 

I don't get it.  It doesn't make any sense. 

I'm sure the cost of the retrofit doesn't remotely equal the money they'd make from a rental. And where is this money coming from?  And the much revered (well, it used to be) South End... it will get displaced where exactly?

As much as I think Tim Leiweke is doing a good job (sacking Payne is a start), I'd like to break down and challenge some of his statements.
 

I’m going to go out Sunday and meet with the season seat holders. We’re going to stand front and centre and look them in the eye and communicate here – good, bad and indifferent. We deserve it. What we’ll tell them on football is that we did football at (the Stub Hub Center) in L.A. with different games including the high school championships and a whole series of games there.

Really?   Those games in Carson, were they to host a regular tenant?  Did you have to tear out the grass and install artificial turf?  Did you have to redesign the stadium to do so? (answer key: no, no, no)
 

To me, it’s not a debate about do you do football or not. It’s a debate about if it’s the CFL can you design the stadium so that it grows for the CFL and shrinks back down to its current intimacy for soccer. That’s money, and it requires cash and we’re trying to figure out what that means.

Oh, a retractable stand then?  Now it's hard to find numbers on retractable stands.  The latest example was that of the Olympic Stadium where West Ham will take up shop in three year's time.  The retrofit calls for the demolition and reconstruction of all four sides of the ground's bottom two tiers.  The cost is a staggering £120-150 million.  Granted, we're talking about a fraction of the work, but even a fraction is still not going to be cheap.  Hypothetically, are the Argos worth $10-20 million (speculating, but it cannot be cheap) for one stand to move 30-50 feet?  And that doesn't include a roof.

Whether or not we can do that, it means we have to spend more money... We do other events there, including rugby which is just as tough on a pitch as football if not more so.

Comparing rugby to pointyball is a bit of apples to oranges.  Yes, rugby is as tough on the pitch as pointyball, but: 

• You don't have to vandalize the pitch with markings for every 3 steps in every direction
• There might be a match twice a year
• You don't have to retro fit the stadium for rugby

Here's the things that drives me the most insane with this entire scenario...

• MLS has a push for soccer specific stadiums, so where's Don Garber when a step backwards is about to take place
• What exactly is "Major League" about a team that is getting inconvenienced by a team that hasn't been culturally relevant in, what, thirty years?
• If a new home is so necessary now, what was it when they took the 'sweetheart' deal of no rent, but no concessions from the SkyDome 8 or 9 years ago?  Did they think that that deal would last forever?  Did they think they'd actually have leverage where the home tenant plays 81 home games and wants natural grass?
• It's actually not about the Argos as what is going to be done for the Argos at the TFC supporters expense.

Watch this:

This is a high school game.  The gridiron lines are perfectly fine in this environment.  Why?  Because it's not a soccer-first stadium.  Because it's high school.  Because it is in a region where gridiron football is by far and away the most popular and dominant game.  Because it's amateur.

If anyone has any doubt that this is a terrible experience, try to watch a soccer game at a field with football lines.  I had the pleasure of supporting the Hamilton Cup of Soccer back in the day, a one-off week long tournament played at Ivor Wynne Stadium, home of the Tiger Cats.  Though it was great seeing these teams play in person, watching seasoned pros unsure of where out-of-bounds is, takes away from the spectacle of the sport.  The game is tainted because the participants are confused due to the markings on the ground.  The gridiron lines took away from the damn game.

If BMO Field wants more dates at their ground, bring in a NWSL side, a USL-Pro side and market both to season ticket holders at a discount and make your money at concessions with cheap beer and food.  Let the supporters light flares and go nuts. Make the lesser clubs more accessible for customers and then beat them over the head with TFC advertisements all game long.  Friday night footie?  Sure, I'll stick around for that.  A true community spirit.  One stop mecca of local football.

When this franchise came about in 2006, a conscious decision was made : to put my money where my mouth and heart is, and stump up for tickets as soon as they were available.  Day 1.  Purchasing a pair in the dead center of 113.  If someone, anyone, was going to make that kind of investment in a serious (not you Toronto Lynx, and not anyone in the then-CPSL) professional soccer team in this area, then it was my duty as a supporter to back them up.  In return, a beautiful soccer-specific ground was built for this club.  Traveling every day on the GO Train, passing it, muttering "home" and then smiling as we passed by.  Even though the operating club is dysfunctional, it still appears to be footie, and that will suffice.

If MLSE shits all over this dream for the sake of 9 more dates for the wrong damn sport that the stadium was built for, well then, my hatred for this organization will officially never die, I will surrender my seats, and begin researching the process into what it takes to have a 'fan owned' club in the NASL.

Come V-Cup, we'll show you what a real derby looks like.

@ignirtoq really isn't a fan of MLSE and the Argos.  He considers himself a fan of the Tiger-Cats and believes their stadium situation is a debacle in a different way, but by birthright cannot like or respect the Argos ever.  As a native Hamiltonian, he despises the Maple Leafs and their insistence that a second NHL team wouldn't work in the region, even though Hamilton could easily support them.  And he's serious about the NASL thing.

EDITORIAL : Toronto FC Fan Council : Fill out this survey to better saturate you with advertisements!

Sometimes I wish I could get the PA announcer at the stadium a mute button.  Perhaps I am in the minority, but this season, more so than before, I feel way too marketed to when attending a match.  Every message is delivered like it is of utmost importance when it is just drivel.  There is very little news that comes out of the tannoy during any match.  Percentage-wise, it cannot be higher than 20%.  It’s terrible.  It’s noise pollution.

I’m not sure if anyone else is aware of it’s existence, but there is a group that is calling itself the Toronto FC Fan Council and on a once-per-month basis (or there abouts) I receive an email requesting my time to fill out a survey.  This month’s survey arrived last Thursday and the preamble read as follows:

As a member of Toronto FC Council, we want your feedback on everything related to Toronto FC. This month, we are asking you all about Toronto FC's marketing partners.

With the faintest of hopes, I thought that this would be the opportunity to provide feedback about how this club is marketing itself and its over-exposed “partners”.

What I was actually subjected to was a 15 minute reinforcement of what I despise the most.  Paraphrasing, the questions were postulating “which of these partners can you name which are part of the game day experience”, and “which of these brands do you feel you are most knowledgeable”, and “can you identify which partners...”

I accept that Toronto Football Club is merely a brand that is designed to make money by providing the service of entertainment, which I pay them so that I may watch the entertainment in person.  I accept that the sporting aspect of this “club” is, at the very least, secondary, as evidenced by every property its parent organization, MLSE, touches.  Their marketing genius is displayed in their efforts to have all of their fans believe that the on-field/ice/court success is the primary focus, when their bottom line indicates otherwise.  (I don't doubt for a second that this marketing strategy isn't unique to Toronto, but nobody does it better)

I also accept that my desire for footy to be as successful as hockey (or a fraction of), I must do my part.  Providing feedback, to a voluntary survey group, felt like one of those things one must do. However, that they would ask their fans how successful their advertising campaigns are, indirectly to that same audience, insults my intelligence.

At the end of the survey, a little box asking for feedback is available.  Here is a snippet of the six paragraphs submitted:

Dear "council", the supporters, a.k.a. customers, are over-marketed to.  Here's the thing: I don't support the sponsors.  Some because I am not a fan of their product, some by design.  I take my money and spend it before I get to the ground and I tend to avoid many of the sponsors listed because they, as well as the advertising people, have been ruining my game-day experience.

Aside from goals, subs, and cards, name a single part of the game that ISN'T "brought to us by" something?

If the nearly complete saturation of sight and sound isn't at the threshold of decency, I get the 'convenience' of being overcharged at the concession stand.  Why would I want to give Coke, or TFC, $3.75 for, at most, is a $1.50-valued soft drink because "that's what the market will bear"?!?! Why would I want to eat a pizza that reminds me of its existence all too often in the 2+ hours I spend at the stadium?  Or, mass produced beer brand trying to tell me that their beverage is worth around $12 for a can?

Are you gauging any of this?  The email was entitled "Share your feedback on TFC's partners".  THIS BOX IS THE ONLY PLACE I ACTUALLY GET TO GIVE FEEDBACK.  NOTHING IN THAT SURVEY RELATED TO THIS CLUB OR ITS FANS.  IT TRIED TO GLOSS OVER THE NOISE POLLUTION OF ADVERTISEMENTS AS PART OF THE “GAME DAY EXPERIENCE”, WHICH IS ASSUMED AS ACCEPTED.  DID ANYONE ACTUALLY THINK THIS THROUGH?

This entire exercise has allowed me to draw this conclusion: stripped down, customers who care about this team are seen and used as nothing more than people with too much disposable income that can be fooled to endure excessive amounts of promotion. The end game is to get those same customers to part with more of their disposable income than what is fair and convinced that this practice is perfectly acceptable regardless of the quality of the product.

@ignirtoq hasn’t been supporting the sponsors of Toronto FC for quite some time as it makes no difference.  He drives a Jeep, prefers Pepsi “throwback” (when available), uses Telus, owns a Canon camera, prefers his local pizzeria Mickey’s, drinks Patron tequila and Somersby cider, owns an XBOX 360, lives in an apartment so lawn care and home improvements don’t affect him, banks somewhere else and would prefer to refer to the home ground as “New Fort York” due to the proximity of the old one.

To… hr@mlse / Subject: Cheap Labour

Even my family thought it looked like me.

Hear there’s a new job opportunity. Finally, living out the dream of managing a struggling MLS side can be yours. Well mine anyways.

Oh sure, a cushy job in the computer industry affords a certain amount of stability, but like all things in life, why would anyone want the whole seat when you only need the edge...

And the benefits out weigh the drawbacks. On one hand:

• better sight lines
• free parking near the stadium on game day
• uncovering the truth as to how certain players were ever scouted and signed for the side
• have an opinion on next year’s kits
• bring back Collin Samuel on world’s first ever play-for-pie contract
• get my friend Dave a try out. Dave is the best defender on my Wednesday night rec league team. This guy is so good for a man with a clubbed foot.
• get invited to Jon Conway's "mid-season kegger". Dude, it's soooo epic. That guy is so huge, his keg stand needs a permit.
  
  The drawbacks? Let’s see...
  
  
• media scrutiny only when the team fails miserably for 3 years
• fear of getting punched in any Usanov contract negotiations
• not all of the supporters groups will boo me at the end of a month’s worth of poor performances
• beer discount only 10%
• the hard work in front of me to trade Nick Garcia for anything more than a bag of day-old kettle corn.
• Get invited to Tom Anselmi's pot luck. Seriously, hot dogs in a Pillsbury crescent roll is such a damn cop-out Tommy given the effort The Chad puts into his pulled pork.
  
  Hmmm... not that bad after all.
  
  Education:
  BA in Geography. Most people have only heard of Latvia - I can point to it on a map with ease. Same with The Gambia. Same with where the ball landed on the last shot Peterson took. Hint: look behind the Tim Hortons in Uxbridge...
  
  Experience:
  November 1997 - Took a club from Serie C2 to Serie A to become the most dominant football club in Europe. It was a football manager sim, and could complete a season in about 20 mins, but you cannot ignore the managerial prowess.
  
  February 1998 - Orchestrated the 5-1 thrashing of Men’s University intramural indoor soccer side, Men Chest Hair You Knighted. Yes, it was a recreation-B division but cultivating team chemistry was crucial with post-game beers down at the school pub.
  
  April 2006 - Ran a successful guild in a popular online game with an installed management team to keep the engine humming right along through the obstacles put in front of us. There are many fundamental similarities between a well geared Warrior and a winger.
  
  March 2007 - Can win the league in Pro Evo on 3 stars difficulty. I’m Alex bloody Ferguson here.
  
  July 2008-Present - The ability to give plausible excuses as to why things are falling apart, and not using late afternoon start times and injuries preventing flight as said scapegoats. It’s how I’ve kept both of my girlfriends happy.
  
  Hobbies:
  Making fake MLS logos, needlepoint, b-boying, blogging, soccer, being able to spot non-talented players without having to sign them first, photoshop, penning dope rhymes, chip butty connaisseur, line dancing, being a total smartass.
  
  
  Now it’s only a matter of when, rather than if, the phone rings. C'mon Tommy*, give me the job already.
  
  * only Mr. Anselmi's friends can call him Tommy

Editorial: And Then There Was One...

-------------------Classy player. Classless treatment.

I already miss him.

Carl Robinson was truly the engine who drove the midfield. All stop. His bad games still contained a positive value to the on-pitch performance. If only Guevara's "Polkaroo" act of disappearing and reappearing when no one is paying attention could be that noticeable.

Was the $300 000+ savings of salary cap really worth losing the one consistent outfield player that has shirted up since the game one? I hope so.

Preki has to be given some leeway here. He's the one steering the inherited ship, shifty patchwork, 5 year plans and all, so he needs to impose his imprint. Believing in Preki should be easy with his pedigree behind him so when the new talent shows up, some of those losses should become draws, draws become victories, etc.

One would have to think that it is solely a monetary issue. On a grossly underachieving team, it has to be. TFC, on paper, is good enough for a run in the post-season and to scare the hell out of a random Panamanian team in the Champions League instead of what we have before us. $300k is a solid amount of wiggle room on a team that could use a few capable players who will play 90 minutes a game. Honestly, if we can turn one Carl Robinson into two HALF-Carl Robinsons for the same price, it would be a gross improvement from 2009 on talent and work rate.

So this leaves our very own captain, Wee Jimmy Brennan, as the last of the originals. You have to speculate that the writing is on SOME wall for him with injuries and age taking their toll on the man.

So here's to you Mr. Robinson, may New York Harrison Extreme Beverage treat you well, and, if TFC supporters have an iota of class, applaud your return.

Editorial: The Beckham Experiment - Success... Sorta.

The lads and I were discussing the impact of the Beckham experiment on MLS and whether or not he's done anything to improve the game.

While it was agreed that the level of play did not improve with his arrival, given that Los Angeles didn't exactly compete for any honours, what he did provide was what MLS needed : eyeballs.

Not just from a turnstile perspective, which proved to be amazing given many of his matches doubled the average attendance, but from the respect point of view.

Oh sure, the best MLS side would likely end up mid-table of the English 3rd Division (I still refuse to call it the "League One", marketing be damned) in terms of quality, but the global attention can not be ignored. The footballing world now knows there's a league in the United States that is (seemingly) serious.

Here's why the Beckham experiment worked : Thierry Henry was quoted as stating that he could play for New York when his contract expired. Why? Because MLS is now an option for big name talent, albeit fading. It does not matter that he actually signs for New York Extreme Beverage, but the idea that he COULD.

The residual effect is clear, as the eurosnob who doesn't watch "that bush league stuff" will now have the notion planted that "hmmm, if it's good enough for Thierry Henry, why the hell not?", and that's part of the conversion process. And that process still has a long way to go before it gets to the levels of 'respectable'.

I do not know how many TFC supporters watch MLS games where TFC is not the feature. I do not watch non-TFC games, partially due to lack of easy availability, but I am sure the ratings for the Beckham matches were well above average as 'Golden Bollocks' does a run-up.

The "Designated Player" rule has been a success overall. As much as I hate Schelotto, he has raised Columbus' game (mainly by falling down). Same with Blanco for Chicago. And though their form is crap at best presently, Angel has also elevated New York's game.

So, in summary, Beckham's direct on-field impact has been, borderline, a bust, but all of the indirect impacts have been immeasurable.