Toronto FC

So that's it: Toronto FC.

After all that talk last month about 'Inter Toronto', it appears that the MLSE has opted for the blank canvas approach.

I like it. I'd go further and say I like it a lot - Purposefully bland, even a bit classic. It lets the fans of this new team give them the nickname they'll be known as -- a simple "City" would seem the most obvious.

I don't know if MLSE can make this fly -- the Marlies haven't lit their bank vaults on fire, and they've done such a great job with the Raptors -- and I'm not exactly in love with the notion that my tax money is helping build the stadium at the Ex. But I would love to see it work, for the sake of Canadian soccer having a place to play and improve in the country's biggest city. There's an audience here, too -- but it's not the ones that wave flags every World Cup time, or take their kids to Saturday morning kids' games. Even if the oldtimers are skeptical, I reckon it's grown since the last time a North American pro league tried to crack this ground in a big way.

Toronto City. It works for me.

Comments

[Kent MacDonald]

Like you said, we all hope it works for the sake of Canadian SOCCER. This is North America, the FC doesn't make any sense here. If Toronto got an expansion NFL franchise, should they name it the Toronto American Football Team? How about the Toronto Ice Hockey Club? At least Inter would have kind of been something. I guess.

[cy]

"If Toronto got an expansion NFL franchise, should they name it the Toronto American Football Team? How about the Toronto Ice Hockey Club?"
No. And no. But you're missing the point. This is NOT an NFL or hockey team. They play the world's No. 1 sport. And instead of trying to convince people with the Cleveland Crunch, why not Toronto Football Club? Y'know, like it's done in places where people really care about the game. It doesn't work when it's contrived -- Real Salt Lake, for example, is dreadful because there's really no reason to put "Real" there. But this is a football club. Football, or soccer as we call it, is the world's game. So, a la DC United, we meet the name challenge on the world's accepted turf, instead of calling them the Tea Men, or the Crunch, or any of the other monikers that have been thrown out there. (Mind you, I do like the Crew's logo. Its smaller version make them look like a Specials reunion concert)

"At least Inter would have kind of been something. I guess."
Except they'd be copping the name of the real Internazionale. It'd be contrived.

i'm going to clean up the post, cuz i did it fast (it was BUSY in here today) and it was kinda rough. But names are important.

And hey, look on the bright side. At least they didn't inflict another cartoon dinosaur on us, or steal an old idea in an attempt to import 'tradition' a la the Marlies. I figure I've saved hundreds of dollars in T-shirt presents over the next few years, until they decide they wanna change their name to the Magpies.

[Kent MacDonald]

the bigger point was, if its a North American team, then it isn't a football club, it's a soccer club. Footballs here have points on the end and count for 3 or 6 points a score. if I'm in Toronto and I hear talk about a football team, you're darn right its the Argos i assume i'm hearing about. to me, using a name for the sport that isn't used here is more contrived than Inter would have been. Toronto is a wonderful, international city, it's better to celebrate that (even if the reasons for the name wouldn't be entirely on par with that) than to go after the football label in a soccer country.

[Jlo]

Why is this so important for Canadian soccer? Canada has a successful major league soccer team. The Impact do great in Montreal. In fact, they kick me off the track at Claude Robillard on a regular basis with all of their fans. It's a great old time. Does something have to happen in Toronto before it becomes Canadian?

Wow, I sound like a real Montrealer. Sorry about that.

Oh, and Go Sabres!

[cy]

Pro soccer in Toronto may be unsellable (I don't believe that) and Canadian soccer may be unsavable (I dunno about that). It sits right up there with Canadian basketball, another tilt at a popular worldwide game in which Canada as a group intermittently shows up and the people running it bumble along. But since you asked JLo, here's why Toronto is so important to its success:
1 It's the corporate capital of Canada, and programmes depend more and more on corporate money. If you're playing your big games in Edmonton all the time, it's harder to attract the money, much less convince (and afford) the CEO of some interested company to fly out and nibble cheese in a private box for a Canada friendly
2 It's the biggest city in Canada. When the nearest thing to a soccer venue was torn down a couple of years ago, there really is no place to play here
3 It's the media capital of Canada. More media equals more exposure equals more corporate interest.
4 MLS is the highest level league in North America, and the only place the league is willing to come into is Toronto.
5 I like Claude Robillard, I recall going there in '94 for an exhibition game. But when was it built? 1976, right? A new stadium, even if I'm paying for it, can't hurt the game here
6 Oh yeah. Fans. Access to the Golden Horseshoe, Canada's largest population base. Get it?
I could go on. But you get the idea. Geez JLo, didn't you grow up in Little Italy?

[Jlo]

Oh, yeah, Toronto IS the centre of the universe! I forgot. I thought Calgary was the new corporate centre. Maybe only the Toronto media think it is the media centre. I read the Star because I am from there, but there has been nothing in the papers here about TFC. Maybe that's because it is a different league than the Impact, or maybe it is because of the language barrier.

Ok, I see your point. They are actually planning a new stadium here, but it is supposed to be out by the Lachine canal, which is not so central, really. I guess the stadium is really the key, but then, if that is the case, than the goal is making money with soccer, not actually promoting the game. It's not like this is going to spawn a generation of soccer playing kids who will be more healthy because that boom is already happening. Kids are still fat and dull these days.

Sorry, I am on the verge of 100 miles this week so I am cranky. Go Footballs! Or whatever they are going to be called.

[Fred]

Jlo, all of cy's points are completely valid and the sum of them are exactly why Toronto was chosen.

As for the name, I like it. Yes, we call it soccer here in Canada but as past failures with pro soccer have shown it is important to attract established soccer fans to the team. We have already seen that they won't support teams with ridiculous names like 'Rockets', 'Lynx', or 'Blizzard'. Even worse would have been naming the team Inter Toronto (as was pointed out in the Star) since that would immediately alienate many non-Italians as well as non-Inter Italian fans. I know I would never have supported that team and I voted to make sure that that name didn't win.

To attract the established fans MLSE have to make the team a 'legitimate' franchise. Playing in the MLS, which has improved in quality immensely over the years, is a good start and choosing a traditional but neutral name is another good step as it welcomes all segments of the city's soccer fans.

My friend and I already have our membership/seat licenses for the first season.

[Peter]

It makes sense to me how pro-level soccer never took off in this city, with venue problems and the fact that it really wasn't top-tier play. Now the MLS is not European calibre footy, but I think its a great league nonetheless. Toronto's multicultural nature should make for an exciting nature to attending matches.
As the US National program continues to improve the quality of play in MLS will only do the same and being able to see these teams and their stars, Landon Donovan of LA for example, makes me think that this soccer franchise will do much better than those that came before.

[jeeves]

maybe it should be called football to attract the real football fans (you know, the game played with yer feet not your hands!). Maybe the real fans were turned off by this "soccer" talk -- never quite connecting to a sport that doesn't sound like the real thing. It's better to do that than name it "soccer" for the people who don't really care.

[TO4U2NV]

It gets pretty annoying when you hear all these canadians complaining about toronto. Really, if you do not like the city at all, why take part in conversations about our professional teams?

[Peter]

Back in the early 80's, the Blizzard averaged around 15,000 per game at the hideous CNE Stadium. Today, Toronto is much bigger. There are many more immigrants for whom soccer is their first love and the game itself has unprecedented exposure in this market with at least half a dozen top flight games on the tube each weekend from Italy, France and England. That does not even count Fox Sports World or Gol TV.

Think about the way the Toronto Rock caught on in Toronto. Their initial marketing was superb. Plus, they put a good team on the field. By the end of their first season, they were selling out Maple Leaf Gardens.

For the first time ever, all the ingredients will present for success: and owner with deep pockets and huge access to media coverage, a fabulous stadium for soccer (we hope) and a large fan base. If the team on the field is competitive, this team will be selling out every game by the end of its second year of operation.