Don Garber on AM640 today at 4:40pm

[B45]

and Craig Forrest at 5:40pm, both on with Greg Brady

[RicoSuave44]

so wait 4:40 or 5:40?

[andyc]

just announced coming up next so 4:40ish

[TFCREDNWHITE]

On right NOW!!

[TicTacTabarnack]

starting now 446pm

[Jack]

Let's hear what the Grand Douche has to say...

[TicTacTabarnack]

1) why bring up the leafs?
2) stop calling it FC! both Garber and dude on AM640.

[DOMIN8R]

MLSE gets credit again.

[DOMIN8R]

Expansion announcement tomorrow #17 and #18

[TicTacTabarnack]

FieldTurf!!! Great Question... Damn FIFA for not mandating it and he has a point about the CITY owning it!

[Kevvv]

Field turf discussion - can't/won't mandate...

'MLSE are smart guys...'

[DOMIN8R]

WOW. He tipped his hands about how he feels about grass! Donny likes it.

[Sonny Cheeba]

turf addressed in the future? NOW PLEASE

[graeme117]

MLSE gets credit again.

really annoying especially in light of last nights debacle

Also gotta love using our support to sell 40 million dollar franchises... i feel used on so many levels

[noochie]

So who is it gonna be? MTL and VAN coming in? Perhaps Miami coming back into the league? Portland? Another NY team? Should be interesting...

[TicTacTabarnack]

Also gotta love using our support to sell 40 million dollar franchises... i feel used on so many levels

:iagree:

[Vindaloo]

Authentic? Like real grass, a one league table, relegation and promotion?

[Sonny Cheeba]

i didn't really catch that part about hoping for people to get a college education.... did that have to do with the draft style of shit we have here?

[NF-FC]

i just tuned in, is it still on?

[S_D]

just finished. Garber kept his cards close to his vest. It didn't sound too positive about further Candian expansion though. By the sounds of it they will stop at 18 teams and see what goes from there.

[Jack]

18 is a good enough number.

He was very political in his comments about FieldTurf

And yes, whoring Toronto the support to sell the league... what a surprise.

[B45]

no it's over but is on their website at www.640toronto.com (http://www.640toronto.com) and on podcast

[torfchamilton]

Expansion announcement tomorrow #17 and #18

Is this true? The DON said this?

[DOMIN8R]

He said he had an annoucement to make tomorrow about expansions 17 and 18 and their related timetables.....if I remember correctly. Whether this means he will announce which cities get it.....that was not absolutely clear.

[dupont]

is this from today? I am really surprised that ottawa is being considered so strongly. Seems like a much weaker market than Montreal.



Posted by Sports Business Journal:
MLS COMMISSIONER DON GARBER OUTLINES LEAGUE'S GOALS OVER NEXT FIVE YEARS
By Tripp Mickle, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal

Garber Today Outlines Five-Year Goals For MLS

During a mid-season address in Toronto today, MLS Commissioner Don Garber outlined five goals for the next five years, saying he wanted to: raise the level of awareness and improve the credibility of MLS in the U.S.; see all teams playing in a stadium they control; continue growth across the standard metrics of attendance, TV ratings and Web traffic; convert soccer fans to be followers of MLS; and ensure quality of play improves. Garber: “We believe over the next five years our best years are still ahead of us.”




The league’s BOG will meet tomorrow and outline a plan for expansion by two more teams, Garber said. Markets under consideration include Atlanta, Las Vegas, Miami, New York, Portland, St. Louis, Montreal, Ottawa, and Vancouver.

[S_D]

Ottawa?

they must be nuts to think they would get in in front of any of those other cities listed

[Broadview]

Ottawa???

Pffffft.

[profit89]

Highlights of interview:

- league is in best shape ever
- fans in toronto have earned a team
- environment last night was amazing
- we want to replicate tfc with new expansion teams
- teams 17 and 18 to be announced soon
- fieldturf is not going away
- beckham has played an important part in MLS's growth
- seattle has sold 16k season seats
- MLS is trying to align with international standard (whatever that means)

[Marc"2L"]

Man, from somebody who lives there 8 months out of the year...

Ottawa could be the darkhorse from hell. A nice stadium (NICE, I'm talking new National stadium, 20 000+ and grass) downtown or near where Lansdowne is now

http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=Lansdowne+park,+Ottawa&ie=UTF8&ll=45.399128,-75.683913&spn=0.010502,0.018797&t=h&z=16

Could be a huge draw.

Lansdowne runs right along Bank street which is about as close to King as Ottawa could ever get. Plenty of bars in the area and the Ottawa RPB meet up spot is closer to Lansdowne then Shoeless is to BMO. Not to mention that it's falling apart and knocking it down is not out of the question. The Don says they want to replicate Toronto elsewhere. In terms of location, Ottawa and Lansdowne is as close as you could come. They would just need to drum up some hardcore support in the area (Much like Paul did) if it's even possible.

[AL-MO]

Let's hear what the Grand Douche has to say...



Jack are you KingPin in disguise? :lol:

[Broadview]

Man, from somebody who lives there 8 months out of the year...

Could be a huge draw.

Yeah, but it could be Columbus-Canada.

I don't know man, I went to school there too and enjoyed the city a lot while I was there.

But as a sports town...I don't really see it. CFL fizzles, AAA baseball fizzles, even the Sens aren't guaranteed sellouts all the time.

Obviously you have a better handle on the situation up there than I do, I haven't spent any time there for years. But I read that and the mind boggled.

Ottawa being named would shock the hell outta the tiny world that is MLS and I would love it. Great road trip.

I wouldn't put any money on it though.

[B45]

uggghhh...Ottawa would just be a HUGE risk for MLS and soccer success in Canada. They MUST put Montreal and Vancouver in first. Ottawa is a bad sports town and there is lots of history to prove that.

-two CFL franchises have folded in the last 12 years, yes bad management was a factor but other CFL cities have had plenty of bad owners

-the Ottawa Lynx were in the basement of AAA attendance for years before moving last year after selling out their first couple years...this was following the Jays 2 World Series

-Ottawa Rebel a NLL lacrosse club folded after 2 years, flopped at Corel Centre then tried the Civic Centre before shutting down around 2003.

-Ottawa Senators, while profitable now and selling out, were drawing poorly evening with a couple winning teams and went bankrupt a couple times

The only real success story is the junior 67's who draw well at the Civiv Centre and the 2009 World Junior should be a hit, but it's a hit anywhere.

So in conclusion, I'd be very careful about Ottawa until Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal are all thriving.

Plus, the stadium needs to be built as half of Frank Clair is being torn down and will be rebuilt as a new CFL park. Unless they could retrofit the baseball park once the new minor league Ottawa Rapidz fold because that's due to happen eventually...

[ExiledRed]

^^ TFC's success is not related at all to the performance of the Argos. Blue Jays. Maple Leafs or Raptors and especially not the Lynx.

Why is Ottawas chances at a soccer team constantly being obfuscated by statistics that relate to other sports?

I never went to a CFL game. Does that mean by rights I wont go to a MLS game?
Of course not.

[profit89]

Ottawa. No good.

[ExiledRed]

Ottawa. No good.

What they said about Toronto

[RealG-TFC]

What they said about Toronto

You do make a good point. I could only imagine what MLS supporters thought of Toronto when we were rewarded the team, based on the Lynx.

[Blazer]

Similar to Toronto, Ottawa is not a thriving sports city. What Toronto has going for it is the 5.46 million GTA residents where in and amongst you’re bound to find diehards by default. Ottawa can’t rely on their 1 million for anything other than hockey.

[RealG-TFC]

well I'd imagine their stadium would be smaller.

[Dirk Diggler]

Wait, they already have a stadium plan for Ottawa? I thought it was just talk right now.

[RealG-TFC]

I'm just saying. If Ottawa were a candidate. I would imagine the stadium for them would be smaller. 18 000.

[Blazer]

If Ottawa gets a new stadium it will be geared towards their latest attempt at a CFL franchise without soccer in mind. MLS would be foolish to even give Ottawa a sniff of a possibility.

[Keegan]

Lets put it this way.
Toronto was thought to be a bad place to put a team as our USL team drew shit.

With how it has taken off I'd imagine Edmonton, Vancouver, Ottawa or Montreal would all be better options than some of these American teams. (KC, San Jose, Columbus, FC Dallas, New York (2nd team?? wtf?), Atlanta).

Edmonton is a great option they sold out for LA v Vancouver as well as a UNDER 19 GIRLS GAME. It is a soccer city for sure.

[Blazer]

^All of those American cities have Greater Area populations nearing or beyond 2 million. Edmonton and Ottawa have populations well beneath 1 million and only draw well for soccer because games happen so infrequently in those cities. If they had full time teams they wouldn’t be supported with their meagre populations and even fewer footy fans. I’ve spent 22 years in Ottawa. Soccer is cheap way to keep your boy in great hockey condition during the offseason but that's all it is.

[Oldtimer]

You do make a good point. I could only imagine what MLS supporters thought of Toronto when we were rewarded the team, based on the Lynx.

I read their comments. They couldn't believe that Toronto was awarded a franchise and fully expected it to fail. Some of the more nationalistic thought it was terrible that a foreign team was allowed in, especially given USSoccer's part in setting up MLS in the first place.

[RealG-TFC]

^All of those American cities have Greater Area populations nearing or beyond 2 million. Edmonton and Ottawa have populations well beneath 1 million and only draw well for soccer because games happen so infrequently in those cities. If they had full time teams they wouldn’t be supported with their meagre populations and even fewer footy fans. I’ve spent 22 years in Ottawa. Soccer is cheap way to keep your boy in great hockey condition during the offseason but that's all it is.

Actually Ottawa is at a million and Edmonton is just under.

[Blazer]

Actually Ottawa is at a million and Edmonton is just under.

The Greater Ottawa area is just over a million yes. But the only people who show more apathy towards soccer than the city slickers themselves are the rural folk. Edmonton doesn't have the large surrounding cities within a reasonable distance the way those other American cities have to rely on.

[Dirk Diggler]

The Greater Ottawa area is just over a million yes. But the only people who show more apathy towards soccer than the city slickers themselves are the rural folk. Edmonton doesn't have the large surrounding cities within a reasonable distance the way those other American cities have to rely on.

Exactly. There should be no doubting the fact that in terms of total metro population, Ottawa and Edmonton are FAR down the list.

[Blazer]

^Not only should they be far down the list because they make no economic sense, why the hell would MLS even want to expand into Canada before expanding to their own soccer markets?! Toronto, Montreal, and Van not included. Wouldn't make sense.

[Dirk Diggler]

^Not only should they be far down the list because they make no economic sense, why the hell would MLS even want to expand into Canada before expanding to their own soccer markets?! Toronto, Montreal, and Van not included. Wouldn't make sense.

Yeah. Vancouver and Montreal are juicy prospects only because they have successful USL clubs (both on and off the pitch). If they didn't have that, Toronto would be the only Canadian city the MLS heads would think about expanding into.

[Baggio2TFC]

WTF!!! What about the Salary cap!!! AAARRGGG!!!