What should TFC do for Its Supporters to Make Up for the Abysmal Product this Year?

[OgtheDim]

As the title says:

The team has been crap - not good enough by any means


Realistically, what should the team do for us who paid for this?


And if somebody could provide some cogent reasons as to why, that would be helpful too.


I think the team owes us something - we've had an apology or two but...what tangible should be done?


Oh, and I too know darn well that they might do nothing...and that leaving or not buying merch or concessions is a valid way to react.

But I think its time to start building pressure...real pressure on the FO to do something, for its supporters who are putting up with this shit

And people can yell "MANNING OUT" all they want but that isn't all they can / should do something. Its been crap since we came back from covid.

So...thoughts?

[Bushmancan]

Give us A Red home kit!!

[Ultra & Proud]

Now we're talking.

Well they're taking us for granted for sure and it's very obvious. There's minimal to no interaction anymore.

Main thing, we're getting sub year one quality everywhere (team, match day experience, times, winter night matches, prices, concessions) so their price point should reflect that. They want to run it like an afterthought or an "oops, this time we'll get it right, duurrrr" then it should cost the minor league rate of $190 south end seasons like it used to be. We shouldn't have to be on the hook for their continued apathy/terrible judgment.

[OgtheDim]

Give us A Red home kit!!


Yeh, I know they've heard it about that one but damn the whole "we know a guy and so it will be good" thinking not only has to stop, but they really gotta start listening to the totalliy of the thinking of their smart fans (not the bloggers like Nesker) tell them what we ACTUALLY want.

Like Ozymandias sitting in front of his screens in the Watchmen.


Because, my god, their intelligence gathering about fans is so bad.

[FiveThreeTwo]

For starters, if Bill and them had any pride and actually wanted to keep somewhat of a relationship with fans instead of creating this slow drift where people become disassociated... they'd have a town hall FREE without ego, bite back or PR ready to give excuses for the STH's. An environment not where they act all smug like they realize now all their problems, and now know how to solve them - they give people who follow the club that are fairly intelligent fans the opportunity for feedback so they hear it point blank. Not just with leaders and small focus groups. Open to season ticket holders.

It's been a shit show of 2 complete coaching overhauls. Manning's and board's entire success metrics are season tickets sold and retained. They are a large stakeholder. Face the music and let them have their time for input, frustration and don't hide like a chicken shit. They haven't been good enough, and even with hernandez being given the option to be his life preserver questions should be allowed to be asked, in detail with humble answers.

That's the least they could do, ontop of freebee's and other comped crap

[wopchop]

They increased my ticket price by ~22% this year, so they can fucking start by rolling that back.

Concessions prices are extortionate. If they want easy good will, they start with that.
They got rid of free refills on the "collector's cup". I can't even get an empty water bottle filled with fucking water.

In the winter Games, they had one stand only (on east) that sold a hot drink. What the fuck are these people doing?

Last game I was trying to get a regular hot dog for my kid and got led on a scavenger hunt to find it.

Have there been any giveaways at all this year?

My suggestion to everyone to send a message is to Opt-Out of Leagues Cup tickets.

[stevep]

As the title says:

The team has been crap - not good enough by any means


Realistically, what should the team do for us who paid for this?


And if somebody could provide some cogent reasons as to why, that would be helpful too.


I think the team owes us something - we've had an apology or two but...what tangible should be done?


Oh, and I too know darn well that they might do nothing...and that leaving or not buying merch or concessions is a valid way to react.

But I think its time to start building pressure...real pressure on the FO to do something, for its supporters who are putting up with this shit

And people can yell "MANNING OUT" all they want but that isn't all they can / should do something. Its been crap since we came back from covid.

So...thoughts?


great topic. they fooled you last year, shame on tfc
they fooled you again this year, shame on you
its truly amazing and brilliant how they got people to pay top dollar for tc2, and mls journeymen every game
$50 million in revenue i project and paying these tfc2 players peanuts, Bill Manning is the man!

[glaze]

A price rollback would’ve been in play if Messi wasn’t coming. But because Messi is coming you will see a significant increase in ticket prices and if you don’t pay it, there will be a huge line up of people waiting to take those tickets.

[Ultra & Proud]

Really they should refund any tickets that SSHs don't use for the rest of the season or count it as a credit if that SSH chooses to punish themselves by renewing. I can't see myself bothering to go again this season. What's the point plus the fat cats need to see the empty seats, low concession sales, and dead atmosphere.

[Ultra & Proud]

A price rollback would’ve been in play if Messi wasn’t coming. But because Messi is coming you will see a significant increase in ticket prices and if you don’t pay it, there will be a huge line up of people waiting to take those tickets.
In Miami, yes but how much can they jack prices and what's the demand going to be for the other 19 or so matches when he doesn't visit BMO?

[Hala Hrvatska]

Really they should refund any tickets that SSHs don't use for the rest of the season or count it as a credit if that SSH chooses to punish themselves by renewing. I can't see myself bothering to go again this season. What's the point plus the fat cats need to see the empty seats, low concession sales, and dead atmosphere.

If Manning is not fired, I will not renew, 100%. I said it before, if he and the bradleys are here, I won't be. BB going had me dipping my toe back in the water...but Manning here still means I won't renew. He cannot be part of any rebuild.

I literally cannot give away my tickets to family and friends....I get a polite no thanks am busy from some (even though I know they aren't doing anything lol) to my buddies who say a flat out no way, we suck...not wasting my time/money (food/drinks/go/parking) for this crap. I appreciate the honesty. Its a mess.

[TFC1986]

Well supporter seats in my opinion are cheap, compared to rest of the stadium, so I highly doubt anything will be done for Supporter sections pricing.
As for actual supporter fans regardless of where you sit, I agree a town hall of some sort is definitely needed especially when you are at the bottom of the league. There will always be winners and always be losers.
For now we are the losers so front office needs to do more to keep the seats selling if the product on the field is abysmal.
As mentioned above with concessions, maybe for season holders offer then coupons like how they've done before or 25% off any food items (shouldn't need a BMO card for 10% off, or offer an additional 10% if using BMO card).
I myself opted out of the leagues cup, as the value of what they have the tickets priced at should be halved.
Last year they were talking about dynamic pricing on games because they were so confident in the team doing well with the Italian players. So if dynamic pricing is in effect, then these tickets should be alot less.

[ag futbol]

I myself opted out of the leagues cup, as the value of what they have the tickets priced at should be halved.
I think this would be an effective form of protest. If people were publicly encouraged to dump their league cup tickets to show the club their displeasure, it might just start to register how badly they screwed up.

[Ultra & Proud]

I think this would be an effective form of protest. If people were publicly encouraged to dump their league cup tickets to show the club their displeasure, it might just start to register how badly they screwed up.
I did that a while ago and I called my rep as well and asked him to remove my credit card number from their system so they don't "accidently" bill me anything anymore. Plus I want them to have to call me at renewal time so they can hear it again.

[Hala Hrvatska]

I did that a while ago and I called my rep as well and asked him to remove my credit card number from their system so they don't "accidently" bill me anything anymore. Plus I want them to have to call me at renewal time so they can hear it again.

Well played.

[Ultra & Proud]

Out of all possible protest moves to get noticed that is probably the best one.

If a large amount of season seat members called their reps and asked for their credit card numbers to be removed and that they want to be contacted at renewal time before providing the number again and that they will decide if the team has done enough to warrant a renewal at that time would send a message that the reps would have to pass upwards.

[ag futbol]

I did that a while ago and I called my rep as well and asked him to remove my credit card number from their system so they don't "accidently" bill me anything anymore. Plus I want them to have to call me at renewal time so they can hear it again.
That’s a good one as well. It really makes their life inconvenient to say the least.

[stevep]

In Miami, yes but how much can they jack prices and what's the demand going to be for the other 19 or so matches when he doesn't visit BMO?

No guarrantee he won’t be “injured” the Bmo game and he won’t be playing

[tfcfans]

^ let’s be real there’s a good chance we get the Miami game on some freezing day in March-April and Miami will not risk their prized asset in such conditions. Beckham did not play here in the summer of 2007 either (I know as I had tickets and still went - LOL) and a ton of seats were sold on his name as much as anything at that time.

You can take your season tickets for $500-$600 a seat like mine (ie. the “cheaper” ones) and be able to buy a Messi tickets for that amount and not be subjected to 19 other games of “punishment” - and if you’re spending thousands on these tickets - you can see Messi for a lot less than that. For anyone who thinks that any extra seats will be sold to STH at anything less than exorbitant prices, they are fooling themselves - they aren’t giving away that revenue.

I never thought I would give my seats up as I have light gray seats that I really like, at a price point that is not ridiculous - but frankly I’m just flushing my money down the toilet these days every week - it’s ridiculous - and I can’t imagine those spending 2-4x what I’m paying, are not more pissed at eating even more money every week.

I highly doubt a rollback is occurring - at best you’ll get a “we are not increasing” prices message as if that’s some great score for us - or the Apple TV thing will be free again for another year - I’m sure eventually that will get taken away across the league as frankly the people most likely to buy the MLS package are the ones you’re giving it away for free to, in every market (ie. The hardcore fans who actually watch MLS and support it with their wallets)…..

[Oldtimer]

No guarrantee he won’t be “injured” the Bmo game and he won’t be playing

That happened with Beckham back in the day. :rolleyes:

[nfitz]

That happened with Beckham back in the day. :rolleyes:At least once they (likely) deliberately scheduled Galaxy here during a FIFA window where he was back in the UK; as Toronto was one of the few stadiums that was selling out at the time, so didn't need the boost.

[los sonadores]

I think this would be an effective form of protest. If people were publicly encouraged to dump their league cup tickets to show the club their displeasure, it might just start to register how badly they screwed up.

Normally, because I like watching us play Mexican sides maybe more than all others, I would be one to buy those league cup seats others have opted out of. But not this time. I want to see good football not to watch our likely humiliation in the leagues cup. From a football perspective, Manning has certainly run this club into the ground.

[OgtheDim]

So...any further thoughts because the rest of the season ain't getting much better then this.

[leedsandTFC]

they should fire bill manning and hire some actual competent executives.

on top of that, some beer tokens for the remaining home games to thank people for coming to watch this dreck.

[Ultra & Proud]

If we finish last then we should have the lowest ticket prices at each pricing point in the league. Pay for fair market value only. They want to raise the prices after that reset? Improve.

[MikeForbes]

Fold and apply for an expansion team in 2025.

[leedsandTFC]

offseason really needs to be 2015 bold for any chance of even moderate success next year.

that year they brought in jozy and seba (after a big ticket DP underperformed).

needs to be that, but with head office, backroom and medical staff recruitment too.

[nfitz]

I'm good with just firing Manning.

[Ultra & Proud]

I'm good with just firing Manning.

I wouldn't say just that because you never know who they could hire. Earl Cochrane is available.

[Gringo Starr]

Fold and apply for an expansion team in 2025.

This is funny but at the same time we would be further ahead if we could do this

[OgtheDim]

One thing they need to do, and not in a presser


TFC needs to apologise to its fans for what has & is occurring.

Players & staff need to do this - openly & publicly at games and other venues.

[Ultra & Proud]

One thing they need to do, and not in a presser


TFC needs to apologise to its fans for what has & is occurring.

Players & staff need to do this - openly & publicly at games and other venues.

Will never happen. At best there will be an apology form letter "we'll get it right" email sent out after we're officially eliminated from the playoffs in a few weeks. I don't even think they care enough to do a press conference until the post mortem one and at that they'll re-iterate the new plan to do it right and get the franchise back on track (mentioning 2017 of course) while throwing Bob under the bus and pointing to injuries as why it all went wrong. One thing we do not have from the top down is accountability and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

[Auzzy]

I can't even get an empty water bottle filled with fucking water.



Is this accurate? Wouldn't that be a violation of their liquor license? I thought that any business selling alcohol has to provide free water.

At a recent game, my friend and I got our water bottles filled for free at one of the west side food counters. I also heard that there's a bottle filling station on the east side, but I haven't tried to find that yet.

I really don't see how they could allow Manning to hire another coach. I think the most important thing for supporters is to show them that they will do things completely different from the past.

[wopchop]

Is this accurate? Wouldn't that be a violation of their liquor license? I thought that any business selling alcohol has to provide free water.

At a recent game, my friend and I got our water bottles filled for free at one of the west side food counters. I also heard that there's a bottle filling station on the east side, but I haven't tried to find that yet.

I really don't see how they could allow Manning to hire another coach. I think the most important thing for supporters is to show them that they will do things completely different from the past.
Yes. It was a while ago. l asked them for a cup of water, and they gave me boiling water (twice). Eventually they said they cannot provide water.
If there is a bottle filling station, then I have no idea where that is.

This actually has happened to me a few more times at other events. This year at the Indy, all the vendors said go to the bottle filling station, however there was no bottle filling station in the infield at all so you had to go safari trek all the way to the Enercare centre.

Edit: also with regards to "free water", I believe that this is not actually true. I think the law only says that they must also have non-alcoholic beverages available for sale, not that they must be free. I think that the give them water idea is moreso something you hear about in smart serve training, limiting your liability as the server.

[Auzzy]

Yes. It was a while ago. l asked them for a cup of water, and they gave me boiling water (twice). Eventually they said they cannot provide water.
If there is a bottle filling station, then I have no idea where that is.

This actually has happened to me a few more times at other events. This year at the Indy, all the vendors said go to the bottle filling station, however there was no bottle filling station in the infield at all so you had to go safari trek all the way to the Enercare centre.

Edit: also with regards to "free water", I believe that this is not actually true. I think the law only says that they must also have non-alcoholic beverages available for sale, not that they must be free. I think that the give them water idea is moreso something you hear about in smart serve training, limiting your liability as the server.

Thanks for clarifying. I have often gotten free water at some of the west-side food counters at BMO Field (not the smaller food & drink stands). Although it's just from their tap, so it's not exactly ice cold.

Going from the west side to the east side for the (supposed) bottle filling station is also quite the trek. I will try to do that in one of the next games, and report back.

[Oldtimer]

Renewals are going to be like 2012 low. They will have to think of something to get people to renew, at this point a lot of people won't be renewing.

[JonO]

Yeah. I predict a disaster for renewals. Can’t even give these tickets away let alone sell any to games you can’t attend.

[Fort York Redcoat]

Renewals are going to be like 2012 low. They will have to think of something to get people to renew, at this point a lot of people won't be renewing.

What if they buy a big name that'll sell a lot of jerseys. That always works, right?

It looks like that's the plan again with Hedges move for GAM. Hopefully this time the war chest will be dropped on an Almiron instead of a famous retiree.

[Ultra & Proud]

Renewals are going to be like 2012 low. They will have to think of something to get people to renew, at this point a lot of people won't be renewing.
I think they will lose at least 40% and that's being optimistic.

And that's if they do something to entice renewal. If they keep radio silence and jack the seats another 20% like I'm sure they want to then maybe 30% will renew.

[leedsandTFC]

What if they buy a big name that'll sell a lot of jerseys. That always works, right?

It looks like that's the plan again with Hedges move for GAM. Hopefully this time the war chest will be dropped on an Almiron instead of a famous retiree.

i dont think it's fair to call insigne and bernardeschi retirees.

they just aren't the profile of DPs that work in this league.

most effective are CAMs and Strikers.

[Ultra & Proud]

i dont think it's fair to call insigne and bernardeschi retirees.

I do.

One guy can't manage anything against even the shittiest defenses we've played and the other is injured at a Jozy rate. If that doesn't spell retirement then nothing does.

[leedsandTFC]

I do.

One guy can't manage anything against even the shittiest defenses we've played and the other is injured at a Jozy rate. If that doesn't spell retirement then nothing does.

being a bad fit for the league and injury prone doesn't mean they are retirees. you don't retire at 31 and 28 (ages they were signed).

bernardeschi has multiple clubs in serie a after him. insigne had inter milan, atletico madrid and newcastle making offers when he came here.

they just fit the league badly in terms of profile or player.

[Canary10]

They need to start with a roll-back of prices to even start the conversation.

[ag futbol]

They need to start with a roll-back of prices to even start the conversation.
Now introducing: CSL pricing

[Ultra & Proud]

being a bad fit for the league and injury prone doesn't mean they are retirees. you don't retire at 31 and 28 (ages they were signed).

bernardeschi has multiple clubs in serie a after him. insigne had inter milan, atletico madrid and newcastle making offers when he came here.

they just fit the league badly in terms of profile or player.

You do if you're body is busted down and both of them look like they are.

And I bet IM, AM, and NU are thankful they didn't waste their money on Insigne. As for Berna, I will believe Italian teams really want him when it happens.

[leedsandTFC]

You do if you're body is busted down and both of them look like they are.

And I bet IM, AM, and NU are thankful they didn't waste their money on Insigne. As for Berna, I will believe Italian teams really want him when it happens.

insigne probably plays another 5 years, berna 7.

[Canary10]

Now introducing: CSL pricing

Lol. Maybe not that much, but they did freeze (and roll-back?) SS prices before. They need to do it again.

I find so many challenges getting to games on top of the disastrous team: the Saturday night game time slot. I know that's not their fault but they need to try to vary it with some afternoon games, it's tough with little kids; the terrible amounts of construction and TTC re-routing. I live in the east end, and there is no good way to get to BMO now (or even downtown), maybe allowing people to bring bike helmets into BMO would be good as Bikeshare is the only way I can get to a game on time without leaving 1 1/2 hours early for a supposed 20 minute drive.

Please get rid of this terrible home kit. If needed go back to last year's. Give every SSH a free one. I know that's dumb in the scheme of things, but this terrible kit is somehow symbolic of how low we've sunk.

[Ultra & Proud]

insigne probably plays another 5 years, berna 7.
Oh they can play that long sure. Will they be of any use during it? Probably not.

I've seen nothing from that either that they could be anymore than a secondary piece or bench option for a club in a real league. Maybe in Saudi or Qatar they could start and have some impact. Maybe.

[glaze]

Any giveaway would be nice. Jays have all sorts of them. Argos too. TFC stopped trying years ago.
But I agree, please fix the schedule and have some afternoon games. 4 pm would be great, opening day should be 1 pm in the sunshine.

[annie]

1) we should be getting back money (as we didn’t play more than 1 game in the leagues cup)
2) give us a refund for the remainder of the season - nothing to play for is going to make for poor games
3) reduce pricing for next year - my 2 seats in 107 (red) cost $3950 this season - add in another $630 for go train costs and I am not getting my entertainment value out of this and until they can demonstrate entertaining football they simply can’t charge these prices.
4) they need to look at food concession pricing - $43 for 2 hot dogs and a bottle of water is price gouging

I’ve been a season seat holder since day 1 and the Toronto ‘til I die I’ve taken quite literally up until now. I never thought I would even think about not renewing but that’s where I am right now. I think this season might be my last.

[firm]

I agree apple and ticketmaster have a hold on these games 7.30pm at night is no good for a family prices are ??? Insane ???? Stupid colours only 2 kits home and away Red for home

[SuperTCP]

Any giveaway would be nice. Jays have all sorts of them. Argos too. TFC stopped trying years ago.
But I agree, please fix the schedule and have some afternoon games. 4 pm would be great, opening day should be 1 pm in the sunshine.

Agros, Jays, Raptors, and the Marlies have many give away days. Some cool items too.

TFC giveaways lack creativity and quality (Last season Bernadeschi t-shirt was ugly and thin, and this seasons home opener paper flags were a waste of paper with many left littered throughout the stadium).
We saw one good year with T-Shirts, Flags, and hats. But still those fail in comparison to what the Jays, Marlies, etc give away.

Don't get me started on Bobbleheads, TFC only ever had 1 and it was a giveaway at a fucking Marlies HOCKEY game. WTF? Another thorn in my side is the Championship ring. Marlies, Argos, etc had their championship rings as a game giveaway, we had to shell out money to buy TFC Championship rings.

I like the 7:30 pm game schedule , it allows families to do other things during the day and then watch the game at night. Althought I am not a fan of 7:30pm games in the colder months.

[Ultra & Proud]

Only a rollback to year 1 pricing and the Apple subscription included for free will be enough.

Any free tickets to things I don't care about or cheap T-Shirts I'll never wear won't cut it. Not this time.

[Canary10]

Wait, there's a zoo day!! It's all good.

[Slick]

Wait, there's a zoo day!! It's all good.

Yeah, let's throw a lunch event during a weekday, and we'll call it a day. Bunch of jokers.

[ElvistheEvilScotsman]

Yeah, let's throw a lunch event during a weekday, and we'll call it a day. Bunch of jokers.

Do we get to vote on which cage Manning goes in?

[Mr. Inbetween]

Didn’t know Testa Golazo the footy dog was an animal attraction at the zoo…

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM2cNu2dX/

[tfcfans]

Agros, Jays, Raptors, and the Marlies have many give away days. Some cool items too.

TFC giveaways lack creativity and quality (Last season Bernadeschi t-shirt was ugly and thin, and this seasons home opener paper flags were a waste of paper with many left littered throughout the stadium).
We saw one good year with T-Shirts, Flags, and hats. But still those fail in comparison to what the Jays, Marlies, etc give away.

Don't get me started on Bobbleheads, TFC only ever had 1 and it was a giveaway at a fucking Marlies HOCKEY game. WTF? Another thorn in my side is the Championship ring. Marlies, Argos, etc had their championship rings as a game giveaway, we had to shell out money to buy TFC Championship rings.

I like the 7:30 pm game schedule , it allows families to do other things during the day and then watch the game at night. Althought I am not a fan of 7:30pm games in the colder months.

The ring thing drove me nuts too - they gave cheap replica ones to staff (similar to the Argos and Raptors ones given away at games for free) that I managed to buy off of someone, never mind the expensive Barrons ones (I did spend money on a nice paperweight) - but not to give them to Season Seat Holders was ridiculous. They also had a mini MLS Cup that you could only get if you bought more than $150 worth of merchandise in early 2018.

Considering what this team cost to buy as an expansion franchise, and what it’s worth now, there is no reason to be cheap on this sort of stuff. They played on Canada Day this year at home - anything given away other than the result? Fireworks post game ? Nope, Just another embarrassing loss given away in extra time…..

[tfcfans]

Only a rollback to year 1 pricing and the Apple subscription included for free will be enough.

Any free tickets to things I don't care about or cheap T-Shirts I'll never wear won't cut it. Not this time.

I agree wholeheartedly, but the days of $200-$250 season tickets (in yellow and light gray) are never returning.

The Apple thing will be thrown in I’m sure next year too — big whoop, if you save the thousands that most people spend on a pair of season seats (outside of the two cheapest price points it’s well into the $1500-$2500 range), they can easily afford to spend $130C and even another $500 to see Messi if he actually shows up to play (on some rainy and cold night in mid-April I’m sure) and still be way ahead.

What are they selling me in terms of TFC for 19 other games ? Why would I want to go? Tickets are not going to be hard to come by other than the one game if HE shows up to play. Just remember that Beckham played a total of one regular season game in Toronto in all his time in the league, so if you bought season tickets just to see him play, that was a losing proposition most years (he also played in the one All Star Game here, and one Champions League Game at the Dome too).

[Blindside16]

This year is the first year that we ae seriously thinking about if we are going to renew or not. Between the abysmal product on the field and the ever rising over priced concessions, it has made us talk of why should we bother. What makes this even worse is I never had these discussions back in 2012 & 2013 when we would have lost to a timbit team. This franchise needs to stop insulting its fanbase. Fire Manning, lower the ticket and concession costs, actually follow through with promises (Safe standing) and hold yourselves accountable publicly to the fan base. Don't try and sell me in a controlled press conference about how you think you can right the ship, just look what I did 5 years ago. Put yourselves in a public form, such as a town hall, and allow yourselves to be held accountable to the fanbase.

[Ultra & Proud]

I agree wholeheartedly, but the days of $200-$250 season tickets (in yellow and light gray) are never returning.

The Apple thing will be thrown in I’m sure next year too — big whoop, if you save the thousands that most people spend on a pair of season seats (outside of the two cheapest price points it’s well into the $1500-$2500 range), they can easily afford to spend $130C and even another $500 to see Messi if he actually shows up to play (on some rainy and cold night in mid-April I’m sure) and still be way ahead.
.

Oh they're going to make the Miami match an exemption from our season membership, just like they did with Beckham back in the day. And sure, cheaper seats seem like a thing of the past based on current economics but a crowd of 15K (or less) weekly doesn't seem far fetched in these times either.

They'd better choose wisely or this team might tip head long into obscurity and worthlessness.

[FootBallAZ]

so my rep knows how upset and annoyed i am with this management. I had a call and email yesterday from someone at TFC working in the retentions department- as a Manager, Membership and Retention ( I assume Manning realized renewals are tanking)

I havent spoke to them yet - as I wanted to prepare a detailed list of why I am not happy including things such as:

marketing
price increase
game times
mis-management of assets
sunk cost that is being passed over to us.
paying premium price for a non-professional team

anyone else have someone reach out to them yet? I have been a season since 2018- but have been paying premium for seats.

[Ultra & Proud]

anyone else have someone reach out to them yet? I have been a season since 2018- but have been paying premium for seats.
Not yet but I really pissed them off with the League's Cup thing so I assume I am on a no call list.

[tfcfans]

Oh they're going to make the Miami match an exemption from our season membership, just like they did with Beckham back in the day. And sure, cheaper seats seem like a thing of the past based on current economics but a crowd of 15K (or less) weekly doesn't seem far fetched in these times either.

They'd better choose wisely or this team might tip head long into obscurity and worthlessness.

If they exempt the Miami match from season seats then they are truly out of their mind - it frankly is the only selling feature they have for next year. Why would I buy seasons minus one game ? No other team does that - the Leafs don’t take out Edmonton from the season ticket package or have the Raptors take out Golden State from the season ticket package? Why would this be done now?

Again - I am like many others who were here since “worst team in the world” days and I am also seriously considering giving my seats up too when I never felt that way even in “those” years.

[benito]

I cannot remember if TFC made ssh buy separate tickets for Beckham. If they do that for Messi, they will get lots of complaints and create new non-renewals for the following season.

[Ultra & Proud]

I cannot remember if TFC made ssh buy separate tickets for Beckham. If they do that for Messi, they will get lots of complaints and create new non-renewals for the following season.
They did the first time LA made it through I believe. Oh you will get first access to your seat at the discounted, loyalty price of 4 times what you would normally pay for a premium match.

[tfcfans]

so my rep knows how upset and annoyed i am with this management. I had a call and email yesterday from someone at TFC working in the retentions department- as a Manager, Membership and Retention ( I assume Manning realized renewals are tanking)

I havent spoke to them yet - as I wanted to prepare a detailed list of why I am not happy including things such as:

marketing
price increase
game times
mis-management of assets
sunk cost that is being passed over to us.
paying premium price for a non-professional team

anyone else have someone reach out to them yet? I have been a season since 2018- but have been paying premium for seats.

I wrote to my rep with the following list, I was respectful to the rep as it’s not their fault but I asked that this messaging be passed along to the powers that be — I would suggest everyone flood their offices with similar messaging —

1) Performance is clearly lacking, and the roster construction is absolutely awful - we haven’t had a proper striker in a long time now, and having no true goal scorer is embarrassing for a club of this magnitude considering the money that is being spent, it has been spent foolishly repeatedly.

2) A complete lack of transparency as to what is being done to help the club improve - it simply looks like they have given up (too many examples to mention here).

3) Ticket prices have to be reduced as a means of good will to the fans (a credit for a 20th game that we didn’t get isn't a price reduction, that’s simply a refund for a game not played) - the phrase “worst team in the world” from back in the day is being thrown around by supporters now - frankly in relation to expectations (and money spent) this is by far the lowest that this franchise has fallen.

4) selling me Messi as a means to keep season tickets is a joke - he is at most one game out of 20 that we pay for (no guarantee that he even plays here too - Beckham didn’t actually play here in a regular season game until 2011) - we want to see TFC succeed - Messi is simply a bonus if it happens - I could take my $1000 and see Messi play, if that’s all I cared about, and save lots of money.

5) The game day experience simply isn’t fun anymore - getting to and from the stadium is a chore (and frankly dangerous with the Go Tunnel). No giveaways, barely any fan engagement. We had a game on Canada Day - nothing “Red” to speak of given away - no postgame fireworks - etc.

6) Fan engagement from the team is completely lacking - we “love” the team but it does not feel at all like they “love”
us back.

[ag futbol]

^ When you look at stuff like this it’s easy to realize that Bill Manning isn’t just failing at providing a winning football team, he’s failing at the operations side too.

I will add: the row with the Montreal Ultras this year was a complete disgrace and could have easily been avoided with basic awareness of security requirements for these events.

[Ultra & Proud]

5) The game day experience simply isn’t fun anymore - getting to and from the stadium is a chore (and frankly dangerous with the Go Tunnel). No giveaways, barely any fan engagement. We had a game on Canada Day - nothing “Red” to speak of given away - no postgame fireworks - etc.

6) Fan engagement from the team is completely lacking - we “love” the team but it does not feel at all like they “love”
us back.

Besides the obvious team failures that keep occuring under the faithful watch of the unfireable these are big points for me.

It genuinely feels like they don't give a shit about fans now and I don't care about giveaways or fireworks. I mean the emails, events that I don't go to but still events that are offered to those who do, that pre-match south end getting in early to have cheaper but still too expensive beers. I used to get random emails from my rep and calls here and there but now I got nothing for years until I called to make sure they didn't scam my credit card into purchasing any more LC tickets. The even went lax of security for that Montreal match but I think they hired teh cheapest security possible by the looks of it. No gameday anything is "fun" in any way beside meeting people we know in our section.

The feeling I get at least, is that I should be thankful I'm allowed to watch football in Toronto and I should be grateful they buy players who are shit but have some kind of name recognition.

[FootBallAZ]

^ When you look at stuff like this it’s easy to realize that Bill Manning isn’t just failing at providing a winning football team, he’s failing at the operations side too.

I will add: the row with the Montreal Ultras this year was a complete disgrace and could have easily been avoided with basic awareness of security requirements for these events.



this is very important, the fact there was very few security and police on site- this to me seems like a way to mitigate high cost/sunk cost- buyouts and fired employees.

[FootBallAZ]

I wrote to my rep with the following list, I was respectful to the rep as it’s not their fault but I asked that this messaging be passed along to the powers that be — I would suggest everyone flood their offices with similar messaging —

1) Performance is clearly lacking, and the roster construction is absolutely awful - we haven’t had a proper striker in a long time now, and having no true goal scorer is embarrassing for a club of this magnitude considering the money that is being spent, it has been spent foolishly repeatedly.

2) A complete lack of transparency as to what is being done to help the club improve - it simply looks like they have given up (too many examples to mention here).

3) Ticket prices have to be reduced as a means of good will to the fans (a credit for a 20th game that we didn’t get isn't a price reduction, that’s simply a refund for a game not played) - the phrase “worst team in the world” from back in the day is being thrown around by supporters now - frankly in relation to expectations (and money spent) this is by far the lowest that this franchise has fallen.

4) selling me Messi as a means to keep season tickets is a joke - he is at most one game out of 20 that we pay for (no guarantee that he even plays here too - Beckham didn’t actually play here in a regular season game until 2011) - we want to see TFC succeed - Messi is simply a bonus if it happens - I could take my $1000 and see Messi play, if that’s all I cared about, and save lots of money.

5) The game day experience simply isn’t fun anymore - getting to and from the stadium is a chore (and frankly dangerous with the Go Tunnel). No giveaways, barely any fan engagement. We had a game on Canada Day - nothing “Red” to speak of given away - no postgame fireworks - etc.

6) Fan engagement from the team is completely lacking - we “love” the team but it does not feel at all like they “love”
us back.


ive basically said my part to the rep- now he basically stopped trying and sent me over to the retentions manager. so i think i have a good start here- i will see if i can share his email or number for all of us to send the same email with consistent messaging.

[ag futbol]

The feeling I get at least, is that I should be thankful I'm allowed to watch football in Toronto and I should be grateful they buy players who are shit but have some kind of name recognition.
Yep.

I’m repeating myself here but I go back to the quote I saw on Twitter a little while ago. The shambolic way things are run has removed any sense of “club” from TFC and instead are offering a “interactive soccer-based experience”

[ag futbol]

this is very important, the fact there was very few security and police on site- this to me seems like a way to mitigate high cost/sunk cost- buyouts and fired employees.
I think it just speaks to budget constraints and/or Manning’s limited vision as a manager. It’s obvious a lot of things are being skimped on behind the scenes.

[Ultra & Proud]

Yep.

I’m repeating myself here but I go back to the quote I saw on Twitter a little while ago. The shambolic way things are run has removed any sense of “club” from TFC and instead are offering a “interactive soccer-based experience”
Yeah that was pretty much it for years except now they've given up on their part of being interactive and the way they've treated the rest of us has drastically affected the experience (atmosphere) provided by supporters.

[benito]

One other thing that I mentioned to my rep was the handling of ssh credit from the Covid season. Told them that the communications were poor and notification was sent a week before the expiry date with no games left at BMO.

[annie]

I wrote to my rep with the following list, I was respectful to the rep as it’s not their fault but I asked that this messaging be passed along to the powers that be — I would suggest everyone flood their offices with similar messaging —

1) Performance is clearly lacking, and the roster construction is absolutely awful - we haven’t had a proper striker in a long time now, and having no true goal scorer is embarrassing for a club of this magnitude considering the money that is being spent, it has been spent foolishly repeatedly.

2) A complete lack of transparency as to what is being done to help the club improve - it simply looks like they have given up (too many examples to mention here).

3) Ticket prices have to be reduced as a means of good will to the fans (a credit for a 20th game that we didn’t get isn't a price reduction, that’s simply a refund for a game not played) - the phrase “worst team in the world” from back in the day is being thrown around by supporters now - frankly in relation to expectations (and money spent) this is by far the lowest that this franchise has fallen.

4) selling me Messi as a means to keep season tickets is a joke - he is at most one game out of 20 that we pay for (no guarantee that he even plays here too - Beckham didn’t actually play here in a regular season game until 2011) - we want to see TFC succeed - Messi is simply a bonus if it happens - I could take my $1000 and see Messi play, if that’s all I cared about, and save lots of money.

5) The game day experience simply isn’t fun anymore - getting to and from the stadium is a chore (and frankly dangerous with the Go Tunnel). No giveaways, barely any fan engagement. We had a game on Canada Day - nothing “Red” to speak of given away - no postgame fireworks - etc.

6) Fan engagement from the team is completely lacking - we “love” the team but it does not feel at all like they “love”
us back.

I’m with you on point 5) we take GO from Mississauga and I’ve probably registered 30 safety concerns regarding Exhibition GO over the last 16 1/2 years. Most seriously last year during the CNE game…it was so bad ie I was getting pushed into the chain link fence on the westbound platform at the end of the game due to overcrowding to the point I was having trouble breathing and thought I was going to collapse. I wrote to MLSE, CNE, The transportation Safety Board, the local councillor and GO…I asked them all to work together to ensure that this wouldn’t happen again. Most never responded and all I got from others was “well it’s not really our issue but we’ll pass on your concerns”.

On point 3) we will have spent $3950 on our 2 seasons tickets and another $630 on go transit …no way the entertainment value equals $4500…I will not be renewing unless they offer significant price decreases.

Emailed my rep to find out about a refund for the second leagues cup match - they’re holding on to it to apply as a credit towards next season. If you want it refunded now you have to call your rep. I took the opportunity to let them know I was not going to be renewing…their response sounded very scripted and that they would call me during renewals to discuss.
I’m really not looking forward to these last few matches of the season especially the next two because of the CNE

[Bushmancan]

I wrote to my rep with the following list, I was respectful to the rep as it’s not their fault but I asked that this messaging be passed along to the powers that be — I would suggest everyone flood their offices with similar messaging —

1) Performance is clearly lacking, and the roster construction is absolutely awful - we haven’t had a proper striker in a long time now, and having no true goal scorer is embarrassing for a club of this magnitude considering the money that is being spent, it has been spent foolishly repeatedly.

2) A complete lack of transparency as to what is being done to help the club improve - it simply looks like they have given up (too many examples to mention here).

3) Ticket prices have to be reduced as a means of good will to the fans (a credit for a 20th game that we didn’t get isn't a price reduction, that’s simply a refund for a game not played) - the phrase “worst team in the world” from back in the day is being thrown around by supporters now - frankly in relation to expectations (and money spent) this is by far the lowest that this franchise has fallen.

4) selling me Messi as a means to keep season tickets is a joke - he is at most one game out of 20 that we pay for (no guarantee that he even plays here too - Beckham didn’t actually play here in a regular season game until 2011) - we want to see TFC succeed - Messi is simply a bonus if it happens - I could take my $1000 and see Messi play, if that’s all I cared about, and save lots of money.

5) The game day experience simply isn’t fun anymore - getting to and from the stadium is a chore (and frankly dangerous with the Go Tunnel). No giveaways, barely any fan engagement. We had a game on Canada Day - nothing “Red” to speak of given away - no postgame fireworks - etc.

6) Fan engagement from the team is completely lacking - we “love” the team but it does not feel at all like they “love”
us back.

Very well done, i may use portions of this, if you are ok with that. I will be interested in hearing the response.

[Auzzy]

Our seasons tickets are under my seat mate's name, he is the only contact. Although he's also pissed about the state of the team, he's always super busy. It can sometimes be hard to get him to deal with things.

Can somebody please let me know the process for removing your credit card number from the account? Can you do that online, or do you have to call the rep? I think when folks here originally discussed that, it was in relation to possible extra League Cup games, which obviously ain't happening. I suppose removing your credit card # now also puts them on notice that you're not sure you're renewing for next year, and they'll have to reach out rather than just deducting $ from your card.

Is that correct? Anything else to consider?

[tfcfans]

Very well done, i may use portions of this, if you are ok with that. I will be interested in hearing the response.

Thanks for the kind words.

By all means you can use any part that you like, I say that to everyone else here as well, please reach out to your rep and consistently give them your concerns whether they are similar or different than mine. I would assume things like reduced pricing, a horrendously poor product, and poor fan engagement are probably universal complaints I would bet.

[Red CB Toronto]

So who is going to the TFC Season Ticket Holder event at the Zoo next week? just got the confirmation for myself and a guest. Good to see TFC starting to put on some events.

[annie]

FYI - MLSE is now advertising 25% reductions on the last 5 matches for non season seat holders?????

[NK Toronto]

MLSE should sell TFC to a wealthy Canadian who actually cares about the club, as it's obvious that MLSE doesn't.

[Slick]

I wrote to my rep with the following list, I was respectful to the rep as it’s not their fault but I asked that this messaging be passed along to the powers that be — I would suggest everyone flood their offices with similar messaging —

1) Performance is clearly lacking, and the roster construction is absolutely awful - we haven’t had a proper striker in a long time now, and having no true goal scorer is embarrassing for a club of this magnitude considering the money that is being spent, it has been spent foolishly repeatedly.

2) A complete lack of transparency as to what is being done to help the club improve - it simply looks like they have given up (too many examples to mention here).

3) Ticket prices have to be reduced as a means of good will to the fans (a credit for a 20th game that we didn’t get isn't a price reduction, that’s simply a refund for a game not played) - the phrase “worst team in the world” from back in the day is being thrown around by supporters now - frankly in relation to expectations (and money spent) this is by far the lowest that this franchise has fallen.

4) selling me Messi as a means to keep season tickets is a joke - he is at most one game out of 20 that we pay for (no guarantee that he even plays here too - Beckham didn’t actually play here in a regular season game until 2011) - we want to see TFC succeed - Messi is simply a bonus if it happens - I could take my $1000 and see Messi play, if that’s all I cared about, and save lots of money.

5) The game day experience simply isn’t fun anymore - getting to and from the stadium is a chore (and frankly dangerous with the Go Tunnel). No giveaways, barely any fan engagement. We had a game on Canada Day - nothing “Red” to speak of given away - no postgame fireworks - etc.

6) Fan engagement from the team is completely lacking - we “love” the team but it does not feel at all like they “love”
us back.

I more or less said the same thing to my rep, to which he responded back saying that the next time I'm at the game, he's going to buy me and my guest a drink on the house. Like wtf, how disconnected is that?

The two other important things that I mentioned, is how disinterested my friends and family are when I offer my tickets. And, no one is interested in going to BMO field in February, March and April to see a 7:30 pm game played in the freezing cold. I get that the league decides the game times and all, but the stadium is not equipped to handle the freezing fan base and does fuck all about it.

[jloome]

2) A complete lack of transparency as to what is being done to help the club improve - it simply looks like they have given up (too many examples to mention here).

.

I talked with a fairly senior person there last week about their communications. After being assured their comms director was "a star" and then finding out she had fairly minimal real-world media experience, I brought up how it should be done.

The response was not a positive one. It was essentially "the league dictates how we handle that stuff, mostly." Seriously. The person in the job is connected in football as her father was a major manager in Colombia and she used to work for CONCACAF. They then blamed Jeff Bradley for setting it up that way.

In other words, they're absolutely not paying attention to non "house is on fire" staffing issues.

I made the argument that ALL of their internal hires should have weekly, even daily metrics. They should have tasks, and debates about those tasks. Their should be real direction towards goals.

It's just completely laissez-faire, respond in the moment, as far as I can tell.

[Joe Kool]

So who is going to the TFC Season Ticket Holder event at the Zoo next week? just got the confirmation for myself and a guest. Good to see TFC starting to put on some events.

I didn't even get an offer for it.

[Ultra & Proud]

Another suggestion I made to my rep back when I complained about possibly be charged for League's Cup matches was that I should be refunded for the matches I don't attend for the rest of this season as it's shit and I am disgusted.

Now, if they really wanted to put their money where their mouth is then the should offer something like that so if we chose to not go to match and put the tickets on their sell site say like 10-14 days before the match then they should auto refund a decent percentage of the ticket value. This way if you schedule Feb 25th at 7:30pm then they probably end up losing some money or if they decide to hire a shit manager like Carl Robinson for instance and we shit the bed again like this season then they lose too. It's auto-accountability. Would never, ever happen but that's a pie in the sky thing that would show serious intent at least.

[NK Toronto]

I talked with a fairly senior person there last week about their communications. After being assured their comms director was "a star" and then finding out she had fairly minimal real-world media experience, I brought up how it should be done.

The response was not a positive one. It was essentially "the league dictates how we handle that stuff, mostly." Seriously. The person in the job is connected in football as her father was a major manager in Colombia and she used to work for CONCACAF. They then blamed Jeff Bradley for setting it up that way.

In other words, they're absolutely not paying attention to non "house is on fire" staffing issues.

I made the argument that ALL of their internal hires should have weekly, even daily metrics. They should have tasks, and debates about those tasks. Their should be real direction towards goals.

It's just completely laissez-faire, respond in the moment, as far as I can tell.


There is virtually nil communication by the club to its fans anymore. Those short All for One videos have pretty much stopped. What the hell does the Director of Communication do all day? Is this a part-time job?

Jloome your posts about the inner workings of TFC are appreciated however the more that I learn about how this club operates the more I am convinced that the only way to save TFC is to sell the club to an owner who cares.

[jloome]

There is virtually nil communication by the club to its fans anymore. Those short All for One videos have pretty much stopped. What the hell does the Director of Communication do all day? Is this a part-time job?

Jloome your posts about the inner workings of TFC are appreciated however the more that I learn about how this club operates the more I am convinced that the only way to save TFC is to sell the club to an owner who cares.

Full time with multiple staff. The incompetence is staggering.

[tfcfans]

Thanks for all of the post quotes (full and partial) — feel free to use whatever portion strikes you as relevant when you talk to your reps about “not” renewing next season.

[Red CB Toronto]

Full time with multiple staff. The incompetence is staggering.

Having worked in communication and media relations for a couple CFL teams, I view the position with TFC as one of being a facilitator not one of developing strategy based how you describe things. In all honesty right now, TFC is not getting much coverage at all, neither of the cities two dailies currently have beat writers covering the team on a daily basis. As we have it right now, its basically John Molinaro and Michael Singh with Neil Davidson popping in from time to time for CP. Does she spend any time pitching story ideas to assignment editors, trying to drive some coverage? It is not a competitive beat at all. This job in its current state regardless of titles would be below an experienced communications/media relations type. She basically has one person under her and then a few social media people but I am not sure who they would report to as I believe a lot social media for MLSE all flows out of the same place.

Also I believe it would not take much for the senior MLSE communications staff to get involved if a serious issue came up. That is the difference when you have a team that is part of a bigger organization ie MLSE vs. one that stands on their own. Sports PR has greatly involved over the last 20+ years and there are many tiers of it.

[Brooker]

Create a safe using site in the south stand as that's the only way I can tolerate this any more.

[Boddington]

Thanks for the kind words.

By all means you can use any part that you like, I say that to everyone else here as well, please reach out to your rep and consistently give them your concerns whether they are similar or different than mine. I would assume things like reduced pricing, a horrendously poor product, and poor fan engagement are probably universal complaints I would bet.

I am going with one of my kids. First time we have had success at getting into one of these things. Not sure what to expect but regardless it should be a fun ticket free trip to the zoo.

[NK Toronto]

A full reset, period. New club name, new logo, new colours. Total house cleaning of personnel, starting with Manning. Other then the Bezbatchenko era, this club has been and currently is the laughing stock of MLS. Time to start over.

[CBTFC]

MLSE should sell TFC to a wealthy Canadian who actually cares about the club, as it's obvious that MLSE doesn't.

Russell Oliver FC....Ohhhh Yeeeeah!!!

[FootBallAZ]

so far now i have been contacted by three different people at TFC and MLSE combined.

I havent paid my 9th installment because im so frustrated with the team- they really have no idea but have balls asking to pay after losing so bad so often and increasing tickets by 20%.

now i randomly got two calls from a person at MLSE wanting to speak to me .lol.

feels like they are desperate .

[Super]

Maybe playing in red?

[jloome]

Russell Oliver FC....Ohhhh Yeeeeah!!!

Hey! We already have one cash man.

[jloome]

Does she spend any time pitching story ideas to assignment editors, trying to drive some coverage? It is not a competitive beat at all.

Really, it's a dream scenario for someone trying to get coverage. When media outlets are understaffed, they'll accept more and more just handed to them. But she isn't taking advantage of it in the slightest.