The CFL is higher up the gridiron pantheon than MLS is on the scale of professional soccer.Originally Posted by mighty_torontofc_2008
Saying the CFL sucks and that who cares about AAA baeball doesnt lend any credibility to whatever argument youre trying to make.
it won't happen.
but it doesn't hurt to have multiple cities interested....
they can demand a higher expansion fee if there is a big list of cities that are interested.
Is there a reason I should take your word? Do you have statistics?I'm sorry but that's not true. It is indeed as diverse. Take my word on that one.
Are you a minority in Ottawa and as such are more exposed to the minority communities? Walking around downtown Ottawa for a year was the whitest experience of my life.
The only reason I could see for MLS' interest in Ottawa is another owner with deep-pockets who is comitted to the local community. Thats great, but I dont think it will put bums in seats.
Last edited by ilikemusic; 06-19-2008 at 12:40 PM.
There is no way on this rapidly less-green earth that an MLS team would be a good idea for Ottawa. Come on! They cannot be seriously thinking of even mentioning the words "Major League" in conjunction with Ottawa.
Could it work there? Maybe. A big huge MAYBE. Why the heck would they even think about expanding to such an uncertain market though? That is just plain bad business.
This would be a bad idea. BAD.
Good god man, it's not the Inquisition. I live here, have done so for a long time. The experience of one person here for one year in one sector of the city doesn't say much: that's generalizing from too little information.
maybe the success of TFC, and the popularity across the country....
i'm sure MLS does a lot of research and stuff....
maybe there are a lot of Ott area IP's hitting MLSnet.com??
The 2001 census agrees with ilikemusic
http://www.ottawa.ca/city_services/s...tz_ot_en.shtml
Or you can do it this way.
Ottawa--> 17.7 % visible minorities
http://www.ottawa.ca/city_services/s...le_19_en.shtml
Toronto ---> 43% visible minorities
http://www.toronto.ca/toronto_facts/diversity.htm
Last edited by olegunnar; 06-19-2008 at 12:45 PM.
All im saying is downtown Ottawa and downtown Toronto feel like two completely different countries. I felt almost no similarities between the two other than political geography.
Better effort, but vastly out of date.Look, the point is that we're assuming that multi-culturalism means good support. Whether that's true or not I don't know but I still say that MLS in Ottawa does not appear to be a good idea.
Only when there's proper Canadian content established in MLS - Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver all going good with decent amounts of Canadian players within their rosters - should we consider adding Ottawa to the mix.
They'd benefit from having Toronto and Montreal as natural rivals and a better-established league to work within.
Right now, MLS needs to bring solid additions to its franchise list. Can't afford anymore lightweights like KC or Columbus.
Apart from using Ottawa as leverage on US cities that MLS would prefer to expand to, it could also act to keep the Montreal mob honest in their approach for an MLS team.
Remember, too, that the Senators were looked at as very longshots for NHL expansion and someone ponied up the bucks NQA to get them into the league. Could Melnyk's financial clout make the difference?
Agreed. I think it's in the MLS' best interest to develop strong and stable franchises... and being very careful with expansion is one of the pillars of such a strategy.
That said, one of the main reasons the MLS is still around today is that it had a group of owners (Lamar Hunt, Philip Anschulz [sp?] and a couple others) who were willing to eat financial loss year-after-year for about half a decade. I think at one point, those two owned about half the clubs in the league.
Is Melnyk one of those types of guys? It would go a long way...
Say this about Ottawa. It has some very sexy corporate citizenship, especially the high-tech sector in the west end. Melnyk may be aware of some sponsorship convergences that would make an Ottawa team a flier from day one.
Now that the very successful owner of the Ottawa 67s hockey team, Jeff Hunt, is involved in the new CFL franchise, I wonder if he's scheming to find ways to work with Melnyk in making a new football facility more viable by bringing in a soccer team to share it.
Not having the same demanding fans that TFC have, the issue of gridiron lines on the field might not be perceived so negatively.
And having visited Ottawa several times each year for the past two decades, I can attest to its growing diversity. And with it, an appetite for soccer that was never present for AAA baseball.
Maybe MLS have an all-Canadian division in mind for down the road.
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Ottawa simply can't support an MLS team. There's no other way to say it. They may have the ownership with deep pockets, but that's simply not enough to buy and keep a franchise. The Sens work and the 67's work, but I don't see an MLS team going anywhere. I also have serious doubts about the proposed CFL team.
I wil say one thing. If more Canadian cities really become serious about getting pro soccer teams, I would whole-heartedly support a seperate Canadian domestic league over the MLS.
Last edited by Cashcleaner; 06-19-2008 at 03:39 PM.
Did the USA , of all countries, just fix soccer? - C. Ronaldo, May 27th commenting on the FBI-led investigations into fraud and corruption throughout FIFA.
i think ottawa could "survive" in ottawa. not every team will have toronto like success. the break even point seems to be 13-14K a game in a sss. if they built a small (17K) SSS near downtown or atleast accessible by public transit they could do relatively well. if they build in kanata...good fucking luck
I cannot see a MLs franchise working in Ottawa.
people said the same for Toronto!!!
A canadian league will never happen, people want the best product avaiable and thats MLS in north america. the original CSL couldn't make a go of it, so it won't happen again.
The more people say it will never happen, the more it will probably never happen. approaching it with a pessimistic attitude will never get anything done.
Quite, a little retrospect might be in order for those who forgot how many people said TFC would never happen.
BINGO!!
I dont understand how CFL failure is related to MLS.I dont understand how the Senators on ice success is related to Major League Soccer.
It would probably be a mistake to hand the reins over to the CSA.
A 'Canadian or Northern Conference' would work better in my opinion.
OTTAWA MLS, PLEASE, i read this title, thought you guys were joking. Id love to have an mls team in my city, we could use landsdown park, but we wouldnt have support like toronto, and the team would have to move
I think you would have support, if it meant you had another reason to hate Torontonians.
Ive heard a lot of Ottawa doesnt have enough interest, diversity, whats our population though, less then a million, what is the GTA's, 5.5 million. I love toronto fc, bmo field is great, and id love an mls team in ottawa, but come on, it wouldnt be the same. I doubt we would have 20,000 on average like bmo, and we would need a new stadium to have the same game experience as bmo. Frank Clair is completely falling apart! Maybe if they make a MLS 2 league, ottawa could be in there. Ottawa wont get a team any time soon, we dont even have an effective subway or Light rail transit system!
Well said Mark. As much as I konw you guys would love a team in Ottawa best to start with a USL team. Then build from there.
The U20 was a great tournament but it is much easier to sell out 4 games than it is to sell out a season's worth of tickets year after year. Ask Lonnie Gleberman and the other former owners of CFL football teams.
Ottawa is as diverse as Toronto but 1/5th the size. There won't be the audience needed to fill a 20,000 seat stadium.
I will be torn. I was born in Ottawa, support the Sens and hate the Leafs to my core. I moved to Toronto and now live and die TFC. It will be hard to root against your home town.
Initially I'd be inclined to think that an Ottawa franchise would fall flat on it's face and point out the repeated failures of the CFL team there. However, Melnick wasn't behind those teams and he'd add stability for MLS where there was none for the CFL.
I'd go on to point out that TFC draws from the GTA - I drive in from Hamilton for my 1/2 season's tix and I can't wait to get full season's when the opportunity arises - could Ottawa expect the same ? The Ottawa / Gatineau area has a population near 1.5 Million... there would likely be support from Quebec, but how much ? This really does seem to have come from nowhere.
I think Garber would be wise to see how Montreal / Vancouver do before going into a questionable market like Ottawa - if at all.
a ha ha heh he hoo.. ha
Ottawa will not get mls in a while, ive already changed my university plans to york, ryerson, or U of T. Just so i can watch my toronto fc, i doubt mls in ottawa would ever have the same atmoshpere as bmo too.
I agree with maybe having them start in USL and see what happens. If they could average around 5000 - 6000 there it might show they could handle MLS.
And I'm assuming they'd share any new stadium with a new CFL team, right? So would that mean fieldturf again?
Since the US capital already has DC United - and not likely to get a second team - I recommend that we designate Ottawa as the official site for the Bring Back The Dips campaign.
USL, MLS doesn't matter. Gotta have a team in Ottawa called the Diplomats. The NASL just won't go away. Let's hope they suck, too.
Then we can spin off insults like DipSticks, DipShits, DiPlorables. We're already ready for 'em.
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