Boca Juniors re-examining foray into MLS

[TFC14]

Interesting read on the MLSsoccer.com...Boca Juniors interested in expanding their name into the MLS.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/articl...ning-foray-mls

[Yohan]

Although if Boca Jrs did set up a team in MLS, it sounds too gimmicky, just like Chivas USA does. Not a big fan of it. Then again, we have New York Red Bulls...

Though MLS did get a lot of exposure in Argentina when Shitlicker played for Columbus

[Ossington Mental Youth]

still id rather not, naming a franchise or whatever the fuck you want to call teams in this league, after another (and i know theres wanderers, arsenal etc etc elsewhere) should be avoided in this market, it disinfranchises fans of other clubs. We already have difficulty drawing attention and fans to the sport, this shit doesnt help.

[ACSertL]

Would segue nicely for that proposed new expansion club in Boca Raton, Florida.

[Ossington Mental Youth]

HIYO!

but on the real, who would have supported an AC MIlan toronto or a Real Madrid TOronto? noone but the AC Milan fans even then theyd be right in saying its a lame watered down version of a team they already support

[DangerRed]

Real Salt Lake has pretty good support, dude. So does Chivas.

I think you're going a little heavy on the emotion and a little light on the evidence.

[Ossington Mental Youth]

Real salt lake is not affiliated with Real Madrid, they only stole the name and only recently started getting support with their new stadium and winning the cup.
Chivas doesnt have that great support, take a look

Would you have supported a Toronto Hotspurs?
I dont support any team in the EPL but i sure as hell wouldnt have

[Ossington Mental Youth]

http://mls.theoffside.com/attendance...stats-are.html

prob not the best resource but easiest to find right off the bat

[tfcmanu]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_FC

Club culture

Identity

After Toronto's expansion was announced in 2005, the name of the club was officially announced on May 11, 2006 by the team's owner, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. (MLSE).[11] The "FC" in the team's name is the conventional initialism for Football Club, but in official media and documents, the team has only been referred to as Toronto FC.
The announcement followed an online consultation in which the public was invited to vote on the name during a limited period. The voting options were "Toronto Northmen," "Inter Toronto FC," "Toronto Reds," and "Toronto FC." MLSE's strategy in choosing "Toronto FC" following this process was based on two reasons. Firstly, over 40 percent of the online vote supported the simplified Toronto FC name during the consultation; secondly, MLSE hoped that the fairly generic name would help the new club earn a more organic nickname from the Toronto fans rather than having one imposed upon the club.[12] The team has been called "TFC" and "the Reds" by the media and the club.[13][14]

[DangerRed]

Real salt lake is not affiliated with Real Madrid, they only stole the name and only recently started getting support with their new stadium and winning the cup.
Chivas doesnt have that great support, take a look

Would you have supported a Toronto Hotspurs?
I dont support any team in the EPL but i sure as hell wouldnt have

See, this is what I mean: you're short on facts.

First, RSL is most definitely affiliated with Real Madrid, as a simple wiki search would show you:

"As of September of the 2006 season, Real Salt Lake and Real Madrid have signed a 10-year co-operative agreement. Among the provisions of the deal are a biennial friendly match between the two teams to take place in Salt Lake City, annual February training for RSL at the Real Madrid practice facility in Spain, and, perhaps most importantly, the creation of a $25 million elite youth academy in SLC that will train up to 200 players from ages 12 to 18.[18] The academy, a co-operative project for which Real Madrid will pay half the cost, will include academic facilities and dormitory housing, arguably becoming the first true soccer "youth system" in MLS, along with the Red Bull Academy effort of Red Bull New York."

Second, Chivas have drawn 16-17,000 per game on average over the last five years (source: wiki). That's right in line with average attendance for the MLS in 2009, which is 16,000 (source: ESPN) and made Chivas the sixth best supported team in the league (as of 2009, last year ESPN kept stats for this).

Your question as to whether I'd support a co-named team in Toronto is not relevant, but I'll answer: I would think it's cheesy and lame, but I'd probably support it. You're telling me that if it was between Toronto Hotspur and no team at all in Toronto, you wouldn't go to matches?

[Fort York Redcoat]

Lame.

[Ossington Mental Youth]

See, this is what I mean: you're short on facts.

First, RSL is most definitely affiliated with Real Madrid, as a simple wiki search would show you:

"As of September of the 2006 season, Real Salt Lake and Real Madrid have signed a 10-year co-operative agreement. Among the provisions of the deal are a biennial friendly match between the two teams to take place in Salt Lake City, annual February training for RSL at the Real Madrid practice facility in Spain, and, perhaps most importantly, the creation of a $25 million elite youth academy in SLC that will train up to 200 players from ages 12 to 18.[18] The academy, a co-operative project for which Real Madrid will pay half the cost, will include academic facilities and dormitory housing, arguably becoming the first true soccer "youth system" in MLS, along with the Red Bull Academy effort of Red Bull New York."

Second, Chivas have drawn 16-17,000 per game on average over the last five years (source: wiki). That's right in line with average attendance for the MLS in 2009, which is 16,000 (source: ESPN) and made Chivas the sixth best supported team in the league (as of 2009, last year ESPN kept stats for this).

Your question as to whether I'd support a co-named team in Toronto is not relevant, but I'll answer: I would think it's cheesy and lame, but I'd probably support it. You're telling me that if it was between Toronto Hotspur and no team at all in Toronto, you wouldn't go to matches?

Id have a hard time taking them seriously yes, id have debated even buying tickets in the first place if that had been their name. I think TFC would have had massive trouble especially as this is a soccer city with so many supporters of so many clubs. It makes sense if youre in a community which is a bit more homogenous and perhaps if you have an overwhelming amount of supporters of one team (doubt youll really find that anywhere in NA). For the most part supporters of teams are a) loyal and b) few in NA. Why try to only touch to some soccer fans when you can touch on all of them.

For the record im not saying cooperation between clubs is a bad thing, thats inevitable, im saying a blatant use of the name and symbols is.

In salt lake the only thing they share is some sort of cooperation between players/coaches and the name real. They dont have the same colors, real madrid doesnt ship over its old players to retire in salt lake city. Outside of the name it is a different team altogether.

Chivas on the other hand isnt. It also happens to be one of the biggest teams in Mexico. Sure they get 15k out to games whihc is decent considering how crap Dallas and Columbus do but wouldnt they do better if they hadnt taken a name that ostrasizes mexican fans of other teams? How many mexican fans of the sport do you think there is in LA? Id bet at least half a million. All they get is 15k out? Theyd probably have taken an interest (and i have heard this many teams from fans themselves) in the team if it wasnt named after a bitter rival.

We can argue this till we are blue in the face and im not going to be convinced youre right and im sure you feel the same way about me.

[Milky]

My take on things is that a name is just a name. I thought that Inter Toronto was just as stupid of a name as Toronto FC when they were both first announced. Sporting Kansas City, DC United, etc.... To me, none of these names really shout out the culture of the region they purport to represent, which should be the main goal in choosing a name, but at the end of the day you gather around your club and give it identity yourself. Boca Juniors as a brandname should not be a death knell for any MLS city. However, I do agree with the above poster (OMY) that partnerships, rather than club branding, is the best way to go.

[Ossington Mental Youth]

Oddly enough i wouldnt be so bothered with 'Juniors' as a name (of course id want a good explanation as to why they picked that) but the full title "Miami Boca Juniors" with full branding etc would be a mistake in my eyes

[Fort York Redcoat]

Yes I only hope to see Orlando or Tampa counter with a team, call them Young Boys and dub the rivalry "Battle of the toddlers".

[Ossington Mental Youth]

HAHAHAHAA yes

[Macksam]

My take on things is that a name is just a name. I thought that Inter Toronto was just as stupid of a name as Toronto FC when they were both first announced. Sporting Kansas City, DC United, etc.... To me, none of these names really shout out the culture of the region they purport to represent, which should be the main goal in choosing a name, but at the end of the day you gather around your club and give it identity yourself. Boca Juniors as a brandname should not be a death knell for any MLS city. However, I do agree with the above poster (OMY) that partnerships, rather than club branding, is the best way to go.

Well, Inter Toronto wouldn't be referincing either Internazionale or Internacional per say. The Italian to English and Portuguese to English respective translations of both those words is international. A team that has a full name of International Toronto would've represented the region really well.

[TFCRegina]

Well, Inter Toronto wouldn't be referincing either Internazionale or Internacional per say. The Italian to English and Portuguese to English respective translations of both those words is international. A team that has a full name of International Toronto would've represented the region really well.

Technically, Toronto FC does as well.

There is a huge population which grew up calling Football...well...football, in the Toronto area.

I find TFC to be a simple, yet effective name for the club.

It sure as shit beats the Toronto Blizzard or Toronto Croatia.

[J .]

Boca Columbus?

[Macksam]

Technically, Toronto FC does as well.

There is a huge population which grew up calling Football...well...football, in the Toronto area.

I find TFC to be a simple, yet effective name for the club.

It sure as shit beats the Toronto Blizzard or Toronto Croatia.

lol, why do people shit on the Blizzard? That name has great history.

[Oldtimer]

The announcement followed an online consultation in which the public was invited to vote on the name during a limited period. The voting options were "Toronto Northmen," "Inter Toronto FC," "Toronto Reds," and "Toronto FC.

There was also an option to write-in a suggested name. I know, I voted in that poll.

lol, why do people shit on the Blizzard? That name has great history.

I wrote in "Blizzard" as my suggestion.

[greatwhitenorf]

My post-coital brandies aren't nearly as satisfying if my wenches aren't wiping up the wetspots without my Connie Karlsson Blizzard jersey.

[TFCRegina]

lol, why do people shit on the Blizzard? That name has great history.

The Blizzard's history means nothing to me. I know you're U-Sector Macksam, but really, it means nothing to me. I'm not someone who has followed Toronto football for a great long time.

I find the name tacky and suitable to a failed league.

[Macksam]

The Blizzard's history means nothing to me. I know you're U-Sector Macksam, but really, it means nothing to me. I'm not someone who has followed Toronto football for a great long time.

I find the name tacky and suitable to a failed league.

lol, I'm curious as to why you would think that considering it's not true.

[TFCRegina]

lol, I'm curious as to why you would think that considering that's not true.

You aren't? I could have sworn!

[Serb_Star]

Boca Raton Juniors?

[Detroit_TFC]

USL for a long time required their teams to have American style names (ie. city name + some stupid noun or adjective). Lot of people think they don't sound like authentic sawker team names.

I guess the only solution is for teams to not have names at all.

[Serb_Star]

I was hoping for Toronto Athletic.

[Cashcleaner]

In terms of marketing and promotion, naming a club after another established organization is one of the worst things you can do, regardless of whether or not you do have any sort of partnership with them. If it came to it, I'd much rather follow a team named the Blizzard before Real Toronto, Inter-Toronto, or something else like that.

This is probably all moot at any rate. There are plenty of groups who are in competition for the 20th MLS franchise. Boca Juniors is just one of many.

[Redcoe15]

In terms of marketing and promotion, naming a club after another established organization is one of the worst things you can do, regardless of whether or not you do have any sort of partnership with them. If it came to it, I'd much rather follow a team named the Blizzard before Real Toronto, Inter-Toronto, or something else like that.

This is probably all moot at any rate. There are plenty of groups who are in competition for the 20th MLS franchise. Boca Juniors is just one of many.

Don't know if that's the case. The only one that seems interested in an MLS franchise right now are the Cosmos group. Miami fans were just told by Don Garber that need to show much better support if they have any intentions of having a team. St. Louis is toast, now that AC St. Louis has folded up and Jeff Cooper was exposed as a fraud. Nobody knows how committed or interested Arthur Blank is in getting a team for Atlanta. Detroit? San Antonio? San Diego? Vegas?

Given how things are unfolding, if and when New York does get a second team (and it's not written in stone, right now) MLS will take a breather expanding and let things settle down.

And no to another Chivas situation, which is what Boca is trying to do here.