David Beckham could have been forgiven for thinking he was back in the United Kingdom on Sunday night. Sure, it was hot and humid and everyone spoke differently, but the newest franchise in Major League Soccer – Toronto FC – could have been lifted straight from England.
There were raucous and knowledgeable supporters and there wasn't a spare seat in the stands – all thanks to an inspired marketing strategy that does not try to dumb down its product but celebrates its uniqueness compared to more traditional North American sports.
1 comment:
Some nice points here but ultimately I think this article is simplistic and naive. The reason that Toronto FC has done so well is that Toronto is the capital of the Anglo-centric demographic of Canada. People were clogging soccer bars to watch the Premier League long before Toronto FC showed up, so the ethnic pandering that MLS tends to go for was already regionally built in. It's a bit like sticking Chivas USA in LA and then lauding the good attendance as a triumph of marketing by the front office; it was smart planning on the large scale to match the franchise and the location but not much beyond that. Secondly there are two primary reasons that MLS can't go to a single table system. The first is obvious: in a 13 team league the season would be over after 24 matches, which is obviously unworkable. Additionally it's silly to assume that because Euro-centric fans in Toronto understand a single table system with no playoffs that the larger American consuming public will as well. Most Central and South American leagues feature a playoff system and it doesn't seem to be hurting anything. Having said that, I agree that the playoff field should be smaller. Secondly, a single table system is meaningless without relegation. While in theory it would be great to set up a 2 tier system involving the USL, it simply will not fly with investors. Promotion and relegation emerged in Europe while the leagues were for the most part amateur and teams were run as clubs. No modern investment team would in their right might put the $30 million plus into a new franchise with the expectation that their investment could be worth a third of that in one season. Ask the fans of Toronto FC, who while doing well in their first year will probably still finish last, how they'd like to see their team playing the Pittsburgh Riverhounds instead of DC United next year. I'm sure that they're just fine with the system we have now.
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