14 May 2008
Wednesday Kicker: TFC Stadium Protest, and Houston Stadium Updates
Posted by Drew Epperley under: Houston Dynamo; MLS; Toronto FC .
Ah, the midweek here. Its almost the end of the week but not quite. A few interesting developments here to talk about this afternoon. Both dealing with stadiums in the league. And both are a little more worth mentioning than the Galaxy exhibition loss in Edmonton last night to the Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1.
Anyways, I will start up north with Toronto. There had been plenty of rumblings in recent weeks about the possible move of the Canadian Football League team Toronto Argonauts move into BMO Field. Some reports out there suggest that the city of Toronto, the CFL, and the Argonauts are hoping to be able to move into BMO Field and possibly even expand it some to make room for the football team.
Its gone back and forth over the last week or so here, which is why I waited around to talk about it. Turns out today I received an email asking for my support from the Toronto supporters about this issue. It appears now the Toronto supporters will be in full protest mode at the MLS All-Star game this summer.
The Toronto FC Supporter Groups believe it is time we turn our concerns into actions. The possibility of BMO Field losing its SSS label and being shared with the Argos is a very real possibility and something that we are aware that could become a reality. So no longer in our minds is this something that we can forget, dismiss and move on, we need to take actions, and not only during one game but actions during the season and off-season. Actions that will ensure we have done all possible to avoid this scenario. I want to be clear, TFC, BMO Field Staff and more so the Argos are not the enemy, we are protesting the possibility of our BMO Field no longer being a SSS in seasons to come. For some this may be an Anti-Argo movement, but we don’t want to look it just as that. During these protests we encourage everyone to join in and participate, but we also ask you to keep the banners civil, clean and classy. You don’t achieve much with vulgar language, it shows poorly on you and on what we are trying to achieve. Protest Date: All-Star Game. Protest: Everybody wears black. We are asking all TFC Supporters to wear a black t-shirt for this game. No Supporter banners, only “anti-Argo” or anti-pigskin football banners. Why the All-Star Game? Well, no game will have more media exposure than the all-star game. Not only that something like this would get coverage over the media not just in Canada but in the USA and also would put some pressure on the City of Toronto, and MLS in general. Most people are not willing to do anything resembling a protest during a TFC match for many reasons that there is no point in illustrating, so an ALL-STAR game is also the best way since TFC is not directly involved. So it is not like we are turning our backs on the team.
The All-Star game is a smart time, so whoever really got the ball rolling on this was using their noggins here. While I am with them on this topic I am still waiting to see more of the facts about the Argonauts and what the CFL is hoping to do with the stadium. Its obvious that they will have to expand the stadium to make room for the field itself (I believe CFL fields are longer than NFL fields).
I’m kind of under the impression that TFC’s owners MLSE, who have a lot more power in the city than the Argonauts do will still step into this mess and settle it all out here. Not to mention the fact that they manage the facility.
Honestly, if this protest does happen and go through you can bet that these fans stand a good chance of winning their cause here. We’ve seen it before with large groups of fans in this league who stand up for what they want. Look no further than to Seattle and Philly in their expansion bids. Seattle wanted to keep the Sounder name after the league said no and Philly desperately wanted a team. Both got their wishes in the end.
In other stadium news, Houston is moving forward as always in their hopes for a new stadium. As mentioned yesterday the fans of the Dynamo are starting to put together an effort to raise awareness for the stadium.
Today, I think fans won with the news that the stadium deal between the Dynamo and TSU will not have a track surrounding the field. Previous reports had suggested that the university would want to work in a way to get a running track in the stadium so they could use the facility for a majority of their athletics.
“The stadium is going to be built around soccer and football, so I don’t think there are any plans (for a track),” McClelland said. “It doesn’t call for a track, simply because the way soccer stadiums are made, they want fans as close to the action as possible.”
That’s a positive sign as this deal moves forward. I do love how the fans in Houston are starting to get behind things here to get a stadium deal worked out between the team and the city.
I totally agree with the argument that the Dynamo are the most successful team in that city right now. Maybe they don’t bring in the most cash since they are the newest but they most certainly are the only ones winning championships. The Astros, Texans, and Rockets haven’t won anything lately. In fact I think the Rockets are the last Houston team to win a title and that was more than 10 years ago.
The more fighting from the fans over this, the better I think.
2 Comments so far...
American Dust Says:
14 May 2008 at 4:06 pm.
If I recall Canadian Football fields are 120 yards long.
I don’t know that wearing black will work though… how many tickets will TFC fans have access too? Won’t media types take up many as well as corperate sponsors. What about non-TFC fans who come up from the states for the game?
Ultimately it will come down to TFC’s owners and if they need the cash from renting out the stadium.
WonsanUnited Says:
18 May 2008 at 4:24 pm.
These guys need to stop whining. It would certainly help the club with added revenue coming from Argos games, and the stadium needs expansion seeing how almost every TFC match is sold out.
