Toronto FC attracted a capacity crowd of 28,220 to BMO Field on Sunday night for its playoff game against NYC FC, and in doing so "made a statement," becoming the No. 4 sports draw behind the Blue Jays, Raptors and Maple Leafs, according to Damien Cox of the TORONTO STAR. This is about "relevance in the city," and watching the sold-out crowd Sunday made it "impossible to deny the fact this soccer club has not only engaged its core group but started to attract sports fans in general." TFC "remains no threat to the Big Three" in Toronto. But TFC attracted 238,000 viewers Sunday night on TSN, which "wasn’t far off" the 300,000 viewers Cavaliers-Raptors attracted Friday on Sportsnet One. The trend is "clearly upwards," and the soccer team can "fairly say it dominated the front pages of Toronto sport sections" yesterday. The commitment of TFC fans "matches any of the other three franchises." Meanwhile, the CFL Argonauts averaged 16,380 fans this season, with some crowds as low as 12,373, and are "disappearing out of sight." A decade ago, "few would have imagined the day" the Argos would "fall so far to be eclipsed by professional soccer." But it has "surely happened" (TORONTO STAR, 11/1). In Toronto, Doug Smith writes there is "something unique about this whole connection between" TFC and its fans. The fans who show up every season are "finally being rewarded and they, in turn, are providing some kind of boost to the team." For the fans, it is the "fun of making a ruckus for the home side that’s important and because this is all so new" to TFC supporters. Smith: "I can just imagine the enjoyment they got out of chanting and cheering and singing throughout one of the biggest home games in franchise history" (TORONTO STAR, 11/1).
