Menu
Franchises

Seeing Red: Toronto FC's Success Turning Heads; Club Becoming MLS' Premier Team?

Toronto FC hosts the Sounders on Dec. 10 in the MLS Cup Final, showing the club is now the "best team money can buy" in MLS, according to Neal Davidson of the CP. MLSE under new CEO Michael Friisdahl and former CEO Tim Leiweke "spared no expense" in turning Toronto FC around, as the club is now a "very desirable soccer landing pad" (CP 12/1). ESPN FC's Doug McIntyre wrote it was "easy to see what Toronto could become when it entered the league" in '07, as the "only thing missing was a quality product." McIntyre: "Until now." TFC MF Michael Bradley said, "You look around and see unbelievable potential in terms of a city, a market, a stadium, a training ground. Every box gets checked. You look at other clubs around the league, and there are other clubs that check a lot of boxes. I'm not sure there's another club that checks every box." McIntyre noted TFC is a "sleeping giant" that just has "always been in MLS' sixth largest market." But now TFC's "long wait to become MLS' premier franchise is already history" (ESPNFC.com, 12/1). In Toronto, Dave Feschuk writes it was "hard to believe the franchise looked a mess just a few years ago." But as an "advertisement for a franchise that’s only 10 seasons into its history," Wednesday night's win over the Impact in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final was "about as perfect as it gets short of winning a championship." Winning has "suddenly transformed TFC from cult favourite to talk of the town," as the "serious pursuit of a championship has changed everything" (TORONTO STAR, 12/2). Wednesday's Impact-TFC match averaged 1.4 million viewers across TSN (862,000) and its French-language affiliate, RDS (519,000), breaking the record for Canada's most-watched MLS game in history. The game's average audience marked a 35% increase over the previous record, set by the same two teams last week in Game 1 (TSN). 

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 18, 2024

Sports Business Awards nominees unveiled; NWSL's historic opening weekend and takeaways from CFP deal

ESPN’s Jay Bilas, BTN’s Meghan McKeown, and a deep dive into AppleTV+’s The Dynasty

On this week’s Sports Media Podcast from the New York Post and Sports Business Journal, ESPN’s Jay Bilas talks all things NCAA. Big Ten Network’s Meghan McKeown shares her insight into the Caitlin Clark craze. The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn chats all things Bean Town. And SBJ’s Xavier Hunter drops in to share his findings on how the NWSL is making a social media push.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2016/12/02/Franchises/Toronto-FC.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2016/12/02/Franchises/Toronto-FC.aspx

CLOSE