Major League Soccer

Toronto approved as expansion franchse to begin play in 2007.

By Robert Wagman
SoccerTimes

(Monday, November 15, 2005) -- Barring last-minute complications, Toronto will become the 13th team in Major League Soccer, starting play in 2007, the biggest news to come out of Saturday's Major League Soccer's Board of Governors meeting, part of the MLS Cup weekend in Frisco, Tex.

The expansion franchise will be owned and operated by Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which also owns the National Hockey League's Toronto Maple Leafs and National Basketball Association Toronto Raptors, plus the Air Canada Centre in which they play.

The key to the success of the expansion bid was a planned new $62.8-million 20,000-seat soccer stadium to be built at Exhibition Place on the Lake Ontario waterfront near downtown Toronto. Construction is expected to start in January 2006 and the building is scheduled to be the site of the 2007 (Men's Under-20) World Youth Championship

"We are pleased to announce Toronto as our 13th team, based on the decision of our board of directors on Saturday," MLS commissioner Don Garber said. "(The board) formally approved their application for expansion. (MLSE is) really an impressive group. They are going to be terrific partners."

Garber noted that some technicalities remain before a final contract can be signed.

"I was a little surprised when I read headlines saying we were approved when the deal is really not fully completed yet," MLSE president Richard Peddie told the Torono Globe and Mail. "There is still some more paper work to be done and contracts to be negotiated, but it appears to be pretty smooth sailing on the franchise front."

Toronto's effort to obtain an expansion franchise faced jeopardy last month, but a major hurdle was cleared when the city council voted 25-13 in favor of providing $9.8 million of municipal funding and land valued at $10 million for the new stadium. Ottawa will contribute $27 million, while Queen's Park will chip in another $8 million. MLSE will commit $8 million and naming rights are expected to account for another $10 million.

MLSE will operate the venue, but it will belong to the city of Toronto.

The board also approved an exception to league rules regarding the definition of what constitutes an international player versus a domestic player for the new Canadian team. Canadian players will count as domestic, while all others, including U.S. citizens, will count as international players. Toronto will be allowed to have three additional senior internationals, as long as those additional three are from the U.S. The Canadian team will also have five youth international spots, rather than three, in its inaugural season, similar to what the 2005 expansion franchise Chivas USA and Real Salt Lake were permitted.

Canadian players not belonging to the Toronto franchise will continue to be considered internationals for the other teams, all based in the U.S.

Garber said the league is on track to expand from the current 12 teams to 14 in 2007, and then to 16 by 2009. MLSE will pay an expansion fee of more than $10 million to MLS, while Garber also announced Saturday that the fee charged to the league's 14th expansion team will be more than $15 million.

St. Louis, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Houston and Philadelphia are the leading candidates to be granted the next franchise.

Toronto would become the first Canadian team to play in MLS. The Toronto Lynx, Vancouver Whitecaps and Montreal Impact currently compete in the United Soccer Leagues First Division (the A-League before 2005), the 12-team U.S. second division.

Bruno Hartrell, owner of the Lynx, has been vocal in his opposition to MLS expanding into Toronto. "If they think there's money in soccer (in Toronto), they've misjudged the market terribly," he told Slam Sports, a Canadian web site, before Saturday's announcement.

If Toronto's entry into MLS is finalized, the Lynx future is unclear. "We certainly don't need the competition," Hartrell also told Slam Sports. "We're already hard-pressed to get fans."

At a press conference Saturday, Garber was asked whether MLS, the U.S.'s first division, should be developing Canadian players. "We're developing a lot of (American) players, but we also believe that we need to raise the profile of the sport on this continent," Garber responded. "If Canada has a better national team, this is going to be a better continent for soccer and, right now, that country has been lagging behind the United States in developing its game. We think a pro team will help them do that and we think that's better for American soccer."

No announcement was made concerning the fate of the two MLS franchises currently up for sale -- the San Jose Earthquakes and Kansas City Wizards. Neither club is selling tickets for next season, and it is clear the MLS board expects both to be sold in the next month or so. To whom, and whether the teams will relocate, is still an open question.

When asked in the press conference if the present owner-operators -- Anchutz Entertainment Group in San Jose and Hunt Sports in Kansas City -- might build new stadiums, Garber replied, "Absolutely not! That shouldn't be something you guys (the media) are even thinking about. We'd have to move the teams."

But, Garber added, it is not completely ruled out that new local ownership might build a stadium to keep a team in San Jose or Kansas City.

"The easy answer would be that we've made a decision to move those teams, but we haven't," Garber said. "We're still working hard to keep both of those teams in their markets. We need local ownership, we need a stadium plan and we need a committed fan base.

"In San Jose, we don't have a local owner, we don't have a stadium plan and we have a fan base that has been inconsistent in its support -- very supportive toward the end of the year but not as supportive during the year, week in and week out. In Kansas City, we have a similar situation.

"We have obvious deadlines. We've got to make a schedule and we've got to re-brand a new team if it's going to move, but we're trying hard to keep those teams there."

The MLS board also made two other decisions that will have major impact next season.

Next season, each team will be able to sign one "marquee" player outside of the salary cap, paying that player whatever a team's owner-operator is willing to pay.

In order to encourage teams to develop young players through a soccer academy system, MLS teams will be given the professional rights to any players who comes up through a team's youth system and that players will not be subject to the annual entry draft.

Additionally, it was also announced that 2006 season will commence April 1 and conclude with MLS Cup 2006 on November 12.

Robert Wagman is a SoccerTimes senior correspondent. E-mail Robert Wagman.