Major League Soccer can start preparing for another MLS Cup final away from warm weather environs.
The Toronto Globe & Mail is reporting that the 2010 MLS Cup will be held in Toronto on Nov. 21.
Toronto was one of four markets to be in the running for MLS Cup, along with New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Sources told SBI recently that New York asked out of the running to host the event, leaving Toronto as the front-runner.
Toronto's BMO Field played host to the 2008 MLS All-Star Game, a very successful event that featured a sell-out crowd.
What do you think of this news? Planning to make the trip to Toronto? Disappointed it's not at Red Bull Arena? Were you hoping for someplace warm?
Share your thoughts below.
automatic neutral site…
The argument all these years as to why they didn’t allow Chicago to host was that it was too cold. Nevermind that New England had hosted several times. What’s their excuse now?
Well as a Sounder’s fan, I thought Seattle would make it.
This year too.
The problem with the small stadiums hosting it is if the host team DOES make it, they can only draw 15-20k for the biggest soccer game of the year.
This is my question. I live near Detroit, so I would make the trip. But will I get tickets? If they pack out the house already, how much room is left? I favor bigger stadiums for the cup. That said, I would LOVE to see the stadium and go to the city. I love Toronto.
Why would you care?
Probably more or less the same way any other team would handle it…except that there will be more demand among their own fans, so visiting team fans will probably be limited ot their allotment or scalpers.
That would be sad. Hope not.
Agreed. The stadium is awesome but the recession has killed surrounding development. I don’t mind waiting a few years.
If I had to speculate, NYRB would probably want some advance notice about hosting the Cup — so they could market it to potential season ticket buyers the way Seattle did. Maybe NYRB backed out in exchange for a commitment to host in the near future?
Or, maybe they saw the writing on the wall and bowed out gracefully to save a little face.
I looked at the first two words and the last word of your sentence and felt like I was going to have a heart attack. Then I read ‘nose’ and things were better on my end of things. He’ll still be able to play and that’s the most important thing.
anyone willing to take bets on the drunk canadian fans booing the american national anthem like at the all-star game?
Bro- you should definite go to Toronto. Made the trip last year for the Revs match. It was a lot of fun, the stadium and the grounds around the stadium are pretty cool. If the drive wasn’t so long or the flights were cheaper I wouldn’t hesitate to go back. While we did get a little s_it from a couple fans, the people in the beer garden couldn’t have been more chill.
I expected Toronto would get it. I think there might even be compelling legal reasons for the choice — I think MLS basically guaranteed it. Toronto’s fans definitely deserve it. The cold, I mean.
That is great! would like to see the MLS cup eventually make it to Red Bulls Arena..possibly next year 🙂
Barra Brava represent…. With a lot of luck, and some strong summer signings, maybe DC United will be there, too….
Which is a good thing.
Well, at least we know it will be a neutral site 😉
Kidding. I am happy for Toronto though, they have great fans…and deserve the recognition.
If it’s in Toronto I’ll be making the trip north from DC. Any word why New York backed out? With a brand new stadium, it doesn’t make any sense not showcasing it the world. The game is two days before my bday, so I foresee 2 MLS Cup tickets in my future…
Why is L.A. even in contention? That’s completely idiotic. Toronto is awesome, and NJ and Philly should get to host the next two. Very simple.
Of course, with the morons running MLS nothing is ever simple.
Mike Bradley done gone and got his nose broke
Good. They deserve it.
Is there any possibility of adding additional temporary seats to the stadium? Didn’t they do something like that when Real Madrid came to town last year?
I’m pretty darned glad that a country doesn’t particularly care about me. If it did, there would be some serious problems with it (well, more serious than the ones it already has). And I’m glad that you check your grammar before you spew forth words on your keyboard…
And I was just kidding about not caring – I’ll probably be traveling up there for the RBNY match, and if I like it will be tempted to go back for the MLS cup (which most likely won’t feature RBNY, but one can hope).
+5 for teh “aboot.”
Educate yourself. In reality, it’s the same as NY, Chi, Boston.
Just a joke. But I never said anything about Seattle being better than Toronto either.
And it doesn’t particularly care about you. But at least try to get your facts straight before opening you trap.
It will be warmer than Seattle was, and the field is grass, wow, look at all the Americans quick to dismiss the possibility of a great cup final in Toronto
Why did Seattle want it last year? Cuz it’s a big event.
There’s never any guarantee the city that hosts will have a team in the game (see Seattle last year) so you might as well bid for it.
Somewhere between “Freezing” and “Butt Cold”
+1
no it won’t… they put a $3 million system under the turf for drainage and heating, specifically to delay the dormancy of the grass.
It’ll be brilliant even in November.
While the NFL do a lot right and are a great sporting model, I do love the fact that MLS is willing to play it’s marquee game in warm AND cold climates.
Nice work (now bring it to Chicago! )
Why would Toronto want it this year? Their pre-season has been a disaster and it’s looking like their headed for their worst season yet. Better to wait another year or two and get the house in order.
As for RBA, yeah i guess they want to build out the surrounding land but I think RBA should host most years anyway.
last year during the MLS Cup in Seattle it was 55F in Toronto, warmer than it was in Seattle.
Cold weather championship? What’s that aboot?
BMO Field’s new north stand with dirt ready for grass.. heating and drainage underneath.
http://img697.yfrog.com/img697/3496/g62t.jpg
http://img708.yfrog.com/img708/151/x7e.jpg
Yeah and it will be dead, brown, and crunchy by November.
+1
How cold is it in November in Toronto?
I’ll only be going if red bull make it, so in that respect it could have been worse. at least it’s not all the way on the west coast this year
LOL! sources told you that NY didn’t want to host it… LOL!
garber youre on the clock, you have a good year to come up with an excuse not to give RBA anything next year also.
brrrr….
How are they going to handle tickets?? Are TFC sth/fans going to get first dibs??
How many will they hold for East/West conf winners??
This just upped the pressure on Preki. If he doesn’t at least make the conference final, I say he gets fired.
I guess the red bulls want the area around the stadium to be in better shape before they host it.
Grass for this season.
its grass now
yeah, it’s grass… heated too.
plus the stadium is about 22000 seats now thanks to the added north stand, which will be ready soon (1400 more seats).
Thats as close as the Toronto fans are ever going to get to seeing the MLS Cup. There probably used to another team winning at BMO anyway.
really? Toronto? a turf field?
ugh.
Or is it grass now? i don’t remember (as i don’t particularly care about canada).