There is one thing you forgot. The city of Toronto also has an MLB, NBA, CFL, MLS and NLL teams.
The Oil Kings only go up against the Oilers, Eskimos & Rush.
The Hitmen only go up against the Flames, Stampeders & Roughnecks.
The Giants only go up against the Canucks, Lions & Whitecaps.
The 67's only go up against the Senators and the brand new CFL team coming back to Ottawa in 2014.
The 67s also go up against the Olympiques, who also do very well in attendance.
Of course not, don't be stupid. But it is a simple fact that the population of Brampton is made up largely of people whose sporting interests lie elsewhere (soccer, cricket, etc.) because they come from countries that do not have winters like we do and therefore do not have winter sports. Many people here are also relative newcomers and it takes time for them to become interested in Canadian sports. After they have been here a while many of them will develop an interest in hockey, especially if their kids do, but it is unreasonable to expect that of them when they are still new to the country.
Brampton... or Mississauga are so freaking big that there are zillions of "White People" that could fill arenas for a junior team. Even if 70% of the population are new to the country or whatever. Just saying.
The thing with Toronto and it's suburbs are that Toronto is a Big City Place. Few people care about the minors or juniors or even the CFL. If you are a big you will get attendence and interest. The Jays drew 4 million fans a season in their World Series years and are doing terrible with sub 2 million attendence recently because they are just an average team. If their trades and moves succeed from the off season.. watch them literally double their attendence this season to over 3.5 million fans.
Why do small places like The Soo or Belleville do decent with OHL teams and HUGE population centres near Toronto not succeed in Junior? Because people want to see the biggest game in town.
Ottawa draws well for the 67's... and terrible for the regular Junior A teams spread around the city. While in Pembroke or Smiths Falls the Junior A teams have a big fan base... because they are the biggest games in town.
Markham or Mississauga do not have a local identitiy. They are just Toronto. You go farther outside the city where there is some local identity as a separate entity.. Like Oshawa and you have a successful franchise.
In Ottawa the 67's were the biggest game in town for like 25 years before the Senators. If you were to add a new OHL team to Ottawa it would fail miserably.
Brampton... or Mississauga are so freaking big that there are zillions of "White People" that could fill arenas for a junior team. Even if 70% of the population are new to the country or whatever. Just saying.
The thing with Toronto and it's suburbs are that Toronto is a Big City Place. Few people care about the minors or juniors or even the CFL. If you are a big you will get attendence and interest. The Jays drew 4 million fans a season in their World Series years and are doing terrible with sub 2 million attendence recently because they are just an average team. If their trades and moves succeed from the off season.. watch them literally double their attendence this season to over 3.5 million fans.
Why do small places like The Soo or Belleville do decent with OHL teams and HUGE population centres near Toronto not succeed in Junior? Because people want to see the biggest game in town.
Ottawa draws well for the 67's... and terrible for the regular Junior A teams spread around the city. While in Pembroke or Smiths Falls the Junior A teams have a big fan base... because they are the biggest games in town.
Markham or Mississauga do not have a local identitiy. They are just Toronto. You go farther outside the city where there is some local identity as a separate entity.. Like Oshawa and you have a successful franchise.
In Ottawa the 67's were the biggest game in town for like 25 years before the Senators. If you were to add a new OHL team to Ottawa it would fail miserably.
I think this is the most sensible post I've read in this thread - and I'm surprised that this thread is still going.
Considering the Roughriders are the #1 sport in Regina you must be use to seeing only their merchandise sold in local sports stores. However the stores in Toronto there are always going to have a huge number of Leafs merchandise because they are #1 in the city. Then you need to factor in the Blue Jays items which has been selling great since brining back their old logo and then I say it's a draw with items sold by the Raptors, TFC, Argonauts and etc.
In the end all that doesn't mean Toronto is not a Hockey city. The way I see it Toronto is a Maple Leafs city and a Hockey city combined. After all if we weren't a Hockey city then why is the Hockey Hall of Fame located in Toronto and not somewhere else?
It should actually be in Montreal. It's like a shrine to all things Montreal anyway.
So does Calgary and there is one in the Greater Seattle area, which is a draw from the Vancouver area. I'd suggest all Seattle area teams are a draw for fans from Vancouver, so really there is a MLB, NFL and a NLL team in the area. You've also forgotten Vancouver has a MLS team. Also the Vancouver Giants also have to content with NCAA football and basketball in the Washington Huskies.
But really, as far as pointing this out it is simply proving the point that Toronto is a Leafs city period. With all the other competition out there, most other hockey teams are forgotten by the average sports fan. Heck, the Argos are largely forgotten by the average sports fan in Toronto. Being from Saskatchewan, it shocks me when you walk into a sports store in Toronto and there is maybe one small tiny rack of Argos t-shirts tucked in the back corner. Anyway, the point here is that Leafs support does not equal hockey support overall.
If you are not from toronto how would you know who are fans of what team, without getting to know people. are you judging by hats people wear
When people say Toronto is a leaf town I laugh. Yes there are obviously lots I leaf fans here as it is torontos team. But more than half of the TRUE hockry fans I know are non leaf fans. Toronto is an NHL town. Not a leaf town. That is why we need another team as the leafs are hated more in their own city than they are in every other city aside from Montreal.
Go to a flyers game or bruins game and tell me how many fans of opposing teams are at the game. How many hockey fans in Philly or Chicago hate the flyers or hawks.
Come to Toronto an get to know the hockry fans and you will know that the leafs are probably hated more than they are loved, by true hockry fans. Not the casual fan who doesn't follow them unless they are in the playoffs....true fans.
If you are not from toronto how would you know who are fans of what team, without getting to know people. are you judging by hats people wear
When people say Toronto is a leaf town I laugh. Yes there are obviously lots I leaf fans here as it is torontos team. But more than half of the TRUE hockry fans I know are non leaf fans. Toronto is an NHL town. Not a leaf town. That is why we need another team as the leafs are hated more in their own city than they are in every other city aside from Montreal.
Go to a flyers game or bruins game and tell me how many fans of opposing teams are at the game. How many hockey fans in Philly or Chicago hate the flyers or hawks.
Come to Toronto an get to know the hockry fans and you will know that the leafs are probably hated more than they are loved, by true hockry fans. Not the casual fan who doesn't follow them unless they are in the playoffs....true fans.
If the Leafs have success, see them all of sudden come out...hugely.
Some will be fairweather, but a lot of true fans, who decided not
to subject the,selves to jokes, or realize the team, just isn't worth cheering for at the moment.
