The CFL will have a tough time selling the 2012 Grey Cup to the people of Toronto.
The Greater Toronto Area, had only lukewarm interest in the Memorial Cup. Will it care about the Grey Cup, even if it’s the 100th edition of the game?
The Memorial Cup played out from May 19-29 in Mississauga and barely caused a dent in the GTA. Mississauga’s St. Michael’s Majors’ owner Eugene Melnyk bought the rights to the Cup last year, hoping to win the championship and prove that Mississauga – and really all of Toronto – would embrace this national event.
Not only did the Majors lose in the final game to the Saint John Sea Dogs, but the visiting team had more support. The local vocals simply didn’t come out to support the Majors. It was like that all season long.
It is believed that it will be a long time before the Canadian Hockey League awards the Memorial Cup to Toronto or the vicinity. Melnyk had the energy and enthusiasm, but you can’t push people to pay for something they don’t want. There are plenty of other Major Junior A cities for the Canadian Hockey League to pick to play host to the big event.
The Canadian Football League only has eight teams – for now anyway – and they continue to work hard to make the Argos relevant. Next to Hamilton, it is the toughest market to sell the CFL.
If the people of Toronto don’t want to pay to see the hometown Argos, will they care about having the championship game played in their city?
You could say this is an apples to oranges argument comparing the Memorial Cup and the Grey Cup, but both are uniquely Canadian with historic roots in Toronto. Junior hockey once mattered in Toronto, as did the Argos. Both have lost their support, appreciated only by diehard fans.
Four years ago the Grey Cup came to Toronto for the first time in 15 years. Much was made of the return, but it took a victory by the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Western Final to save the game from a colossal bombshell.
The Eastern representatives were the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who beat the Argos, creating the initial disappointment for the Toronto owners. Without a Roughriders’ win, the Cup would have pitted the B.C. Lions against the Bombers.
The Lions’ fans don’t travel as well as the Green Riders’ do. And when the Riders’ fans came to Toronto, they livened up the downtown core in the area that was designated for the Grey Cup. But further north of the city, you would have had a hard time knowing there was a national sports championship in town.
Toronto is not a sports town; it’s a Toronto Maple Leafs’ town, win or lose. The day after the Grey Cup is over, the Leafs could be playing a home game on a Monday night and there’s more interest in that.
The Canadiana theme will be played out in full by the organizers of the 2012 Grey Cup. Messages such as “the Grey Cup is something that is endearing, something we revere” were spoken as if to tug at the collective heartstrings. The tag line is Invitation to our Nation. It’s expected the planners will try to incorporate some of the ideas used for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver/Whistler to unite the country.
The 2012 Grey Cup will have the financial backing of the federal government, which is slated to greenlight a $5 million handout when the next budget is officially approved. That will give the CFL and the Argos a chance to do something economically that was not part of previous Grey Cups – that is spend to make this a truly national party.
The 100th Grey Cup will be special, and we wouldn’t be surprised if somehow the CFL takes the opportunity to sell the game to a presenting sponsor, which would further enhance this particular edition from a game to a colossal event.
But again, if a Grey Cup tree fell in Toronto would anybody care?
Inasmuch as the organizers are reaching out to the country, they are really preaching to the people of Toronto and the corporations to put their hearts and their wallets into this particular event. They are the ones who will have to buy tickets and sponsorship packages.
Argo owner David Braley will play host to next years’ Cup a year after he plays host to this year’s Cup. It just kind of worked out that way, so make what you will of that.
Vancouver will have its challenges. Right now it’s all about the Vancouver Canucks – and by the way the Lions begin training camp on Sunday.
Eugene Melnyk did his best to prove that by bringing the Memorial Cup to the Greater Toronto Area, the people will come. They did – but not from Toronto.
After next year, who knows when the Grey Cup will come back to Toronto.
