Buzz is back for TFC

Earlier this week Toronto FC kicked off ticket sales for their March 7 CONCACAF Champions League quarter-final against the Los Angeles Galaxy. With seat sales moving at a brisk pace, it seems that for the first time since the club's inaugural season TFC is one of the hottest tickets in town.

Ticket sales began on Monday morning with season seat holders having the chance to purchase as many as they want. In less than 24 hours several sections of Rogers Centre have already sold out including the two most expensive sections. The club confirmed that after about 10 hours the $65 seats are all gone and the $19 seats are selling quickly and should not last long.

By the time tickets go on sale to the general public Friday morning there might not be many left. It appears the club has set the prices just right to encourage fans to snap them up in bunches, meaning that most of Rogers Centre should be filled by Toronto FC fans.

The early tickets sales are dispelling doubts that many supporters had about moving the game indoors. Rogers Centre is a very large venue and based on last season's CCL attendance numbers there was plenty of reasons to be sceptical about the club's ability to fill it. Add in the fact that the buzz from season one seemed to be all but gone and the feeling around the club today is actually quite unexpected. Fans are genuinely getting behind the team again.

2012 may not be the year that Toronto FC finally finds success in MLS and they may even crash out of the CCL at this next stage but the buzz around the team is back. If tickets sales continue at this rate it is reasonable to think that the game on March 7 could be at the very least close to a sell out. For many fans though the best news is that so many of the tickets are being purchased by people who actually care about the club. There still remains the legitimate fear that large sections of Rogers Centre will be filled with Beckham watchers which would in many ways be a waste of such a special occasion.

The club has done its part by setting ticket prices at very affordable points and marketing the game well so far, but now it comes down to the fans. All of the tickets sold before the general sale starts on Friday should be going to Toronto FC supporters, or at least potential ones. If the game is going to have a good atmosphere in such a large stadium it is important that these early sales continue and the crowd is as red as possible. That way there will be fewer tickets left over for those people who would come to the game just to see the likes of David Beckham, Robbie Keane, or Landon Donovan.

You would be hard pressed to find a better way to kick off a Toronto FC season than joining in with close to 45,000 other fans dressed in red. The key will be to keep that buzz going until March 24 when their MLS season kicks off.

The club announced last week that their season ticket retention rate was around 85 per cent which is a good figure despite it being another year where some people have chosen not to renew their seats.

Just filling the seats is not good enough though at this stage, though. If you think back to years one and two, the seats were not just full, they were full with people who were excited to be there. There was a genuine buzz around the team every single time they took to the field at BMO. That buzz has understandably faded over the years thanks to poor teams, rotating players, and missed playoffs. There has been an ever increasing level of apathy around BMO but ever since the CCL win over FC Dallas that season one feeling seems to be slowly returning.

It is a feeling that now seems set to peak at a crowded Rogers Centre.

David Rowaan is a Toronto-based writer and key contributor to Waking the Red, a blog about Toronto FC and Canadian soccer. Follow Waking the Red on Twitter.