MLS Impact de Montréal

[ErickMontreal]

Great game!

 

Toute une victoire pour le soccer au Québec!

 

Hey Don Garber... do you still think MLS will do better either in Ottawa or Vancouver

 

 

55 000 in the BIG O... bref in your face MLS!

[ErickMontreal]

MLS Expansion: Montreal Still Alive?

 

 

by Kartik Krishnaiyer on February 17, 2009

 

The CONCACAF Champions League returns next week and in one of the more appetizing matchups, the Impact de Montreal of USL faces Mexico’s Santos Laguna. Montreal is one of three members of US based leagues to advance to the quarterfinal stage (the Houston Dynamo and the Puerto Rico Islanders are the others).

 

The Champions League may not have yet developed a following among some MLS fans including those whose teams took the tournament to be a set of friendlies and were eliminated early, but in Montreal it is a very big deal. Radio Canada and MLS Rumors are reporting that 43,000 tickets have already been sold for Montreal’s home leg of the Quarterfinals, and arrangements are being made to add capacity to Olympic Stadium should the game sell out.

 

The match will be held at Olympic Stadium instead of Stade Saputo, the usual home ground of the Impact. The advance ticket sales must give pause to MLS officials whose demands placed on potential expansion bidders forced Montreal’s bid to be eliminated. The Saputo’s, the owners of the Impact along with George Gillett, co-owner of Liverpool, and partner in Montreal’s MLS bid, felt the $40 million price tag for a new MLS franchise (or in this case promoting a successful USL team to MLS) should include stadium upgrade costs. Stade Saputo, which is a new state of the art facility with a grass pitch seats under 15,000 fans and thus must be upgraded to be considered a permanent MLS home ground.

 

A source confirmed to me Monday, that Montreal’s ownership group has not ruled out an eventual move to MLS, but that the requirements to submit an expansion bid to the league must be changed. The big question will be this: after the Impact put on a show next week and draw the type of crowd current MLS clubs can only dream about for a CONCACAF match, will MLS and Montreal come to some agreement? Could this also be the mysterious cause of the delay in revealing the expansion winner for 2011?

 

We will preview each of the quarterfinal cup ties involving MLS or USL sides next week.

[Habsfan]

Quelle Victoire importante pour L'Impact!!

 

non seulement ont ils gagné, mais ils l'ont fait sans accorder de but à Domicile...c'est très important!

 

Hey Don Garber... do you still think MLS will do better either in Ottawa or Vancouver

 

 

55 000 in the BIG O... bref in your face MLS

 

Exactement ce que je pensais! in your face MLS. Je me demande si Garber n'Est pas en traîn de reconsidérer l'offre de Joey Saputo qui était de 40 millions incluant l'aggrandissement du Stade Saputo???

[yul_love_mtl]

MLS will collapse. They're idiots and would be lucky to have Montreal in their circuit. What a great turnout and a great victory. All the impact need is to play a smart defensive game in Mexico and they'll be in the final four. Sorte unreal, eh?

[Ornello Mastrocola]

Game 2 in Mexico, and with the two goal advantage, it looks pretty good. Bring on the mighty Houston of the MLS who by the way in their semi final game attracted a measley 10,000 people against another Mexiacn squad.

[LindbergMTL]

RDS as pas les droit sur l'impact, c'est SRC qui les as.

 

Ben voyons, ça se négocie ça facilement. Et la SRC, pas croyable! Vraiment incroyable que ce match n'ai pas été présenté à la télé.

[WestAust]

Game 2 in Mexico, and with the two goal advantage, it looks pretty good. Bring on the mighty Houston of the MLS who by the way in their semi final game attracted a measley 10,000 people against another Mexiacn squad.

 

not even 10k, more like 7k

[peluche]

Cette équipe du Mexique, est-ce une équipe de la meilleure ligue au Mexique? Ou une sorte de ligue américaine de hockey par rapport à notre sport national? Excusez mon ignorance de ce sport qui commence à m'intéresser de plus en plus.

[Habsfan]

not even 10k, more like 7k

 

That's the number I heard as well. Apparently they had this huge promotion where you could get 4 tickets for 32$ and they barely were able to sell 7000 tickets!

[WestAust]

Cette équipe du Mexique, est-ce une équipe de la meilleure ligue au Mexique? Ou une sorte de ligue américaine de hockey par rapport à notre sport national? Excusez mon ignorance de ce sport qui commence à m'intéresser de plus en plus.

 

Champion de la première division du Mexique, donc techniquement la meilleure équipe au Mexique l'an dernier