When Bell and Rogers bought 75 per cent of Maple Leaf Sports Entertainment from the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, a lot of fans, including myself, jumped for joy at the thought that the constant ineptitude that surrounded three of Toronto’s largest sports franchises would be over. Earlier this month the Leafs finished the regular season once again out of the playoffs, and the Raptors are currently winning their way slowly to a draft pick outside the top five, and all I could think was: “This may end soon.” Maybe this is the last year before Rogers and Bell, each with stakes in Sportsnet and TSN respectively, crack down on their organizations and get the ball rolling in the right direction. Unfortunately I forgot about one last team: The Toronto FC.

The FC have started the season in fantastically bad fashion; they have lost their first five games, including a 2-1 loss to the Montreal Impact, a team that entered the game winless in their MLS history. It has been a difficult year so far for the Reds and though I like to yell at MLSE most of the time, a lot of it may be chalked up to injuries. In the first league game of the year against Seattle, FC captain Torsten Frings was carted off the field on a stretcher and has yet to return. Shortly after, goaltender Stefan Frei suffered a leg injury during practice and will be out for the next 4-6 months. Missing key players from their roster, the FC may be able to place as much blame on injury bugs as the aforementioned MLSE.

This past Saturday Toronto played their fifth match of the season against Chivas USA, losing 1-0 and bringing their total goal differential on the year to 2-10. The game did, however, see the return of Defender Adrian Cann, coming back from a knee injury that had kept him out for almost a year.  He played the full 90 minutes and the FC managed to keep the game close against the 3-3 Chivas team, bolstered by their healthy defense. It seemed like a step in the right direction and with Frings set to return as early as this Saturday, when the Reds play host to the Chicago Fire at BMO Field, Toronto might be able to notch their first win sometime soon. The Fire, currently not playing much better than the FC with a 1-1-2 record, might be just what Toronto needs to get back on track.

Head coach Aron Winter discussed the season with the media on Tuesday, saying: “it’s great to have a fit roster.” With the Reds starting to get their depth back on the field it could mean a turnaround for the team. Of course, the first thing they’re going to have to do is start scoring goals. After allowing a league-high 59 goals last year, the 10 already conceded this season is a foreboding sign of history repeating itself. Defender Cann should help the situation, and midfielder Frings, once back, will definitely be able to chip in on D, but will it be enough to produce a winning season for the Toronto team? A cynical fan like myself thinks not.

As much as I believe the FC’s woes are based mostly on the field, their inability to put together a winning season since their induction into the league in 2007 is somewhat troubling. Like the Leafs and the Raptors, the FC bring people out to games and have averaged an attendance of over 20,000 fans per game for their first five years (never less than fourth overall in the league as seen in this chart). The team seems to be making money and the ownership, in return, should have the funds to provide fans with a decent product to watch. Unfortunately (again much life the Leafs and the Raptors), this is not the case and instead Toronto fans are again asked to suffer through a season of mediocrity and most likely another losing season.

There are a number of things the Toronto FC can do to improve, but like (seeing a theme here?) the other MLSE owned teams, what they need most is players. Last year when a disgruntled Dwayne De Rosario demanded a pay increase, Toronto instead traded away the Scarborough-born midfielder (check out Bleacher Report’s article on the topic and realize how bad of a move this really was for the team). Again, a team that Forbes magazine ranked the 2^nd most valuable team in the league in 2008, worth approximately $44 million at the time and most likely more now, was unable to hold on to its star player. Sound familiar?

I would like to believe that the purchase of MLSE by Bell and Rogers will change things; it’s not going to be right away, but things will change. Back in December I commented on whether a faceless owner would have any impact on the teams it controlled, especially one that is an amalgamation of two apparent foes. I still have my doubts but believe that with television revenue at stake, the two media giants will have to face the music that being better on the field, ice, or court in turn draws viewers in. Rogers has seen the results as I discussed last week with the Jays drawing record viewers for their home opener against the Red Sox. Simply put, fans want a winning team, and in a city this large pumping ridiculous amounts of money into the owners’ pockets, we deserve one.

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Nick McIsaac is Toronto Standard’s sports writer. Follow him on Twitter (for everything sports related) at @nickclass.

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