When TFC launched in 2006 they tried a novel approach to marketing themselves. Rather than pandering to one specific ethnic group, as many T.O. soccer teams had done in the past, they decided to reach out to a broad base.
All for One was the slogan, and in the early days TFC represented that. Celtic fans stood beside Rangers, United and Liverpool, both sides of Milan, it didn't matter. They were All for One, for Toronto.
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Additionally there was no pandering. You did not see Italian Day at BMO in 2007. A tribute to Portugal was not part of the 2008 calendar.
Reds management seems to understand that going after "ethnic" fans was silly. If they needed an excuse to go to BMO they weren't likely to be there long-term. Either a fan bought in to the All for One idea, and got behind the local side, or they did not.
To that end, you didn't see any big name friendlies at BMO Field in the early years (with apologies to Benfica and Villa fans, those clubs would be decidedly second tier in a global sense). Whereas the Seattle Sounders brought in Chelsea and Barcelona in their first year, Toronto stayed away.
Flash forward seven years and a new leadership structure in place and it appears that All for One has gone out the window in favour of "If We Get Roma Then Maybe Some Of Those Guys That Keep Me Up All Night Every Other Summer Honking Their Damn Horns Will Buy Tickets To See Us Play Columbus."
Good luck getting that on the back of the strip.
There really isn't another reasonable explanation for playing Roma on August 7, just three days after playing a MLS game and three days before their next one.
It can't be for competitive reasons. It can't be for scouting reasons (Roma is hardly a feeder club for TFC), so it has to be for financial reasons.
Both for the gate on the day and the potential of filling up more of the empty seats that are now a staple at league games.
But, here is the thing: pandering doesn't work. The Roma fanboys/girls already look down their nose at TFC and watching the Reds lose in a crowd full of people cheering for the away side isn't going to change that. They will not gain a single new fan by playing the game. I don't think this is an exaggeration.
And they will piss off the fans they already have. The distaste for these mid-season friendlies is strong amongst long-time TFC fans. On Twitter I polled my followers. The results were clear. 12-hours after I asked whether they would pay for tickets 51 people had said no. Eight said maybe and eight said yes.
Clearly, the target market for this game isn't my Twitter followers. It should be, since my Twitter followers represent an increasingly frustrated base market that this club cannot afford to lose.
The game will sell out. The Italian community is big and 22,000 seats is a reasonable amount to sell.
But, how much will the day's profits cost TFC in the long run?
Note: the one caveat to this is the price point they sell the tickets at. If the front office supplements the price greatly then it will likely appease the majority of fans. However, if they try and sell the tickets at an inflated level it will only further irritate the already irritated.