MLSE is looking at Premiership sorta like guys who drive Toyotas go to the Auto Show to drool at the Porsches. Yes, they'd really like to buy the expensive European rides, but, really, they're not in that league yet. But, the dream lives on.
Now, Richard Peddie says his trip to England was simply to learn how teams over there have created the biggest sports league and properties on the planet, not to kick any tires. But, what would happen if MLSE could eventually lay down the hundreds of millions, possibly billions, to buy and staff an EPL team?

The whole dynamic of MLSE would change. Right now, the depth chart at MLSE goes like this:

1. Leafs
2. Condos
3. Raptors
4. Toronto FC (even though, when it comes to profile outside of the GTA, TFC slides to 3. Just look at the trouble the Raps are having finding national broadcasters for their playoff games.)
5. Marlies (for those of you outside of the 1,000 or so who bother to go the games, the Marlies play in Toronto. It is the Leafs' farm team.)

But, if the Premiership team comes into play, it immediately goes to No. 1 on the chart, and Toronto FC would rise as it would likely be linked to the EPL club as some kind of feeder club.
Remember this; if you finish last in the MLS, NHL or NBA, you get to come back next season. If you finish 18th, 19th, or 20th in the EPL, you go down a league. You lose millions in TV contracts. You can't charge as much for tickets. So, imagine this; the Leafs are in ninth in the East, the Raptors are battling to get better and the Premiership team is sitting in 17th. Where does the money and attention go? Of course, all the resources needed go to England to keep that team in the big bucks of the Premiership. As for TFC, the Leafs and the Raps, there is always next year. Or the next 40.

Since Malcolm Glazer, Randy Lerner, George Gillett and Tom Hicks bought EPL teams, you barely hear of them in connection to their North American franchises. They are regularly in England, tending to their top priorities. When you own Man U., as Glazer does, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a nice second vehicle, the reliable Toyota compared to the sports car you have in England.
Basically, the EPL trumps all other sports leagues. And if MLSE buys into the EPL, the board may soon forget about what the heck the M and the L stand for.

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