Montreal Impact Tickets

When Toronto FC entered Major League Soccer, the club signed an “exclusivity clause” with the league that stated it would be the only Canadian-based franchise until 2009. While the second-division Montreal Impact had publicly stated its intentions on exploring an entry and bid into MLS, another Canadian club had been granted an expansion franchise: the Vancouver Whitecaps. The following year, in 2010, the Saputo family (which owned the lower-division Impact team) had reached an agreement with MLS and Montreal would be the league’s next expansion club, which would begin play at the newly-expanded Stade Saputo in 2012. Though there were many twists and turns throughout the bid – including periodic fears that Montreal’s entry would not materialize – the Impact was ready for MLS league play in 2012, privately owned by the Saputos. With renovations coming to Stade Saputo to get ready for the team’s move to MLS, the Impact had to play its first handful of home matches at a historic venue that’s quite familiar to many Montrealers: Olympic Stadium.

Montreal Impact also uses Olympic Stadium in downtown Montreal – formerly the home of Major League Baseball’s Montreal Expos – for larger matches, including its CONCACAF Champions League appearance in 2015. That summer also brought the franchise’s most prominent move: acquiring international superstar Didier Drogba during the transfer window, a signing that catalyzed Montreal Impact’s offense and a run to the MLS Cup playoffs. Drogba instantly jolted the club, and scored 11 goals in his first 11 starts with the Impact, while Montreal went on to defeat rival Toronto in the knockout round of the playoffs that year. It was, by far, one of the most successful runs in the Impact’s early days of MLS membership.