Last summer was a painful time for Toronto FC fans and for the Major League Soccer team’s backers at Ontario betting sites.
Not only did club legend Michael Bradley retire at the end of the season, but the team finished with the worst record in MLS. Toronto compiled a dismal 4-20-10 record for 22 points, the fewest wins in a season in the club’s 17-year history.
This is familiar territory for Toronto FC; it was the third time that the club had the worst record in the league. Only D.C. United (five times) and the San Jose Earthquakes (four times) have finished dead last more often since MLS began play in 1996. That made us wonder: How do teams typically fare in the season after they prop up the table?
So OntarioBets.com, your home for new Ontario sportsbooks reviews, compiled a list of the worst team from each MLS season, and how they fared the following year.
How Worst MLS Teams Fared The Following Season
Toronto FC 2024 Prospects Seem Dim
The 2024 MLS regular season began Wednesday, when Argentine superstar Lionel Messi led Inter Miami to a 2-0 victory over Real Salt Lake. Toronto FC carries +15000 odds at Caesars Ontario Sportsbook, the longest shot on the board, to go from worst to first and win MLS Cup this season. Toronto opens on Sunday at FC Cincinnati.
If club history is any indicator, Toronto has a long way to go before getting back atop the league as it did when it won MLS Cup in 2017 behind Bradley, Jozy Altidore and Sebastian Giovinco.
The inhabitants of BMO Field in downtown Toronto finished last in the league twice before. In 2007 the team was 6-17-7 for 25 points but had a pretty good excuse – that was the expansion club’s debut season. And Toronto made progress in 2008 (a 9-13-8 record for 35 points) but missed the playoffs. Customers at Ontario sports betting apps don’t have to keep track of any expansion clubs this year after St. Louis entered the league in 2023.
Fast forward to 2012, when Toronto went 5-21-8 for 23 points to finish at the bottom of the table. The following season was not much better – a 6-17-11 mark left the team with 29 points and another year without postseason play. The club missed the playoffs for the first eight seasons of its existence before making it in 2015 as Toronto slowly built the team that won it all in 2017.
Toronto has +8000 odds with DraftKings Ontario Sportsbook to win the Eastern Conference in 2024. Can new coach John Herdman defy the odds and lead the team back to postseason glory? History provides a few examples that give hope.
Biggest MLS Turnarounds Ever
The ultimate example of worst-to-first in MLS resides with the original San Jose Earthquakes. That club was last in the league with 29 points in 2000. But in 2001 the Quakes made the postseason with a 13-7-6 mark (45 points) then went on a dream run in the postseason, capped by a 2-1 victory over the rival Los Angeles Galaxy to win the MLS Cup.
Two other teams reached the MLS Cup final the year after having the worst record: Colorado in 1997 and the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2009. Out of 30 teams on our list (there are more teams than MLS seasons because of ties for last), 14 of them, almost half, made the playoffs the following year. And the league is in a healthy place – so no matter how things go for Toronto this year, there’s no reason to worry that the team will meet the fate of the 2001 Tampa Bay Mutiny, who had the league’s worst record and then folded weeks later.
As for this year’s Toronto players, BetMGM Ontario Sportsbook has them as +575 underdogs to win the opener against Cincinnati, which reached the Eastern Conference final last year. Cincinnati has -275 odds, with a draw at +400.
