TFC beat Panamanian side Arabe Unido in front of a sparse crowd Tuesday night. (Adrien Veczan/Canadian Press)

How did it ever get to this point?

When Toronto FC entered Major League Soccer in 2007, the team quickly took Canada's most crowded sports market by storm, drawing diehard supporters and droves of casual soccer fans to BMO Field on a regular basis. The team's owners, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, bullishly marketed their squad from the outset, and the payoff was instantaneous.

TFC quickly became the hottest ticket in town as everybody wanted to see what all the fuss was about. BMO Field was routinely sold out on game days. The waiting list for season tickets numbered in the thousands. The stadium's seating capacity was expanded. League commissioner Don Garber heralded the club as a model franchise for other MLS teams.

Everybody wanted a piece of Toronto FC, even the mainstream sports media who traditionally ignored soccer or paid it little mind. All this happened, despite the Reds failing to make the playoffs year after year.

But now the proverbial chickens have come home to roost, as evidenced by TFC's 1-0 victory over Panamanian side Arabe Unido on Tuesday night before an announced home crowd of 10,385 spectators.

Under normal circumstances, CBCSports.ca readers could expect the details of the match to be dutifully reported in this space, but the chronology of events (defender Nana Attakora scored the lone goal in the 30th minute, in case you were wondering) are insignificant compared to the real story.

Make no mistake about it — the sparse turnout marked a new low for a club that has grown accustomed to playing before home crowds often described by visiting MLS teams as the most intimidating in the league.

Desolate stands

To call BMO Field a ghost town doesn't quite do it justice. Tumbleweeds could have drifted undisturbed through the large swaths of empty seats. The stadium's north end and the upper tier of the west stand were desolate, the noise created by the fans who did brave the cold weather only occasionally rising above a murmur.

Tuesday marked TFC's final game of the CONCACAF Champions League, the club having been officially eliminated from the 16-team tournament weeks ago. It hardly came as surprise, then, that fans decided not to come out for what was a meaningless match.

But there's more to it than that. The honeymoon between TFC and its passionate fans is clearly over.

The Reds' legion of loyal supporters stayed away in order to send Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment a message, much like they did during Saturday's game against the Columbus Crew, when they held silent protests, unfurled a number of negative banners and booed the team off the field after the final whistle.

Considering all the fans have had to endure, you can hardly blame them.

From the team failing to qualify for the playoffs for a fourth successive campaign, to the constant turnover on the sidelines (five coaches have been hired and fired in four seasons), to the years of mismanagement by former general manager Mo Johnston (who was finally relieved of his duties last month), to player unrest (captain Dwayne De Rosario making public statements about wanting a pay raise), to ill-conceived price increases for next year's season ticket packages.

'You can't blame them'

Attakora wasn't surprised by Tuesday's anemic crowd.

"As a player, you want to see your fans come out every game, but if you're not getting results, you can't blame them," Attakora said.

There is a great deal of wisdom in the young defender's words, especially in light of the controversy over the price increase of next year's season ticket packages.

If Toronto FC was a playoff contender, or even remotely competitive, MLSE could probably get away with hiking prices. However, asking fans to pay more for the privilege of watching a losing franchise is not only insulting, it also shows unadulterated hubris.

That MLSE has recently held a series of town hall meetings with season ticket holders in order to hear their complaints and address their concerns is a positive first step.

But it has to be followed up with concrete action, and unless MLSE rethinks its decision to further gouge Toronto FC fans — or alternatively, fields a team that is worth the price of admission — scenes like the one at a half-empty BMO Field on Tuesday night will become the norm and not the exception.