The Rubik’s Cube of Canadian sport — how do you fix football in Toronto? — becomes front and centre again as Grey Cup Week begins with snow and wind and so many questions about the state of Argos football.

This was supposed to be a year of optimism in Toronto. The move outdoors to BMO Field. The change in ownership. The bold decision to hold the Grey Cup here.

One troubled season later, and the Argos finished last in the CFL in wins and in attendance, last in buzz, last in home record. And if they were considered obscure before the move to BMO under previous owner David Braley, they almost seem even more obscure today.

“I don’t have the solution,” said former CFL commissioner Tom Wright. “But even if I did, they wouldn’t listen. They didn’t listen to me when I was commissioner. Why would they listen to me now?”

The sad reality of the first Argos season at BMO Field was how off-the-map Toronto football has gone. When the team was sold from absentee owner Braley to Larry Tanenbaum and Bell Media, with a move to a terrific refurbished outdoor stadium, there was reason to believe. Reason to get excited.

Tanenbaum, who rarely overstates anything, predicted there would be few Argos tickets available. Club president and CEO Michael Copeland said more than 20,000 a game in attendance was likely.

The truth? The eight smallest crowds in the CFL this season were in Toronto.

In the largest city in Canada, the Argos played to 60.6% capacity at BMO, with a league-low average in attendance of 16,380. The CFL average in the other eight cities: 25,664.

The Grey Cup-bound Redblacks played to 100% capacity in Ottawa. Hamilton played to 98.7% capacity at Tim Hortons Field. The local soccer team, Toronto FC, drew 10,203 more per game than the Argos managed.

And it sure didn’t help the feel or perception when overt and unrealistically high Grey Cup ticket prices were announced. The market was stunned by that. Capacity for the Grey Cup is around 35,000 with additional seats added to BMO. The house this Sunday will be papered: There are plenty of free and discounted Cup tickets available for the CFL’s showcase game.

The CFL may be alive and well in Regina, in Winnipeg, in Ottawa, in Alberta. It is not alive and well here.

The only encouraging numbers for the Argos are on television, where ratings remain solid. The rest of the numbers are mostly disappointing.

The 60.6% capacity the Argos played to during the regular season doesn’t compare at all to other Toronto teams. The Leafs and Raptors both are playing to 100% capacity, and the Blue Jays led the American League in attendance and played to 87% capacity over 81 home games.

The challenge for the Argos is enormous now — and even those closest to the game are unsure if this problem can be properly unravelled and fixed.

“Our paid ticket sales and attendance was significantly up from the previous year,” said CEO Copeland, trying to put a happy face on the state of the franchise. “If you believe in ‘If you build it, they will come,’ that’s not what unfolded here. This is the first year of a rebuild and we put in a very good foundation.”

Season-ticket numbers almost doubled from 3,700 to 7,000, still the lowest in the league.

“We had a growth in attendance,” said Copeland. “We’re confident and optimistic about the future. We’re 11 months in as an organization. I’m confident we will solve the problem.”

When Howard Sokolowski was co-owner of the Argos from 2003 to 2010, he used to play this little game everywhere he went. He would ask a simple question of those around him in restaurants, bars, coffee shops in the city.

“Who’s your favourite football team?”

“I never said NFL or CFL,” said Sokolowski. “I just said football. I’d hear Dallas, Oakland, New York Giants, Dolphins. It was never the Argos. It was really frustrating. It was never any CFL team. If that’s the way it is, how do you change that?”

Sokolowski thought the timing for Argos success was much better in his time with the team than it is now, considering the change in the sports market.

“When we (he and David Cynamon) started out with the Argos, the Blue Jays weren’t doing well, the Leafs weren’t doing well, the Raptors weren’t doing well. The public embraced us. We had everything going for us. We won the Grey Cup (2004). We had no competition as a winning team in the city and we still couldn’t do it.”

Former CFL commissioner Mark Cohon was challenged to fix Toronto football when he took the job in 2007. Very little had changed by the time he left office in 2015. But Cohon remains one of the few who believe football can thrive in Toronto.

“I always said moving to BMO is not an overnight answer,” said Cohon. “I think it’s the answer but it will take time. If you look back, we had a lot of excitement around the 100th Grey Cup in Toronto and the follow-up was weak and that hurt the Argos.

“The experience at BMO Field is great. But the stadium alone won’t solve things. I believe in Michael Copeland. I believe he has some real plans to get an audience and put a better product on the field.

“Were we all surprised that Argos attendance wasn’t as high this year? Yes. Do I feel they can build upon that? Yes. Do I feel it will take time? Yes. Do they have patient owners? Yes. And I think that will make a big difference for them.”

Cohon did have one regret about Argos ownership.

“It’s unfortunate Rogers is not part of the group. Then MLSE could unleash all of its talents on the team. That was the plan. That was the idea.”

Wright, who was CFL commissioner from 2002-2006, views the quandary of Argos football as multi-faceted.

“I think there are three fundamental reasons why Toronto football is where it is. The brand just doesn’t resonate,” said Wright, a long-time marketer. “The Grey Cup brand doesn’t resonate (in Toronto). The Argos brand. The CFL brand.

“One, there is core competition in Toronto that doesn’t exist anywhere else in Canada. There is NHL, NBA, baseball, MLS. It’s an incredibly competitive market. There’s no longer a threat of the NFL and still that hasn’t changed anything.

“Two, we’re a snotty sports city. We think of ourselves as a big deal. This isn’t, to use Tim Leiweke’s phrase, a bloody big deal. An Argos game isn’t the place to be.

“Three, if you look at what’s happened to the franchise and the marketing of it, previous ownership let it go. They put nothing into sales, nothing into marketing. Look at how little David (Braley) spent to market the brand and the team. He turned off all the taps in Toronto. How do you recover from that?

“And whether or not the Argos can survive, I honestly don’t know.”

Sokolowski, a close friend of Tanenbaum’s, reluctantly expresses concern as well.

“I don’t hear about them (Argos),” he said. “I don’t see enough about them on TV. I grew up with the Argos. I love the Argos. I’m not sure what the answer is.”

Somehow, Copeland remains optimistic. He has to be.

“There was an unrealistic expectation of an immediate turnaround,” he said. “We operate in a world where you want instant gratification. The reality is, this is a brand that needs to be rebuilt.

“We’re 11 months in. This is a startup, a rebuilding process. We’re incredibly happy with what we’ve done in the first 11 months (business-wise).

“We can’t pronounce this as a failure prematurely.”

ssimmons@postmedia.com

@simmonsssteve