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hypothetical league structure


tovan

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City/Province – Team (League/Former League) Population

CSL1 = Original CSL, CSL2 = New CSL (Former CPSL), PCSL = Pacific Coast Soccer League, CMISL = Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League

LEVEL 1: Major League Soccer/USL-D1 (Professional Leagues)

Vancouver/BC – Whitecaps FC (USL-D1) 2,116,581

Toronto/Ontario – Toronto FC (MLS) 5,113,149

Montreal/Quebec – Impact FC (USL-D1) 3,635,571

LEVEL 2: National Soccer League of Canada (Semi-Professional League, replacing PDL, CMISL & CSL)

Western Division: 10 Teams

Abbotsford/BC – Rangers (PDL) 159,020

Vancouver/BC – Whitecaps Reserves (PDL) 2,116,581

Kelowna/BC – Okanagan Challenge (PCSL) 162,276

Victoria/BC – Vistas/United (PCSL-CSL1) 330,088

Edmonton/Alberta – Drillers (CMISL-CSL1) 1,034,945

Calgary/Alberta – FC United (CMISL-CSL1) 1,079,310

Saskatoon/Saskatchewan – Accelerators (CMISL) 233,923

Regina/Saskatchewan – (New) 194,971

Winnipeg/Manitoba – Alliance/Fury (CMISL-CSL1) 694,668

Thunder Bay/Ontario – Chill (PDL) 122,907

Central Division: 11 Teams

Brampton/Ontario – Stallions (CSL2) 433,806

Oakville/Ontario – Blue Devils (CSL2) 165,613

North York/Ontario – Astros (CSL2-CSL1) 650,000

Toronto/Ontario - Lynx (PDL) 5,113,149

London/Ontario – City (CSL2-CSL1) 457,720

St. Catharines/Ontario – Wolves (CSL2) 390,317

Windsor/Ontario – Border Stars (CSL2) 323,342

Hamilton/Ontario – Steelers (CSL1) 692,911

Kitchener/Ontario – Spirit/Kickers (CSL1) 451,235

Oshawa/Ontario – (New) 330,594

Kingston/Ontario – (New) 127,009

Eastern Division: 10 Teams

Laval/Quebec – Dynamites (CSL2) 368,709

Trois Rivieres/Quebec – Attak (CSL2) 141,529

Sherbrooke/Quebec – (New) 186,952

Quebec City/Quebec – FC (CSL2) 715,515

Halifax/Nova Scotia – Clippers (CSL1) 372,858

St. John’s/Newfoundland – (New) 181,113

Moncton/New Brunswick – (New) 126,424

St. John/New Brunswick - (New) 122,389

Ottawa/Ontario – Fury (PDL) 1,130,761

Sauguenay/Quebec – (New) 151,643

National Soccer League of Canada (NSLC)

OBJECTIVE: to promote the game of soccer in Canada, spread its popularity, promote the development of domestic Canadian soccer players, and increase Canadian competitiveness at the international levels.

League Administrative Structure:

- League runs as 3 semi-independent regional divisions under 1 umbrella organization (National Soccer League of Canada) sanctioned by CSA. Similar to CHL (WHL, QMJHL, OHL) structure thereby maintaining regional characteristics and former league structures. (ie. PCSL, CMISL, CSL)

- Teams to play season within respective regional divisions to reduce travel costs.

- Team profits will be derived from sponsorships, gate revenues (playoff games, CONCACAF Champions League qualifying games), and player transfers.

- League-wide sponsorship revenues will be shared among teams proportionally (depending on operating expenses such as travel) to create a relatively level financial playing field.

- Individual team sponsorships for shirt sponsorships and on-field advertising will go directly to the team.

- Major national corporate sponsorship. (Banks, Tim Horton’s, Canadian Tire, Rona, etc)

- Hard salary cap with strict penalties if exceeded.

- National television deal to promote the game nationally and televise both regionally and nationally. (CBC, CTV-TSN, RDS, Rogers Sportsnet, The Score, etc.)

- Major national transportation corporation sponsorship to reduce travel costs. (Airlines, Bus Charters, VIA Rail, etc.)

- No ethnically based teams to promote unbiased/equal opportunities for all Canadians.

Player Development & Rosters:

- Partnership with foreign leagues and clubs to promote development and give exposure to league.

- University players must play as amateurs in order to retain CIS/NCAA eligibility or renounce college eligibility to play as professionals.

- International and domestic player transfers negotiated with individual teams giving teams incentive to develop talented players, scout local talent = potential for increased team revenues.

- Rosters will consist of maximum 22 players, with 16 designated for each game. Each team is permitted a maximum of four (4) foreign players on its active game-day roster and a maximum of six (6) foreign players on its overall roster.

- At least three (3) players on each team's roster must be 18 or younger to promote youth development.

Season Format:

- Regular season will run from April to September. Each team will play a 20 match regular season (minimum 1 home-away game vs. each team in division) and possibly an additional:

- 2 NSLC playoff games + 2 Championship Tournament games*

- 3 CONCACAF Champions League qualifying games**

- There will be a 1-week break in the season to accomodate the All-Star Break.

All Star Game:

- The All Star Break will feature an All-Star Game with NSLC players playing against a guest team in a single exhibition match. (ie. MLS All Star Game).

- The game will provide scouts a venue to identify promising players to be bought and sold on the transfer market. It will function as a proxy player combine.

- PLAYER SELECTION: Each team will nominate 1 player from each position (GK, F, MF, D) and from these nominations players for the All Star Game will be selected by all head coaches.

- Coach with the best regular season record will be named coach of the CSL PSL All-Star Side.

- The host city for the All-Star game will be selected on a rotational basis (ie. NBA, NHL, MLS All Star games) in a venue meeting NSLC Championship Tournament criteria***.

*League Championship Playoffs and Tournament Format

- The top 4 teams from each division after the regular season will enter a single-game elimination playoff. (1-2 games)

- The 3 divisional champs will meet with a pre-determined host city team (ie. Memorial Cup) in a 4 team final championship single-game knockout round tournament (Following the Memorial Cup model). (1-2 games)

- Winner of this tournament will be crowned League Champion.

**CONCACAF Champions League Qualifying TOURNAMENT: 3 MLS/USL D1 Teams + NSLC Champion team will enter a tournament to determine the single Canadian entry into the CONCACAF Champions League tournament. (1-2 games)

***Championship tourney will be hosted in host city meeting minimum requirements (minimum 10,000+ capacity stadium, field turf or natural pitch - Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal). Venue selection will be similar to Memorial Cup or Grey Cup selection following a rotation between regional divisions.

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Hi TOVAN, welcome to the forums.

You might want to do some searching on a topic such as this. Over the last decade we have talked about this topic a couple of times and while you have obviously put a lot of thought into your post nothing in it it is new to us.

Some examples from a quick search:

From 2006: http://www.canadian-soccer.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=10970

Also from 2006: http://www.canadian-soccer.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=10050

From 2005:

http://www.canadian-soccer.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5956

From 2004:

http://www.canadian-soccer.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4631

As well you might look over: http://members.shaw.ca/t.godwin/csl/ and http://members.shaw.ca/t.godwin/cusl/

And don't be too discouraged. All we really need is somebody with $35-40M burning a hole in their pockets and an irrational hatred of MLS. :D How hard could that be?

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  • 1 month later...
  • 6 months later...

This is brilliant and should definetly be looked at. A few personal changes: Ottawa get MLS/ USL 1 so there are 4 world class soccer teams. I like the West, Central and East format. Have 12 teams in each and they play eachother twice (one home one away). Thats only 22 games. They should also show one game a week on CBC.

For the Voyageurs Cup it should be every team involved with straight knockout. If there's 12 teams in 3 conferences plus 4 in MLS/USl 1 we'll have 40 professional teams. the bottom 16 play a knockout to go to 32 teams then all other teams enter to have a huge FA-cup like competition. Winner goes to the Champion's League.

Would definetly make Canada soccer amazing.

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I love this idea. Only problem I foresee is getting all parties we need to make this happen agree to sit around a table and make it happen.

Without leadership and money from the CSA, I suspect it can't happen.

I'm with Ted...we just need someone with ridiculous amounts of money and a willingness to spend it (with little hope of short to medium term return) on soccer.

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Anything below USL-1 level will be a money pit for owners and need heavy subsidies/sponsorships to break even or even survive and we all know how hard those are to come by. I do not believe any such league could be profitable for many years to come if ever. Can anybody here tell us if all the current CSL teams even break even let alone make a profit for their owners with their very limited travel commitment compared to what is proposed here.

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^ On the other hand, this is a great opportunity for some ambitious millionaire to be the first to put a system like the one describe above in place and make history.

If a MLS franchise is about 50 mil and that will buy you one club, imagine what those 50 mil can do in a private investment towards the organization of a professional system in the whole country!! and whoever does it, will become the guru of pro soccer in Canada.

In regards to the CSL clubs, I don't think any owners are making any profits but I'll say they're breaking even in most cases.

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^ Perhaps, but it will take a helluva lot more than a millionaire to finance this operation and sustain it over the long term and no such person has stepped forward despite many years of 'wanting'. The reason is simple if one thinks about it, better return on investment elsewhere, e.g. USL or MLS which are already operating in Canada. Bit like closing the barn door after the horse has bolted I suggest.

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quote:Originally posted by Richard

^ Perhaps, but it will take a helluva lot more than a millionaire to finance this operation and sustain it over the long term and no such person has stepped forward despite many years of 'wanting'. The reason is simple if one thinks about it, better return on investment elsewhere, e.g. USL or MLS which are already operating in Canada. Bit like closing the barn door after the horse has bolted I suggest.

From what I'm told, USL is a money loser for most clubs.

In MLS, I'd be willing to bet more teams lose money than make money at present.

I'm not sure how much capital it would take to get a united Canadian Tier 2/3 league up and running but I would love to see it happen.

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  • 2 weeks later...

10Billions $$$ you don't need that much. 1Billion is enough:

12stadiums (6x10,000seats & 6x15,000seats) at 30millions each including ground purchases(or lease from city for 99yrs) that's 360millions

12teams to bankroll at 1,5mil for 3yrs 54millions

12teams to bankroll at 2mill for 3yrs 72millions

12teams to bankroll at 2,5mill for 4yrs 120millions

- Any other team owner would have to fork out 50% of that amount thus having a salary of 2,250,000.00$$ - 3,750,000.00$$ on a 10year plan budget. With 26players that's 86,538$ a year avg salary being increased to 144,230$ per year over 10years.

- You own the stadium and get revenue thru concessions, concerts, whatever you want.

- You have corporate boxes, Stadium naming right, League Sponsors, TV Rights breweries, etc

Don't forget League Title prize for 10years let say 10millions and Cup Title(FA Cup) 500,000.00$(5mil$) but all that would be paid from the sponsors.

Stadium maintenance/upgrades within 10years 50millions

All you need is $656,000,000.00

I can pitch in $1,000.00 if you find someone for the rest.........

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