how much cost a franchise in CLS ?

[bogdan]

hey guys , i am new here , i have many friends in canada and i watch here on the forum news about canadian soccer teams and soccer in canada , so i woundering how much cost a CLS franchise? ( i know last year in 2009 it was 100k ). i am glad thast starting 2010 CSL added 3 more teams for CLS and i am sure the things are going to be better and better .thansk for your support .

[Alex D]

You can now join as a "non-equity playing member", meaning simply that you don not have to pay a franchise fee, but you will not have any ownership in the league. This is why we are seeing more clubs take the jump into the CSL. Look for the league to grow again next season.

[bogdan]

thanks for your answer , what does it means " non-equity playing member" or what is the difference between an owner and a non equity playing member ?for example: me as a us citizen if i want to invest some money in a canadian soccer league team what do i have to do ? ( if i have already the players willing to play for my team ,) my idea is to start a strong soccer academy with very talended young european players, bringing them here and playing for my team and trying to place them on the american and central american market , and also to improve the soccer in canada , i would offer my players good agreements , a chance for them to play in a beautiful country and also a chance for them to get a better contract in mls or south america.

[Juby]

it means your welcome to come in and play if your bringing a functional club to the table(you need to get a deal for a good pitch with a few stands somewhere(not terribly hard in the gta), a team of players generally signed to small part time contracts (theres a few full time contracts and some youth contracts in the league too I believe, probably still a few amateurs), travel costs (which is cheaper in the gta too) and a couple staff (coach and physio? probably part time too)), however when it comes to csl matters you would have no say or vote because you would not be considered a part of the ownership.

Realistically if you just wanted to develop soccer as an aim in itself then this should be just fine, you worry about your team and let the league worry about the league but lets say the league decided to further limit foreign players per team (I think it's around 9 or 10 right now) (they wouldn't change this though, their more concerned with improving quality right now and it's not like their leaving canadian kids out in the cold) you wouldn't be in a position to object, or if they decided to raise the bar on pitches and stadium for next year, you couldn't argue or complain, it would be 'comply or get lost'. Part of me thinks though that if you actually managed to pull in regular fans for a couple seasons (which is hard because it takes a local media blitz to tell an area they got a team, then you may have to do another to tell them what the CSL is because it's not terribly well known.) then they might be more interested in keeping you around then getting paid directly.