Canadian Premier League

[rob.notenboom]

1 hour ago, Levi Oakey said:

enjoyed the first couple minutes... then someone mentioned Honduras.

Yes that was just wrong. 

[matty]

Since we need something to talk about and this thread sometimes like talking about wrestling here's a short little video about what the CPL needs to not do....also CFL link

 

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

http://www.tsn.ca/radio/hamilton-1150/milton-passion-for-hamilton-soccer-alive-and-well-1.663294

The Edmonton and Ottawa may have to think about joining assertion was an interesting angle in Steve Milton's interview on TSN radio, given the recent actions and past statements of the CSA suggest they won't/can't be forced to do this for as long as they continue to have a USSF sanctioned league to play in. Suggests to me that "CPL" was predicated on the NASL folding at the end of 2016 and FC Edmonton and the Ottawa Fury having no choice but to participate because the CSA would have ruled that only the MLS teams and their reserves would be sanctioned in USSF D1-D3 leagues from there on {bear in mind that Duane Rollins was quite insistent about Ottawa still having to join in 2018}. That would explain why the usual suspects for leaked info in tweets/blogs suddenly went silent, because to put it in Kevan Pipe terms there probably was "no plan B" for what happened if Edmonton still had a D2 level NASL to play in.

Why are Edmonton and Ottawa more or less essential for a credible Canadian PREMIER league as D1 in FIFA sanctioning terms as Steve Milton was pushing as the vision? If "CPL" is all about mirroring the CFL and having a break even in the 8000 sort of range in paid attendance there is a very limited range of markets and stadiums that pretty much have to be involved or the whole thing quickly starts to unravel. Assuming the idea would be 4+4 in western and eastern conferences the absence of Edmonton makes a western conference almost impossible, assuming Vancouver is also not at all likely as there is no clear way to compete with the Whitecaps in that market in stadium terms. You are left with Calgary and Winnipeg as obvious markets with clear stadium solutions and Regina and Victoria as unlikely ones for an 8,000 break even {different story if ambitions were scaled back} due to small populations and/or stadium issues (was reading about Victoria recently on Reddit and saw it claimed that a baseball team there has the only viable option almost fully under their control, but open to hearing why that's not true). No Edmonton probably means no viable four team western conference and that would explain the ongoing silence in Calgary and Winnipeg and the need for a so called "soft launch" with fewer teans.

Even in the east, if Ottawa is steering clear with the only easy stadium solution very much in their pocket along with having no Montreal area team for similar reasons to Vancouver and a highly problematic scenario in Toronto, what are you left with? Hamilton is the only obvious CFL city option and then you have pretty much only Halifax, Quebec City, K/W and London. It's probably possible to get to four but if you are using two (with suburban Toronto) or possibly even three of the smaller markets listed for an eastern conference how are the optics looking at that point to broadcasters and sponsors for this being something that belongs on mainstream sports news highlight reels and top cable channels in terms of live action and hence getting the level of media coverage needed to sustain the whole operation at 8,000 or so in paid attendance? 

[ted]

4 hours ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

... stadium issues (was reading about Victoria recently on Reddit and saw it claimed that a baseball team there has the only viable option almost fully under their control, but open to hearing why that's not true). 

Sharing Royal Athletic Park (RAP) with the Harbourcats was problematic as they got first pick on dates so the Highlanders moved to UVic. While I would much prefer that historic park located downtown, the other option is just as viable for CanPL. Centennial Stadium at UVIc actually has more seating than RAP at the moment.

There might be opportunity to move to a renovated and expanded RAP someday but Centennial could get the job done.

 

 

[Kent]

5 hours ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

http://www.tsn.ca/radio/hamilton-1150/milton-passion-for-hamilton-soccer-alive-and-well-1.663294

... Suggests to me that "CPL" was predicated on the NASL folding at the end of 2016 and FC Edmonton and the Ottawa Fury having no choice but to participate because the CSA would have ruled that only the MLS teams and their reserves would be sanctioned in USSF D1-D3 leagues from there on...

Hamilton is the only obvious CFL city option and then you have pretty much only Halifax, Quebec City, K/W and London. It's probably possible to get to four but if you are using two (with suburban Toronto) or possibly even three of the smaller markets listed for an eastern conference how are the optics looking at that point to broadcasters and sponsors for this being something that belongs on mainstream sports news highlight reels and top cable channels in terms of live action and hence getting the level of media coverage needed to sustain the whole operation at 8,000 or so in paid attendance? 

To the first quoted bit above, I doubt the entire league was predicated on NASL folding in 2016. If for no other reason, I don't think they would have been predicting NASL to fold 2 years ago. However, it may be why people were talking about a December announcement and then that didn't happen.

To the second bit, I do agree with you in the event that having only Hamilton plus 2 or 3 of Halifax, Quebec City, KW, and London in the East would hurt the perception of the league, and I can't picture seeing highlights of such a league on Sportscentre.

[Rheo]

There's way too much worry about the perception of the league at launch on here.  Especially since the worry is based on little to no actual facts.  Outside of the Voyageur bubble most people are just going to somewhere between interested to excited when the news of the league drops.  Most people aren't going to analyze about the placements of teams geographically or who the owners are or the break even level.  The bottom line is we don't really know anything and we won't until they're ready to let everyone know.

Don't mind me, getting tired of the Bugs/Daffy.  I need to hang out in other sections of the board lol

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

56 minutes ago, Kent said:

To the first quoted bit above, I doubt the entire league was predicated on NASL folding in 2016. If for no other reason, I don't think they would have been predicting NASL to fold 2 years ago....

I maybe phrased that a bit too strongly in terms of over-emphasizing an exact timing for the NASL's demise, but to expand a bit it's worth bearing in mind that the NASL's D2 status with USSF has looked quite shaky for a few years now due to a general lack of numbers (they needed 12 by year 5 to meet D2 sanctioning, which is part of what led to the Rayo Oklahoma fiasco) and the absence of a team on the west coast (they need to operate in three continental US timezones to meet D2 sanctioning, but the SF Deltas have finally helped on that one). The USL launched their bid for D2 status as far back as early 2015:

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/thegoalkeeper/Tim-Holt-explains-the-USLs-decision-to-seek-Division-2-sanctioning.html

and despite claims to the contrary in that link, they appear, based on what unfolded in November and December, to have been expecting to be the only D2 left standing in the aftermath. The NASL getting to continue this season at D2 was a bit of a shock and if their expansion candidates in Chicago, Detroit, Orange County, San Diego and Atlanta are looking as solid as has been claimed and they really do have a shot at salvaging Fort Lauderdale, they may yet be able to hang in there as the USSF appear to be willing to give them the waivers needed to work their way back to meeting the sanctioning standards in full.

23 minutes ago, Rheo said:

There's way too much worry about the perception of the league at launch on here...

Think you should maybe listen to the interview that was linked. This is more about how the Ticats perceive things given they are seen as the founding anchor franchise in all of this and they appear if Steve Milton knows what he is talking about to have a very clear vision of what "CPL" would be that casts doubt on the ability of smaller markets to make a go of it financially and to fit with what would be needed to make it fly in media terms. Bear in mind that this was a professional journalist talking on the mainstream media, which move things beyond the speculations of fringe bloggers or podcasters that can be prone to attention seeking and excessive click bait generation.

[Ansem]

6 hours ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

http://www.tsn.ca/radio/hamilton-1150/milton-passion-for-hamilton-soccer-alive-and-well-1.663294

The Edmonton and Ottawa may have to think about joining assertion was an interesting one about joining angle in Steve Milton's bit on TSN radio, given the recent actions and past statements of the CSA suggest they won't/can't be forced to do this for as long as they continue to have a USSF sanctioned league to play in. Suggests to me that "CPL" was predicated on the NASL folding at the end of 2016 and FC Edmonton and the Ottawa Fury having no choice but to participate because the CSA would have ruled that only the MLS teams and their reserves would be sanctioned in USSF D1-D3 leagues from there on {bear in mind that Duane Rollins was quite insistent about Ottawa still having to join in 2018}. That would explain why the usual suspects in tweets/blogs with leaked info suddenly went silent because to put it in Kevan Pipe terms there probably was "no plan B" for what happened if Edmonton still had a D2 level NASL to play in.

Why are Edmonton and Ottawa more or less essential for a credible Canadian PREMIER league as D1 in FIFA sanctioning terms as Steve Milton was pushing as the vision? If "CPL" is all about mirroring the CFL and having a break even in the 8000 sort of range in paid attendance there is a very limited range of markets and stadiums that pretty much have to be involved or the whole thing quickly starts to unravel. Assuming the idea would be 4+4 in western and eastern conferences the absence of Edmonton makes a western conference almost impossible, assuming Vancouver is also not at all likely as there is no clear way to compete with the Whitecaps in that market in stadium terms. You are left with Calgary and Winnipeg as obvious markets with clear stadium solutions and Regina and Victoria as unlikely ones for an 8,000 break even {different story if ambitions were scaled back} due to small populations and/or stadium issues (was reading about Victoria recently on Reddit and saw it claimed that a baseball team there has the only viable option almost fully under their control, but open to hearing why that's not true). No Edmonton probably means no viable four team western conference and that would explain the ongoing silence in Calgary and Winnipeg and the need for a so called "soft launch" with fewer teans.

Even in the east, if Ottawa is steering clear with the only easy stadium solution very much in their pocket along with having no Montreal area team for similar reasons to Vancouver and a highly problematic scenario in Toronto, what are you left with? Hamilton is the only obvious CFL city option and then you have pretty much only Halifax, Quebec City, K/W and London. It's probably possible to get to four but if you are using two (with suburban Toronto) or possibly even three of the smaller markets listed for an eastern conference how are the optics looking to broadcasters and sponsors for this being something that belongs on the mainstream sports news highlight reel and top cable channels in terms of live action and hence getting the level of media coverage needed to get the whole operation to 8,000 or so in paid attendance? 

That's a lot of assumptions. May I remind you that MLS launched with 10 teams and weren't even close to cover the US appropriately? Hell, look at the NHL original 6.

Takes time. Got to start somewhere.

 

[Ansem]

12 minutes ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

I maybe phrased that a bit too strongly in terms of over-emphasizing an exact timing for the NASL's demise, but to expand a bit it's worth bearing in mind that the NASL's D2 status with USSF has looked quite shaky for a few years now due to a general lack of numbers (they needed 12 by year 5 to meet D2 sanctioning, which is part of what led to the Rayo Oklahoma fiasco) and the absence of a team on the west coast (they need to operate in three continental US timezones to meet D2 sanctioning, but the SF Deltas have finally helped on that one). The USL launched their bid for D2 status as far back as early 2015:

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/thegoalkeeper/Tim-Holt-explains-the-USLs-decision-to-seek-Division-2-sanctioning.html

and despite claims to the contrary in that link, they appear, based on what unfolded in November and December, to have been expecting to be the only D2 left standing in the aftermath. The NASL getting to continue this season at D2 was a bit of a shock and if their expansion candidates in Chicago, Detroit, Orange County, San Diego and Atlanta are looking as solid as has been claimed and they really do have a shot at salvaging Fort Lauderdale, they may yet be able to hang in there as the USSF appear to be willing to give them the waivers needed to work their way back to meeting the sanctioning standards in full.

That is NOT how you do business. Presenting a business plan to serious investors hoping on NASL demise is the kind of thing that gets you kicked out of the boardroom then they would have to bill you for wasted time. This is a CPL thread, why boring us to death with USSF leagues drama/mess/overrated/we should stay as far away from their model?

15 minutes ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

Think you should maybe listen to the interview that was linked. This is more about how the Ticats perceive things given they are seen as the founding anchor franchise in all of this and they appear if Steve Milton knows what he is talking about to have a very clear vision of what "CPL" would be that casts doubt on the ability of smaller markets to make a go of it financially and to fit with what would be needed to make it fly in media terms. Bear in mind that this was a professional journalist talking on the mainstream media, which move things beyond the speculations of fringe bloggers or podcasters that can be prone to attention seeking and excessive click bait generation.

[Complete Homer]

http://canplbrasil.blogspot.ca/2017/02/quem-estara-na-canpl-01-halifax.html

 

Ok, so which one of you is an expat living in Brazil (or the other way around?). This is great

[Kent]

51 minutes ago, Complete Homer said:

http://canplbrasil.blogspot.ca/2017/02/quem-estara-na-canpl-01-halifax.html

 

Ok, so which one of you is an expat living in Brazil (or the other way around?). This is great

It appears I've underestimated just how much Brazilians love soccer. I never would have thought they would have a website about our unconfirmed league.

[Tigers]

Holy shit, I just checked my junk mail and realized I've been getting an email for every reply since I first posted in this thread  

[Macksam]

3 hours ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

Think you should maybe listen to the interview that was linked. This is more about how the Ticats perceive things given they are seen as the founding anchor franchise in all of this and they appear if Steve Milton knows what he is talking about to have a very clear vision of what "CPL" would be that casts doubt on the ability of smaller markets to make a go of it financially and to fit with what would be needed to make it fly in media terms. Bear in mind that this was a professional journalist talking on the mainstream media, which move things beyond the speculations of fringe bloggers or podcasters that can be prone to attention seeking and excessive click bait generation.

Places like KW, London and Halifax have been mentioned as candidates for CFL expansion in the past so the Ti-Cats wanting this league to draw 20000 people plus in the long term doesn't rule out the aforementioned cities.  The only obstacle is having suitable venues for those cities, who can tackle it by going the Halifax route, putting up a small 10000 seater modular arena first to build the demand before getting the green light for a big stadium in the future.

[Alex D]

52 minutes ago, Kent said:

It appears I've underestimated just how much Brazilians love soccer. I never would have thought they would have a website about our unconfirmed league.

I bet the USL doesn't have a Brazilian fan blog. 

[SuperCanuck]

3 hours ago, Ansem said:

That's a lot of assumptions. May I remind you that MLS launched with 10 teams and weren't even close to cover the US appropriately? Hell, look at the NHL original 6.

Takes time. Got to start somewhere.

 

Or the original four before that.

[LSM]

(For those who don't know, vis-a-vis SuperCanuck's above comment, the "Original Six" were not the founding members of the NHL. They were just the six "original" teams before the '67 expansion.

The five teams who formed the NHL were:

1. Club Athletique Canadien (who became Club de Hockey Canadien, aka Montreal Canadiens)
2. Toronto Hockey Club (who became the St. Patricks, then the Maple Leafs)
3. Ottawa Senators (who became the St. Louis Eagles before folding)
4. Quebec Hockey Club (who became Quebec Athletic Club or 'Bulldogs', then Hamilton Tigers before folding)
5. The Montreal Wanderers (who only played four games in the inaugural NHL season before their arena burned down and they folded)

Other teams in the NHL before the Original Six era include: Montreal Maroons, Pittsburgh Pirates (then Philadelphia Quakers), New York Americans (then Brooklyn Americans), and... the Red Wings were previously the Detroit Cougars and Falcons.)

[marauder01]

10 hours ago, Complete Homer said:

http://canplbrasil.blogspot.ca/2017/02/quem-estara-na-canpl-01-halifax.html

 

Ok, so which one of you is an expat living in Brazil (or the other way around?). This is great

Done by a Brazilian who loves Canadian culture and has hopes of living in Vancouver one day. He supports some forth division team in Brazil, super nice guy.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

 

[Ansem]

46 minutes ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

 

and?

[Rheo]

47 minutes ago, Ansem said:

and?

Yeah I was curious in the point of the post too so looked it up.  Was in reply to someone asking if Manning had met with Scott Mitchell yet.

[Dub Narcotic]

At the Whitecaps town hall event last night Don Garber mentioned that MLS will be looking into setting up a Canadian version of SUM in Canada with, I imagine, bundled rights for the national team and MLS.

[matty]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/soccer/mls-soccer-has-big-marketing-plans-for-canada/article33947927/

[shermanator]

If Don Garber thinks I'm going to abandon support of a local club in favour of an MLS club thousands of kms away, he's sadly mistaken.

[MrSabiondo]

20 minutes ago, matty said:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/soccer/mls-soccer-has-big-marketing-plans-for-canada/article33947927/

And the push from MLS to kill CPL begins.  

[Rheo]

8 minutes ago, shermanator said:

If Don Garber thinks I'm going to abandon support of a local club in favour of an MLS club thousands of kms away, he's sadly mistaken.

They have to try, they are a business after all.  There's no reason the CPL and MLS can't co-exist together and complement each other and I think they will.  I won't give up on my supporting of Toronto FC but I'll also try to find a team to support in the CPL since I assume I won't have anything local.