Canadian Premier League

[baulderdash77]

I really do think that there would be more TV interest in a Saskatchewan  vs Calgary, Winnipeg  vs Edmonton  or Hamilton  vs Ottawa/Toronto  game than a Toronto vs Colorado  game.  These are built in cultural  rivals in Canada .   

Also if it's with say TSN as a flagship station then it could be scheduled right before their weekly CFL games that would create a block of interesting TV programming.  Imagine for a second this - Calgary vs Edmonton CanPL in Calgary followed by Edmonton vs Calgary CFL in Edmonton.  With a short pre-game show that's a really interesting TV block that is easilly promoted.  Plus it will be on the main national feed.

*edit* This plan would have worked better a few years ago when the CFL was 8 teams and more structured TV schedules.  I forgot that with 9 teams they move the games around a lot morem which probably  hurts their ratings.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

The CFL rivalries definitely still work in the prairies, but in the GTA where post-WWII immigration is the major factor demographically not so much, which is why the Argos are not much of a factor nowadays and for many years have had to be propped up for the sake of the league overall. I can see why being in a D2 setup and very much second banana to Toronto is unpalatable in Hamilton and a way needs to be found to portray a new soccer league involving Hamilton as a bitter rival to TFC and MLS rather than part of its minor league system, but stepping on from that to having seven more investor groups interested elsewhere in a big budget fully pro league that can be taken seriously alongside MLS complete with a TSN contract and major sponsorship deals that provide a significant revenue boost, seems like a bit of stretch. Think there had to be something in it for the other CFL owners and that would have had  to be infrastructure money related to a 2026 World Cup hosting bid.

[-Hammer-]

16 hours ago, baulderdash77 said:

I really do think that there would be more TV interest in a Saskatchewan  vs Calgary, Winnipeg  vs Edmonton  or Hamilton  vs Ottawa/Toronto  game than a Toronto vs Colorado  game.  These are built in cultural  rivals in Canada .   

Also if it's with say TSN as a flagship station then it could be scheduled right before their weekly CFL games that would create a block of interesting TV programming.  Imagine for a second this - Calgary vs Edmonton CanPL in Calgary followed by Edmonton vs Calgary CFL in Edmonton.  With a short pre-game show that's a really interesting TV block that is easilly promoted.  Plus it will be on the main national feed.

*edit* This plan would have worked better a few years ago when the CFL was 8 teams and more structured TV schedules.  I forgot that with 9 teams they move the games around a lot morem which probably  hurts their ratings.

I think there is no question that Canadian soccer ratings are at their best when Canadian teams play against other Canadian teams, and I think there are a lot of MLS teams that Canadians honestly don't care to watch.

I honestly don't think that would be a good idea, mainly because both leagues are/will be predominantly gate driven. Encouraging fans to watch the TV immediately before or after a game isn't likely to be a recipe for home viewership and risk losing exposure to the pre-game tailgate of the respective sport, or has the potential to disrupt gate sales.

I think if the CFL owners are looking for more dates, it means just that, and they'll likely try to book on days that don't match up with their CFL schedule. 

As far as the 9 teams, it has and hasn't, but mainly hasn't. You have to keep in mind, you've exposed a lot of people in Ottawa to the sport who only tangentially followed it. The other common complaint many people have about the CFL is that the same teams play each other too many times, and the new team has somewhat alleviated that. The other thing is that they've also effectively added an extra week of games as a result of the RedBlacks. I'm sure all those items are making up for the ratings loss of occasional odd booking and extra bye week.

From my understanding though, the league is generally getting most of the dates they want this season. Mainly Thursday and Friday games during the summer (limiting the weekend at the cottage effect) and weekends in the fall. The last two or three years they have had very messed up TV schedules, but that's more a result of the Pan Am Games, the Women's World Cup, the much harder to schedule nature of SkyDome (81 baseball games and several larger events are a lot harder to schedule around as opposed 17 soccer games and generally smaller events) and the incomplete state of Tim Hortons' Field. The bigger issue is that it has disrupted when teams get their bye weeks, which can really stink for a team that draws a bye week the first week of the season or be a huge boon to a team that draws a bye week the last week of the season, where time to recover from injuries can be crucial.

[-Hammer-]

On 19/03/2016 at 5:34 AM, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

Is there any solid evidence this league is actually happening, as opposed to being something that a few influential people are pushing for? Posting a constant stream of upbeat positive posts on the internet about something like this, isn't going to change much in the big scheme of things if the numbers don't work on national broadcast and sponsorship deals. Personally think the key to a D2 Canadian setup is to work with rather than in opposition to the three MLS franchises. With their three USL teams plus Edmonton and Ottawa all you need is three ownership groups in Hamilton, Winnipeg and Calgary et voila.

Not sure that fits a CFL-centric agenda, however, given their concern would be what MLS will ultimately do to the status of their league in the three major media markets in terms of how the status of games against Saskatchewan and Hamilton are perceived by the average two-four drinker next to games against New York and LA, given beer commercials are what underpin the finances of sports broadcasts. MLS ratings are less than stellar right now, but give it a couple of decades to seep into the cultural landscape and who knows what that will do to the CFL's TSN cash cow?

The biggest most credible article thus far is.

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/6261090-milton-pro-soccer-team-for-city-sees-dome-at-ticat-field/

Steve Milton is reliable source, both being a writer for the Hamilton Spectator, a host on TSN 1150 Hamilton and a reporter inductee for the CFHOF. The biggest item right now is that there is supposed to be a fairly large meeting with the CSA regarding it in May to give more details. Nevermind all the stuff Duane has posted.

As far as D2 Canadian setup, without promotion and relegation it's AHL for soccer and I believe I've stated many times before, minor league teams don't do well in Canada. Even AHL teams tend to draw poorly. I think with being tied to MLS you are writing off all the smaller markets, and doing that isn't going to help grow the game in the whole of the country.

As far to the last point, I'm still more inclined to watch Hamilton vs Saskatechewan then New York and LA, because I have no stake or concern for what the US or their teams do, and why the heck would any Canadian just getting into soccer? There are little to no Canadians playing, no Canadian team would be playing in that game and the Premier League is readily available on my television with much more talent. Any interest I would have in New York and LA (which amounts to, where are they ranked now) could be summarized on Sportscentre.

As far as MLS ratings, yes they are less then stellar, and haven't really improved over a decade, whatever MLS is doing hasn't seeped in yet and if anything has become more unpalatable. If anything the CPL might improve things and make people actually care about soccer, because every team would be Canadian, a good chunk of the players would be Canadian, it would be able to sell to smaller markets that MLS isn't going to touch with a 20 ft pole and we'll still have a once a year meaningful Canadian tournament to win the chance to go to the Champions league vs MLS where we are playing basically for bragging rights.  

[-Hammer-]

On 19/03/2016 at 10:29 AM, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

The CFL rivalries definitely still work in the prairies, but in the GTA where post-WWII immigration is the major factor demographically not so much, which is why the Argos are not much of a factor nowadays and for many years have had to be propped up for the sake of the league overall. I can see why being in a D2 setup and very much second banana to Toronto is unpalatable in Hamilton and a way needs to be found to portray a new soccer league involving Hamilton as a bitter rival to TFC and MLS rather than part of its minor league system, but stepping on from that to having seven more investor groups interested elsewhere in a big budget fully pro league that can be taken seriously alongside MLS complete with a TSN contract and major sponsorship deals that provide a significant revenue boost, seems like a bit of stretch. Think there had to be something in it for the other CFL owners and that would have had  to be infrastructure money related to a 2026 World Cup hosting bid.

You could be right, but the biggest problem with that theory is all the CFL owners have brand new stadiums right now. Apart from Montreal (which having a giant chunk of funding to do something to fix the Big O makes sense) Ottawa just opened TD Place two years ago, almost at the same time as Tim Hortons' Field did, BMO just got a reno, Investors group field is three years old, Saskatchewan's new stadium is being built as we speak, Commonwealth got a reno I think 5 years back and new turf even more recently, the new Calgary complex has been announced and in theory shovels will be in the ground well before 2026 and BC Place got a substantial renovation in 2011.

The odd man out is the Skydome, who the Jays claim they are going to be renovating soon and a proper place for FC Edmonton, who would be over allocated on seating with a 8,000 seat stadium.

[baulderdash77]

I really do think that TV ratings for CanPL will be better than we currently see for MLS.  It's the built in rivalries and stadium usage.  The derby double header where Calgary plays Saskatchewan in Calgary for CFL and the same day Calgary plays Saskatchewan in Regina for CanPL is a good story line and creates good media cross pollination.

This type of double header (in 2 cities) is how you leverage the stadium duplication between CanPL and CFL.  It could be a compelling story line each week too.  

The truth is that Canadians care more about Canadian teams teams.  Look at ratings for NHL- Canadian vs Canadian teams get best ratings.  Look at Curling- Province vs Province.  Look at MLS - Toronto-Vancouver, Vancouver-Montreal, Toronto-Montreal.  Sports is where Canadians become very tribal and nationalistic.  

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

I could never get the Spectator link to work, but this Kitchener Record link works OK, if anyone has been running into similar issues:

http://m.kitchenerpost.ca/news-story/6261090-pro-soccer-team-for-city-sees-dome-at-ticat-field-#!

John McGrane has been pushing this for years. Can remember listening to an old Ben Rycroft (?) podcast where he was interviewed outlining his plans on this using the same CPL terminology and using the same arguments about MLS not using Canadian players. There may also have been one from a few years back with Anthony Totera with lots of Rockets vs Steelers nostalgia, as I vaguely remember listening to that as well. The obvious question, if you look at this cynically, is what is the delay if deep-pocketed CFL-NHL owners are already on board? They do appear to have had Calgary kicking the tires a bit at one point as soccer was mentioned where the new Calgary complex was concerned, so his claims probably have a basis in reality, but the difficult part is clearly getting to "6-8" when the three largest media markets are already taken by MLS.

The old 1987-92 CSL is so long ago now, that maybe it is better not to raise it as an argument, but the big problem on ratings with a league that pushes Canadian players first and foremost would be that the standard of play just wouldn't be high enough to get most soccer fans to watch, as was the case with the original CSL (I'm not talking about the outlaw alleged match-fixing circus one). What always looks dubious to me about CPL business plan is that much bigger budgets are mentioned than they would actually need to entice the best Canadian players that are not in MLS or over in Europe to play. Suspect if a CPL were attempted along those lines, it would not be long until like the Steelers in the CSL the soccer team would be leaving Tim Horton Field for the modern day equivalent of Brian Timmins, and setup would basically be not much more than semi-pro. To make it work in a CFL-sized stadium, the key would be to get the most bang for the buck with the player budget available by bringing in a lot of players from the United States and overseas to get an NASL sort of playing standard, but even then I doubt there would be a product that would stand up on TV ratings against MLS and games from overseas.

The cynic in me suspects that Bob Young is probably happy to have John McGrane running around talking up his CPL as a way to say, "hey look I tried", where commitments made for a pro soccer legacy over the Pan Am Games stadium money are concerned, as there is no expansion fee and annual losses with that similar to what is happening in Ottawa for the CFL ownership group with the Fury that got saddled with a pro soccer commitment as a way to torpedo the rival MLS stadium plan.  

 

 

 

[-Hammer-]

5 hours ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

I could never get the Spectator link to work, but this Kitchener Record link works OK, if anyone has been running into similar issues:

http://m.kitchenerpost.ca/news-story/6261090-pro-soccer-team-for-city-sees-dome-at-ticat-field-#!

John McGrane has been pushing this for years. Can remember listening to an old Ben Rycroft (?) podcast where he was interviewed outlining his plans on this using the same CPL terminology and using the same arguments about MLS not using Canadian players. There may also have been one from a few years back with Anthony Totera with lots of Rockets vs Steelers nostalgia, as I vaguely remember listening to that as well. The obvious question, if you look at this cynically, is what is the delay if deep-pocketed CFL-NHL owners are already on board? They do appear to have had Calgary kicking the tires a bit at one point as soccer was mentioned where the new Calgary complex was concerned, so his claims probably have a basis in reality, but the difficult part is clearly getting to "6-8" when the three largest media markets are already taken by MLS.

The old 1987-92 CSL is so long ago now, that maybe it is better not to raise it as an argument, but the big problem on ratings with a league that pushes Canadian players first and foremost would be that the standard of play just wouldn't be high enough to get most soccer fans to watch, as was the case with the original CSL (I'm not talking about the outlaw alleged match-fixing circus one). What always looks dubious to me about CPL business plan is that much bigger budgets are mentioned than they would actually need to entice the best Canadian players that are not in MLS or over in Europe to play. Suspect if a CPL were attempted along those lines, it would not be long until like the Steelers in the CSL the soccer team would be leaving Tim Horton Field for the modern day equivalent of Brian Timmins, and setup would basically be not much more than semi-pro. To make it work in a CFL-sized stadium, the key would be to get the most bang for the buck with the player budget available by bringing in a lot of players from the United States and overseas to get an NASL sort of playing standard, but even then I doubt there would be a product that would stand up on TV ratings against MLS and games from overseas.

The cynic in me suspects that Bob Young is probably happy to have John McGrane running around talking up his CPL as a way to say, "hey look I tried", where commitments made for a pro soccer legacy over the Pan Am Games stadium money are concerned, as there is no expansion fee and annual losses with that similar to what is happening in Ottawa for the CFL ownership group with the Fury that got saddled with a pro soccer commitment as a way to torpedo the rival MLS stadium plan.  

 

 

 

I don't disagree that if you push and focus too much on Canadian content, you aren't going to draw as well as you need or should to make it economically viable. In this regard, my recommendation is a simple set of rules. Out of the eleven players, 5 Canadians must start every game and one of your potential three subs in a game, must be a Canadian. Your still fielding a majority import roster, but you have enough Canadians playing every game.

I would add a franchise tag spot of a single or two exceptional import players who are cap exempt, which I do agree is a good method in MLS to draw and market high end import players.

As far as TV, I think initially yeah the TV is going to be poor compared to MLS and I doubt in our lifetime that it will ever beat out the European leagues (much like the CFL to the NFL)  and it will be a gate driven league. However, I could see it overtaking MLS's Canadian ratings if the league succeeds. It's not like they have far to go in that regard.

[ted]

12 hours ago, baulderdash77 said:

I really do think that TV ratings for CanPL will be better than we currently see for MLS. 

I really wish this was true but this is such a pie-in-the-sky fantasy as to be damaging.  There is no way that sponsors, broadcasters or the general public are going to prefer CanPL games to MLS on a regular basis. Sure they can try and build up all-Canadian rivalries but it will take probably at least a decade before CanPL is seen as anything other than a minor league.

In the mean time, talking about it like it should get better ratings sets up failure in the eyes of stakeholders.  If you convince people that they should get better ratings the moment they do not they will start second-guessing and shitting on the league, on the broadcaster and even the sponsors in a death-spiral blame-game.

I wish I was wrong about this...

[Rheo]

I don't think ratings are really a major issue.  This is about controllable, relatively cheap, Canadian content for TSN.  They need programming to fill the schedule to meet CRTC regulations.  That's why they'll replay any of the three MLS games numerous times a week and not show any US based games.  Or why they put a game on four channels and don't show a US game on another channel.  

[Gordon]

Competing with MLS TV ratings right off the bat will not be hard IMO. The only games that draw even 'low respectable' numbers are when the Canadian MLS teams play each other. As mentioned above, the bar is really, really low: its as likely to be 5 figures as not when it is not an all Canadian game. 2 shitty BPL teams playing at the crack of dawn draw better than most MLS games. Personally I think the "Canadian" thing will will compensate for the lower quality product compared to MLS. 

[Macksam]

I'm giving this thread an honorary bump after what happened yesterday. 

We f****** need this.....lol

[mpg_29]

Frankly I think the best situation for a Canadian league would be if MLS had a promotion/relegation system with tier 2 domestic leagues in US and Canada.  NASL be US only. Canada have it's own league.  If a Canadian team finishes in bottom 3 of MLS standings gets relegated to Canadian league and top team there gets promoted.  Likewise with NASL.

[Complete Homer]

Was anything said regarding CPL during the halftime interview? I couldn't hear anything at the bar

[Complete Homer]

1 hour ago, mpg_29 said:

Frankly I think the best situation for a Canadian league would be if MLS had a promotion/relegation system with tier 2 domestic leagues in US and Canada.  NASL be US only. Canada have it's own league.  If a Canadian team finishes in bottom 3 of MLS standings gets relegated to Canadian league and top team there gets promoted.  Likewise with NASL.

Sounds fantastic but will never happen. MLS being single-entity and built on expansion fees has no interest in pro/rel. Canada also will probably not have a large enough league for a long time to justify multiple professional tiers. Finally, NASL and MLS are not going to cooperate on the pyramid, the MLS-USL partnership is trying to lock down tier 1 and 2 in the USA.

I think we start with whatever 6 to 10 teams are ready to go in 2018, and let it build from there. There's some momentum from the WWC and what we saw in Vancouver, time to capitalize on good will. It's time, I think there are enough casual fans out there to make it possible that the league could make mainstream inroads if coupled well with the CFL

[mpg_29]

51 minutes ago, Complete Homer said:

Sounds fantastic but will never happen. MLS being single-entity and built on expansion fees has no interest in pro/rel. Canada also will probably not have a large enough league for a long time to justify multiple professional tiers. Finally, NASL and MLS are not going to cooperate on the pyramid, the MLS-USL partnership is trying to lock down tier 1 and 2 in the USA.

I think we start with whatever 6 to 10 teams are ready to go in 2018, and let it build from there. There's some momentum from the WWC and what we saw in Vancouver, time to capitalize on good will. It's time, I think there are enough casual fans out there to make it possible that the league could make mainstream inroads if coupled well with the CFL

Jesus between shared domestic leagues and the multiple leagues per tier it's a mess to try and set up a league in Canada.

To simplify everything the only shared league between Canada and US should be Tier 1 (MLS).  Tier 2 (ie NASL/USL, Canadian League) should be exclusively domestic and they should promote/relegate into MLS.  

It's unfortunate that MLS won't do promotion/relegation because i think the Canadian league would thrive if it promoted/relegated into MLS.

Now were going to try to set up a league where 3 of our major cities already have professional teams and we have NASL teams as well.  It's a complete clusterfuck IMO.

 

[Complete Homer]

24 minutes ago, mpg_29 said:

Jesus between shared domestic leagues and the multiple leagues per tier it's a mess to try and set up a league in Canada.

To simplify everything the only shared league between Canada and US should be Tier 1 (MLS).  Tier 2 (ie NASL/USL, Canadian League) should be exclusively domestic and they should promote/relegate into MLS.  

It's unfortunate that MLS won't do promotion/relegation because i think the Canadian league would thrive if it promoted/relegated into MLS.

Now were going to try to set up a league where 3 of our major cities already have professional teams and we have NASL teams as well.  It's a complete clusterfuck IMO.

 

At the end of the day, I don't think we should plan around the USSF doing us any favours. MLS is in Canada to use us as moneybags, nothing more. There is painfully little commitment to Canadian development until the aforementioned changes to Canadian domestic status occurs.

My vision? MLS grants domestic status for Canadians developed in Canadian-based academies (praying that includes CPL academies), CPL launches as an 8-10 team league, and down the line we have around a dozen teams producing Canadian talent that can move up to MLS without losing status while still looking towards Europe for top players. *That* would provide the depth and breadth we need for a solid national team.

While it would be more entertaining for CPL to have pro/rel, it isn't necessary for player development. Build relationships with L10 and other tier 3 teams, develop and occasionally shuttle talent to MLS and abroad, and provide a safety net for players whose careers take a downturn. That's all we need CPL to do, other than survive.

[mpg_29]

26 minutes ago, Complete Homer said:

At the end of the day, I don't think we should plan around the USSF doing us any favours. MLS is in Canada to use us as moneybags, nothing more. There is painfully little commitment to Canadian development until the aforementioned changes to Canadian domestic status occurs.

My vision? MLS grants domestic status for Canadians developed in Canadian-based academies (praying that includes CPL academies), CPL launches as an 8-10 team league, and down the line we have around a dozen teams producing Canadian talent that can move up to MLS without losing status while still looking towards Europe for top players. *That* would provide the depth and breadth we need for a solid national team.

While it would be more entertaining for CPL to have pro/rel, it isn't necessary for player development. Build relationships with L10 and other tier 3 teams, develop and occasionally shuttle talent to MLS and abroad, and provide a safety net for players whose careers take a downturn. That's all we need CPL to do, other than survive.

Well that's just it... "survive".  The noble goals of "Canadian player development" will not make the league successful.  Fans follow teams not "player development".  

Im just trying to picture what would draw bigger audiences.  A "CPL" equivalent of the grey cup or Toronto FC being relegated and team from Regina ending up in the MLS.  Thinking the latter.

[GuillermoDelQuarto]

2 hours ago, Complete Homer said:

Was anything said regarding CPL during the halftime interview? I couldn't hear anything at the bar

It was mentioned albeit briefly and vaguely.  De vos did his best to pull info out of Monty but he didn't really say anything we hadn't heard before.  It's definitely in the works but he definitely doesn't want to say something he shouldn't, or at least that was the impression I got.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

He was a champion of having a national league during his way up to gain the CSA president role. Initially things did not go according to plan when the CSA tried to float the idea of a new D2 league linked to the 2015 Women's World cup and nothing happened, with Jim Easton coming back and telling them it wasn't feasible and it was better to focus on regional D3 with a U-23 focus during their own feasilibility study process in an echo of what happened in the late 90s with the KPMG report and subsequent CUSL fiasco. Despite that there seems to have been a subsequent push to use a 2026 World Cup hosting bid as a way to launch a national pro league initially in cooperation with the NASL and Traffic Sports, but Sepp's demise has changed the landscape at the FIFA level, so that didn't happen. It suits his purposes to have an appearance of something still happening, so John McGrane's CPL has been allowed to rumble along without being officially shot down, but surely as some point people need to either put up or shut up on this? This latest push for a national pro league has been dragging on one way or another for almost five years now.

[red card]

On 3/22/2016 at 11:20 AM, -Hammer- said:

 

As far as TV, I think initially yeah the TV is going to be poor compared to MLS and I doubt in our lifetime that it will ever beat out the European leagues (much like the CFL to the NFL)  and it will be a gate driven league. However, I could see it overtaking MLS's Canadian ratings if the league succeeds. It's not like they have far to go in that regard.

Actually CFL regular season games tv ratings are same or higher than NFL. It's the playoffs and Super Bowl where NFL ratings are higher as the casual and non-sports fans start watching. In surveys in the US, 50% watch the Super Bowl for non-football reasons.

On the soccer side you are correct as MLS is third behind EPL and Champions League. And if count national teams, the Cdn women would be third. Only time MLS gets higher ratings is for opening season matches and Cdn team in playoffs. So, in this regard, CPL has an inherent advantage over the MLS. Probably will still be third but more ratings than MLS ex special games which in effect is the CFL vs NFL scenario.

But the CPL needs to be different rather than being the AHL of soccer to truly matter on tv. There is plenty of this type of filler content on sports channels already.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

Where are all the players going to come from for a "CPL" to even be the AHL of soccer in quality terms, if as claimed there is going to be a strong focus on domestic players? An eight team league with rosters filled with genuinely pro level Canadian players can't suddenly be wished into existence.

[Bison44]

Lets work it out just for laughs.  Say lets start with a 8 team league, minimum 10 CDN per team on roster for the first year.  I am going to assume it includes Edmonton and Ottawa.  And lets assume those 2 teams can hit the 10 player minimum with no extra help from the outside.  We need to find 60 players of at least USL quality.  

10-15 NCAA/CIS players.  Not the cream but there are always some that fall through the cracks and 1-2 from CIS every year that we can scoop up.

Clean out NASL and USL of CND talent, maybe another 10-15 willing to come??  Maybe?

Maybe 5-10 guys from the 3 MLS academies looking for more playing time??

Clean out lower divisions of europe etc.....this would need to be roughly  30 guys.  Yipes!!!  Depending on the salary, you might not get those numbers.  The talent might be stretched thin, but this needs to happen.  If only for the youngsters that are in middle school right now.  Plus I want to go to some Manitoba POLAR BEARS or WInnipeg BISON games before I die.  

And as for TV, TSN are re running the MLS games multiple times, dont tell me they cant carry live CPL games that will get better ratings than that.  

[mpg_29]

 

4 hours ago, red card said:

Actually CFL regular season games tv ratings are same or higher than NFL. It's the playoffs and Super Bowl where NFL ratings are higher as the casual and non-sports fans start watching. In surveys in the US, 50% watch the Super Bowl for non-football reasons.

On the soccer side you are correct as MLS is third behind EPL and Champions League. And if count national teams, the Cdn women would be third. Only time MLS gets higher ratings is for opening season matches and Cdn team in playoffs. So, in this regard, CPL has an inherent advantage over the MLS. Probably will still be third but more ratings than MLS ex special games which in effect is the CFL vs NFL scenario.

But the CPL needs to be different rather than being the AHL of soccer to truly matter on tv. There is plenty of this type of filler content on sports channels already.

It will probably get decent ratings compared to some MLS because it's going to be Canadian teams.  But will it also suffer a little from low production values and being played in smaller venues?

[-Hammer-]

 

7 hours ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

Where are all the players going to come from for a "CPL" to even be the AHL of soccer in quality terms, if as claimed there is going to be a strong focus on domestic players? An eight team league with rosters filled with genuinely pro level Canadian players can't suddenly be wished into existence.

Alright, lets assume an 8 team league with 6 Canadians per team (5 Starters and 1 sub mandatory), and lets assume Ottawa doesn't jump on board. That's 48 Canadians, or 40 if the Fury ends up jumping on board.

I'm sure if you are throwing a cap of 1 Million a season around, you can do better then the (rumored) 2-3 thousand a month that the USL currently is rumoured to operate at. You and poach some players there. Lets say 15 USL players opt to move for greener pastures.

You also have probably at least 15 decent players in the college, university systems. We're up to 30 now.

I'm sure you also have some over the hill players and players who want to come back home from across the pond you can pull as well. Can I pull around 10? Yeah, I think that's reasonable, so we are up to 40 now.

So now, assuming the Fury don't join (which is still possible) we have 8 sub par Canadian players playing, or roughly one per team. Of course assuming that no poaching from NASL or MLS occurs for a couple of bigger, higher quality Canadians.

You then create some academies (which at least in Hamilton has been proposed) and you have a more expanded pool, which is the whole point of the CSA backing this league, of which from everything we've heard is expecting losses for the first five-ten years, which gives you more then adequate time to start home brewing your own development.

The only issue here is do you have the financial support to make it work and will anyone else start trying to poach your players? Well, pretty much the only circumstance where that happens is if MLS suddenly starts throwing a lot more money at the USL teams because they see it also as a money maker (which I doubt, as no league ever promotes their farm league in this way) or they suddenly impose an much strong Canadian quota requirement to their teams, at which point mission accomplished anyway. However, given that they haven't done that yet and how closed MLS and the USSF have to be, I don't expect the CPL will be the thing that forces their hand.