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Victoria CPL


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Well, @ted would know more than I, but basically local fans want it and some local non-fans who still believe Highlanders folded a couple years ago have also expressed an interest. Current ownership has stated that the Highlanders would remain in PDL "for the time being."

Ownership doesn't have the kind of money needed to leap to CanPL. Additionally, neither Royal Athletic Park nor Centennial Stadium really fits the needs of a CanPL team, so we'd need either a major refurbishment or a new stadium in order to participate. If someone with deep pockets came along and put it in the team, it'd be a different story, but sadly it looks like Victoria is not a realistic option in the immediate future.

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Total speculation follows.

I think it should be under consideration. UVic would be acceptable for 2018 until RAP could be renovated. Adding a second stand on the North Side (and in my dreams a small stand along the Cook St end) would make a great venue that could hold 8,000-10,000 while still accommodating baseball.

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2 hours ago, ted said:

Total speculation follows.

I think it should be under consideration. UVic would be acceptable for 2018 until RAP could be renovated. Adding a second stand on the North Side (and in my dreams a small stand along the Cook St end) would make a great venue that could hold 8,000-10,000 while still accommodating baseball.

Dare to dream. God I would love for that to happen.

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That would be wonderful but there is a baseball team that also plays there and are moderately successful. Configuring RAP that way would have to toss them to the curb. Considering there are more dates for baseball than soccer, I don't see that happening. 

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3 minutes ago, Alex D said:

That would be wonderful but there is a baseball team that also plays there and are moderately successful. Configuring RAP that way would have to toss them to the curb. Considering there are more dates for baseball than soccer, I don't see that happening. 

It is a pro club versus amateur though no? I really hope Victoria is involved. Great city.

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2 minutes ago, Levi Oakey said:

It is a pro club versus amateur though no? I really hope Victoria is involved. Great city.

I hope they are involved as well, it's the only town in Canada made entirely out of gingerbread. But the baseball team draws a couple thousand fans a game I believe and they invested some money into the stadium with a new outfield wall and scoreboard. The city runs the park, a CPL owner would have to do one hell of a sell job. 

I do wish someone from the area could tell us more about centennial stadium and what it would need to be CPL ready. 

 

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38 minutes ago, Alex D said:

I hope they are involved as well, it's the only town in Canada made entirely out of gingerbread. But the baseball team draws a couple thousand fans a game I believe and they invested some money into the stadium with a new outfield wall and scoreboard. The city runs the park, a CPL owner would have to do one hell of a sell job. 

I do wish someone from the area could tell us more about centennial stadium and what it would need to be CPL ready. 

 

I much prefer Royal Athletic to Centennial to be honest, but wouldn't get picky. At this stage, I was hoping there might have been some whispers of interested investors flying around.

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It still all revolves around Alex Campbell on this in ownership terms? Can remember that an exhibition game to gauge interest for a move to the NASL at one point and that there was talk of USL Pro entry when the moratorium was imposed. From what I remember he was opposed to a domestic league subsequent to that when the Easton Report was being put together, but maybe he has changed his outlook since then? The ongoing problem is getting everybody to move in the same direction, but in Vicoria I guess the fans have an ownership share and a voice to try to influence that, which they usually don't elsewhere.

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7 hours ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

It still all revolves around Alex Campbell on this in ownership terms? Can remember that an exhibition game to gauge interest for a move to the NASL at one point and that there was talk of USL Pro entry when the moratorium was imposed. From what I remember he was opposed to a domestic league subsequent to that when the Easton Report was being put together, but maybe he has changed his outlook since then? The ongoing problem is getting everybody to move in the same direction, but in Vicoria I guess the fans have an ownership share and a voice to try to influence that, which they usually don't elsewhere.

Alex Campbell folded the team in 2015. Marvin Diercks and David Dew bought the licensing rights (for peanuts from the scuttlebutt I heard) and managed kept the team running in 2015, albeit in PCSL. They were able to return to PDL in 2016. Officially, Campbell folded the team because he was unable to get any financial partners, which unofficially was due to the moratorium on new NASL/USL Pro teams in Canada.

16 hours ago, Alex D said:

I hope they are involved as well, it's the only town in Canada made entirely out of gingerbread. But the baseball team draws a couple thousand fans a game I believe and they invested some money into the stadium with a new outfield wall and scoreboard. The city runs the park, a CPL owner would have to do one hell of a sell job. 

I do wish someone from the area could tell us more about centennial stadium and what it would need to be CPL ready. 

 

Centennial Stadium is UVic's stadium, which causes a lot of issues. We were half-way through the PDL season last year before they were finally able to serve alcohol, and even then you could only have it in one set of stands. With a running track, an older set of stands, a newer-looking set of uncovered stands, and equipment/debris, there's a lot to left to be desired. Although temporary concession & gift stands can be setup, there's very little built-in and it is a little light on washroom facilities. The place isn't bad for PDL-level, but it's not at a quality that CanPL should be looking at. Here's a couple shots of the two sets of stands and equipment/debris from some of last year's matches.

 

DSCN2499.JPG

DSCN2533.JPG

DSCN3163.JPG

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On 5/19/2017 at 5:46 PM, C2SKI said:

I get the feeling there aren't any investors with deep enough pockets

Victoria has no corporate presence whatsoever (the economy is virtually all public sector) so the opportunities for sponsorship are limited. But there are many wealthy retired individuals living in the area so there's always a chance one or more of them step up to back a club.

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1 hour ago, C2SKI said:

Is Steve Nash active in Victoria at all?

Uhm, you do know that Steve Nash is a minority owner for the Whitecaps right?? I mean sure he can be a startup investor in Victoria too.  But I don't think he has deep enough wallet to invest in both.

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19 hours ago, nolbertos said:

Uhm, you do know that Steve Nash is a minority owner for the Whitecaps right?? I mean sure he can be a startup investor in Victoria too.  But I don't think he has deep enough wallet to invest in both.

Sure. He's also part of an ownership group that bought Mallorca, as well as an investor in woman's professional soccer. His interest in the sport extends well beyond the Whitecaps, and he rolls with deep pocketed investors. I don't think it would be entirely out of character for him to invest in a home town club

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