Constructive CPL thread

[Rheo]

21 minutes ago, johnyb said:

Decent? 7600 against an NHL Playoff game is amazing! 

Hey now.  No being positive.  This is a message board and only negativity is allowed

[shermanator]

Hell, if 7600 were to show up to ANY game in Calgary, with or without competition from the NHL that day, I would be absolutely thrilled.

[Complete Homer]

Not sure if this was put anywhere...

Footysoldiers had 2 nuggets of interest today. First they said that the "big European club" rumoured earlier was Aston Villa, but they didn't seem convinced it was anything more than tire kicking at this point

Second was that several clubs are exploring the modular stadium concept. We knew that Halifax and possibly Saskatchewan was heading in that direction, but it's starting to sound like a bit more of a league trend

[Macksam]

48 minutes ago, Complete Homer said:

Not sure if this was put anywhere...

Footysoldiers had 2 nuggets of interest today. First they said that the "big European club" rumoured earlier was Aston Villa, but they didn't seem convinced it was anything more than tire kicking at this point

Second was that several clubs are exploring the modular stadium concept. We knew that Halifax and possibly Saskatchewan was heading in that direction, but it's starting to sound like a bit more of a league trend

It's probably Saskatoon, KW and Quebec City for the three exploring this.

[GuillermoDelQuarto]

5 hours ago, shermanator said:

Hell, if 7600 were to show up to ANY game in Calgary, with or without competition from the NHL that day, I would be absolutely thrilled.

Have them play TFC and who knows.

[shermanator]

Good article by @matthew on comparisons between CPL and MLS in their formative years.

https://juneof86.com/2017/05/25/lessons-to-be-learned-by-cpl-from-creation-of-mls/

[lazlo_80]

The modular stadium thing is such an incredibly timely technology to help launch this league. I'm curious to see him how varied they can feel so it doesn't seem too cookie cutter. 

[Pat Carrasco]

In this segment of Red Card, Anthony Totera and guest U.S. soccer writer Michael Lewis draw some comparisons between the new CPL, and the MLS when it was going through it's inaugural season. This is probably one of Totera's best interview so far.

 

[Nathanael Martin]

On 2017-5-24 at 8:20 PM, Macksam said:

It's probably Saskatoon, KW and Quebec City for the three exploring this.

I hope KW is looking at it, Laurier Stadium would work for one, maybe two seasons max. But, the tri-cities are apparently all still very interested in cooperating to build a stadium, despite losing the Canada Summer Games bid.

[Gopherbashi]

Maybe a tidbit of broadcasting info here?

[Fussball_eh]

57 minutes ago, Gopherbashi said:

Maybe a tidbit of broadcasting info here?

Nope.

 

[matty]

Betting this goes to a mid-level type of broadcaster (like TLN) or a collection of regional indie channels. Neither is bad and both might be better than beIN for the next few years.

[mpg_29]

Yeah, no thanks...I'd rather beIN than shitty random obscure Canadian TV channels...

At least with beIN I know I will be getting HD with the option of watching on various devices and would at least offer a certain level of production.  

If it ain't Sportsnet/TSN/CBC then I'd rather something like beIN.  Not to mention the extra stuff you'd get with a beIN subscription.

[dyslexic nam]

beIN costs $15 per month as a stand alone channel with my provider (Bell Aliant).  That's $180 per year, and there are lots of folks - including a ton of casual sports fans, university students, young families, etc - who don't spend that kind of extra cash for specialty subscription channels.  To me, for a new league that is trying to generate interest and engage casual fans outside the hardcore footy cohort, it would be a mistake to go with something like beIN.  I would go so far as to say that if the TV rights for something like that precluded any widely available streaming option, I would rather see CPL pursue a streaming platform than some exclusive subscription channel.  Exposure will be key to CPL at the outset.

[matty]

1 hour ago, mpg_29 said:

Yeah, no thanks...I'd rather beIN than shitty random obscure Canadian TV channels...

At least with beIN I know I will be getting HD with the option of watching on various devices and would at least offer a certain level of production.  

If it ain't Sportsnet/TSN/CBC then I'd rather something like beIN.  Not to mention the extra stuff you'd get with a beIN subscription.

Dude beIN isn't at a place it could help cpl. Most don't even know it exists and it won't interest advertisers which is what the league needs. This league needs to be in as many homes and bars as possible and beIN fails when compared to other options.

[mpg_29]

Like I said.  Sportsnet/TSN/CBC would be best but if they are not in the mix beIN is better the obscure Canadian TV channels.

Exposure is important but it is not the only factor.

Also beIN isn't just a specialty TV channel it has standalone subscription/streaming app.

[matty]

19 minutes ago, mpg_29 said:

Like I said.  Sportsnet/TSN/CBC would be best but if they are not in the mix beIN is better the obscure Canadian TV channels.

Exposure is important but it is not the only factor.

Also beIN isn't just a specialty TV channel it has standalone subscription/streaming app.

Yea but beIN as a whole is super obscure in Canada and let's be honest most casual fans won't go for it because it's 15 bucks and doesn't have enough mainstream content for a Canadian audience.

beIN is highly ambitious, which is awesome, but all things considered it can't build a league up at the current time.

The alternatives don't look good to the hardcore soccer fan but they are better for the short term.

[mpg_29]

6 minutes ago, matty said:

Yea but beIN as a whole is super obscure in Canada and let's be honest most casual fans won't go for it because it's 15 bucks and doesn't have enough mainstream content for a Canadian audience.

beIN is highly ambitious, which is awesome, but all things considered it can't build a league up at the current time.

The alternatives don't look good to the hardcore soccer fan but they are better for the short term.

My issue with a random speciality Canadian TV channel like TLN or something is that a lot of these channels are filler content on expensive cable subscriptions that are not even always available in HD on cable lineups...HD is a must for sports.

Anyway if it's about exposure the league would just stream this on YouTube for free...

Since there isn't going to be that many games/week you could sign a deal with CBC to broadcast 1 or 2 games a week and stream the rest on YouTube. At least for first few seasons.

 

[matty]

6 minutes ago, mpg_29 said:

My issue with a random speciality Canadian TV channel like TLN or something is that a lot of these channels are filler content on expensive cable subscriptions that are not even always available in HD on cable lineups...HD is a must for sports.

Anyway if it's about exposure the league would just stream this on YouTube for free...

Since there isn't going to be that many games/week you could sign a deal with CBC to broadcast 1 or 2 games a week and stream the rest on YouTube. At least for first few seasons.

 

I get thw concern about hd and agree hd is better and am sure you could secure a deal with a channel or channels that are hd.

A game of the week on a cbc would be good for sure but it might be better to work with corus (tln's owner) and doing a national game and number of local games on their global outlets combined with streams.

[mpg_29]

12 minutes ago, matty said:

I get thw concern about hd and agree hd is better and am sure you could secure a deal with a channel or channels that are hd.

A game of the week on a cbc would be good for sure but it might be better to work with corus (tln's owner) and doing a national game and number of local games combined with streams.

How many teams are people predicting now anyway?...6 teams would only mean 3 games/week. One on CBC ...two on YouTube..

Might be the best way to to get exposure via 2 pronged TV and streaming effort. 

[ironcub14]

When Steve Sandor wrote that article about wanting Canadian soccer fans to not give into that culture of free, eg. Kodi, First Row, Atdhe, Reddit streams, I replied back to him and Beirne about a CPL Live option similar to MLS, and Paul liked that one right away.

CPL Live definitely seems like the way to go, I would guess as a complement to TSN or Sportsnet or CBC. And agreed, CPL has to be on TSN, Sportsnet or CBC, or this project could repeat the old leagues of the past.

[ironcub14]

One quick thing, as expensive as beIN is, it's the one specialty channel I do get, as a streaming option anyways (beINsports Connect), as a way of supporting soccer in Canada. And before beIN, it was Fox Sports World. If CPL isn't on TSN, Sportsnet or CBC, it has to be on beIN, that's where all the hardcore soccer fans in Canada go to for the hardcore coverage, such as La Liga, Serie A, Championship, CONC stuff, NASL, etc.

Most good soccer bars I know and go to have beIN as well, since about half of the UCL matches are there now to complement TSN.

If CPL is on TLN or some indie channel, it's getting zero viewership there, guaranteed. And CPL definitely can't go the Youtube way like USL is either, it has to aim higher than that. You could showcase a couple matches on Youtube for free, but it can't be CPL's main streaming option.

If anything, if we do generally believe that CPL will be at a level where it has to be given away for free on Youtube a la USL, then I'm definitely a bit worried about the short-term future of CPL as a whole.

In summary, for me anyways:

TSN/RSN/CBC > CPL Live > beIN > Youtube > Specialty channels

[Greatest Cockney Rip Off]

I would love to be able to financial support the CPL from abroad, so if they do offer an online subscription for matches, I hope they offer it outside of Canada. 

[matty]

2 hours ago, Greatest Cockney Rip Off said:

I would love to be able to financial support the CPL from abroad, so if they do offer an online subscription for matches, I hope they offer it outside of Canada. 

I kind of wish we (the voyaguers) could raise enough to be shorts sponsors for one of the clubs but that seems like a pipe dream on my part so yea an online service of some kind would be nice.

[matty]

2 hours ago, ironcub14 said:

One quick thing, as expensive as beIN is, it's the one specialty channel I do get, as a streaming option anyways (beINsports Connect), as a way of supporting soccer in Canada. And before beIN, it was Fox Sports World. If CPL isn't on TSN, Sportsnet or CBC, it has to be on beIN, that's where all the hardcore soccer fans in Canada go to for the hardcore coverage, such as La Liga, Serie A, Championship, CONC stuff, NASL, etc.

Most good soccer bars I know and go to have beIN as well, since about half of the UCL matches are there now to complement TSN.

If CPL is on TLN or some indie channel, it's getting zero viewership there, guaranteed. And CPL definitely can't go the Youtube way like USL is either, it has to aim higher than that. You could showcase a couple matches on Youtube for free, but it can't be CPL's main streaming option.

If anything, if we do generally believe that CPL will be at a level where it has to be given away for free on Youtube a la USL, then I'm definitely a bit worried about the short-term future of CPL as a whole.

In summary, for me anyways:

TSN/RSN/CBC > CPL Live > beIN > Youtube > Specialty channels

Not true. From what I've been told, the TLN u23 numbers for Canada U23 out performed beIN as a whole over that time period and way outdid them in western Canada.

beIN doesn't have a lot of reach in Canada and certain channels can draw in a decent sized crowd across Canada.

The thing that would be good about beIN is if they were willing to get CPL on some of their American, Asian and European services as well. That would be the best possible situation but seems HIGHLY unlikely.