CPL General

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

2 minutes ago, grasshopper1917 said:

The one thing theory that I have derived while waiting is when the CPL came calling on Halifax over a year ago they had nothing more then Hamilton (the driving force) and Winnipeg (A stadium that needs more dates) and P.B.  Since then they seem to be getting a little closer to 6 teams with interest in Saskatchewan and BC. Also Halifax now has the go ahead for a pop up stadium....

You mean there wasn't a top European club waiting eagerly to invest in Ontario and a mysterious billionaire in Toronto?  They really needed Edmonton and Ottawa on board for 2018 and that was being stated quite clearly from what I remember in the early months of this year by sources close to the Ticats like Steve Milton at least for those who were able to ignore all the hysteria and listen carefully. It appears they are probably not on board, so they now almost certainly need several stadium deals in other markets to be finalized to be able to contemplate even just a 6 team soft launch including the one in Halifax which may be furthest along but is still only really at the approved in principle sort of stage with some bizarre looking amendments tacked on to placate NIMBYism. Do you know why the Soccer Nova Scotia event never happened in September?

[matty]

26 minutes ago, grasshopper1917 said:

The one thing theory that I have derived while waiting is when the CPL came calling on Halifax over a year ago they had nothing more then Hamilton (the driving force) and Winnipeg (A stadium that needs more dates) and P.B.  Since then they seem to be getting a little closer to 6 teams with interest in Saskatchewan and BC. Also Halifax now has the go ahead for a pop up stadium. 

I will say this (and it is just a personal impression -  I may be 100% wrong) what I have seen so far does not inspire me to think this is going to be a terrifically run league. Between launch of a terrible web page (inactive and looks like i was designed by a 12 year old), the lack of updates to the handful of supporters who are following developments and seemingly very difficult task of getting 6 ownership groups to get behind a small scale league (proposed 5k-7k fan target).

Like I said I may be 100% wrong it is just my impression from afar - but I feel getting this league going is much harder then it should be.  

I think the site design is fine. They don't really have too much to work with on it image or menu wise. The issue they have is they're not active on the site or Twitter or Facebook like you said.

I just want to say I think you have the scale of the league 100% wrong. This is not small scale. This is a massive scale. 5-7k is rather high for most leagues and of course the building of stadiums is a giant fucking task. Don't forget travel costs (FCE were spending $50k a road trip).

8 minutes ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

You mean there wasn't a top European club waiting eagerly to invest in Ontario and a mysterious billionaire in Toronto?  They really needed Edmonton and Ottawa on board for 2018 and that was being stated quite clearly from what I remember in the early months of this year by sources close to the Ticats like Steve Milton at least for those who were able to ignore all the hysteria and listen carefully. It appears they are probably not on board, so they now almost certainly need several stadium deals in other markets to be finalized to be able to contemplate even just a 6 team soft launch including the one in Halifax which may be furthest along but is still only really at the approved in principle sort of stage with some bizarre looking amendments tacked on to placate NIMBYism. Do you know why the Soccer Nova Scotia event never happened in September?

Dude clearly if they had those two they wouldn't be a go for 2018 because they'd still be short for 6 teams.

Also the Euro team was always sketchy and Toronto has long been agreed as a down the road project even with said billionaire talk.

Edited December 2, 2017 by matty

[Ansem]

43 minutes ago, harrycoyster said:

It was not the CSA. This is the press release, filed on the CPL website as their only official press release. Notice how it was handled by a PR firm instead of by the CSA's communications department.

Yeah it's on CPL website. But who released that statement to the press? The CSA or CPL?

[matty]

3 minutes ago, Ansem said:

Yeah it's on CPL website. But who released that statement to the press? The CSA or CPL?

Dude the CPL has launched. The fact there is an official site is proof of that.

They botched the launch. Let's hope they don't botch the launch of the first season.

Edited December 2, 2017 by matty

[Ansem]

23 minutes ago, matty said:

I do think they could so some small things. Even things that are not really about the league. They're not terribly active on social media or on their own site and I really feel that is a mistake.

Also Ansem whether you like it or not the league was announced just not the first season

 

There's different approach to market your product. That's a choice CPL took by just waiting to be fully ready before sharing. It's not a wrong approach.

Sure they could come out as things comes out but you risk having to retract yourself, flip flop on stuff which in turns makes you look amateurish. I emphasize on me using the word RISK.

Is it worth the RISK to look amateurish/unprofessional to those you're trying to ultimately attract to please a very small number of fans that you already won over regardless?

Think about it. The same people nitpicking about this would be the first ones to rant endlessly on the league having to retract themselves and change plans mid course... the same people giving MLS a pass on their start might I add

Edited December 2, 2017 by Ansem

[matty]

1 minute ago, Ansem said:

There's different approach to market your product. That's a choice CPL took by just waiting to be fully ready before sharing. It's not a wrong approach.

Sure they could come out as things comes out but you risk having to retract yourself, flip flop on stuff which in turns makes you look amateurish. I emphasize on me using the word RISK.

Is it worth the RISK to look amateurish/unprofessional to those you're trying to ultimately attract to please a very small number of fans that you already won over regardless?

Think about it

5 Things they could have done that would not have risked any info about the league
-Having exCanMNT and WNT players from different regions write an short essay about what pro soccer in their city or province will mean to the area (publish one a month on the site)
-Over the Gold Cup had they own podcast with say John McGrane
-Tweeted HBD to Canadian players or on this day in Canadian soccer history
-Profile Hamilton and Winnipeg's stadium
-A PB diary

While many of those are tacky, they're something and they keep the league active and somewhat fresh in people's minds. No info is risked and you don't look as amateurish as publishing yahoo emails on your site like they actually did.

[Ansem]

15 minutes ago, matty said:

5 Things they could have done that would not have risked any info about the league
-Having exCanMNT and WNT players from different regions write an short essay about what pro soccer in their city or province will mean to the area (publish one a month on the site)
-Over the Gold Cup had they own podcast with say John McGrane
-Tweeted HBD to Canadian players or on this day in Canadian soccer history
-Profile Hamilton and Winnipeg's stadium
-A PB diary

While many of those are tacky, they're something and they keep the league active and somewhat fresh in people's minds. No info is risked and you don't look as amateurish as publishing yahoo emails on your site like they actually did.

We disagree. Taking the CPL fan glasses off, their approach isn't bad either. Spending over a year on medias saying over and over that you only have 2 teams gets old news pretty fast.

I won't go over marketing strategies. Simple. They aren't ready, there's low value and higher risk to go public now then later such as closer to the world cup when you have the media cycle to yourself and when you're 100% ready and can competently answer all questions. 

They aren't there. I get the impatience but the ownership behind the league didn't became rich by not understanding marketing and media relations. Can we stop thinking we're way smarter then they are?

Edited December 2, 2017 by Ansem

[Ansem]

30 minutes ago, matty said:

Dude the CPL has launched. The fact there is an official site is proof of that.

They botched the launch. Let's hope they don't botch the launch of the first season.

Sure, whatever you say

[matty]

3 minutes ago, Ansem said:

Sure, whatever you say

what else would you call it? the launch not how it was done

[Ansem]

6 minutes ago, matty said:

what else would you call it? the launch not how it was done

Ok, reread the press release without intepretating it. Just read it at face value.

Edited December 2, 2017 by Ansem

[Rheo]

Apparently something is coming 

 

[Ansem]

1 minute ago, Rheo said:

Apparently something is coming 

 

Must be linked to Beirne tweet regarding the meeting.

[Rheo]

MIssed that tweet, thanks 

[matty]

4 minutes ago, Ansem said:

Ok, reread the press release without intepretating it. Just read it at face value.

It's not just the press release it's the existence of an official site. 

[matty]

if nothing happens in june........

5 minutes ago, Rheo said:

Apparently something is coming 

 

 

[Ansem]

Just now, matty said:

It's not just the press release it's the existence of an official site. 

Just be patient man

[BenFisk'sBiggestFan]

I like the fact that the CPL has kept things quiet. Canadians like to point fun at Canadian Soccer. What do you think would happen if the CPL announced to the country that they have a owner in a city and then the owner backed out? The league would already be discredited before it even started. At least now if there are problems, we don’t know about it. It is important for the league to get the important details sorted out before going public. 

As far as the first announcement goes... The league needed sanctioning. It was Victor’s day to celebrate “his” project. As well, the CSA and CPL wanted to give us hardcore fans some info to get us excited. They want us hardcore fans to be SUPPORTIVE and start advocating for the league, setting up supporters groups to lay the groundwork for “future” clubs. The announcement was not meant to market the league to the country, but meant to make us aware of it. 

honestly, starting up a league from scratch in a country where soccer isn’t a priority is hard. It will be a huge feat just to get the league started. I don’t see how they messed up all that badly. 

[matty]

1 minute ago, Ansem said:

Just be patient man

i am i'm just saying they've made moves that are questionable.

[BenFisk'sBiggestFan]

8 minutes ago, Rheo said:

Apparently something is coming 

 

What is with the hashtag #isitjuneyet? Is sounds like he is referencing the World Cup somehow...

[matty]

1 minute ago, BenFisk'sBiggestFan said:

As far as the first announcement goes... The league needed sanctioning. It was Victor’s day to celebrate “his” project. As well, the CSA and CPL wanted to give us hardcore fans some info to get us excited. They want us hardcore fans to be SUPPORTIVE and start advocating for the league, setting up supporters groups to lay the groundwork for “future” clubs. The announcement was not meant to market the league to the country, but meant to make us aware of it. 

honestly, starting up a league from scratch in a country where soccer isn’t a priority is hard. It will be a huge feat just to get the league started. I don’t see how they messed up all that badly. 

You could sanction it and not launch a website, Twitter, Facebook. The combo deflated the next big one a fair bit because the sports media already ran the story.

[harrycoyster]

8 minutes ago, BenFisk'sBiggestFan said:

What is with the hashtag #isitjuneyet? Is sounds like he is referencing the World Cup somehow...

The TiCats use that hashtag on their account. It's a countdown to next CFL season. 

[BenFisk'sBiggestFan]

2 minutes ago, matty said:

You could sanction it and not launch a website, Twitter, Facebook. The combo deflated the next big one a fair bit because the sports media already ran the story.

I don’t think the fact that they have a website and social media will make any future announcements any less important. I see where you are coming from, but i think the Website and social media is more for us hardcore fans to follow them a little bit. I think it shows that the league is trying to be as transparent as they can be in this difficult time. They are trying to cater to us hardcore fans without disclosing too much info which is pretty damn hard... We have some pretty good info finding voyageurs... Most regular sports fans wont be following them on social media, and if they are, I don’t think they will be upset about no information. 

[matty]

2 minutes ago, BenFisk'sBiggestFan said:

I don’t think the fact that they have a website and social media will make any future announcements any less important. I see where you are coming from, but i think the Website and social media is more for us hardcore fans to follow them a little bit. I think it shows that the league is trying to be as transparent as they can be in this difficult time. They are trying to cater to us hardcore fans without disclosing too much info which is pretty damn hard... We have some pretty good info finding voyageurs... Most regular sports fans wont be following them on social media, and if they are, I don’t think they will be upset about no information. 

I get what you're saying but TSN, Sportsnet, ESPN, Univision, Sun Media and various other outlets have covered the story and exposed it to the non-hardcores. They could have let the sanctioning be a blurb but instead wanted articles and followers and it has drained much of the mainstream national and international interest in the league's launch.

[harrycoyster]

3 minutes ago, matty said:

I get what you're saying but TSN, Sportsnet, ESPN, Univision, Sun Media and various other outlets have covered the story and exposed it to the non-hardcores. They could have let the sanctioning be a blurb but instead wanted articles and followers and it has drained much of the mainstream national and international interest in the league's launch.

Was covered on Fox Sports in the States too. Probably won't get that level of coverage again until the league launches, if then.

[Kent]

5 hours ago, Rheo said:

Apparently something is coming 

 

I really wish I could like this. I am going to have to try to ignore it because when I read this it looks like next week they are going to announce the league is starting in June next year. But past experience has me assuming next week will come and go with no new information and we will have to tell ourselves that the big week was probably about something behind the scenes and then we will think maybe June will be when we find out about the teams and start year of the first season and then possibly have to readjust again when we don't get that news next June.