rob.notenboom Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 https://the11.ca/potential-canpl-owners-talk-about-their-big-dreams-for-saskatchewan-soccer/ ironcub14, lazlo_80, Unnamed Trialist and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rheo Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 18 minutes ago, rob.notenboom said: I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. So are the Riders ok because they only conflict with harvest season rob.notenboom 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unnamed Trialist Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 I am not getting something. The third (or fourth) biggest announcement of an ownership interest, with the rest of the starting 6 unknown, announces itself as the 7th or 8th team? Did I read that right? ironcub14 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 (edited) Something doesn't add up that's for sure. My guess is that they are still hoping for the Ottawa Fury and/or FC Edmonton to jump ship to make 2018 the week after the World Cup scenario possible along with Halifax (still to close the deal on the pop-up with NIMBYs to pacify), Hamilton (clearly ready), K/W (not clear where they would play in a CPL context but already active in PDL and clearly gung ho) and Winnipeg (clearly ready), but see 2019 as more likely. That would make Fraser Valley and Saskatchewan seven and eight as pop-up solutions are sought. Beyond that you have the likes of St John's (have an ideal stadium but very small market to risk at launch), Moncton (ditto), Quebec City, Trois-Rivieres, Laval, multiple possibilities in the outer GTA, Niagara peninsula, FC London, Windsor Stars, Calgary Foothills and Victoria Highlanders to bring things up to ten and provide the extra markets that have expressed interest since May, but I suspect those are all further away or in some cases not even on Paul Beirne's "spectrum of readiness". Edited July 22, 2017 by BringBackTheBlizzard ironcub14 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex D Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 57 minutes ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said: Something doesn't add up that's for sure. My guess is that they are still hoping for the Ottawa Fury and/or FC Edmonton to jump ship... My guess is that there are ownership groups (possibly including Ottawa and Edmonton) that are pretty close to having their ducks in a row but haven't gone public. Hamilton, Winnipeg and Halifax all seem ready for launch. KWU and Saskatchewan seem to be lining up for spots 7 and 8. So that leaves 3 groups that are ready to go that we should be hearing about shortly. ironcub14 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob.notenboom Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 Each ownership group is doing things a bit differently. The Sask group is still working on their stadium location and said last night that they are very unlikely to be ready for 2018. Paul Beirne quite clearly stated that they would like the league to launch a week after the 2018 WC with six teams. So there are 3 teams that for their own reasons are keeping things quiet. Perhaps that is because they have circumstances that are delicate (Edmonton & Ottawa) and perhaps there is one other who simply would rather not start trying to make an announcement in the summer when people are paying less attention to the media (being on holidays, etc). But Joe flat out said 'We (Sask) hope to be the seventh team.' So I think that is pretty solid information that there are six teams at advanced stages. Combined with Paul Beirne's statements about wanting to launch in a year with six teams, and combined with his statements that four of the teams have a stadium, I would say five of the six are most likely Hamilton, Winnipeg, Halifax (of course these are obvious), Edmonton, and Ottawa with a six one that has kept very quiet. But then when push comes to shove, and they have to sign that paper, especially for Edmonton and Ottawa, will they be willing to make the jump. I doubt it's a sealed deal yet, but you never know. ironcub14 and m-g-williams 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevensandor Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 Just wanted to reiterate what a good event it was last night in Regina. Outside of proprietary information about other owners — which, of course, needs to remain quiet — I thought Paul, Lee and Joe were very forthcoming with their answers. In a CanPL evolution that is plagued with rumours, it was great to have a chance to hear honest talk about where the league is at, and what the owners hope to achieve. Thanks to Rob and everyone who came out last night. Complete Homer, lazlo_80, rob.notenboom and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 Why would K/W not be one of the six? Am I missing some local info that people have heard? Like Ottawa and Edmonton they are already playing soccer in a stadium that meets requirements in terms of capacity if not in terms of the playing surface but experience elsewhere in North America shows that there are ways that could be addressed and I think there was a fan group guy posting on here that they had been told to be ready for an announcement in mid-August. Beyond that Paul Beirne and co are also saying if they are not ready it will be 2019, so it may just be a long shot scenario for 2018. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorpion26 Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 This is exciting to see many interest for CPL and the slow growth of the league will be vital. This should help Canadian college players to go pro and bring in players in low level leagues to CPL.... Perhaps Hutchinson goes to play in CPL instead of MLS would be nice. How many teams can we honestly say this league can grow to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuillermoDelQuarto Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 3 hours ago, Scorpion26 said: This is exciting to see many interest for CPL and the slow growth of the league will be vital. This should help Canadian college players to go pro and bring in players in low level leagues to CPL.... Perhaps Hutchinson goes to play in CPL instead of MLS would be nice. How many teams can we honestly say this league can grow to? sky is the limit in the long term, but in the short term, I hope some people chill out a little bit, I'm happy people are finally optimistic but I don't wanna see people get a little too unrealistic about teams(had someone recently suggest a team in north van - but having direct competition to the whitecaps and fraser valley seems like a bad call to me). 1 in 200,000 population centres and 1 in cities with major MLS markets seems achievable, but I feel like we should temper expectations a little bit beyond that, at least until we've established ourselves a little bit in the key markets(2 types I just referred to). We can't have the MLS teams fail because we need the trickle down legitimacy they provide through the voyageurs cup competition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopherbashi Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 People keep mentioning Ottawa and Edmonton for 2018. I realise that Edmonton could potentially have an "out" by only playing in the spring season and then jumping over, but Ottawa would have to abandon the whole 2018 USL season in order to take part in that 2018 CPL half season. Do people really think they're going to do that? NVsoccer, Unnamed Trialist, ironcub14 and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 I think it's probably unlikely on that timeline, but it provides a credible scenario for how Saskatchewan could be number 7 or 8 in 2019 without invoking groups that are as yet unknown given there is no obvious reason for secrecy at this point and both are known to have been in contact with CPL. The other clue we have is four out of ten have a stadium and the rest would plan to build. Ottawa and Edmonton would fit on that given three out of four of K/W, Halifax, Saskatchewan and Fraser Valley are known to have made statements about wanting to build something while Fraser Valley would appear to need to as the Langley stadium is less than ideal. That would leave two more builders, which would be bad news for fans in Moncton and St John's but could easily apply to the remaining relatively large markets in Quebec City and Calgary (if the Stampeders aren't a factor as appears likely). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unnamed Trialist Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 46 minutes ago, Gopherbashi said: People keep mentioning Ottawa and Edmonton for 2018. I realise that Edmonton could potentially have an "out" by only playing in the spring season and then jumping over, but Ottawa would have to abandon the whole 2018 USL season in order to take part in that 2018 CPL half season. Do people really think they're going to do that? This is exactly what I was going to post, same thoughts. The best thing a club can do is keep playing, keep fans in their seats, keep up interest in the team, over and above the league. For both, you have to remain 100% loyal to the league you are in, and only when there's a few months max left in the season start to talk about your move to CPL. So the silence would be logical. Then, you canvas all fans, ticket holders, you take that and run with it as a base. You could do that for late 2018, fine, but do leave fans without soccer in your town from April-August, four months or so. Don't know about that, you miss key summer months when parents bring kids, you miss a good part of the hockey off-season. But in terms of transitioning, I don't think in either case you would lose fans because the team was going to play in CPL and not NASL, not sure if the latter really boosts paying fans that much. Or is it just Cosmos visits that are notably better for gate? ironcub14 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Complete Homer Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 29 minutes ago, Gopherbashi said: People keep mentioning Ottawa and Edmonton for 2018. I realise that Edmonton could potentially have an "out" by only playing in the spring season and then jumping over, but Ottawa would have to abandon the whole 2018 USL season in order to take part in that 2018 CPL half season. Do people really think they're going to do that? *If* they make the jump (I think they will) I think Ottawa would want to support CPL's legitimacy as much as possible. It would serve their own interest as much as CPL's to launch with the original teams if possible m-g-williams 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevensandor Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 3 hours ago, Gopherbashi said: People keep mentioning Ottawa and Edmonton for 2018. I realise that Edmonton could potentially have an "out" by only playing in the spring season and then jumping over, but Ottawa would have to abandon the whole 2018 USL season in order to take part in that 2018 CPL half season. Do people really think they're going to do that? The team that wins the spring season gets a 1 or 2 seed in the NASL playoffs. So, if you win the spring season, you are obligated to play in the playoffs come November. So, there is no "playing the spring season and leaving" CDNFootballer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocket Robin Posted July 23, 2017 Share Posted July 23, 2017 5 hours ago, stevensandor said: The team that wins the spring season gets a 1 or 2 seed in the NASL playoffs. So, if you win the spring season, you are obligated to play in the playoffs come November. So, there is no "playing the spring season and leaving" And what if they finished seventh in the 2018 Spring season like they did in.......2017? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevensandor Posted July 23, 2017 Share Posted July 23, 2017 38 minutes ago, Rocket Robin said: And what if they finished seventh in the 2018 Spring season like they did in.......2017? They would have to pay a hefty exit fee. And likely get sued if they'd use the same team name and players in CanPL. No one in NASL thinks of the two seasons as different; remember that the 3 and 4 seeds are determined by overall records, spring and fall. If you start the season in April, you're obligated to finish it in November. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted July 23, 2017 Share Posted July 23, 2017 (edited) Ottawa definitely appears to be the more likely of the two depending on the exact mechanics of how they got into USL that were less than fully transparent at the time. Don't blame Saskatchewan for avoiding being part of an intial six as it allows them to check whether the league follows a CBL trajectory before spending the $10-15 million that has been quoted in the media on the modular stadium, which is an order of magnitude more than Halifax will be spending, if all goes well on getting pop-up stadium plans approved later this year. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Baseball_League Not many people would spend that type of money sight unseen on a new soccer league in Canada until they see it is working. Hamilton, Winnipeg and Halifax is only half way there on getting six together for a launch, so an announcement from K-W United post-PDL season would be a strong indication that the wheels are in motion. The Championship Game will be on August 5th. Edited July 23, 2017 by BringBackTheBlizzard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob.notenboom Posted July 23, 2017 Share Posted July 23, 2017 Comprehensive info from our meeting on Friday - https://juneof86.com/2017/07/22/excitement-building-for-pro-soccer-in-saskatchewan/amp/ lazlo_80, ironcub14 and Rheo 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rheo Posted July 23, 2017 Share Posted July 23, 2017 Recap of the Calgary season with some CPL references although nothing concrete http://calgaryherald.com/sports/soccer/calgarys-foothills-fc-developing-into-premier-soccer-franchise ironcub14, maccaliam and coppercanuck 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted July 23, 2017 Share Posted July 23, 2017 (edited) http://calgaryherald.com/sports/soccer/calgarys-foothills-fc-developing-into-premier-soccer-franchise ...If and when a Canadian pro league does launch and a team finds it way to Calgary, it would appear that the on-field infrastructure is already in place for a competitive team to kick off on Day 1. Off the field, there are still things to work out, though. The Foothills crew played its home games on their third new field in as many years in 2017, making the Calgary Soccer Centre their home after playing at Glenmore Field last year and debuting at Hellard Field in 2015. “I think we’ve got the on-field product nailed, the results are speaking for themselves, and we’re doing it with local players,” Wheeldon said. “But we’ve gotta have a home venue.” The main problem in many cities is the stadium angle and that isn't cheap and easy to do if you don't have a rich investor like Barry McLean. Calgary isn't a factor for 2018 by the sounds of that last quote, but might be one of Paul Beirne's 9 and 10. Edited July 23, 2017 by BringBackTheBlizzard m-g-williams and ironcub14 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob.notenboom Posted July 23, 2017 Share Posted July 23, 2017 12 hours ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said: Ottawa definitely appears to be the more likely of the two depending on the exact mechanics of how they got into USL that were less than fully transparent at the time. Don't blame Saskatchewan for avoiding being part of an intial six as it allows them to check whether the league follows a CBL trajectory before spending the $10-15 million that has been quoted in the media on the modular stadium, which is an order of magnitude more than Halifax will be spending, if all goes well on getting pop-up stadium plans approved later this year. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Baseball_League Not many people would spend that type of money sight unseen on a new soccer league in Canada until they see it is working. Hamilton, Winnipeg and Halifax is only half way there on getting six together for a launch, so an announcement from K-W United post-PDL season would be a strong indication that the wheels are in motion. The Championship Game will be on August 5th. Sask is not avoiding being part of the initial six. If they had an agreement on stadium location there would be shovels in the ground already. Complete Homer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Complete Homer Posted July 23, 2017 Share Posted July 23, 2017 6 minutes ago, rob.notenboom said: Sask is not avoiding being part of the initial six. If they had an agreement on stadium location there would be shovels in the ground already. I really doubt anyone talking so publicly would be hanging around the edges to see how things pan out. That's just the reflexive negative spin. Personally I'm very excited to see Sask, Belan and co. seem to be very ambitious. The league will really need groups like that. Out of curiosity, which of Edmonton, Calgary, or Winnipeg would you see as the biggest rival, assuming there isn't a second Sask team for quite a while? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob.notenboom Posted July 23, 2017 Share Posted July 23, 2017 1 minute ago, Complete Homer said: I really doubt anyone talking so publicly would be hanging around the edges to see how things pan out. That's just the reflexive negative spin. Personally I'm very excited to see Sask, Belan and co. seem to be very ambitious. The league will really need groups like that. Out of curiosity, which of Edmonton, Calgary, or Winnipeg would you see as the biggest rival, assuming there isn't a second Sask team for quite a while? Probably Winnipeg, but in some way all of the above. I of course will be conflicted as I have friends in all those places and will also somewhat support their teams. But when the first ball is kicked in SK I might change my tune. Complete Homer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Complete Homer Posted July 24, 2017 Share Posted July 24, 2017 Just now, rob.notenboom said: Probably Winnipeg, but in some way all of the above. I of course will be conflicted as I have friends in all those places and will also somewhat support their teams. But when the first ball is kicked in SK I might change my tune. Even though I'm currently based in Hamilton, I think it will take a while to shake the "I'm a fan of the league" and actually get behind a team. I suspect lots of people this interested in CPL will feel the same rob.notenboom, Ansem, NVsoccer and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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