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34 minutes ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

The Argos almost killed the stadium building project for the 2007 U-20 World Cup when they double-crossed the CSA and agreed a deal to move back to the Rogers Centre instead. BMO Field and what it did for interest in domestic pro soccer in the shape of TFC happened because people at MLSE went against Canada's traditional soccer-hating mainstream pro sports culture and saw soccer instead as the sport of a future more outward looking, multicultural and cosmopolitan Canada that they could make a lot of money out of.

Something to bear in mind when MLSE are cast as the bad guys on here. Not hugely bothered on how it happens as long as soccer wins out of it.

 

I listened to Richard Peddie at a conference I attended.  It was part of his book launch a few years ago.  The way he described MLS/TFC was focused on creating Enterprise Value for MLSE and he knew very little about soccer.  He pointed to the underlying demographics of Toronto and participation of amateur soccer to substantiate the investment.  I believe it was a $10M MLS entrance fee at the time which was one or two bad hockey contracts so very little risk.  Plus, the stadium was largely financed by the various levels of government.  It was essentially a no-brainer given that MLSE could leverage it's existing departments (ticketing, marketing, F&B etc.) in what was traditionally the off season of the the NHL/NBA.

To bring this back to CPL.  The smaller size teams (30 people traveling), the smaller/modular stadiums (5-6K) and selling players abroad are a huge advantages for soccer over football.  The CFL cannot expand without the will of all levels of governments financing a new stadium in a new market.  Federal funds are only accessed through an event like the commonwealth games, summer Olympics, world cup etc. To build  stadiums sizable for a CFL team would require $200+M in funding.  Moreover, these events tend to be held in cities where these stadiums already exist which means the funds are used renovate and update existing infrastructure. 

The soccer stadiums we are talking about a far more palatable to municipal governments and can be largely financed or rented (if modular) privately with accommodations on taxation and levies from the municipality.  That's why CPL's future is so bright.  Selling a player every few years abroad is just icing on the cake.  I think there is a very good business case the secondary and tertiary markets in Canada like Halifax.

https://www.thesudburystar.com/2013/01/18/new-arena-could-cost-as-much-as-60m-report-2

As a person with some real estate development experience, I can tell you that the cost of construction has gone up immensely over the last 10 years.  That's why modular is an attractive option, not only for it's flexibility in right sizing the market and financing options, but it mitigates the risk of increasing construction costs and long term maintenance issues.  Just my opinion though.

 

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15 hours ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

The silent majority in Canada appear to be fine with it so that's unlikely to change just because a minority of nationalists don't like it. Think it is always worth bearing in mind that a huge problem soccer had historically was that our sport was being actively marginalized and suppressed for decades in the name of pushing the CFL as part of a nation building project that revolved around notions of cultural exceptionalism.

The Argos almost killed the stadium building project for the 2007 U-20 World Cup when they double-crossed the CSA and agreed a deal to move back to the Rogers Centre instead. BMO Field and what it did for interest in domestic pro soccer in the shape of TFC happened because people at MLSE went against Canada's traditional soccer-hating mainstream pro sports culture and saw soccer instead as the sport of a future more outward looking, multicultural and cosmopolitan Canada that they could make a lot of money out of.

Something to bear in mind when MLSE are cast as the bad guys on here. Not hugely bothered on how it happens as long as soccer wins out of it.

 

There you go again making wild assumptions based on your batshit crazy ideas. So the " silent majority " isn't that silent obviously since they seem to be in touch with you about absolutely everything. It's also very weird how you can make nationalism and patriotism seem like dirty words...kind of like your hero DJT. I've said it before but I believe it bears repeating...if you like it so much better down south of our border then go move there. I'll gladly even give you a drive. Let me know what time works best for you.

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On 3/12/2021 at 11:04 AM, Dominic94 said:

This was left field and man did Nef and Rollins just lose so much credibility. They literally each reported last week that there was virtually 0 chance and no investor.

Uh i was checking twitter every day and there was no report anywhere, so they didn't say that

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Regarding the XFL and CFL cooperation, this was initiated by the XFL and I highly doubt it leads to a merger. From listening to some football experts in the US the XFL is keen to come to some sort of agreement with the CFL to tap into their football "structure." They're set to begin playing in 1 year and they have no teams announced, no coaches, no front office staff, etc. Apparently they're looking for ways to have staff and players move between the two leagues seamlessly and to have help with the administrative side of running the league.

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The whole XFL thing threatens what I love about the CFL - being independent and Canadian. 

These are the exact same reasons I'm a CPL fan when I never was a soccer fan previously - it's ours, subservient to nobody

 

I haven't been able to bring myself to read any of the articles ever since the XFL-CFL rumours started. Just comments in passing like this thread. It feels like if I look, I'll see my heart being ripped out. I've been so invested in the Ticats for so long and if we move to some bastardized 4-down US league - I don't think I'll be able to follow. 

In my opinion its the opposite of what the CFL needs to do. It needs to be more unique, not more like the Americans. I want what the Irish and Aussies have in the GAA and AFL - our own thing, and screw what anyone else thinks.

The majority of Canadian sports fans disgust me with their love of all that comes out of the US to the detriment of our own. Why on earth should some someone from Hamilton care more about Alabama vs Clemson, than Mac vs Western? It's blindingly obvious what the TV networks have done - easier to buy cheap programming and copy in the hype rather than build our own - but everyone eats it up.

Sorry, this is so barely on topic... thank God I also have the Arrows too, although I'm well aware of the irony of them being in an American league. 

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23 hours ago, Tigers said:

The whole XFL thing threatens what I love about the CFL - being independent and Canadian. 

These are the exact same reasons I'm a CPL fan when I never was a soccer fan previously - it's ours, subservient to nobody

 

I haven't been able to bring myself to read any of the articles ever since the XFL-CFL rumours started. Just comments in passing like this thread. It feels like if I look, I'll see my heart being ripped out. I've been so invested in the Ticats for so long and if we move to some bastardized 4-down US league - I don't think I'll be able to follow. 

In my opinion its the opposite of what the CFL needs to do. It needs to be more unique, not more like the Americans. I want what the Irish and Aussies have in the GAA and AFL - our own thing, and screw what anyone else thinks.

The majority of Canadian sports fans disgust me with their love of all that comes out of the US to the detriment of our own. Why on earth should some someone from Hamilton care more about Alabama vs Clemson, than Mac vs Western? It's blindingly obvious what the TV networks have done - easier to buy cheap programming and copy in the hype rather than build our own - but everyone eats it up.

Sorry, this is so barely on topic... thank God I also have the Arrows too, although I'm well aware of the irony of them being in an American league. 

 

 

ESPN's 1/3 ownership of TSN plays a big part in this. They just show everything ESPN has already produced rather than producing anything themselves that's not a guaranteed ratings win. That's why TSN airs so much garbage like mid-major college football, bowling, NCAA hockey, even Korean baseball.  

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On 4/8/2021 at 6:32 PM, Tigers said:

The whole XFL thing threatens what I love about the CFL - being independent and Canadian. 

These are the exact same reasons I'm a CPL fan when I never was a soccer fan previously - it's ours, subservient to nobody

 

I haven't been able to bring myself to read any of the articles ever since the XFL-CFL rumours started. Just comments in passing like this thread. It feels like if I look, I'll see my heart being ripped out. I've been so invested in the Ticats for so long and if we move to some bastardized 4-down US league - I don't think I'll be able to follow. 

In my opinion its the opposite of what the CFL needs to do. It needs to be more unique, not more like the Americans. I want what the Irish and Aussies have in the GAA and AFL - our own thing, and screw what anyone else thinks.

The majority of Canadian sports fans disgust me with their love of all that comes out of the US to the detriment of our own. Why on earth should some someone from Hamilton care more about Alabama vs Clemson, than Mac vs Western? It's blindingly obvious what the TV networks have done - easier to buy cheap programming and copy in the hype rather than build our own - but everyone eats it up.

Sorry, this is so barely on topic... thank God I also have the Arrows too, although I'm well aware of the irony of them being in an American league. 

Agreed. I desperately wished the CPL would rub off on the CFL.  I've never understood why the CFL tries to look like a "big" league on television.  It's not the NFL and never will be. Imagine a CFL with 12 teams. Some teams with a 30 0000 seat stadium and others with a 5000 seat stadium. Would that be economically impossible? I'm done with supporting leagues that I cant afford to physically attend on a regular basis. If that means I'm not watching the best of the best so be it. Man I miss live sports.

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10 hours ago, Ftduck said:

Agreed. I desperately wished the CPL would rub off on the CFL.  I've never understood why the CFL tries to look like a "big" league on television.  It's not the NFL and never will be. Imagine a CFL with 12 teams. Some teams with a 30 0000 seat stadium and others with a 5000 seat stadium. Would that be economically impossible? I'm done with supporting leagues that I cant afford to physically attend on a regular basis. If that means I'm not watching the best of the best so be it. Man I miss live sports.

Amen to that!

The CFL missed the boat a long time ago to spread outwards rather than get to big to expand. There's no reason why they shouldn't have teams in London,  KW, Windsor, Quebec, etc, and be sustainable off crowds of 5-10K. London Knights get 8-9k regularly for as many games are in a hockey season! Sure you can't afford multi-100k contracts, but that's okay. It would still be the largest pro league thats totally Canadian. 

Soccer has the opportunity to do exactly that.

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18 hours ago, Cblake said:

Shaan Hundal has signed with Fort Laurderdale of USL-1. Wonder if the uncertainty of the 2021 CPL season played a part in making this choice?

https://www.intermiamicf.com/en/post/2021/04/09/fort-lauderdale-cf-announces-2021-roster

...Or nobody wanted him and he wants to get back to where he was scoring/performing. 

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On 4/10/2021 at 10:31 AM, Tigers said:

Amen to that!

The CFL missed the boat a long time ago to spread outwards rather than get to big to expand. There's no reason why they shouldn't have teams in London,  KW, Windsor, Quebec, etc, and be sustainable off crowds of 5-10K. London Knights get 8-9k regularly for as many games are in a hockey season! Sure you can't afford multi-100k contracts, but that's okay. It would still be the largest pro league thats totally Canadian. 

Soccer has the opportunity to do exactly that.

You're absolutely right about the lost opportunity. Places like Quebec and London have strong local football fans and Windsor's got little else (aside from Detroit baseball in the summer). That said, the logistics are still pretty problematic for CFL-style football. It is that CFL football is expensive to run. You've got teams and training staff that are bigger than any hockey or soccer team, yet playing 10-12 home games to recoup the money.

CFL exists because of its deal with TSN and the big (consistent) crowds from the clubs mostly in the West. It's also run by a lot of guys who remember when CFL used to regularly draw 40-50K to games in places like Montreal, Toronto and Edmonton and don't want to give up that vision.

CPL can avoid those conceits and actually run a league that doesn't have either, yet has the opportunity to grow.

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5 hours ago, Shway said:

...Or nobody wanted him and he wants to get back to where he was scoring/performing. 

Do you think there are Canadians in USL who were of no interest to CPL? For instances Dante Campbell who was on loan to Valour last year on loan from TFC II, re-sgined with TFC II rather than CPL. 

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I am sure there are lots of variables. Could be wages in comparison to what they will give to the team, where coaches see their potential. Maybe Valour coaches didn't see Campbell as a good long term fit or the other way around. Maybe they have better prospects and targets. 

One thing is for sure there is no doubt just being a professional Canadian footballer doesn't guarantee you a CPL spot, nor should it.

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On 4/9/2021 at 6:20 PM, CanadianSoccerFan said:

 

 

ESPN's 1/3 ownership of TSN plays a big part in this. They just show everything ESPN has already produced rather than producing anything themselves that's not a guaranteed ratings win. That's why TSN airs so much garbage like mid-major college football, bowling, NCAA hockey, even Korean baseball.  

What’s wrong with Korean Baseball, rather watch that than some obscure college football game lol. It’s good to show people that there is life beyond MLB in North America . 

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11 hours ago, Cblake said:

Do you think there are Canadians in USL who were of no interest to CPL? For instances Dante Campbell who was on loan to Valour last year on loan from TFC II, re-sgined with TFC II rather than CPL. 

I don’t get it. Are you choosing this player as an example of someone that chose USL over CPL? I can’t say I know much about the guy but it looks like his loan ended after playing far fewer than half the available minutes for a poor Valour team

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So, are teams training yet? If not, are they being prevented from training or is this too early for them to be training for a Victoria Day start? With NHL games authorized for all provinces aside from Nova Scotia, Curling championships going on in Alberta, and Women's hockey championships scheduled to start in BC in a few weeks, I would hope the CPL teams have permission to train now and play in May. All the sports I mentioned are indoor sports, which makes them riskier than soccer (although I would guess that the danger of transmission would be in the locker rooms rather than on the field/ice, since the ceilings are so high any COVID released into the air would presumably be diluted very quickly, but I don't really know that).

The lack of a schedule and lack of news about training (unless I've missed it, I don't use twitter, and the only team thread I follow here is the York United one) is making me nervous. Not that there won't be any season, but that it could be shortened.

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4 minutes ago, Kent said:

So, are teams training yet? If not, are they being prevented from training or is this too early for them to be training for a Victoria Day start? With NHL games authorized for all provinces aside from Nova Scotia, Curling championships going on in Alberta, and Women's hockey championships scheduled to start in BC in a few weeks, I would hope the CPL teams have permission to train now and play in May. All the sports I mentioned are indoor sports, which makes them riskier than soccer (although I would guess that the danger of transmission would be in the locker rooms rather than on the field/ice, since the ceilings are so high any COVID released into the air would presumably be diluted very quickly, but I don't really know that).

The lack of a schedule and lack of news about training (unless I've missed it, I don't use twitter, and the only team thread I follow here is the York United one) is making me nervous. Not that there won't be any season, but that it could be shortened.

I think Pacific, Halifax and Ottawa (in Madrid) are training for sure. Haven't heard about any of the others.

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7 hours ago, Ivan said:

I think Pacific, Halifax and Ottawa (in Madrid) are training for sure. Haven't heard about any of the others.

Edmonton announced today they are training. So I imagine Cavalry must be able to. Wasn't there talk of Forge going to train over in BC? Awuah is there isn't he right now?

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I'm surprised the league hasn't tried a version of the 'Island Games training bubble.' Quite seriously, the East is the one part of the country that's managing reasonably well at the moment and would provide a decent space to train outside. The large number of universities in the region that aren't using their outdoor facilities at the moment would make for an ideal place to train. 

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4 hours ago, camchatkaFC said:

I'm surprised the league hasn't tried a version of the 'Island Games training bubble.' Quite seriously, the East is the one part of the country that's managing reasonably well at the moment and would provide a decent space to train outside. The large number of universities in the region that aren't using their outdoor facilities at the moment would make for an ideal place to train. 

Why would the teams that are doing perfectly fine want go through the added risks and complications of a bubble?

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