CPL General

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

 

This guy knows how to be the centre of attention.

 

[Rheo]

Or it could be him being honest and upfront with his followers because his job that he actually makes his living from might be slightly more important than a soccer article.

Does everything have to so cynical?  The real world exists outside the soccer bubble lol

[BuzzAndSting]

2 hours ago, BradMack said:

What would be FC Edmonton's plan if they don't play in NASL in 2018? Do you take the year off and come into CPL in 2019 completely rebranded? Or just hope nobody notices the year off? Tricky situation... plus they have to have some guys on multi year deals right?

There's no way they take a year off, that would incur so many losses from players, staff, ticket sales, sponsorships... The only alternative is USL but as Sandor has said a few times the Faths are very much against the business model and there's no way he sees them ending up there. 

[BradMack]

Just now, BuzzAndSting said:

There's no way they take a year off, that would incur so many losses from players, staff, ticket sales, sponsorships... The only alternative is USL but as Sandor has said a few times the Faths are very much against the business model and there's no way he sees them ending up there. 

Then what is the alternative? if there isn't an NASL next year do they scratch the first team and play PDL for a summer with their young players? 

[kodiakTFC]

17 hours ago, Dub Narcotic said:

AFTN reported on the latest podcast that the CPL have essentially given up on the 2018 start and are planning for 2019.

I've actually known this for weeks but refrained from posting out of respect for my source. This was basically decided at that last major meeting.

[BradMack]

It makes a lot of sense for the league to start in 2019. Full season will make it more legit and easier to sign players, potentially more then six teams, and more time to try and get Ottawa on board as well. 

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

46 minutes ago, Rheo said:

...Does everything have to so cynical?  The real world exists outside the soccer bubble lol

I am posting from my workplace during some down time, so I am well aware of that. He could simply have waited until the story was finished and posted it then, but what he did was the twitter version of a prolonged drum roll to build suspense.

4 minutes ago, BuzzAndSting said:

There's no way they take a year off, that would incur so many losses from players, staff, ticket sales, sponsorships...

Perhaps worth bearing in mind that they are losing into seven figures per season. The financial angle probably isn't the main consideration, because if it was they would have long since folded by now. As things stand the year out thing will probably be determined by whether the NASL gets its injuction or not and it is still not fully clear (maybe Nipun Chopra is about to tell us otherwise) that CanPL is their preferred plan A, if the NASL is able to turn things around in a big way between now and 2019. Holding all those class B shares might become quite lucrative at that point.

[BuzzAndSting]

15 minutes ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

I am posting from my workplace during some down time, so I am well aware of that. He could simply have waited until the story was finished and posted it then, but what he did was the twitter version of a prolonged drum roll to build suspense.

Perhaps worth bearing in mind that they are losing into seven figures per season. The financial angle probably isn't the main consideration, because if it was they would have long since folded by now. As things stand the year out thing will probably be determined by whether the NASL gets its injuction or not and it is still not fully clear (maybe Nipun Chopra is about to tell us otherwise) that CanPL is their preferred plan A, if the NASL is able to turn things around in a big way between now and 2019. Holding all those class B shares might become quite lucrative at that point.

I was speaking of a much larger scope than just financial losses. It seems that there's only 4 options;

1. Stick with the NASL for next year and potentially beyond. All indications are that this isn't happening but who knows.

2. Move to the USL for next season or longer. This flies in the face of what Sandor has reported regarding the Fath's view of the USL and his own personal opinion as a very well informed insider.

3. Take a season off and wait for the CPL. As mentioned, the losses I was speaking of would be much broader than just financial. Assuming you want to maintain your key front office personnel and your key players this requires running the business in some form or another without generating revenue. It also means you'd take a major step back in sponsorship and ticket sales. This seems a very unlikely scenario.

4. Join the CPL for a launch in 2018. Seemingly now this is unlikely.

I think the 2018 launch may still be on. Larson said as late as last week that he thinks there will be a major announcement just after the new year, that would be very early for a 2019 launch but almost perfect for a 2018 launch.

In terms of Edmonton it has to be one of 2 or 4 in my opinion, they're the only two that make sense. 

Edited October 16, 2017 by BuzzAndSting

[Rheo]

9 minutes ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

I am posting from my workplace during some down time, so I am well aware of that. He could simply have waited until the story was finished and posted it then, but what he did was the twitter version of a prolonged drum roll to build suspense.

And you know this is what he did for a fact?  Can I see the proof of this please?  

I was half way through this reply and got distracted by work.  It happens.  You might be right but please don't pass it off as truth without evidence that you quite often demand yourself.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

Whatever.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

49 minutes ago, BuzzAndSting said:

I think the 2018 launch may still be on. Larson said as late as last week that he thinks there will be a major announcement just after the new year, that would be very early for a 2019 launch but almost perfect for a 2018 launch...

Was that what he said? Sounded more to me like when he thought the best time to make an announcement would be in news cycle terms. Think the issue that may have been the pivotal one for a 2018 launch could have been Halifax not closing the deal yet on the pop-up and there being no Soccer Nova Scotia event last month. Without them it's difficult to see the pathway to 6 for 2018 even with Ottawa and Edmonton on board plus Hamilton and Winnipeg to make four, because the other builder markets are not far enough along or have already ruled themselves out in Saskatoon's case. You need a scenario like the OSA Soccer Centre and Swangard at that point, because there is a very limited number of viable pre-existing venues for this.

Edited October 16, 2017 by BringBackTheBlizzard

[Complete Homer]

25 minutes ago, Rheo said:

And you know this is what he did for a fact?  Can I see the proof of this please?  

I was half way through this reply and got distracted by work.  It happens.  You might be right but please don't pass it off as truth without evidence that you quite often demand yourself.

I guess anyone who isn't making a living off of this is doing it for attention to "drum up support for their podcast", since it's apparently impossible for someone to put in unpaid hours just because they love soccer and want to put a spotlight on stories passed over by the mainstream media.

[BuzzAndSting]

9 minutes ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

Was that what he said? Sounded more to me like when he thought the best time to make an announcement would be in news cycle terms. Think the issue that may have been the pivotal one for a 2018 launch could have been Halifax not closing the deal yet on the pop-up and there being no Soccer Nova Scotia event last month. Without them it's difficult to see the pathway to 6 for 2018 even with Ottawa and Edmonton on board plus Hamilton and Winnipeg to make four, because the other builder markets are not far enough along or have already ruled themselves out in Saskatoon's case. You need a scenario like the OSA Soccer Centre and Swangard at that point, because there is a very limited number of viable pre-existing venues for this.

"There's a lot stuff that's going to come out, it's just a matter of when. Do you report it during MLS playoffs? Probably not. Do you wait till after the new year? That would be my thinking because then you're going to have the news cycle all to yourself but, Mike, I think there's a lot of stuff out there that's going to come out sooner, it's going to surprise and make a lot of fans in the Toronto area, the Vancouver are, and other cities pretty happy."

Take from that what you will. I take it that there's a major announcement coming soon and that he believes it will happen in the new year. 

[Rheo]

Awwww come on BBTB, what's wrong lol.  Someone sure is touchy 

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

2 minutes ago, BuzzAndSting said:

...I take it that there's a major announcement coming soon and that he believes it will happen in the new year. 

Was he going to say that he isn't really in the loop on this and knows no more than the people listening to his podcast, because his TFC III column around this time last year didn't go down too well with the people that matter where CanPL are concerned given there was no attempt to balance MLSE's take on things with their perspective? He is the TFC beat writer for the Toronto Sun, so he is maybe not the most likely journalist to be fully tuned in on this compared to somebody like Steve Milton at the Hamilton Spectator who has a closer working relationship with the Ticats.

[BradMack]

We should try to avoid personal conflicts happening in this thread, we're all big boys here. 

To maybe keep this conversation going in a more positive manner, what do you guys think should/will happen with the reserve teams? I'm assuming the CanPL teams will have some sort of reserve team set up eventually linked with a sort of earlier MLS style academy. This probably wont happen in te first few years, but once a U15-U19 sort of Academy is set up I would hope to see reserve players and academy players making teams to play in L10, PLSQ and hopefully a Prarie, Maritime and BC equivilent. This would be good for player development and also add stable teams to those leagues. 

[BuzzAndSting]

5 minutes ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

Was he going to say that he isn't really in the loop on this and knows no more than the people listening to his podcast, because his TFC III column around this time last year didn't go down too well with the people that matter where CanPL are concerned given there was no attempt to balance MLSE's take on things with their perspective? He is the TFC beat writer for the Toronto Sun, so he is maybe not the most likely journalist to be fully tuned in on this compared to somebody like Steve Milton at the Hamilton Spectator who has a closer working relationship with the Ticats.

Not sure what your point is and it doesn't seem like you've actually watched the video so I don't know why you're speculating on the meaning of it's content. 

"How much CPL info is out there but you can't really report on it? Quite a bit. You have the side conversations, you meet with people. I think there's a lot more happening than has been reported but the problem is, the reason it's not being reported is because some things aren't, you know, 100% set in stone you know. I think they want to have 10 teams lined up across the country. The question is, the problem in reporting that is, and really releasing that kind of information or even the league coming out with that information is that nothing is signed, sealed and delivered. So I think there's a lot of things, a lot exciting things, going on behind the scenes, the more I hear about it the more excited I am, the stadiums in Halifax, the stadiums in Saskatoon or Regina, and other regions that are more, have big soccer fan bases but are under represented right now via Major League Soccer. There's a lot of stuff that's going to come out, it's just a matter of when..."

[Complete Homer]

28 minutes ago, BradMack said:

We should try to avoid personal conflicts happening in this thread, we're all big boys here. 

To maybe keep this conversation going in a more positive manner, what do you guys think should/will happen with the reserve teams? I'm assuming the CanPL teams will have some sort of reserve team set up eventually linked with a sort of earlier MLS style academy. This probably wont happen in te first few years, but once a U15-U19 sort of Academy is set up I would hope to see reserve players and academy players making teams to play in L10, PLSQ and hopefully a Prarie, Maritime and BC equivilent. This would be good for player development and also add stable teams to those leagues. 

I'm a little more pessimistic on this front. I could see no reserve squads for a long time, and only a few true academies with the wealthier owners (for example, we know Halifax won't have an academy at least initially, but Hamilton has made reference to wanting an academy with the dome articles). 

What I do see happening is official affiliations with more professional teams in L1O, local preexisting academies, etc. 

Though hopefully the league is a financial success and allows those types of programs to spring up quicker. All just guessing of course

Edited October 16, 2017 by Complete Homer

[Rheo]

My last word on this, I've got no personal issue.  I just don't think it's fair to accuse someone of something without proof.  

As for academies, I have no clue.  Not a subject I'm well versed on.  I'm assuming lots of affiliations with established academies until they have the ability to start their own, whenever that will be.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

I have watched the video. I supplied the timing for where that answer started if you check back. The quotes youhave taken the time to provide sounded to me like a very long winded way of saying, "I don't know but there will no doubt be more news soon". My point is that there is no evidence that Kurt Larson is hugely in the loop where CanPL is concerned (has he ever broken a story on that beyond MLSE's take on things?) and any more likely to know when things will be announced than anyone posting in this thread, with the possible exception of kodiakTFC who claims to have an inside source where the last big CanPL meeting was concerned and to have been told that 2018 is not happening. On balance, my money is on kodiakTFC having the inside info in this particular case and I don't see anything in what Kurt Larson said that actually contradicts that given his big announcement could revolve around 2019, but time will tell.

 

[Gopherbashi]

I don't think this will be anywhere near advanced enough to have formal academies - especially for teams outside of Ontario and Quebec who don't have a lower-level league sanctioned by the CSA.  Partnerships with D3 or PDL teams/leagues, maybe, but I think most will rely on finding talent that those lower levels can find rather than trying to grow their own.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

9 minutes ago, Gopherbashi said:

I don't think this will be anywhere near advanced enough to have formal academies - especially for teams outside of Ontario and Quebec who don't have a lower-level league sanctioned by the CSA.  Partnerships with D3 or PDL teams/leagues, maybe, but I think most will rely on finding talent that those lower levels can find rather than trying to grow their own.

The other angle is that if you want to get along with local youth clubs and use them to generate group sales taking their best players into an academy setup is usually not a good way to build a good relationship with them because coaches and administrators tend to resent losing their best players and no longer being the big fish in a small pond locally. The Ottawa Fury who rely heavily on youth soccer group sales shut down their academy that had been in place since their PDL days at the end of 2016, for example.

Edited October 16, 2017 by BringBackTheBlizzard

[Kent]

I think FC Edmonton plays in a local men's league and crushes everyone, then take the Challenger Cup, in their between year.

For the person that speculated that early 2018 would be too early to announce a 2019 season, we are given more advance notice for the release of movies and video games. Not to mention expansion teams in established leagues.

I will feel a lot better when we have a launch date with a list of teams. I don't feel good about assuming 2019 because 2018 looks unlikely. If 2018 can be missed, 2019 could be missed too.

[ironcub14]

My quick take on FCEd and the Faths is that they may end up signing a letter of commitment with NASL for 2018 soon if the CPL brass really does end up deciding or has already unofficially decided that it will launch in 2019 instead of 2018.

The one option that people haven't mentioned upthread, recently anyways, is NISA. I believe they're aiming for 2018, correct? If FCEd is on board with CPL and CSA is satisfied with that, I can see CSA sanctioning a 1-year stay in NISA, if NASL does end up going belly up due to the D2 sanctioning court battle.

Or go dominate NPSL or something for a year. There's a clear alliance between NASL, NISA and NPSL on one side, and between MLS, USL and USL PDL on the other. Or take the year off or whatever as people have suggested.

[Gopherbashi]

54 minutes ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

The other angle is that if you want to get along with local youth clubs and use them to generate group sales taking their best players into an academy setup is usually not a good way to build a good relationship with them because coaches and administrators tend to resent losing their best players and no longer being the big fish in a small pond locally. The Ottawa Fury who rely heavily on youth soccer group sales shut down their academy that had been in place since their PDL days at the end of 2016, for example.

Perhaps not the youth clubs, but the academies would like that setup.  If they can brag, like Sigma can for example, that their players are being picked up by pro teams, it increases their prestige and the amount of money they can rake in.