CPL Season Schedule

[mpg_29]

What time of year? Length?

My basic outline would be May-October. 

[JerryUnderscore]

There's no way we can have a winter league in Canada.  The conditions just won't allow for it.  It's going to have to be a summer league, probably with a break in the schedule for international competitions.

[CDNFootballer]

The 2018 launch may be Aug-Oct but after that an April - Sept with playoffs into October schedule would be likely. Considering the amount of games per year will probably be 24-28 with 7-10 clubs in year 2 (2019) that schedule would allow for mostly weekend matches which is best. The less midweek games played the better.

Hope they don't start in March like MLS as that league usually has more of its poorer crowds that first month.

[mpg_29]

16 minutes ago, CDNFootballer said:

The 2018 launch may be Aug-Oct but after that an April - Sept with playoffs into October schedule would be likely. Considering the amount of games per year will probably be 24-28 with 7-10 clubs in year 2 (2019) that schedule would allow for mostly weekend matches which is best. The less midweek games played the better.

Hope they don't start in March like MLS as that league usually has more of its poorer crowds that first month.

April is still too early imo. You can't have away games in America for a few weeks like Toronto and Montreal do in MLS.

Not to mention other areas in Canada that are even less warm at that point (Maritimes)

Starting in May would be best bet.

[mpg_29]

2 hours ago, JerryUnderscore said:

There's no way we can have a winter league in Canada.  The conditions just won't allow for it.  It's going to have to be a summer league, probably with a break in the schedule for international competitions.

Well this is obvious..I was just wonder what time in spring to start and whether there would be a break.

[CDNFootballer]

5 minutes ago, mpg_29 said:

April is still too early imo. You can't have away games in America for a few weeks like Toronto and Montreal do in MLS.

Not to mention other areas in Canada that are even less warm at that point (Maritimes)

Starting in May would be best bet.

Wouldn't October be similar to April as far as weather is concerned for some markets though? I think the CPL has to run at least 6 months for its season plus another month for playoffs so May-Sept would be too short.

[JerryUnderscore]

3 hours ago, CDNFootballer said:

Wouldn't October be similar to April as far as weather is concerned for some markets though? I think the CPL has to run at least 6 months for its season plus another month for playoffs so May-Sept would be too short.

I know it isn't very North American, but I'd be okay without playoffs.  Whoever wins the regular season is the champion. Especially if there ends up being promotion and relegation as they've talked about, as well as the possibility of Champions League play, there's no reason you need to have playoffs to determine a champion.

With weather concerns, May through October might be the best option.  Although I'm not sure how the season would be effected by World Cup, Gold Cup or other international competitions.

[Shway]

2019

Season

Mid April - End of September (25 total weeks, 23 with FIFA dates in mind)

- 8 teams (4 West/ 4 East)

- 20 games (4 games home/away vs conference rivals, 2 games home/away  vs opposite conference)

Championship (Playoffs)

Start - Mid October  (3 weeks, 1.5 with FIFA dates in mind)

- Semi Final Aggregate (Top two teams in each conference face of against each other)

- Final Aggregate (Winner of the the 2 Semi-Final games play each other, team with the best regular season record gets home field second leg)

 

[CDNFootballer]

On 2017-06-03 at 1:21 AM, Jahinho Guerro said:

2019

Season

Mid April - End of September (25 total weeks, 23 with FIFA dates in mind)

- 8 teams (4 West/ 4 East)

- 20 games (4 games home/away vs conference rivals, 2 games home/away  vs opposite conference)

Championship (Playoffs)

Start - Mid October  (3 weeks, 1.5 with FIFA dates in mind)

- Semi Final Aggregate (Top two teams in each conference face of against each other)

- Final Aggregate (Winner of the the 2 Semi-Final games play each other, team with the best regular season record gets home field second leg)

 

I like this for the 2019 season except would prefer a one and done for the Final and Semi-finals.

2018 could be a 10-12 game season from Aug-Oct for the initial soft launch season with 6-7 clubs.

[Red Renaissance]

what if cross-regional East/West games were scheduled to be bunched together?
For example- Hamilton has games in Edmonton/Calgary on a Wednesday/Thursday and then Saturday/Sunday. Whereas Edmonton would play Hamilton/Ottawa away in a similar 4 day stretch. If the league could invest in some buses or partner with a coach bus company that could reduce costs greatly for team travel between these cities

 

[Initial B]

There are several constraints on the CPL schedule that is going to make it hard to fit the proposed 28-game schedule into our climate, but here goes my best guess:

League Kickoff would have to be by the first weekend in April. I know it's cold and there will probably be snow on the ground, but there simply not enough time to push back the season start any later. They would get about 9-10 weekends of games in before June. They'll have to be weekends because of the Canadian Championships. The first and second rounds of the Canadian Championships would happen on Tuesdays/Wednesdays in May.  

June/July will be a real struggle various years due to the World Cup, Gold Cup, and FIFA international dates. I expect only to be able to fit about 6-7 weekend games in that period. There is also the matter of the Semis and Finals for the Canadian Championships that are going to have to happen by the end of July because the CONCACAF Champions League first stage will start beginning in August. (Canada will probably have a second team in this part of the tournament since the first automatically makes it to the Round of 16).

There are further FIFA international dates in September, October and November that would interfere with a CPL schedule, but they can probably fit another 11-12 games by the October FIFA break. The playoffs would have to fit between the FIFA October and November international breaks and would probably involve the top 4 teams in the league determined by whatever method they want to use. Up to mid-November the climate is still possible to hold soccer matches but I wouldn't stretch the season any later than that. That's an 8-month season right there.

[Complete Homer]

IIRC, Derek Martin said April to October (maybe that was Beirne?) 

I'm guessing late April in the warmest markets, leave it until at least mid may for the Prairie markets

[jonovision]

I can't speak to the rest of Canada, but October is definitely playable in Winnipeg (one of our coldest cities) and climate change should only help in that regard. You may get a freak snowstorm or cold snap but that's it. (Just looked at a bit of data, Winnipeg has had only two sub-zero high temperature days in October this decade). April is very similar, though more prone to big swings in temperature.

[harrycoyster]

27 minutes ago, jonovision said:

I can't speak to the rest of Canada, but October is definitely playable in Winnipeg (one of our coldest cities) and climate change should only help in that regard. You may get a freak snowstorm or cold snap but that's it. (Just looked at a bit of data, Winnipeg has had only two sub-zero high temperature days in October this decade). April is very similar, though more prone to big swings in temperature.

Playing in early April or late October in places like Winnipeg and Edmonton is possible, but has diminishing returns. I'm not sure how much of the fan base would turn out when the average temperature is around 3 degrees. 

[GuillermoDelQuarto]

45 minutes ago, dsqpr said:

The suggested start in Winnipeg was late April, when the average high is double digits. The average HIGH in late October is more like 8C. The Bombers play in late October and fans turn out.

Mid-late April until late Oct would work just fine in Winnipeg.

this might not be accurate but I feel like late season you'll get a good turnout if the team is doing well regardless of weather, and a poor turnout if they're having an off season, whereas early season might be a bit more predictable and average if its cooler.

I could be way off base though.

edit: not really sure what we would do with this information though

[Juan]

On 2017-06-02 at 8:00 PM, CDNFootballer said:

Wouldn't October be similar to April as far as weather is concerned for some markets though? I think the CPL has to run at least 6 months for its season plus another month for playoffs so May-Sept would be too short.

A 8 team league with everyone facing each other 4 times (2 home and 2 away games) means 28 matches.

Saturday, May 4, 2019 to Saturday, October 26, 2019 is 26 weeks.  I would suggest Saturday, April 27, 2019, to Saturday, November 2, 2019 which is 28 weeks.

Following the example of other leagues around the world. We could wrap up a season within these 28 weeks with weekly league and CPL/Voyageurs Cup matches during the week over 4 match days starting in July. If we have one week where league matches are held on a Wednesday and Saturday, then league could be wrapped up by Oct-26. The cup final could be on Nov-2nd and the final can be played at a host city alternating every year (similar to Grey Cup, UCL, FA Cup, etc).

See below for sample league cup schedule, assuming the CDN clubs in MLS aren't included since they play in an american league.

match day             EAST                                 WEST    
1 (July)                  A vs B    C vs D                 E vs F    G vs H
2 (Aug)                  B vs A    D vs C                 F vs E    H vs G
3 (Sep)                  <A vs B> vs <C vs D>       <E vs F> vs <G vs H>   
4 (Oct)                   <C vs D> vs <A vs B>      <F vs E> vs <H vs G>
5  (1st Sat of Nov)  West vs East            

 

edit: alternatively, we could have 4 weeks where league matches are played on Wednesday and Saturday and then have the 4 Cup Match days on Saturdays.

 

 

[Red Renaissance]

I think the finals at alternating venues is a mistake- I dont think many people in Hamilton would care about a Halifax-Victoria final. Should go to the higher seed, simple as that.
If teams would indeed play each team away twice, I wonder what the feasibility of doing double headers would be? like a Thursday and Sunday game for Hamilton when they play Calgary and Edmonton? something along those lines. Or even playing the outlying cities such as Victoria and Halifax twice in four days when playing away. Would save on airfare thats for sure

[Ansem]

It should be only single table. The conferences with only 6 teams, even up to 10 is laughable

[ReedOnTheGrand]

On 6/14/2017 at 9:46 AM, Red Renaissance said:

what if cross-regional East/West games were scheduled to be bunched together?
For example- Hamilton has games in Edmonton/Calgary on a Wednesday/Thursday and then Saturday/Sunday. Whereas Edmonton would play Hamilton/Ottawa away in a similar 4 day stretch. If the league could invest in some buses or partner with a coach bus company that could reduce costs greatly for team travel between these cities

 

It would be great if they good partner with a budget canadian airline or even Air Canada. Air travel will be necessary especially if there is mid week games.  

[adamjwpgfutebol]

Hmmm. How long the schedule should be. Hmmm. Between late April and end of October is the "sweet spot." CFL does not start till June, Some Canadian NHL teams would be out. So Why not. I still can not wait Until the first Snow Bowl. 

[coppercanuck]

Looking at out competitors in Central America, they are playing 44 league games over 10 months. 12-team leagues in CRC & SLV.  10-team leagues in HON, PAN & NCA.  BLZ is in a poorer condition floating around 6, 9 then 8 for the last couple of seasons.

I'm guessing we need at least 30 games to get some of our players some good competitive training and experience.  That initial 6-team league might only yield 20 games with the double home/away format.  10-team would get us to 18 games with that standard league format, 12-team equals 22 games.  Those central American countries are doing that twice.  I agree that our climate won't allow that 10-month season.

2019 - with two FIFA dates in June and League play from Victoria Day to Labour Day yields 15 Saturdays.  That's a great start in my opinion.  Only need to add 7 mid week dates or extensions to that "base season".  V Cup dates? leaning toward late Jun/Jul depending on what this new CONCACAF format turns into.  Extra spot for Canada? (I doubt it).  I added 6 games, 3 rounds of 2-games aggregate play.  Need a CPL Cup to add a few extra games?

It's a good looking schedule.  The old CSL was around 26 to 28 games.  With MLS at 34 games, what is the ideal?

[Complete Homer]

12 minutes ago, coppercanuck said:

Looking at out competitors in Central America, they are playing 44 league games over 10 months. 12-team leagues in CRC & SLV.  10-team leagues in HON, PAN & NCA.  BLZ is in a poorer condition floating around 6, 9 then 8 for the last couple of seasons.

I'm guessing we need at least 30 games to get some of our players some good competitive training and experience.  That initial 6-team league might only yield 20 games with the double home/away format.  10-team would get us to 18 games with that standard league format, 12-team equals 22 games.  Those central American countries are doing that twice.  I agree that our climate won't allow that 10-month season.

2019 - with two FIFA dates in June and League play from Victoria Day to Labour Day yields 15 Saturdays.  That's a great start in my opinion.  Only need to add 7 mid week dates or extensions to that "base season".  V Cup dates? leaning toward late Jun/Jul depending on what this new CONCACAF format turns into.  Extra spot for Canada? (I doubt it).  I added 6 games, 3 rounds of 2-games aggregate play.  Need a CPL Cup to add a few extra games?

It's a good looking schedule.  The old CSL was around 26 to 28 games.  With MLS at 34 games, what is the ideal?

I'd take Halifax stadium agreement as an indicator. No more than 14 home dates, implying at most a 28 game schedule, less if you start thinking about playoffs and the V-cup

[Macksam]

On June 2, 2017 at 0:40 PM, mpg_29 said:

What time of year? Should season be split? Length?

My basic outline would be May-October. 

I've seen this come up recently on here. Could someone give me one good reason why this is a good idea besides utilizing it for World Cup and Gold Cup breaks?

[Gopherbashi]

7 hours ago, Macksam said:

I've seen this come up recently on here. Could someone give me one good reason why this is a good idea besides utilizing it for World Cup and Gold Cup breaks?

If it's anything like the central american leagues where you also have end-of-spring playoffs, it could be useful in generating mid-season playoff race interest.

If a team has a crappy spring season, it gives them the opportunity to make something worthwhile of their fall season run, rather than just languishing near the bottom of the standings for the full year.  Once again, better for general interest.

Not saying I suppose a split season, but those are possible benefits.

[Initial B]

A split season would be good if the league goes with a single table format, because you could have a NASL-style 4-team playoff format and might keep fan interest longer if there's a chance your crappy first half of the season could be redeemed by a stellar second half. Otherwise, a two conference format will produce playoffs as per most other major NA leagues.