CPL Season Schedule

[Zem]

1 hour ago, Kent said:

It’s a bold move. I don’t mind following a league that doesn’t have playoffs, I just hope that if it pushes fans away that they won’t make it their hill to die on.

The majority of soccer fans in Canada primarily follow leagues that don't have playoffs. Nobody in Canada who's interested in football is "pushed away" from the Premier League or La Liga because of a lack of playoffs.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

The problem with not having playoffs in a CanPL context is that there is also going to be no relegation to keep things interesting at the bottom of the standings, so by about half way through a lot of games will start to become meaningless in competitive terms and that can impact negatively on the level of fan interest.

People take this traditionalism over how soccer should be organized a bit too far sometimes, in my opinion. Always think mascots are a good example. Almost all pro level clubs in the UK have one now as clubs know that some of the under 10s that are there are captivated by it and it can be a bit of harmless fun for older fans as well:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4068154/Mascots-behaving-badly-10-English-football-s-worst-offenders.html

but it seems to be anathema to some of the fan group types in Canada as they see it as an attempt to Americanize the sport.

[Cheeta]

Neither here nor there with me.  Knock out contests are always fun but probably a good idea to give playoffs a pass for now.  Have to remember there are a lot of people out there who're going to have to learn how to add twenty something dates to their footie viewing calendar over the summer months.  Maybe more.  That's a big ask for a lot of people already. 

[Ansem]

Just have the Canadian Championship Semifinals and finals coincide with the end of the CPL season.

[MtlMario]

I like the idea, but not sure the MLS teams would like the timing.

[clb2c4e]

No playoffs sounds more like a move to keep things simple. With 7 or 8 teams playoffs are going to be a rehash of the season anyways. Make this coming year a success, solidify next year with a few more teams and then start the dialogue about playoffs etc etc. 

[Ansem]

1 hour ago, MtlMario said:

I like the idea, but not sure the MLS teams would like the timing.

It's not just about them anymore and wouldn't be that much different for CPL teams. 

[SpursFlu]

I think playoffs would be nice to create a signature moment of the first season

[Watchmen]

1 hour ago, Ansem said:

Just have the Canadian Championship Semifinals and finals coincide with the end of the CPL season.

That would put you head to head with the start of the NHL season, which would be one of the worst times to hold it. 

[SkuseisLoose]

17 hours ago, sting said:

I see no playoffs. Do you think this is a good idea in a country that has playoffs for almost all sports. Hockey, baseball, football and even soccer for kids and adults is the normal. 

Maybe it’s different in Vancouver vs other cities but I never had playoffs when playing as a kid. We had a league table and 2 cups but no playoffs 

[Ansem]

51 minutes ago, Watchmen said:

That would put you head to head with the start of the NHL season, which would be one of the worst times to hold it. 

Didn't stop millions to watch the Canadian derby playoffs and MLS Cup while NHL games were on TV. 

CSA needs to package that tournament better and promote it better. Canadians will tune in for games that matters.

[Watchmen]

57 minutes ago, Ansem said:

Didn't stop millions to watch the Canadian derby playoffs and MLS Cup while NHL games were on TV. 

CSA needs to package that tournament better and promote it better. Canadians will tune in for games that matters.

I would suggest that the NHL in November/December is not quite the same as October, when teams are returning and there's interest in every hockey market just to see what they have for this year.  And sadly, as much as I like the Voyagers Cup, it's clearly not viewed by the majority of soccer fans as being on the level of the MLS Cup or playoffs, as evidenced by the much lower attendance for Voyagers Cup games and an inability to even get a tv contract for the early rounds this year.

[toontownman]

14 home games 14 away was quoted then 20-28 games (Assuming 8 or no 8th team). Indicates each team plays each other 4 times most likely?. No playoffs, as mentioned previously unless they are doing two legs for the top four, which would be a bit silly imo. Could do an internal cup but think that is also bit pointless with Voyageurs Cup also happening. 

I'm biased as I didn't grow up around the playoff culture so I am happy to have it where the winner of league is the most meaningful and end goal. I don't have a problem with those that like it and don't think there is a right or wrong. Both have upsides and downs, both neglect the foot of the table.

[Winnipeg Fury]

 

Playoffs, no playoffs.................I'm good either way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sting]

7 hours ago, SkuseisLoose said:

Maybe it’s different in Vancouver vs other cities but I never had playoffs when playing as a kid. We had a league table and 2 cups but no playoffs 

Here in Manitoba it has been play regular season  May and June with playoffs in September. The Premier teams take a few weeks off in the summer. Personally I like playoffs. I found it quite fun to follow Toronto through to the championship in MLS. The old Canadian Soccer League had playoffs and I enjoyed that as well. I will adjust but I would prefer it if possible.

[Blackjack15]

The weather in the praires (AB, SK & MB) in October isn’t very good and it wouldn’t be smart for the league to schedule lots of games during June-August all the way through September 

Even May there’s some snow on the ground! 

The climate in Van Island, Southern Ontario and East Coast must be a lot better to start off and finish the season right? 

[Metroimpact]

Give Gold, Silver and Bronze medals/trophies to the top three places and wooden spoon to the last place. That is 3 spots to play for and 1 spot to avoid. Should give all 7 or 8 clubs with something to play for near the end of the season.

 

Over the seasons, hopefully a culture will develop of keeping a tally on how many medals and spoons teams have won.

[Cheeta]

What's the prize money in the EPL these days?  3M for every position above 20th?  There's an incentive for you.

[RickC]

One thing that could be relatively easily implemented is to reward the higher-placed teams with a later entry in the following years' Canadian Championship. The incentive of $$ usually works well although there won't likely be much $$ on the table. But, pro athletes will play harder to get a few more dollars, to share in a trophy, etc. Something really special should go to the team and the players of the winner of the inaugural season.

[Unnamed Trialist]

I agree with those saying it could go either way, playoffs or not. 

Winning team in regular season gets the Champions League spot. Or winner regular season plays off against winner of league after playoffs to determine that spot, in a Canadian SuperCup.

Ranking in the league should have some effect on something else, however, like seeding for Voyageurs Cup. Combine results in Cup with results in league to determine seeds. That, at least, gives teams something to play for later in the season. 

The advantage of playoffs, when you have no relegation, is that you have teams playing for something later in the season, or spoiling for the teams that are. A playoff with semis, home and away, and final, also home and away, may be the best bet. Or reduce even more and have the semi winnners play the final at the stadium of the team with most regular season points. That is just three more matches in November (final a week or so before the Grey Cup).

[Kent]

Interesting ideas. The problem I see with the cash prize for placement in the league is that the team itself may care about that, but the fans probably a lot less so. It's not nearly as tangible for the fans, especially since there will be a salary cap.

The problem with using league position to seed the Voyageurs Cup is what to do with MLS teams. I think most people on this board don't want MLS teams to have higher seeding than CPL teams, so is it possible to seed CPL teams based on league play without putting MLS teams either higher up or lower down the seeding? Or are the people suggesting seeding CPL teams based on league play also supporters of having MLS teams seeded higher than CPL teams? I can't keep track of who has which opinion on each topic.

The Gold, Silver, Bronze, Wooden Spoon idea seems to me the most practical out of the ideas proposed so far.

[Red and White]

Working the following year's Voyageurs Cup as a means of adding significance to the standings seems like a good idea to me. If there's an issue of keeping MLS teams seeded equal to CPL sides, standings can be used to set draws instead if giving teams 'byes' to later rounds. Or, bottom two clubs in CPL go through a play-in round with Div 3 teams (L1O and Quebec Premier League) with the winners joining everyone else. Top teams in the CPL standings can also have the benefit of being in the same 'pot' as MLS teams in match up draws, giving them better chance to progress since they face stronger opposition later on.

Of course, the top team in CPL standings should get a regular season 'supporters shield' or some sort of silverware.

Doing something like this makes CPL standings meaningfull and gives the V's Cup prestige and attention.

[SpursFlu]

If there was a cup competition i would be fine with no playoffs. Technically there is not because Voyageurs final is likely not to feature a CPL team, definitely wont feature 2 CPL teams

[Kent]

3 hours ago, Red and White said:

If there's an issue of keeping MLS teams seeded equal to CPL sides, standings can be used to set draws instead if giving teams 'byes' to later rounds. Or, bottom two clubs in CPL go through a play-in round with Div 3 teams (L1O and Quebec Premier League) with the winners joining everyone else. Top teams in the CPL standings can also have the benefit of being in the same 'pot' as MLS teams in match up draws, giving them better chance to progress since they face stronger opposition later on.

Maybe I'm not understanding what your suggestion. I don't see how any of this has MLS and CPL teams being treated equal. What do you mean by "standings can be used to set draws"? How does that work when you have teams in different leagues?

Your next suggestion has the bottom CPL clubs going through a play in round, so again, this isn't equal with MLS. With this scenario it wouldn't matter even if the 3 Canadian MLS teams were the 3 worst teams in their league, they would still be given a bye compared to the bottom couple CPL teams.

Then the third thing you mention (or a reiteration of the second perhaps?) says if you are a CPL team you have to be one of the top ones to make it into the same pot that MLS teams get into by default.

None of that is equitable between the two leagues. The second two give preferential treatment to MLS teams, and the first one doesn't really explain how it would work.

[Red and White]

@Kent I suppose it's down to your level of strictness when you define 'equal' in a competition sense. To me, being introduced in the same round is defined as equal because, if you're good enough, you play the same number of matches as everyone else to win the competition.

By default, it's difficult not to put the MLS teams in higher 'pots' for draws in the first year or two, since the expectation is they progress further. Being in a low pot means nothing competitively, since, if you're good enough, you'll beat whoever you get.

It's true that having bottom ranked CPL teams in a play in round goes against treating them completely equal to MLS teams. It doesn't have to be the case if there's emphasis of treating CPL teams completely equal.