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Ottawa CPL Club


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4 hours ago, Gopherbashi said:

Remember the good old days when OFFC was leading the charge into CPL and the Faths were the holdouts?

I remember that as well. Was there not something about USL suddenly demanding a three year commitment from all teams recently to prevent the Fresno scenario happening again? That may be what tipped the scales, if this really is about them folding up shop.

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Ottawa Citizen story:

https://ottawacitizen.com/sports/breaking-ottawa-fury-to-suspend-operations

What has been a bad week for The Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group keeps getting worse...

Wonder if this could be relevant in that regard:

https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/oseg-take-over-plans-for-lansdowne-park-paused-1.4671606

...Asked if it was a loss for OSEG - CEO Mark Goudie said not at all.

“We sent the city a proposal to get into a dialogue of what we all want, I think, which is to make a better Lansdowne - so I think that is where we are headed,” Goudie said.

During an update provided to FEDco Goudie said OSEG lost $12.7 million on Lansdowne from January 2018 until March 2019.

Goudie said the goal for OSEG is to get more people to Lansdowne and find ways to make it more enjoyable for more people.

Edited by Ozzie_the_parrot
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8 hours ago, Watchmen said:

I guess we'll find out more tomorrow, but my first thought on hearing the news was "if they'd rather fold than join the CPL, that's a bad look for the CPL". 

I don't think that's what happened.

It sounds like they are losing their sanctioning. And their only option was to join CPL or fold. So they decided to fold instead.

The rumour I have seen is that CPL was going to allow them to join the inaugural season with no expansion fee. But now that 1 year has passed and the league has established some sponsors and other revenue streams they now want an expansion fee. And the Fury balked at that.

Edited by narduch
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https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/communitys-battle-for-lansdowne-park-lingers-as-dozens-tell-council-members-to-kill-oseg-takeover

... The Lansdowne partnership has so far not produced winning results on the ledger. While OSEG’s operating income has been in the black since 2016, it’s still producing a large net loss when other non-operating matters are factored in, such as depreciation, interest and borrowing costs. The net loss for the 15-month period ending last March 31 was $12.7 million.
Over the 30-year agreement, OSEG doesn’t expect to make back $69 million of its investment, and the city wouldn’t get a dime on its “deemed equity,” which is the fifth rung on the partnership’s payback priority ladder.
...

 

Edited by Ozzie_the_parrot
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Based on that it sounds like its larger than the Fury.

And might also threaten the future of the CFL team.

There hasn't been a peep from either CONCACAF or CSA with respect to the sanctioning.

We don't know if Fury are just throwing in the keys on their own.

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@Ozzie_the_parrot OSEG has done very well on their investment even with the operating losses. The RedBlacks and 67s both turn a profit and the residential component was a huge success. Even earlier this year there were reports the Fury were finally turning a small profit. The operating losses stem from the groups own ignorance at securing partnerships with bland, boring, chain franchises. There's nothing innovative about the development so when there's no programming there's no draw. They knew this ahead of time as all consultations revealed this as the public's sentiment however they didn't execute the commercial plan it properly. Now they want to control the spaces that can generate more money through larger events, which will be filled with more programming. It makes sense and I support it because the programming that the City has brought for the square, the Horticulture Building and the Aberdeen Pavillion have been okay but not enough to create any real traction.

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8 minutes ago, MM3/MM2/MM said:

Ottawa Sun article: https://ottawasun.com/sports/soccer/mls/ottawa-fury-fc/ottawa-fury-fc-set-to-suspend-operations

Interesting comment on De Guzman, "And now they are done, though de Guzman will be a force in Canadian soccer for years to come."

Where? His only choice will be Canada Soccer or CanPL or maybe MLS.

Assuming that's the same as the Don Campbell Ottawa Citizen article (which it almost certainly is, being the same author and the same company), I call bull on his De Guzman comments, mostly because the rest of it is full of bull. The most obvious is when he describes USL as a step up from both NASL and CPL, despite no evidence whatsoever to support that. This Campbell dude seems like an OSEG sycophant to me.

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12 minutes ago, MM3/MM2/MM said:

Ottawa Sun article: https://ottawasun.com/sports/soccer/mls/ottawa-fury-fc/ottawa-fury-fc-set-to-suspend-operations

Interesting comment on De Guzman, "And now they are done, though de Guzman will be a force in Canadian soccer for years to come."

Where? His only choice will be Canada Soccer or CanPL or maybe MLS.

 

"Lower tier CPL"     What a clown. 

OSEG/Ottawa Fury totally misplayed their hand.  They have nobody to blame but themselves.  

 

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I feel really bad for soccer fans in Ottawa, I know quite a few of them and consider them friends, every one of them were bitterly disappointed the team didn't join CPL, now they have nothing! It's a real shame the way this all came down, I just have to wonder how much better things would have been if ownership would have been brave and joined CPL instead of fighting them!

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https://ottawasun.com/sports/soccer/mls/ottawa-fury-fc/ottawa-fury-fc-set-to-suspend-operations

...Announced crowds at the Fury games at TD Place were often of 5,000 or more. In reality, no more than 1,500 were in stands on many given nights and afternoons...

Something for some on here to ponder who fixate on those sorts of announced numbers elsewhere.

...The Fury were a financial drain on OSEG, where the Ottawa 67’s might be the only profitable entity among the stable of soccer and the Redblacks, the net loss may be as much as $2 million per season...

And FCE didn't provide much evidence for a spike in attendance due to Canadian teams being involved, but having said that if CanPL is getting one thing right it is keeping player salaries low and avoiding having a few larger teams spending freely and forcing the rest to spend more than they should to remain competitive. Salary caps (and acting as a single entity on revenue streams like sponsorships through CSB) were sensible ways to go.

Edited by Ozzie_the_parrot
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2 minutes ago, InBorjanWeTrust said:

Can't wait for Gatineau to get a team!!!!

That may be longer than expected. FC Gatineau just folded up their PLSQ operations, so don't expect any sort of step up from them.

If Ottawa Fury fold, as we all fear, that leaves OSU Force in League1 Ontario as the highest-level of soccer in the capital region.

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16 minutes ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

https://ottawasun.com/sports/soccer/mls/ottawa-fury-fc/ottawa-fury-fc-set-to-suspend-operations

...Announced crowds at the Fury games at TD Place were often of 5,000 or more. In reality, no more than 1,500 were in stands on many given nights and afternoons...

Something for some on here to ponder who fixate on those sorts of announced numbers elsewhere.

...The Fury were a financial drain on OSEG, where the Ottawa 67’s might be the only profitable entity among the stable of soccer and the Redblacks, the net loss may be as much as $2 million per season...

And FCE didn't provide much evidence for a spike in attendance due to Canadian teams being involved, but having said that if CanPL is getting one thing right it is keeping player salaries low and avoiding having a few larger teams spending freely and forcing the rest to spend more than they should to remain competitive. Salary caps (and acting as a single entity on revenue streams like sponsorships through CSB) were sensible ways to go.

And this is why people hate you... A perfect example of how you take things out of context to fit your narrative.

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3 minutes ago, BuzzAndSting said:

And this is why people hate you... A perfect example of how you take things out of context to fit your narrative.

The real funny part of that post is this though:

Something for some on here to ponder who fixate on those sorts of announced numbers elsewhere.

That gave me a good LOL.

 

Edited by narduch
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2 minutes ago, JamboAl said:

There'll be a US team in the CPL before there is a team in Gatineau.  (Of course I'm exaggerating a bit IMO but both are unlikely).   

I this point, I think there'll be a Gatineau team in the CPL sooner than an Ottawa team. I'm pretty sick of this, I'm gonna have to move to Montreal.

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37 minutes ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

https://ottawasun.com/sports/soccer/mls/ottawa-fury-fc/ottawa-fury-fc-set-to-suspend-operations

...Announced crowds at the Fury games at TD Place were often of 5,000 or more. In reality, no more than 1,500 were in stands on many given nights and afternoons...

Something for some on here to ponder who fixate on those sorts of announced numbers elsewhere.

...The Fury were a financial drain on OSEG, where the Ottawa 67’s might be the only profitable entity among the stable of soccer and the Redblacks, the net loss may be as much as $2 million per season...

And FCE didn't provide much evidence for a spike in attendance due to Canadian teams being involved, but having said that if CanPL is getting one thing right it is keeping player salaries low and avoiding having a few larger teams spending freely and forcing the rest to spend more than they should to remain competitive. Salary caps (and acting as a single entity on revenue streams like sponsorships through CSB) were sensible ways to go.

The team that has no player salaries is the only profitable entity 😅

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1 minute ago, grigorio said:

The team that has no player salaries is the only profitable entity 😅

My speculation is that the RedBlacks are profitable on a year to year basis, the TSN deal and salary cap ensures that. The team has "lost money" because they're probably posting the losses of hosting the Grey Cup over multiple years.

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Just posted now..

https://www.ottawafuryfc.com/

Well, Crap.

John Pugh lays all the blame at the feet of politics. I hope Montigliani got what he wanted. Still, there's a lot left unsaid about the financial side of things that brough them to this state. I want to see the money trail. I feel so bad for John since he put so much energy over the years into building the organization, and now OSEG has left him with nothing.

Edited by Initial B
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A few things,

1) The letter says they are suspending operations for 2020, not folding.  Leaving it open to interpretation that they will play in 2021 or later in a league somewhere. 

2) The Fury are still operating their developmental program.  Why would you do this if you didn't plan on having a first team in the near future?

3) Don't blame others and the constraints of time when you knew for at least a year that this was a very real possibility.

4) There is a lot of chest puffing with regards to development and playing time to Canadians which is exactly what the CPL's aim is.  If the development of the Canadian game is really of such importance to them why stay away from CPL which sole focus is developing Canadian soccer.  Why try to sandbag the CPL on social media before a ball was even kicked?

Overall, this sounds like a "see you later" rather than a "goodbye" letter.

Edited by Stouffvillain
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