Ottawa CPL Club

[Sébastien]

Hey @admin,

I think this thread has served its purpose over the last few weeks, and has now just turned into a circular pissing contest between the usual suspects.

Suggest moving this thread out of here to the more appropriate non-CanPL sub-forum?

[Macksam]

5 hours ago, Ottawafan74 said:

CPL doesn’t want the largest market in Canada with a pro team not in MLS.  That’s your contention?  Incredible spin.  Republicans would be impressed  

If you don’t want them or need them, then just go about your business and don’t worry about the Fury. But you can’t.

Because you know what goes on in my head? Nice try sweetheart. I don't care about your organization.

4 hours ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

Having the Fury around is going to be a constant reminder that there was another option available that could have been followed instead.

Yes, the less ambitious option that you yearned for and can't let go.

3 hours ago, 1996 said:

How about we let the CPL put a couple of seasons under their belt and see how it does before we start saying that the CPL can do without a major city in Canada like Ottawa . I’m pretty sure the CPL at this moment in time before a ball has been kicked gives a lot of fucks about Ottawa and this Ottawa with ready made owners. However, I will say that if the CPL gets off to a flying start and has a very promising season I could see the CPL becoming very confident where they might not need to concern themselves that much with the Ottawa market for awhile and just concentrate on all its other markets, but now before any games have been played for sure they would have loved to have the Ottawa Fury in the league. One question I have is how is the MLS paying Ottawa’s player salaries? I know they had a few Impact players farmed out to them, however the vast majority of their players are their own players that they the Ottawa Fury pay their salaries, you make it sound like they are a full fledged MLS farm team, a few salaries payed by the impact is not going to make that much of a difference and would not be a reason to stay in the USL. Moreover, let’s be careful with that “two bit organization” characterization of an organization , you never know we might be using it again one day but I hope not for soccer’s sake  in Canada . Hopefully this phrase will be a thing of the past when it comes to anything to do with soccer here in Canada but so far so good and things seem to be looking promising on many levels.

I never said the CPL doesn't care about Ottawa, but they're over the Fury and that club's decision to stay in the USL.

[Kent]

This will probably come off sounding more vindictive towards Ottawa than I intend, but remember a couple years ago we were talking about having 6 teams at launch and recycling the term Original 6 for them? Since we have 7 teams how about we recycle a different hockey phrase and call the founding teams the Silver Seven

[Ansem]

59 minutes ago, Sébastien said:

Hey @admin,

I think this thread has served its purpose over the last few weeks, and has now just turned into a circular pissing contest between the usual suspects.

Suggest moving this thread out of here to the more appropriate non-CanPL sub-forum?

I think this thread is still relevant.

We just need to stop talking Fury and talking about CPL and Ottawa without OSEG.

I'm not hating, I'm respecting OSEG saying no. So Fury fans should respect that we start talking Ottawa in CPL without the Fury & OSEG

[Ottawafan74]

1 hour ago, Macksam said:

Because you know what goes on in my head? Nice try sweetheart. I don't care about your organization.

Yes, the less ambitious option that you yearned for and can't let go.

I never said the CPL doesn't care about Ottawa, but they're over the Fury and that club's decision to stay in the USL.

For someone who doesn’t care about the Fury and claims the CPL holds no interest in them you sure seem to go to great lengths to vilify them and make them look the bad guy. 

 

[Ottawafan74]

17 minutes ago, Ansem said:

I think this thread is still relevant.

We just need to stop talking Fury and talking about CPL and Ottawa without OSEG.

I'm not hating, I'm respecting OSEG saying no. So Fury fans should respect that we start talking Ottawa in CPL without the Fury & OSEG

Agreed. Let’s move on. 

Are there any viable groups interested in joining the league here in Ottawa?  Where could they play?  Could they convert Carleton into a CPL worthy venue?

[Sébastien]

11 minutes ago, Ansem said:

I think this thread is still relevant.

We just need to stop talking Fury and talking about CPL and Ottawa without OSEG.

I'm not hating, I'm respecting OSEG saying no. So Fury fans should respect that we start talking Ottawa in CPL without the Fury & OSEG

I mean sure, but it will be a short discussion.

Will there be the Fury + another CPL team operating at the same time in Ottawa? A: No.

Is there a place other than Lansdowne where a CPL team could play? A: No. Unless the CPL has absolutely no stadium standards to speak of.

Could a new stadium be built? A: No. Ottawa already has a new Lansdowne as an outdoor stadium, and very few residents would accept public funds or public land being put forward to build a second one.

If OSEG just drops the Fury, can another ownership pickup from there? A: I don't know of any other wealthy enough local individual to do so. The ones who would are part of OSEG. Melnyk (painfully obvious now) has no liquidity. Even if he did, he would be more damaging to CPL than OSEG would.

But what if Bob Young financed it? A: In a market like Ottawa, stability and local ownership count for a whole damn lot. If the Fury died and a new team sprouted in its place, I wouldn't be surprised to see many people actually shun it, believing it to be too unstable to invest time and money in.

For better or for worst, the Fury, under OSEG, moving to the CPL is the best scenario for all involved. For Ottawa and for the CPL, if the CPL wants an Ottawa team.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

David Clanachan dropped a heavy hint that alternative owners would be pursued just after the Fury announced they had opted to stay in the USL, so there is still a reason to have this thread. Also think it's not completely beyond the realms of possibility that the Fury might join eventually a few years down the road if CanPL does well and cooler heads prevail on how to proceed. Leaving the sanctioning issue alone and not pursuing a rival franchise would be the sensible way to go about that, but it's Canadian pro soccer so...

[Sébastien]

5 minutes ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

David Clanachan dropped a heavy hint that alternative owners would be pursued just after the Fury announced they had opted to stay in the USL, so there is still a reason to have this thread. Also think it's not completely beyond the realms of possibility that the Fury might join eventually a few years down the road if CanPL does well and cooler heads prevail on how to proceed. Leaving the sanctioning issue alone and not pursuing a rival franchise would be the sensible way to go about that, but it's Canadian pro soccer so...

I took that as a fully saving-face statement from the Commissioner, after so many people in CPL (Brennan and Hart, most publicly) made statements that sounded like Ottawa in CPL was a done deal, while CPL would have known the Fury had not activated its 12 month release clause from the USL.

A CPL club operating in Ottawa, while the Fury remain in the USL, would be a disaster. I have to assume that CPL executives have at least the business accumen to see that.

[Macksam]

21 minutes ago, Ottawafan74 said:

For someone who doesn’t care about the Fury and claims the CPL holds no interest in them you sure seem to go to great lengths to vilify them and make them look the bad guy. 

 

Please reference the post where I have vilified them and made them look like the bad guy. When it comes to the endless speculation about why they opted not to join the CPL or who is responsible for the USL sanctioning screw up, I have stayed far away from that discussion. I don’t even hate them for not joining. 

[Unnamed Trialist]

20 minutes ago, Sébastien said:

I mean sure, but it will be a short discussion.

Will there be the Fury + another CPL team operating at the same time in Ottawa? A: No.

Is there a place other than Lansdowne where a CPL team could play? A: No. Unless the CPL has absolutely no stadium standards to speak of.

Could a new stadium be built? A: No. Ottawa already has a new Lansdowne as an outdoor stadium, and very few residents would accept public funds or public land being put forward to build a second one.

If OSEG just drops the Fury, can another ownership pickup from there? A: I don't know of any other wealthy enough local individual to do so. The ones who would are part of OSEG. Melnyk (painfully obvious now) has no liquidity. Even if he did, he would be more damaging to CPL than OSEG would.

But what if Bob Young financed it? A: In a market like Ottawa, stability and local ownership count for a whole damn lot. If the Fury died and a new team sprouted in its place, I wouldn't be surprised to see many people actually shun it, believing it to be too unstable to invest time and money in.

For better or for worst, the Fury, under OSEG, moving to the CPL is the best scenario for all involved. For Ottawa and for the CPL, if the CPL wants an Ottawa team.

You are right in most points except owners or ownership groups. I think you simply do not understand we are not talking about hugely deep pockets at all. And less so if the move is taken with a group of owners, all putting in a share. In any case, I am sure there are sufficiently wealthy groups and individuals in Ottawa to run a CPL team. 

If OSEG ends up dropping the Fury, and the deal at Landsdowne is freed up (ie they not spitefully blocking anyone else from stepping in), we would see a team within 4-5 years, assuming the CPL is fulfilling its vision of moderate sucess and is holding up solidly. 

My last point, then, coincides mostly with your conclusion: an OSEG led Fury in CPL is better in the short term, and is still, as we sit, more easy to envision than an alternative ownership group down the road.

[Ansem]

27 minutes ago, Ottawafan74 said:

Agreed. Let’s move on. 

Are there any viable groups interested in joining the league here in Ottawa?  Where could they play?  Could they convert Carleton into a CPL worthy venue?

Officially, the league said they had other groups interested in Ottawa. Its logical as it's the biggest market available outside of the big 3.

Halifax shows that all you need is land and you can put a pop up stadium. Dont get me started with land, there's land in Ottawa.

Or... they can go York 9 route and revamp existing stadium and reassess later if something needs to get build or if TD PLace could work out down the road. Universities rarely turns down private cash upgrading their infrastructure + paying them rent.

 

[Sébastien]

9 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

You are right in most points except owners or ownership groups. I think you simply do not understand we are not talking about hugely deep pockets at all. And less so if the move is taken with a group of owners, all putting in a share. In any case, I am sure there are sufficiently wealthy groups and individuals in Ottawa to run a CPL team. 

If OSEG ends up dropping the Fury, and the deal at Landsdowne is freed up (ie they not spitefully blocking anyone else from stepping in), we would see a team within 4-5 years, assuming the CPL is fulfilling its vision of moderate sucess and is holding up solidly. 

My last point, then, coincides mostly with your conclusion: an OSEG led Fury in CPL is better in the short term, and is still, as we sit, more easy to envision than an alternative ownership group down the road.

Good point on shared ownership. Still think though, seeing the names associated with other CPL teams, that the pockets have to be decently deep.

Two quick thoughts:

1. If OSEG were to sell the Fury to a CPL ownership, that could fly, though that sounds unlikely and unecessarily complicated.

2. If you go longer term without any team, as you mention, anything is possible. But, for my own sake, I don't want to imagine 4-5 years without pro-soccer in Ottawa.

[Ansem]

1 hour ago, Sébastien said:

I mean sure, but it will be a short discussion.

Will there be the Fury + another CPL team operating at the same time in Ottawa? A: No.

Far from ideal, but also wishful thinking into assuming CPL will shut itself out of Ottawa in the hopes that the Fury comes around..."one day".

Far from ideal but "competing" makes more sense than surrendering Canada's 5th biggest market to USL which limits the league's growth potential.

The more CPL becomes successful, the more tools it will have to compete and win in such a scenario (sponsorship, TV, Champions league attached to the cup, more exposure, more media coverage etc...). 

Fury can hold back all they want but if they get sanctioned past 2019 against all odds, CPL will likely get to a point where competing makes the most sense.

1 hour ago, Sébastien said:

Is there a place other than Lansdowne where a CPL team could play? A: No. Unless the CPL has absolutely no stadium standards to speak of.

Why are people ignoring Halifax (public land) or York 9 (existing university stadium upgrade) or Cavalry (private land scenario?

People need to stop with the "Ottawa has no land". It's Ottawa, not Vancouver.

1 hour ago, Sébastien said:

Could a new stadium be built? A: No. Ottawa already has a new Lansdowne as an outdoor stadium, and very few residents would accept public funds or public land being put forward to build a second one.

See above... not needed. OSEG won't hold the rights on TD Place forever and if the Fury somehow stops, it makes little to no sense to refuse a CPL team willing to fill the dates and pay.

Just need a pop up or modular somewhere until the whole situation clears out.

1 hour ago, Sébastien said:

If OSEG just drops the Fury, can another ownership pickup from there? A: I don't know of any other wealthy enough local individual to do so. The ones who would are part of OSEG. Melnyk (painfully obvious now) has no liquidity. Even if he did, he would be more damaging to CPL than OSEG would.

Someone pointed out the value of Fury. ($6-7M).

Makes more sense to pay an expansion fee and start from scratch (while hiring most of Fury staff) then buying the Fury and paying a fee.

By the way, the rival bidding group to Melnyk proposal for LeBreton Flats said they were still interested in making their proposal work. Melnyk and OSEG aren't the only wealthy people in that region. CPL would be wise to seek them out. There are other deep pocket owners willing to invest in Ottawa.

1 hour ago, Sébastien said:

But what if Bob Young financed it? A: In a market like Ottawa, stability and local ownership count for a whole damn lot. If the Fury died and a new team sprouted in its place, I wouldn't be surprised to see many people actually shun it, believing it to be too unstable to invest time and money in

On the contrary, business people have a flair for opportunities such as this. They are capable of analyzing the reasons why a venture failed and how they can make it work themselves. Kind of what they do for a living.

1 hour ago, Sébastien said:

For better or for worst, the Fury, under OSEG, moving to the CPL is the best scenario for all involved. For Ottawa and for the CPL, if the CPL wants an Ottawa team.

I disagree. OSEG are being dicks right now to the league. It might be in OSEG best interest to join CPL once all the doors closes but c'mon...

It's in NO league's interest to accept an ownership that publically slandered you and try to de-evaluate your operations. I'm amazed at people saying that CPL should just take them when clearly, there's a breach of trust and no guarantee that they can be a team player with the other ownership who are mostly on the same page.

That would be a business mistake unless OSEG starts to shut up about refusing to join CPL past 2019. Silence is the way to go from now on. Then A WHOLE LOT OF sucking up to the league backstage starting now to repair the bridges.

As long as they keep running their mouths about defying CONCACAF, crying that they should be treated like MLS clubs to avoid CPL, they should be left out of the league

Edited December 23, 2018 by Ansem

[Ansem]

1 hour ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

Leaving the sanctioning issue alone and not pursuing a rival franchise would be the sensible way to go about that, but it's Canadian pro soccer so...

That makes ZERO business sense

[Ansem]

53 minutes ago, Sébastien said:

I took that as a fully saving-face statement from the Commissioner, after so many people in CPL (Brennan and Hart, most publicly) made statements that sounded like Ottawa in CPL was a done deal, while CPL would have known the Fury had not activated its 12 month release clause from the USL.

A CPL club operating in Ottawa, while the Fury remain in the USL, would be a disaster. I have to assume that CPL executives have at least the business accumen to see that.

And....

People need to stop talking like everything OSEG says is the undeniable truth and CPL are most likely lying.

Ottawa attracting investors is not unrealistic. But it also made sense for CPL to prioritize the Fury. That would explain some bitterness from the league knowing they wasted all that time on OSEG.

[Sébastien]

5 minutes ago, Ansem said:

Far from ideal, but also wishful thinking into assuming CPL will shut itself out of Ottawa in the Hope's that tge Fury comes around..."one day".

Far from ideal but "competing" makes more sense than surrendering Canada's 5th biggest market to USL.

The more CPL becomes successful, the more tools it will have to compete and win in such a scenario (sponsorship, TV, Champions league attached to the cup, more exposure, more media coverage etc...). 

Fury can hold back all they want but if they get sanctioned past 2019 against all odds, CPL will likely get to a point where competing makes the most sense.

Why are people ignoring Halifax (public land) or York 9 (existing university stadium upgrade) or Cavalry (private land scenario?

This is annoying or willfully being blind. You guys need to stop with the "Ottawa has no land". It's Ottawa, not Vancouver.

See above... not needed. OSEG won't hold the rights on TD Place forever and if the Fury somehow stops, it makes little to no sense to refuse a CPL team willing to fill the dates and pay.

Just need a pop up or modular somewhere until the whole situation clear out.

Someone pointed out the value of Fury. ($6-7M).

Makes more sense to pay an expansion fee and start from scratch (while hiring most of Fury staff) then buying the Fury and paying a fee.

By the way, the rival bidding group to Melnyk proposal for LeBreton Flats said they were still interested in making their proposal work. Melnyk and OSEG aren't the only wealthy people in that region. CPL would be wise to seek them out.

On the contrary, business people have a flair for opportunities such as this. They are capable of analyzing the reasons why a venture failed and how they can make it work themselves.

I disagree. OSEG are being dicks right now to the league. It might be in OSEG best interest to join CPL once all the doors closes but c'mon...

It's in NO league's interest to accept an ownership that publically slandered you and try to de-evaluate your operations. I'm amazed at people saying that CPL should just take them. That would be a business mistake unless OSEG starts to STFU about refusing to join CPL past 2019. Silence is the way to go from now on. Then A WHOLE LOT OF sucking up to the league backstage starting bow to repair the bridges.

As long as they keep running their mouths about defying CONCACAF, crying that they should be treated like MLS clubs to avoid CPL, they should be left out of the league

Bear with me, as I don't know how to do the multi-quote thingy

1. On CPL "shutting itself out" of Ottawa - Of course the CPL doesn't want to do that. But going head-to-head with the Fury means going against an established brand which has been offering professional soccer to Ottawa for years prior to the CPL even being thought up, in a worst stadium, in a worst location. I would love to find out who the smart business people who would put money on the line for this. It's a thing people outside of Ottawa don't seem to understand: notwithstanding OSEG's current situation, they gambled on bringing professional soccer to Ottawa. I would be furious if CPL tried to come in, and it ended up killing both franchises.

2. The Lebreton flats project is the largest-scale commercial development opportunity for commercial activity in Ottawa since I have lived here (about 10 years), including Lansdowne. There is/will be crazy interest in that, especially considering the location of the land (waterfront, downtown-adjacent). Saying that someone putting up money for that would do so for a CPL team is a leap based on nothing substantial.

3. On pop-up stadium, hot take: Halifax and Ottawa aren't the same. There is already a major outdoor stadium in Ottawa. In Halifax, people accepted sacrificing public land to go from zero to one outdoor stadiums (SMU's facilities are... retrograde). Ottawa residents will not accept sacrificing public land to go from 1 to 2 outdoor stadiums, especially when the first one is so new and perfectly located.

4. On refurbishing an existing facility - The only place that has a *chance* of being considered would be Carleton University stadium. Right now, however, it is basically a single sideline bleacher. I'm not saying it won't get done, but if you want to give Ottawa the perception that CPL is lower level than USL, there is no better way than this one.

5. Where has OSEG publicly slandered CPL? And note, you said "publicly". We're not talking FuryFanatic or some questionable journalist from the Ottawa Sun. Please find me one quote from an OSEG rep that disparages the CPL. I'll wait. Fact is, in business, people put their differences aside when it makes sense to do so than you seem to think.

[Sébastien]

10 minutes ago, Ansem said:

And....

People need to stop talking like everything OSEG says is the undeniable truth and CPL are most likely lying.

Ottawa attracting investors is not unrealistic. But it also made sense for CPL to prioritize the Fury. That would explain some bitterness from the league knowing they wasted all that time on OSEG.

I never said OSEG only tells the truth. It's far from it. But I doubt the CPL only ever tells the truth. Hell, Clanachan has said way too many things that have not become true for his word and predictions to be taken with any seriousness. Remember the 2018 start date? The 10-12 clubs for 2019?

Remember the 8 clubs for 2019? Even though CSA would have known that the Fury had a 12 month release clause from USL that had not been activated?

Yeah, the Fury's management of this has been... questionable, at best, but let's not pretend that the CPL, CSA and, especially, CONCACAF, have done everything perfectly here.

[Ams1984]

As far as I’m concerned, I don’t care about the Fury anymore. They’ve decided to play in a lower division American league, they obviously don’t have any belief in a Canadian Premier League, nor any real ambition. 

From what I hear, they’ve got pretty shit ticket sales, no prospects of a real TV deal, no signs of growth whatsoever, and no ambition. Cool, we don’t need them, and I don’t want them. 

Once the CPL is up and running, I think we’ll all see how little we need the Fury. I’m willing to bet that our clubs will be better by every verifiable metric, and that if in a couple of years a CPL club were to pop up in Ottawa to compete with the Fury (if they’re still around by then) the CPL club will wipe the floor with them. 

If I had the choice in my city between a national ‘top flight’ league and some irrelevant lower division US league of similar quality, hands down I’d pick the national top flight league. I’m confident most people would. 

[Ansem]

2 minutes ago, Sébastien said:

Bear with me, as I don't know how to do the multi-quote thingy 

No problem man, you just highlight what you want to quote. Then the option to "quote selection" should show.

3 minutes ago, Sébastien said:

1. On CPL "shutting itself out" of Ottawa - Of course the CPL doesn't want to do that. But going head-to-head with the Fury means going against an established brand which has been offering professional soccer to Ottawa for years prior to the CPL even being thought up, in a worst stadium, in a worst location. I would love to find out who the smart business people who would put money on the line for this. It's a thing people outside of Ottawa don't seem to understand: notwithstanding OSEG's current situation, they gambled on bringing professional soccer to Ottawa. I would be furious if CPL tried to come in, and it ended up killing both franchises.

So you must find what MLS did to the NY Cosmos disgustingly atrocious? Cosmos wouldn't play ball and MLS put NYCFC in their face and they moved on. That's business 

Establish brand that can't draw casuals, gets no national coverage unless they play the victim card and certainly not many people would travel from out of town for a game... Attendance for a market that big suggests to me that they are having limited success due to the league they play in, lack of rivalry, lack of coverage, lack of TV, bad management doesn't help...

This isn't the best as it can get for Ottawa. I agree, the city can't handle 2 clubs on that level, then instead of saying that CPL are in the wrong from not wanting to stay out, how about OSEG really need to stop their negative PR and repair bridges. If it comes down to competition and them disappearing, that's on OSEG, not CPL.

11 minutes ago, Sébastien said:

2. The Lebreton flats project is the largest-scale commercial development opportunity for commercial activity in Ottawa since I have lived here (about 10 years), including Lansdowne. There is/will be crazy interest in that, especially considering the location of the land (waterfront, downtown-adjacent). Saying that someone putting up money for that would do so for a CPL team is a leap based on nothing substantial.

I was highlighting that other deep pocket business people are willing to invest in Ottawa and in sport. Maybe not LeBreton Flats, but saying no one will ever be willing to invest in Ottawa soccer is equally wrong.

14 minutes ago, Sébastien said:

3. On pop-up stadium, hot take: Halifax and Ottawa aren't the same. There is already a major outdoor stadium in Ottawa. In Halifax, people accepted sacrificing public land to go from zero to one outdoor stadiums (SMU's facilities are... retrograde). Ottawa residents will not accept sacrificing public land to go from 1 to 2 outdoor stadiums, especially when the first one is so new and perfectly located.

 

15 minutes ago, Sébastien said:

4. On refurbishing an existing facility - The only place that has a *chance* of being considered would be Carleton University stadium. Right now, however, it is basically a single sideline bleacher. I'm not saying it won't get done, but if you want to give Ottawa the perception that CPL is lower level than USL, there is no better way than this one.

Acquiring / renting private land is an equally viable alternative.

Besides... of the Fury aren't allowed to play in USL in 2020, that becomes irrelevant. Losing the dates would mean that OSEG would be bleeding money. Unless they can fill all those dates with something else, accepting a CPL proposal to use the stadium would be next to impossible to refuse.

22 minutes ago, Sébastien said:

. Where has OSEG publicly slandered CPL? And note, you said "publicly". We're not talking FuryFanatic or some questionable journalist from the Ottawa Sun. Please find me one quote from an OSEG rep that disparages the CPL. I'll wait. Fact is, in business, people put their differences aside when it makes sense to do so than you seem to think

I recall Fury officials going on radio downplaying CPL. (Salary, level of play and uncertainty). That's the wrong way to do this publicly. You keep it to the point like their first statement, but you put a mic on their faces and they start going off script. Recently, they said on the radio that even if CONCACAF let them play 2019 so they could join CPL after, they'd say no. The correct behavior would have been "NO FREAKIN COMMENTS"

If you think the league will just forget that and move on, that's not how business works AT ALL. Having differences is one thing, but affecting another business image is a massive "no-no" in business. They are spinning this as "CPL being beneath them" instead of staying on their message and not commenting further. That's what surely is pissing off the league.

[Ansem]

40 minutes ago, Sébastien said:

I never said OSEG only tells the truth. It's far from it. But I doubt the CPL only ever tells the truth. Hell, Clanachan has said way too many things that have not become true for his word and predictions to be taken with any seriousness. Remember the 2018 start date? The 10-12 clubs for 2019?

I wouldn't call that lying. They did work towards all those goals but saw it couldn't work and let everyone know that they reevaluated and changed plans

Lying is knowing you would never do the above but still claiming you would just to generate buzz. That's flat out lying and not sure serious people like Bob Young and the Southern Family would want to be associate with that.

Dont forget that Clanachan is nothing more than the mouthpiece of the owners, just like Bettman. 

40 minutes ago, Sébastien said:

Remember the 8 clubs for 2019? Even though CSA would have known that the Fury had a 12 month release clause from USL that had not been activated?

The fury were told as early as 2017 that this scenario would happen. Also, you overestimate Ottawa's importance to USL. Not having to deal with customs and the extra travel wouldn't anger them that much

40 minutes ago, Sébastien said:

Yeah, the Fury's management of this has been... questionable, at best, but let's not pretend that the CPL, CSA and, especially, CONCACAF, have done everything perfectly here.

No one's innocent here. Everyone's has an interest.

Fury, their monopoly ( dont make me laugh with "we care about Canadian soccer) it's about their monopoly 

CSA wants total control in Canada and having to deal less with USSF

CONCACAF wants to enforce the no cross border competition and I'm sure VM wants CPL to suceed

CPL wants to grow and be successful 

Edited December 23, 2018 by Ansem

[matty]

52 minutes ago, Ansem said:

Acquiring / renting private land is an equally viable alternative.

Besides... of the Fury aren't allowed to play in USL in 2020, that becomes irrelevant. Losing the dates would mean that OSEG would be bleeding money. Unless they can fill all those dates with something else, accepting a CPL proposal to use the stadium would be next to impossible to refuse.

I've said it before and this isn't just about you but it's incredibly hard to see anyone creating any situation where the Fury are not allowed to play in USL in 2020 if they and CPL can't come to proper terms. Between WCQ and uncertainty about the MLS/CPL relationship at that point it's just really hard to see for 2020.

Edited December 23, 2018 by matty

[Ansem]

 

[matty]

1 hour ago, Ansem said:

 

Who's looking forward to the new yearly holiday tradition of a legal battle/game of chicken between Fury vs CSA/CONCACAF and maybe CPL?

Edited December 28, 2018 by matty

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

The tweet doesn't really make any sense given it was CONCACAF that gave the permission last week rather than the CSA. The CSA gave their approval on sanctioning back in September or October.