How long until....MLS to CPL

[Ansem]

11 hours ago, Shway said:

The operating costs wouldn’t change a lot, I think the CPL could “accommodate” the MLS clubs with tweaks to the salary cap. Increasing the max, having a luxury tax, keeping the DP rule. Theres ways that aren’t unreasonable.

This is key - the league were willing to accommodate the Fury. Letting those owners "post MLS exit" come in and spend substantially more is very realistic.

From a business point of view, Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal visiting the other markets helps the other teams attendances. Also, the media attention dedicated to MLS would be mostly redirected at CPL and you'd see more interest from mainstream channels/cable to buy MediaPro games. This puts CSB in a great position to get a great deal comes 2030. Also, the major sponsors would come to CPL.  What I'm getting at, there are too many upsides for the current owners to be "rigid" with the prospective MLS owners restarting in CPL. They can find formulas like flexible caps and luxury tax to make it work not only for the big 3 but for clubs like Ottawa, Cavalry or Forge willing and able to spend more.

There's a precedent for this and you have to think that the CSA would want to retain some of that quality that these markets had. I think the people involved are too smart to be this shortsighted.

 

11 hours ago, Shway said:

I think it would enhance the development path, as the bigger clubs (like everywhere else) would be able to pick the crème of the crop while the other clubs continuing to develop the hidden gems. 

Some are so stuck on the US way of doing things and parity that they forget that this is exactly how it's done in most leagues around the world. Smaller to mid clubs find gems, develop them and the big clubs buys them. These guys get featured in high profile games like Champions League and get potentially sold to bigger clubs in Europe.

At least those 3 could legit have legacies which they'll never have in MLS.

 

11 hours ago, Shway said:

Year 3.5 of the CPL, and we have MacNaughton, Chung, and Waterman all proving capable of playing in MLS - do you believe this is an anomaly? It’s not a coincidence that all those opportunities were given to by Canadian clubs…why because the risk and chance is still high for American clubs to take on an “InTeRnAtIoNaL pLaYeR”.

Correct - If a Davies, David, Larin or Buchanan is found in CPL, MLS or elsewhere would happily take them as internationals. Having our 3 big cities in CPL doesn't prevent that, heck - there were numerous times where US based clubs played more Canadians than Canadian-based clubs

 

10 hours ago, Watchmen said:

So I ask this in all honesty - do you really, really think the CPL would change it's rules structure to accommodate the MLS clubs?  Because I don't. I think they'd drag the MLS teams down to their level in the name of parity.  

Pro sports is a business - owners wants to make money. If a business case is presented to them where accommodating them somewhat would help all owners bottom line, why on earth would they refuse? They were willing to accommodate Ottawa Fury because having 8 clubs + Ottawa was much better than not having them at all. They understand the value of those owners and the significance of those 3 media markets. The benefit far exceed the dogmatic need for parity.

 

10 hours ago, Watchmen said:

But this is why having 3 clubs in MLS is beneficial. Those players were less likely to get a chance on a US MLS team.

How many of them had to go to US colleges to get to MLS while TFC and others were flat out ignoring their local academies? The 3 MLS clubs for the most part were beneficial for guys who came from their own system but the jury is out for guys in academies outside of their system despite being right under their nose... Larin? Buchanan? Johnston? etc...

 

10 hours ago, Watchmen said:

They probably didn't get much of an offer from Europe.  But they were able to move on to a higher level simply because Canada has 3 teams in MLS. 

So all the Canadians playing in Europe crossed the ocean thanks to MLS? You can't be serious.

 

10 hours ago, Watchmen said:

I will continue to say it - we currently have the best of both worlds, a league focused more on development and access to a higher league to push/promote/train the players at an even higher level.

I actually somewhat agree if we're talking short to medium term.

Best of both world for me is

1. Canadians counting as domestics in US Based clubs - OR
2. Americans counting as International on Canadian based clubs

Status quo - we don't have the best of both world, we have the "best we could get" at that time.

Long term*- the best for Canadian soccer is for Canadian leagues to have exclusivity in Canada - free of US competition

*By long term, I'm thinking about 2030 when the Media deal is up, this is the best window to get the 3 big markets exclusively to CPL, one way or another so they can maximize their potential on a new media deal

[SoccMan]

1 hour ago, Ansem said:

This is key - the league were willing to accommodate the Fury. Letting those owners "post MLS exit" come in and spend substantially more is very realistic.

From a business point of view, Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal visiting the other markets helps the other teams attendances. Also, the media attention dedicated to MLS would be mostly redirected at CPL and you'd see more interest from mainstream channels/cable to buy MediaPro games. This puts CSB in a great position to get a great deal comes 2030. Also, the major sponsors would come to CPL.  What I'm getting at, there are too many upsides for the current owners to be "rigid" with the prospective MLS owners restarting in CPL. They can find formulas like flexible caps and luxury tax to make it work not only for the big 3 but for clubs like Ottawa, Cavalry or Forge willing and able to spend more.

There's a precedent for this and you have to think that the CSA would want to retain some of that quality that these markets had. I think the people involved are too smart to be this shortsighted.

 

Some are so stuck on the US way of doing things and parity that they forget that this is exactly how it's done in most leagues around the world. Smaller to mid clubs find gems, develop them and the big clubs buys them. These guys get featured in high profile games like Champions League and get potentially sold to bigger clubs in Europe.

At least those 3 could legit have legacies which they'll never have in MLS.

 

Correct - If a Davies, David, Larin or Buchanan is found in CPL, MLS or elsewhere would happily take them as internationals. Having our 3 big cities in CPL doesn't prevent that, heck - there were numerous times where US based clubs played more Canadians than Canadian-based clubs

 

Pro sports is a business - owners wants to make money. If a business case is presented to them where accommodating them somewhat would help all owners bottom line, why on earth would they refuse? They were willing to accommodate Ottawa Fury because having 8 clubs + Ottawa was much better than not having them at all. They understand the value of those owners and the significance of those 3 media markets. The benefit far exceed the dogmatic need for parity.

 

How many of them had to go to US colleges to get to MLS while TFC and others were flat out ignoring their local academies? The 3 MLS clubs for the most part were beneficial for guys who came from their own system but the jury is out for guys in academies outside of their system despite being right under their nose... Larin? Buchanan? Johnston? etc...

 

So all the Canadians playing in Europe crossed the ocean thanks to MLS? You can't be serious.

 

I actually somewhat agree if we're talking short to medium term.

Best of both world for me is

1. Canadians counting as domestics in US Based clubs - OR
2. Americans counting as International on Canadian based clubs

Status quo - we don't have the best of both world, we have the "best we could get" at that time.

Long term*- the best for Canadian soccer is for Canadian leagues to have exclusivity in Canada - free of US competition

*By long term, I'm thinking about 2030 when the Media deal is up, this is the best window to get the 3 big markets exclusively to CPL, one way or another so they can maximize their potential on a new media deal

I keep hearing this failure of the MLS academies , I was hearing this after the first few years these MLS academies came into existence. I kept telling people that it was going to take time before these MLS academies began to turn out players . TFC academy started what in 2010ish more or less . That is still a short time to judge if these academies were doing their jobs . However, now we are seeing slowly the fruits of their labour. Moreover, have no doubt that as the years go on these academies will start producing more players . A lot of trial in error is required when starting anything new in whatever it is, therefore, not surprised that a lot of error occurred within these Academies in these first 10 years or so.

[Watchmen]

1 hour ago, Ansem said:

Pro sports is a business - owners wants to make money. If a business case is presented to them where accommodating them somewhat would help all owners bottom line, why on earth would they refuse? They were willing to accommodate Ottawa Fury because having 8 clubs + Ottawa was much better than not having them at all. They understand the value of those owners and the significance of those 3 media markets. The benefit far exceed the dogmatic need for parity.

They were willing to accommodate Ottawa for 1 year, not indefinitely. And I think I'd like to see the league allow the current group of ambitious owners spend more freely before just assuming they'd allow the 3 MLS teams to do so. You can complain about the North American trend towards parity, but it's not going away. If anything, it's increasing, and found a league like the CPL on those principles is part of it. Don't kid yourself, there are leagues on Europe looking enviously at the North American models for it.

1 hour ago, Ansem said:

So all the Canadians playing in Europe crossed the ocean thanks to MLS? You can't be serious.

Not even remotely what I said. I said these players were able to move up a level because they had better access to MLS thanks to having 3 teams in Canada.

1 hour ago, Ansem said:

*By long term, I'm thinking about 2030 when the Media deal is up, this is the best window to get the 3 big markets exclusively to CPL, one way or another so they can maximize their potential on a new media deal

Great. Let's set this conversation aside for 8 years instead of rehashing it every 6 months when nothing has changed.

[Greatest Cockney Rip Off]

Am I the only one who thinks this would improve TV numbers? There doesn’t seems to be much of an audience when playing American sides in MLS but we saw the potential when Toronto and Montreal played each other in the playoffs.

There are obviously major obstacles to this ever happening but I do see benefits. 
 

 

[Shway]

2 minutes ago, SoccMan said:

I keep hearing this failure of the MLS academies , I was hearing this after the first few years these MLS academies came into existence. I kept telling people that it was going to take time before these MLS academies began to turn out players . TFC academy started what in 2010ish more or less . That is still a short time to judge if these academies were doing their jobs . However, now we are seeing slowly the fruits of their labour. Moreover, have no doubt that as the years go on these academies will start producing more players . A lot of trial in error is required when starting anything new in whatever it is, therefore, not surprised that a lot of error occurred within these Academies in these first 10 years or so.

Disagree. FC Dallas has show that if you give your kids the chance some will turn out "good". However you'll notice that they have never won MLS Cup. Why because there system/or plan isn't based on buying talent, but producing it. 

They've been the most successful from that standpoint, and it's solely down to opportunities, and less about time.

[Ansem]

33 minutes ago, SoccMan said:

I keep hearing this failure of the MLS academies , I was hearing this after the first few years these MLS academies came into existence. I kept telling people that it was going to take time before these MLS academies began to turn out players . TFC academy started what in 2010ish more or less . That is still a short time to judge if these academies were doing their jobs . However, now we are seeing slowly the fruits of their labour. Moreover, have no doubt that as the years go on these academies will start producing more players . A lot of trial in error is required when starting anything new in whatever it is, therefore, not surprised that a lot of error occurred within these Academies in these first 10 years or so.

It's not that the academies didn't do their job (at a very high costs) - it's their unwillingness to work with existing academies and Usports that I highly dislike about their approach.

A TFC team with Larin, Buchanan, Johnston, Kaye, Miller etc... All they had to do was to take an interest in what academies around them were doing and work with them. Also, there's really no justification for players to feel obligated to exile themselves in the US to turn pro in MLS. They should feel safe to stay in Canadian university knowing that clubs would be looking at the best prospects there.

Hope this clarifies my view on the academies - it pains me to think about how many talents we wasted by going that route over the years

[Shway]

24 minutes ago, Watchmen said:

They were willing to accommodate Ottawa for 1 year, not indefinitely. And I think I'd like to see the league allow the current group of ambitious owners spend more freely before just assuming they'd allow the 3 MLS teams to do so.

Yea they are currently called Forge FC

24 minutes ago, Watchmen said:

 

You can complain about the North American trend towards parity, but it's not going away. If anything, it's increasing, and found a league like the CPL on those principles is part of it. Don't kid yourself, there are leagues on Europe looking enviously at the North American models for it.

Parity is such a loose term. MLS loves to use that, but Toronto and Vancouver aren't on the same level of parity. Atlanta, LAFC arent on the same level of parity as RSL or San Jose.

European leagues are envious at the salary cap, and the share business model. Nothing else.

[Ansem]

24 minutes ago, Watchmen said:

They were willing to accommodate Ottawa for 1 year, not indefinitely. And I think I'd like to see the league allow the current group of ambitious owners spend more freely before just assuming they'd allow the 3 MLS teams to do so. You can complain about the North American trend towards parity, but it's not going away. If anything, it's increasing, and found a league like the CPL on those principles is part of it. Don't kid yourself, there are leagues on Europe looking enviously at the North American models for it.

Ottawa Fury vs former MLS owners aren't the same value. Also, the whole negotiation/accommodation scenario is based on them "willingly wanting to join"

In a scenario where a CONCACAF ruling forces their hands, CPL holds all the cards. Best case scenario is the former owners to join CPL but the league will feel confident that it can attract international big players in those markets to replace them if it came to that.

I still thing the right thing to do is acknowledging what those owners have done and built for Canadian soccer and stretch that flexibility in regards to what they want. That's good for business.

As for North American parity, you're right but a CFL model where there's a luxury tax and/or flexible cap would be better than hard cap.

 

30 minutes ago, Watchmen said:

Great. Let's set this conversation aside for 8 years instead of rehashing it every 6 months when nothing has changed.

That's fair but realistically, the league must be circling that year and already planning for the next step. Realistically, CPL goes "2.0" with a better media deal and you can't do it without the 3 metro areas with MLS competing against them in all 3.

[SoccMan]

1 hour ago, Greatest Cockney Rip Off said:

Am I the only one who thinks this would improve TV numbers? There doesn’t seems to be much of an audience when playing American sides in MLS but we saw the potential when Toronto and Montreal played each other in the playoffs.

There are obviously major obstacles to this ever happening but I do see benefits. 
 

 

I kept hearing  this argument when Edmonton was playing in the NASL and nobody was going because no one could relate to these American cities , that was the argument why Edmonton was not getting the crowds during their NASL days a few years ago. We were told just wait until they join the CPL and start playing Canadian cities that attendance would increase . However, attendance more or less stayed the same when they joined the CPL. 

[SoccMan]

1 hour ago, Ansem said:

It's not that the academies didn't do their job (at a very high costs) - it's their unwillingness to work with existing academies and Usports that I highly dislike about their approach.

A TFC team with Larin, Buchanan, Johnston, Kaye, Miller etc... All they had to do was to take an interest in what academies around them were doing and work with them. Also, there's really no justification for players to feel obligated to exile themselves in the US to turn pro in MLS. They should feel safe to stay in Canadian university knowing that clubs would be looking at the best prospects there.

Hope this clarifies my view on the academies - it pains me to think about how many talents we wasted by going that route over the years

Exile themselves to the US ? You do realize that for many players and we have one in our family,  playing college soccer was a very good experience and would do it again if they had to. If you pick the right school that can offer a decent education with a well run and well supported soccer program it’s an experience you will never get playing U sport soccer in Canada unfortunately.

Edited April 13, 2022 by SoccMan

[RS]

2 hours ago, Ansem said:

As for North American parity, you're right but a CFL model where there's a luxury tax and/or flexible cap would be better than hard cap.

You just described MLS.

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

1 hour ago, SoccMan said:

I kept hearing  this argument when Edmonton was playing in the NASL and nobody was going because no one could relate to these American cities , that was the argument why Edmonton was not getting the crowds during their NASL days a few years ago. We were told just wait until they join the CPL and start playing Canadian cities that attendance would increase . However, attendance more or less stayed the same when they joined the CPL. 

According to Steven Sandor it actually went down:

 

 

[Ansem]

1 hour ago, SoccMan said:

Exile themselves to the US ? You do realize that for many players and we have one in our family,  playing college soccer was a very good experience and would do it again if they had to. If you pick the right school that can offer a decent education with a well run and well supported soccer program it’s an experience you will never get playing U sport soccer in Canada unfortunately.

My point is that it isn't an easy route for everyone. Some for different reasons aren't able to do it. Studying here should be just as good as an alternative.

[Ansem]

22 minutes ago, RS said:

You just described MLS.

Touché!

You'll have to forgive me, I'm not fluent in TAM and I don’t speak GAM 😁

I'd still prefer a flexible cap without all the gimmicks 

[Kingston]

3 hours ago, SoccMan said:

I keep hearing this failure of the MLS academies , I was hearing this after the first few years these MLS academies came into existence. I kept telling people that it was going to take time before these MLS academies began to turn out players . TFC academy started what in 2010ish more or less . That is still a short time to judge if these academies were doing their jobs . However, now we are seeing slowly the fruits of their labour. Moreover, have no doubt that as the years go on these academies will start producing more players . A lot of trial in error is required when starting anything new in whatever it is, therefore, not surprised that a lot of error occurred within these Academies in these first 10 years or so.

Yes.

Imagine we made a team of the young Canadians playing on the three MLS teams:

Hasal

Brault-Guillard, Bassong, Petrasso

Kone, Okello, JMR, Priso (or maybe Baldisimo, Choiniere, or Thompson)

Nelson, Perruza, Shaffelburg (not counting Akinola as he's signed a "real" contract)

There are a bunch more.  I think we could assemble a team that would do quite well in the CPL.  So the idea that these academies are somehow failing is silly.  They also aren't collecting all the available talent but that would be a lot to ask of three teams.  So I'm happy we have the CPL to cast a broader net and the three MLS teams to help players move up the pyramid.

[dyslexic nam]

I have said it before and I will say it again - I am happy because I am really comfortable with either option (with a few caveats).  

If the status quo continues, we will have 3 teams in what will likely become a very strong league over time.  It is no coincidence that the US is home to the world’s richest leagues for baseball, hockey (shared), basketball (minority shared) and football.  While soccer is a very different beast and has a global superstructure in place that the US will never overtake, I don’t think it is unreasonable to think that MLS could grow into a “second tier” league rivaling D1 leagues in places like France, Portugal or Belgium.   As much as I dislike some of Garber’s choices with respect to Canadian players, there is no doubt that he has helped successfully grow the league and that it is on track to continue growing.  Maintaining 3 teams in a league like that would benefit us greatly in the future.  

But in the unlikely scenario that the big 3 are forced into CPL, our D1 domestic league would become substantially stronger virtually overnight by tapping into our country’s 3 biggest markets.  Media coverage of CPL would increase dramatically, average salary would grow (leading to better quality footy and better opportunities for young Canadians), and overall league profitability would be strengthened.  While we wouldn’t have the benefit of playing in the MLS juggernaut, the prospects of CPL’s success would be pretty much assured.  

Basically, while I lean towards maintaining the status quo,  I am good either way because I think both scenarios present substantial benefits for Canadian footy.  

[Bison44]

3 hours ago, SoccMan said:

Exile themselves to the US ? You do realize that for many players and we have one in our family,  playing college soccer was a very good experience and would do it again if they had to. If you pick the right school that can offer a decent education with a well run and well supported soccer program it’s an experience you will never get playing U sport soccer in Canada unfortunately.

Currently.....hopefully that changes. Maybe CPL and its "summer job" program for Usports kids will give them a higher profile and more and better kids will stay at home.  

And I agree with NAM, we do have the best of both worlds.  And if it stays like this we should see even more benefits for our CMNT.  But CDNs had to fight like hell to get CPL of the ground and its still in a precarious position.  CDN teams in MLS arent leaving any time soon, but our new league going under is something that could happen very easily. The situation as it stands could and should be better.  One expects MLS to drag its feet on evening up roster rules, as it is geared to help young americans (still infuriating)...but having TSN ignore the CPL like it doesnt even exist is still baffling.  

[narduch]

2 hours ago, Kingston said:

Yes.

Imagine we made a team of the young Canadians playing on the three MLS teams:

Hasal

Brault-Guillard, Bassong, Petrasso

Kone, Okello, JMR, Priso (or maybe Baldisimo, Choiniere, or Thompson)

Nelson, Perruza, Shaffelburg (not counting Akinola as he's signed a "real" contract)

There are a bunch more.  I think we could assemble a team that would do quite well in the CPL.  So the idea that these academies are somehow failing is silly.  They also aren't collecting all the available talent but that would be a lot to ask of three teams.  So I'm happy we have the CPL to cast a broader net and the three MLS teams to help players move up the pyramid.

ZBG, Bassong and Kone aren't from MLS academies.

Peruzza is but he also did 4 years in Italy.

Edited April 13, 2022 by narduch

[Watchmen]

1 hour ago, dyslexic nam said:

But in the unlikely scenario that the big 3 are forced into CPL, our D1 domestic league would become substantially stronger virtually overnight by tapping into our country’s 3 biggest markets.  Media coverage of CPL would increase dramatically, average salary would grow (leading to better quality footy and better opportunities for young Canadians), and overall league profitability would be strengthened.  While we wouldn’t have the benefit of playing in the MLS juggernaut, the prospects of CPL’s success would be pretty much assured.  

Basically, while I lean towards maintaining the status quo,  I am good either way because I think both scenarios present substantial benefits for Canadian footy.  

Here's the other part though: I'm not as sold as others on CPL teams doing well in the big 3 markets. I like the CFL. There's no "other team" in those markets. People like football. But the 3 softest markets in the CFL are the big 3. The big 3 (especially Vancouver and Toronto) are not big on supporting anything perceived as "minor league".  Before anyone screams "MLS is inferior to Europe!", you're right and that's still the problem MLS is trying to overcome (see: their current TV rights negotiation). But in Northern NA, it's perceived to be best, more people have gone out to support the MLS teams than when they were in USL/NASL (version 2), and there's a strong chance that the higher attendances of the MLS teams would not carry over to a switch to CPL.

[dyslexic nam]

6 minutes ago, Watchmen said:

Here's the other part though: I'm not as sold as others on CPL teams doing well in the big 3 markets. I like the CFL. There's no "other team" in those markets. People like football. But the 3 softest markets in the CFL are the big 3. The big 3 (especially Vancouver and Toronto) are not big on supporting anything perceived as "minor league".  Before anyone screams "MLS is inferior to Europe!", you're right and that's still the problem MLS is trying to overcome (see: their current TV rights negotiation). But in Northern NA, it's perceived to be best, more people have gone out to support the MLS teams than when they were in USL/NASL (version 2), and there's a strong chance that the higher attendances of the MLS teams would not carry over to a switch to CPL.

I am not saying the MLS teams would transition to CPL without missing a beat.   I am quite sure there would be issues during the change and crowds would be impacted (at least at the outset).  But TFC in CPL would still be the highest tier of local soccer available in a city of 10M people and I am confident that they would still get attendance numbers that would be impressive on the CPL bell curve.  And the same thing would happen in the tiger two big cities. The media would cover their local teams and get many more eyes on the league - and it would get stronger as a result.   

Would it be a net gain for Canadian footy over the status quo alternative?  No one can say for sure.  And as I said, I suspect the current situation is better given the trajectory I see MLS on.  But I am quite confident that CPL would be better off if they were the sole source of pro footy in our 3 biggest cities - and I don’t think the teams would need to maintain MLS-level quality, budgets, or attendance for that to be true.  

[Ansem]

13 minutes ago, Watchmen said:

Here's the other part though: I'm not as sold as others on CPL teams doing well in the big 3 markets. I like the CFL. There's no "other team" in those markets. People like football. But the 3 softest markets in the CFL are the big 3. The big 3 (especially Vancouver and Toronto) are not big on supporting anything perceived as "minor league".  Before anyone screams "MLS is inferior to Europe!", you're right and that's still the problem MLS is trying to overcome (see: their current TV rights negotiation). But in Northern NA, it's perceived to be best, more people have gone out to support the MLS teams than when they were in USL/NASL (version 2), and there's a strong chance that the higher attendances of the MLS teams would not carry over to a switch to CPL.

You're neglecting demographics as the big 3 are much more multicultural and relate more to soccer once they arrive here than football.

Also, generational - the sharp increase in soccer interest is mostly due to millenials who represents the biggest generation since around 2015.

[ATM]

34 minutes ago, Bison44 said:

Currently.....hopefully that changes. Maybe CPL and its "summer job" program for Usports kids will give them a higher profile and more and better kids will stay at home.  

And I agree with NAM, we do have the best of both worlds.  And if it stays like this we should see even more benefits for our CMNT.  But CDNs had to fight like hell to get CPL of the ground and its still in a precarious position.  CDN teams in MLS arent leaving any time soon, but our new league going under is something that could happen very easily. The situation as it stands could and should be better.  One expects MLS to drag its feet on evening up roster rules, as it is geared to help young americans (still infuriating)...but having TSN ignore the CPL like it doesnt even exist is still baffling.  

Could the 3 MLS clubs be influencing TSN and Sportsnet. I doubt they want to lose what little viewership they do get. I think they know we would have more of an attachment to watching Pacific vs Forge  over Vancouver vs Cincinnati.....and we all know how much control MLSE have over the sports market in Ontario.  That's why many from Ontario call TSN the Toronto Sports Network.

[SoccMan]

54 minutes ago, Bison44 said:

Currently.....hopefully that changes. Maybe CPL and its "summer job" program for Usports kids will give them a higher profile and more and better kids will stay at home.  

And I agree with NAM, we do have the best of both worlds.  And if it stays like this we should see even more benefits for our CMNT.  But CDNs had to fight like hell to get CPL of the ground and its still in a precarious position.  CDN teams in MLS arent leaving any time soon, but our new league going under is something that could happen very easily. The situation as it stands could and should be better.  One expects MLS to drag its feet on evening up roster rules, as it is geared to help young americans (still infuriating)...but having TSN ignore the CPL like it doesnt even exist is still baffling.  

Does TSN or Sportsnet cover that Canadian basketball league, what’s it called CEBL or something. They ignore that too in a sport that probably has a higher profile in Canada than soccer has .

[narduch]

16 minutes ago, ATM said:

Could the 3 MLS clubs be influencing TSN and Sportsnet. I doubt they want to lose what little viewership they do get. I think they know we would have more of an attachment to watching Pacific vs Forge  over Vancouver vs Cincinnati.....and we all know how much control MLSE have over the sports market in Ontario.  That's why many from Ontario call TSN the Toronto Sports Network.

Bell and Rogers (ie. TSN and Sportsnet) refuse to add One Soccer to their cable packages as a way to stifle competition.

[Bison44]

Samey same, TSN do NBA< dont talk about the CDN league.  But CPL is sending players to MLS, they have a higher profile in comparison I would think than CEBL and the 2 soccer leagues actually play (and CPL wins sometimes).  And Sportsnet doesnt scrub the coverage clean of CPL, they do stories, highlights etc.  TSN is the worst offender.