ESG Shawn

This is why we need a real manager

This is on Herdman, 100%. Absolute charlatan.

What a half. Start was horrid, cheaply giving away possession, their aggressive press was causing a ton of issues. But then....wow. The amount of attacking talent on this team is ridiculous. We absolutely bossed them for long stretches. Player thoughts: -Arfield is having the game of his life. The vision, the control of the midfield, the passing, just spectacular. -I thought Cavallini was really struggling at the start with a ton of cheap losses of possession, but what a calm, cool finish 1v1 with the keeper. -David, what can you say. All he does is score. -Davies is getting by on athleticism today but has been quite reckless IMO. The tactical changes for the semi will be interesting, as a better squad could definitely exploit him at LB.

How fun is this???????

I havent been this excited for a CanMNT match in a long time. Lineup apparently looks like this: David-Cavalini-Hoilett Osorio-Hutchinson-Arfield Davies-Cornelius-Henry-Godinho Borjan

FC Edmonton has nothing in the final 3rd. No finish, no creativity, no killer instinct, absolutely nothing. Incredibly frustrating to watch.

Not to detail, but has anyone heard anything about USA away in terms of venue? An away trip in the southern USA in November is very appealing!

I don't disagree with you on this point. Perhaps I'm in a bit of a an echo chamber (I work for one of the larger non O&G companies in the city, and excitement for the Cavs at work is surprisingly high), but that being said, today, you can get season tickets for under $20/match. Considering all the competing choices for your entertainment dollar in this city, $20 to get you in the door for professional sports is fairly priced IMO (and comparable across the league), even in Calgary's current economic state. Again, this is strictly talking about the cheapest seats. It's the rest of the stadium that is problematic, and I agree with your sentiments. I just feel like people see the initial sticker shock of the overall pricing (justifiably so) and it's too late to capture them with the $20 seats, as they are already turned off the product.

You bet, I already have them. My Cavs membership number is in the double digits.

Someone posted an analysis earlier, half of the most expensive Officers club seasons are sold, and they account for over ~60% of the total season seat revenue.

This is true, however (even as an Eddies supporter living on YYC), there are a bunch off affordable seats available. More than a bunch. It's easy to pile on regarding the ridiculous prices, it's been beaten to death. As Calgarians, let's fill ALL the appropriately priced seats, show the club that they made a mistake in pricing, and hope they revisit when they see that packed corners and ends and tumbleweeds in the middle isn't a good look to display to the rest of the country.

I also hate how the ball plays. Watching Sunday's match again, you see some bounces that would never happen on grass, and it appears to play quite fast (i.e. balls chipped over the top leading our pacey wingers never seem to slow down)

Calgary - Home and Away, 1331 17 Ave SW https://m.facebook.com/events/2230315010620596/?notif_t=plan_user_associated&notif_id=1553300842981269

Agreed, even if it is better for us. In terms of general format, I'm trying to draw some positives. Perhaps with a round of 32 (i.e. a big bracket), you'll get more casual fans involved/invested in a March Madness type of way. A big knockout bracket like this will create some compelling storylines, when a plucky underdog knocks off a favourite. (Just grasping for positives here)

I think the discussion could be split here, from a Canadian soccer standpoint, into two groups. 1.) Canadian Soccer viewers (i.e the MediaPro deal) 2.) European Soccer viewers Now, obviously there is a lot of cross over between the two groups, but I think the key in your first post is how this affects Canadian soccer and growing that market. As this has been stated a ton before, I think it will be important for the CanPL to have a presence in both cable and streaming worlds: a DAZN + TSN/Sportsnet/CBC arrangement allows you to capture all your potential markets (youth who stream, or older generations still attached to Cable TV).