m-g-williams

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Thought: With the Tokyo Olympics postponed to 2021 and most other major sporting events cancelled/postponed, it would seem to me that the CBC has lost a lot of its intended summer sports programming. If the CPL can get things moving again (sometime in July, I would hope), I wonder if this would create an opportunity to expand the relationship with CBC. The network fills some of its empty slots (possibly a lot, depending on if they'd have an interest in picking up any of the One Soccer original programming), and the CPL gets a ton of exposure. Win-win!

I can't say I've watched many of the recent OS videos, but this one has me intrigued.

Finally got the call! 😃

Going out on a limb here: no one else has been contacted about season tickets yet, have they? I imagine this has been put on hold until things clear up, but just want to make sure I don't miss anything.

Truth be told, I'm actually really happy they did away with the stand behind the goal and moved the supporters section back to the south side. I always found that having the supporters right there with the rest of the fans really boosted the atmosphere and made everyone feel more involved. Instead of just watching the match, it was like you were that little bit more a part of it.

No one's actually been contacted yet about season tickets, hey? I know it says to expect that in mid-March . . . but I don't want to wait.

Season ticket prices!

Bingo. I've never kicked a match quality ball in my life, hence my shock. And I dare wager that a lot of casual fans and parents never have, either. I get that this appeals to/is normal for the diehards among us, but I am concerned that without replica options via the CPL shop that this may strike a lot of people as too much.

Out of the loop? Evidently. Flabbergasted? Certainly. A cheap bastard? You can count on that. 😅

Phew. Here's hoping they start selling it through the CPL shop soon.

But at the end of the day, it's still just . . . a *ball*. Somethat designed to be kicked around, muddied up and put through the ringer. How different is a replica from the real thing to justify that kind of price difference? If this is the way of the world (which I still find ridiculous), then I sincerely hope they'll be selling replicas in short order. For the casual fan, I feel like this would be a bit of a shock. Sidenote: Recognizing that football is different than other sports, I checked the NBA and NHL online stores for prices of basketballs and pucks. There were a ton of honest-to-God autographed ones for less than $80 (display cases and such being much more, admittedly, and with a small minority over $200 for really big names). In the realm of North American sports, I find it really hard to believe that a year-two start-up league is charging this much for a bloody *ball*.

Seriously? I mean . . . it's a *ball*. I desperately want the league to suceed, but realistically, the level of play, marketing, salaries, etc. for CPL will never be on the same level as the kind you see in the Bundesliga or among UEFA Champions League players. I just don't think we'll be able to build a rabid enough/large enough fanbase to make these kinds of sales viable. Hell, looking at the MLS website, you can get their 2020 NATIVO ball for $19.99. I'm all about supporting and promoting the league, but this seems insane to me. If I had kids, I'd love to buy them this sort of thing to get them hooked from a young age. But when a bloody *ball* is more expensive than an authentic kit, count me out.

Does this mean that the partnership with Nike is no more? Also, it's already for sale in the online store (win!) . . . for a staggering $149.99 (what in the hell?). I am sincerely hoping that this is a typo and that it's actually just $14.99. https://shop.canpl.ca/2020-cpl-official-match-day-ball-pre-order.html 😕

Agreed. I think it would be great to have an East Coast rival for Halifax, as well as a Francophone rival for Quebec City. The location would draw fans not just from NB but also PEI, they have a perfectly sized stadium, and the economy of the city/region still seems to be doing quite well. Other teams in Moncton (Wildcats and Magic) tend to draw decently well as they're the biggest fish in a smaller pond. I think a team there could do well.

Eh, it's not so bad. The A-League in Australia did that for years. Their solution was the 27 match set up, with alternating years. Half the league gets an extra home match one year, then the other half the next year.

I was rather hoping that TD would be Y9's kit sponsor this year. They seem to be a major local sponsor for the club, and it already fits the colour palette pretty nicely.

Not a new one per se, but I get the impression that this may signal that Westjet is investing more in the league. Becoming a sponsor for one than one team would suggest to me that they've had to pay for that ad space. Also, I noticed that the season schedule was "presented by Westjet" this year, when I don't recall there being any corporate sponsorship for this last year. I'm hoping that this means that Westjet liked what they saw last year and want to expand their partnership.

Nailed it! 😉

I guess I'd just take a different perspective. I'm personally not a fan of the bye and play-in match set-up introduced; I'd rather see the top four teams in the table have a standard playoff format. If this were the case, I'd have the top team in the table (the Premier, in A-League terminology) get a CONCACAF League spot and the CCL spot tied to the winner of the playoffs (the Champion, again in A-League lingo). This way, both the Premier and Champion are recognized, teams have to fight that little bit harder to earn each of those titles, and the Premier still has the chance to upgrade their CONCACAF ticket. Disclaimer: In following the CPL more and more closely, I've really gotten into A-League football as I tried to find something of a comparable success story. I really like their format, the culture they've built, and the fact that they've manage to build an 11 (soon to be 12) team national pro league in a massive, sparsely populated country (sound familiar?). So I *may* be biased in my perspective.

I'd be curious to see if any CPL clubs would play in the summer series as a friendly. Could help drum up interest and showcase to potential investors what the league has to offer, as well as what SK can produce.

Phew. At least I had braced myself beforehand. 🙂

My only suggested edit would be to award the CONCACAF League spot to the top overall team at the end of the season. Now that we have a single table, I feel like proving yourself as top overall means a bit more.

I personally would have preferred the top four teams moving into the playoffs, rather than one bye and a play-in match. To avoid situations like last year where the best team through the season goes somewhat unrecognized if they don't win the playoffs though, I'd do something along the lines of MLS or the A-League and have a shield for the top overall club of the campaign and a trophy for the winner of the playoffs. I know this probably isn't a popular notion, but given precedents elsewhere and this being North America, I think it would be a good fit. *braces for bashing*