Something is getting lost in translation here. MLS is in exactly the same situation and Canadian teams follow Canadian law (though they do sneak in allowing US citizen/Green Card holders as non-foreign players which *might* not be 100% kosher under Canadian law). There is no way that NWSL would be able to enforce a rule that counted Canadians as "foreigners" in their own country. Just because it's a US league, doesn't mean you can ignore Canadian laws. It would be like a US company setting up operations in Canada and insisting that only US laws applied to their Canadian employees. If someone in NWSL is insisting on this, they have been smoking something wacky. I could see Vancouver wanted to corner the supply of allocated Canadians, which might cause some heartburn. That's a different issue. And Barca would face issues under US law similar to those suggested when Chivas USA pushed a "Mexican-first" hiring policy. They might get some exceptions during their 1st season or 2 to get them started, but they won't be able to use a predominately Spanish lineup.
I'm not sure if stuff is getting lost in translation, but this here is definitely the rub. As NWSL roster rules currently exist, this is exactly what would happen if VWFC were to join. The exact quote from the article is "A large part of Vancouver’s interest in the NWSL was predicated on rules that would allow them to field a predominantly Canadian team (Canadians who are not allocated by their federation are considered international players in the NWSL)." I read that as saying it's impossible for Canadian players to be considered "domestic" - they're either Allocated of International - and VWFC wouldn't join unless the associated rules and definitions were changed.
I do think there is some misinterpretation going on here. The rules would *have* to change for them to be able to operate in Canada. I'll have to assume the writer didn't quite understand the issues here.
I guess I'm still not seeing the misinterpretation here... Both what the article is saying and what you're saying is that a rules change would be needed to get VWFC on board, and said change doesn't appear to be coming. Am I missing a detail?
I am not saying you misinterpreted this, but that someone in the communication string isn't well versed in how these things work or didn't provide enough info. I can only work on what you provided, so there may be an important piece that isn't included. My guess: the Vancouver team wanted to corner the market with as many Canadian players (preferably allocated) as they can. NWSL probably wouldn't go for that. Why am I insistent that they would have to make a rule change? Under FIFA rules, the CSA has to approve any foreign team that will be operating in the country, especially a cross-border team (FIFA also has to approve). The CSA wouldn't allow an imbalance in the rules that didn't give Canadians fair footing in their own country and that was probably illegal under Canadian law. And I don't see any reason NWSL would be insistent on keeping the rule exactly as it is now. That's why I think some key points are missing. There is no reason for NWSL to draw a hard line on Canadians playing in Canada being counted as domestic players. As long as the team isn't "The CWNT" in disguise, it wouldn't be a competitive advantage and some Canadians would rather play on other teams anyway.
I think there's a more obvious reason that a Vancouver team is on hold. The league is about to undergo a huge structural change. Until now the league has operated under USSF auspices with some players be under direct USSF, CSA, and (formerly) FMF control. This is likely coming to an end. I don't think it's any surprise given that we're nearing the end of a second season with no commissioner, the NWSL has moved its offices out of Soccer House, and we've heard rumors of the team owners reaching out to USL. I don't think the NWSL management is any position to negotiate with any non-U.S. franchise as any coming change in player compensation and designation that would result in the league pulling itself out from under direct USSF control would make any arrangements null and void. CSA is currently a stakeholder with its "federation" players. I would put it at better than 50/50 (pure speculation) that before the start of next season that there'll no longer be any federation players. All players will be under contract to the league and under their assigned team's control. No more Carli Lloyd taking her sweet time returning from Brazil. I think it's just that simple. It's impossible to set the player designation rules for a Canadian franchise at this time that will be in place moving forward.
So you're saying theres still a chance? right? I am a LAFC supporter and it would be a dream to have a women's team along side it and I can watch them both. It's been ten years since Los Angeles has had a women's professional team. We managed 6,000-7,000 fans for LA Sol back in 2009 when USWNT was barely breathing.
More than a chanch, I would say. This article is the first time I've seen anyone say the LAFC/Barca partnership for 2019 wasn't going to happen, suggesting that it (as an organized, well-backed ownership plan) was good overall, roster rule worries aside. The article also says "Sources say that LAFC continues to look like a leading expansion possibility for the NWSL, with 2020 as a realistic entry date. These things change often, but NWSL expansion in 2019 looks unlikely," - which, to me, reads that the only reason it's in 2020 and not 2019 is because of this apparently late-in-the-game group split. When, not if.
Honestly, I'd rather see LAFC go it alone. LAFC has plenty of money behind it (the ownership group has a combined net worth over $4.5 billion). Only the two NY teams have ownership with a higher combined net worth. They really don't need Barça's support.
Agreed about LAFC going alone. And if Barcelona still wants a team, they should look into the Bay Area. Sad no expansion appears to be happening for 2019.
Well, it's another locked article for those of you that have Equalizer Extra, but here's some more explanation on the Vancouver situation: https://equalizersoccer.com/2018/08/30/whitecaps-fc-president-discusses-why-team-wont-join-nwsl/ At least in here, nothing seems complicated, and it was more exactly what I was thinking: for whatever reason, (maybe along the lines of what Andy was suggesting,) there's something holding NWSL back from allowing non-allocated Canadian players from counting as "domestic" even for a team based in Canada.
Not sure if this is new or really news for that matter (but we don't have much in NWSL news at the moment, so...): Per @fccincinnati website, club plans to apply for a @NWSL franchise in the “coming years”. Club currently provides significant financial support to the @DAcincinnati. pic.twitter.com/vqraPOa0Zm— Cincy Soccer Talk (@cincysoccertalk) October 4, 2018 (Text appears on this page: https://www.fccincinnati.com/academy-faq ) This seems to be the latest on their stadium: https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sp...i-jeff-berding-stadium-big-enough/1155283002/ Since the stadium is a done deal, they don't really need to push a NWSL team to sell it anymore. So I guess it's something they're actually interested in? (or that was written before the stadium was finalized and it just noticed recently)
Hmm, interesting! The fact that they actually name NWSL on their website gives me slightly more hope that they're a bit more serious than MNU is about NWSL. MNU also tried to sell their stadium by arguing that they could get an NWSL team to fill dates, but AFAIK they haven't mentioned NWSL since. If FCC did the same stadium sell but then actually is putting their money where their mouth is with a girls' DA and directly mentioning NWSL on their site, (and the mention isn't in a stadium-related section,) then I'd be slightly hopeful. "in the coming years" is really vague, though. They could in theory go the OCSC/Pride route and get an NWSL team running the year after they get their MLS team running, but I'd guess they want at least two years under their belt as an MLS side before venturing into NWSL, especially since they admit that they don't have a timeline for NWSL yet. I'd love to be wrong, though!
Yeah, I think they want to wait until after they've finished their MLS transition and possibly until after the new stadium is finished (which is supposed to be in 2021).
I doubt they wait until 2022, assuming it is in fact on their radar. I'm sure they'll want to fill their new stadium with as many use-dates as possible, so if the stadium opens in 2021, that'd be the latest I think they get an NWSL team. I could also theoretically see 2020 if they want to take advantage of the Olympic boost. (Doing 2019 to get the WWC boost would also work in that sense, but that's far too soon and also not enough time to get their footing in MLS, being the same year.)
You know it is fun to speculate each time we get a morsel of hope when another MLS club is interested in getting an NWSL team. We have seen a lot of this before, only to see it not happen for some reason or another. With the high hopes we would see expansion in 2019, one has to wonder what happened or didn't happen that quickly changed all that. At one point, there was talk there were 3 MLS clubs that showed strong interest in wanting a team. And as we have learned, it is highly likely none of these teams are interested in 2019. Now granted, with it rumored that the LAFC/Barca partnership was no longer going to happen, and that Vancouver was demanding some things the league may have been reluctant to grant them regarding Canadian players, may have had some impact on their decision for 2019. Still one has to wonder if it was more then just that. I think those issues may have been easier to resolve if it hadn't been for what happened with both Houston and Orlando's attendance for 2018. In previous seasons, we saw the MLS teams always being at the top in attendance each year. This season we saw something different, Orlando dropped to 4th and Houston fell all the way to the 8th spot, next to last. Both showing around a 22% drop in attendance from 2017. Not good news and had to be very disturbing for the league and those MLS clubs interested in getting a team. I think it is now a wait and see what happens next season. Granted Utah did really well their first season, and it will be important to see if they can build on that, but what we also need to see is a reverse in the trend of what is happening with Houston and Orlando. It is something that will definitely need to happen if they want more MLS teams to seriously take the step.
I think most of you are overthinking it. I wouldn't expect anything to happen until the league is out from under direct federation control. Plain and simple. New, better funded, ownership doesn't want the deal with the devil (federation contracted players) that was necessary to get the league started. Once the league management is dealt with, probably including a commissioner, but definitely involving all players being contracted to the league and controlled by their teams, I think you'll see things start moving. We saw the same thing with MLS and the three league owned teams. Once those were dealt with, the league suddenly started adding teams at a really fast rate. 10 original teams (3 league owned) in 1996. 2 expansion in 1998. - A lot of rumors like the NWSL has now about expansion or buyers for the league owned teams that never came to fruition. - Near collapse and contraction back to 10 teams with no league owned teams remaining for 2002 season. Then 2 expansion teams in 2005 (CHV/RSL) 1 in 2007 (TOR) 1 in 2008 (SJE) 1 in 2009 (SEA) 1 in 2010 (PHL) 2 in 2011 (POR/VAN) 1 in 2012 (MON) +2/-1 in 2015 (NYC/ORL, -CHV) 2 in 2017 (ATL/MIN) 1 in 2018 (LAX) At least three more (CIN/NAS/MIA) in the next two years. Right now the NWSL has some structural issues that are blocking investment. Once it gets its internal structure sorted out, I think you'll see real expansion efforts start moving forward, though not at the rate MLS has maintained the last 15 years.
I think your frame of reference is askew... Especially since VAN and LA have been discussed in one form or another essentially since the league began.
Well, we assume 2 of those 3 were Vancouver and LAFC. And there seems to be logical explanations why they haven't been announced. But who was the 3rd? Minnesota? Atlanta? Or someone else completely? There never seemed to be any concrete conclusion on who the 3rd team was and why they might not be interested anymore. I'm not sure this is a forgone conclusion. It may be that the MLS teams are still interested in 2019 (or 2020) but can not come to terms with what the league wants or it might even be the league doesn't want any expansion while they are still trying to shore up a few of the existing franchises. We all like to speculate about expansion because it's fun, but there are still concerns about at least two NWSL teams needing to move or fold in the next couple of years. And while nobody likes to see teams relocate, I'm sure we can all agree that a team folding is even worse. So keeping relocation possibilities open and delaying expansion might be in the league's best interest.
Looks like Barcelona is back in the news again! https://sports.yahoo.com/barcelona-womens-team-play-us-next-season-164808071--sow.html
Interesting that they still seem interested, despite the talks with LAFC breaking off. Though that article makes it sound like they still want to have a Spanish team (i.e. having Spanish players) playing in the NWSL. So not sure how that's gonna happen, if Vancouver couldn't even get exemption for Canadians playing in Canada... (And I'd still rather see LAFC be the owner of the LA NWSL team, even if it means waiting until 2020 or later)
Money! And we know that Barcelona has a lot of it. They might be willing to pay the league a lot of money to make it happen.
Let's do this Barca! We'll welcome you with open arms over in Los Angeles! Make it happen pleeeassseeeeeeee???