This might not exactly be on topic, but it's potentially huge news that's in our interest and it'll get much more views here than any Canadian board so... http://www.canadiansoccernews.com/i...-cfl-and-nasl-to-launch-canadian-league-r4701
Basically it sounds like the NASL will get a massive expansion that will be split off in a "Canadian conference" and have some level of interaction with the rest of the league. Very exciting, I just hope the 3 MLS teams support them in some way, eve of they don't join. For example having their reserves of even USL teams play some games in this league would give it huge legitimacy. the impact already have a close relationship with Ottawa, and multiple players have gone on loan there, it would be interesting if Saputo expanded on that in this context.
I kinda hope they don't and try to run this league independently like MLS. Have teams in Hamilton, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Winnipeg, Windsor, Quebec City, and maybe even in Halifax. Hell, get a second Toronto/Montreal/Vancouver team in there if you can.
Not at all, but think of it as asking an american that question in 1995. This venture will most likely fail, but the benefits of success of so huge, I can't but hope for it to fly. As I read elsewhere, a domestic soccer league derives its greatest developmental benefit at 11 teams. After that the law of diminishing returns takes over. Right now we have 3 MLS teams(with at least 1 USL partner squad) and 2 NASL teams. Upping that from 5 to ~10 will give us a truly massive jolt to the development pyramid.
nothing is ever well, but the more you drink and the shoot in your veins, only pretty petals show..... you gotta get usa football love where you can! vein or pain!
I know NASL is a despised entity in these parts for daring to suggest they might one day challenge MLS but this is good news and we should all hope it works. Competition will only drive MLS to greatness faster.
Not sure how well this will work from what details have been leaked. First let's look at the non-MLS cities in the CFL that aren't already in MLS: Hamilton, Calgary, Regina, and Winnipeg. The article says that they will use CFL stadiums (in order to reduce cost I'd assume) similar to how Ottawa is using TD Place Stadium starting in the fall season. So if that is true you'd have Hamilton in a 6,000 seat stadium, Calgary in a 37,000 seat stadium, Regina in a 33,000 seater, and Winnipeg in a 33,000 seater. I just don't see those stadiums helping the "league" in the long run and I don't know if the CFL teams would want to build stadiums more suitable for their soccer teams. So the question is whether or not the CFL teams see this as filler dates for those stadiums or as a legitimate business opportunity.
Yes, the history of North American soccer shows that competing soccer leagues always make each other better. That's why we've had 100 years of uninterrupted first-division soccer. NASL's working hard to be a good second division. Nothing wrong with that. The Canadian thing sounds interesting, but I have reservations about sharing every venue with a CFL team.
This potentially causes some real problems for the three Canadian MLS teams, no? If there is a legitimate first division league up and running in Canada, then you can't have clubs play in another country, right? I know there were discussions about a Liga MX team or two playing in So Cal and/or Texas but that that was impossible because of the existence of MLS.
Except that at least for now, MLS is recognized as the 1st division league in Canada by the Canadian Soccer Association. So this is a lot of work to build a strong Canadian 2nd division. The article even goes out of its way to say that the 3 MLS teams will opt out. Now if CSA ever changes the 1st Division recognition and gives it to this new league, then Montreal Impact, Vancouver Whitecaps, and Toronto FC will have a serious decision to make.... Nevertheless this is a positive development for Canadian soccer since having a solid 2nd division can only make things better overall. The 3 MLS teams will have "minor league" teams in their backyards to scout for talent and a place to send some of their younger players to develop and have more playing time. having more players where Canadian players can develop and play can only mean better things for the Canadian National Team in the long run. The cooperation between CFL and NASL is both exciting and weird. It would be like the NFL teaming up with the USL Pro to make a soccer league.
Why would they? Wales has a recognized first division right? And yet the 6 best Welsh sides play in the English system. FIFA is okay with it as long as the leagues/associations are okay with it.
If you can get the 3 MLS teams to place their reserve teams in this league, then I give them a small chance. With out that, I give them almost no chance.
The fact that the CFL and NASL are partners in this isn't very reassuring. They don't do expansion well. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Football_League_in_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_..._(1968–84)#Financial_problems_and_contraction
I hope it goes well and should help NASL become the sold second level. I think the real question is how popular is soccer in Canada? If it took lots of money and time to start to make it work in the USA, can a country that has a low population like Canada, with other sport options, make it work?
At least in the short term, a huge expansion of the number of pro clubs in Canada would mean a lot of opportunities for American players, provided those clubs actually want to be competitive against American NASL clubs.
@Bubba 1971---Travolta looks so fat in that avatar that it's amazing!! Did he ever let himself go to that extent or is that just "fat makeup" for a movie? Did he get hair restoration? i dont remember him being semi-bald.
AIUI the Welsh teams are grandfathered in due to historical ties (as is one English team that plays in Scotland or vice versa, and a Northern Irish team that plays in Ireland). I don't think the MLS teams have to worry anytime soon though.
And the MLS Canada sides would likely be grandfathered into MLS as well, what it might make difficult once formed would be additional MLS expansion to Canada (not that I think that is likely to happen).
Yes I agree--- the expansion itself would probably not be problematic provided the CSA was ok with it, but it's hard to justify further MLS expansion in Canada from a population standpoint. MLS already has the top 3 markets in the nation: Toronto with an estimated 5 million, Montreal with about 4 million, and Vancouver with about 2 million. After that it drops off to the 800 thousands with Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa and then it drops off even more to the 600 thousands with Quebec, Hamilton and Winnipeg. That leaves Kitchener, Ontario with a population in the 40o thousands. Those are the top 10 markets. It's hard to see strategically why MLS would expand to a market that drops below a million in population. That is why the new 2nd tier Canadian League will be very helpful--bringing soccer action to all these smaller markets that might not normally get a team. Source for figures: http://www.businessreviewcanada.ca/top_ten/top-10-people/canadas-top-10-most-populous-cities 2011 article.
Not disagreeing, there will be no more new MLS Canadians teams. But please look for metro populations, not city proper. Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa are all 1,2 to 1,3m. If you used to same metric for Vancouver you'd be calling it a 600,000 population market. 11Toronto (Mississauga)OntarioCMA5,583,0645,113,1499.2 22Montreal (Laval)QuebecCMA3,824,2213,635,5565.2 33Vancouver (Surrey)British ColumbiaCMA2,313,3282,116,5819.3 44Ottawa - GatineauOntario/QuebecCMA1,236,3241,133,6339.1 55CalgaryAlbertaCMA1,214,8391,079,31012.6 66EdmontonAlbertaCMA1,159,8691,034,94512.1 ... I'm rather jazzed for this, is it optimal? No of course not, I'd rather a string of beautiful grass pitches seating 10,000 all over. But beggars can't be choosers, and I can imagine a lot worse then hooking up with CFL owners who already run sports franchises many of which are building/or just are finishing new buildings ..and TSN apparently being behind this from the get go. Fingers crossed.