Well, he has access to the business plan and he's the project manager of the league. I'm sorry but I'm more inclined to believe him over your assumption that he's wrong unless you've seen the document and business plan. Please enlighten me on your "evidences"
I don't really give a shit who you believe. If you think travel costs aren't an issue in a North American sports league, particularly one with as few teams as the CPL is supposed to have, then you're being blind to reality. Just don't come crying to me when a club folds because travel costs are too great, which has happened to dozens, if not hundreds, of teams across all sports.
Why so negative? You'd think you'd just wish us well, I would in reverse. USL teams, NASL teams, and even PDL teams travel much farther already (all over the continent), again, why would CPL, which will have much more money would suddenly be unable to do so? If anything, FC Edmonton and Ottawa Fury travel costs would be slashed by not having to travel that far. They'd be saving on that end by joining CPL.
PDL teams largely travel only within clearly defined regions until late in the playoffs. There is very little cross-conference play in USL. NASL teams do have an issue. Edmonton to Puerto Rico is a haul. And, quiet as it's kept, NASL teams are certainly finding travel costs to be an issue. Depending on where the CPL puts teams, Canada is not a small country, end-to-end, either.
So is Brazil? Russia? Both league (NASL & CPL) will be ran very differently with different structures. Just going by what Beirne said, travel costs won't make or break the league, they took that into account and due to the seriousness behind the ownership behind the league who went public, I'm inclined to believe that they did their homework on the business plan.
Or that he's right today, but gets tired of it later if it isn't self-sustaining. The original WUSA investors pledged to keep the league going for 5 years no matter what. They blew through five years of estimated expenses in one. Year three probably should not have happened.
I'm pretty sure everyone here wishes the CPL well. The only thing I see anyone taking issue with is your belief in absolutes which fly in the history of organized sport start-ups. And, last time I checked, soccer is vastly more popular in Brazil and Russia than in Canada, and some clubs in those countries are definitely in financial straits.
Or maybe me being on the ground at the heart of it all gives me a better idea on what's going on then Americans that are thousands of miles away who think they know better than locals I used to be a skeptic myself, however, as news came out and the vision of what the league aimed to become was made public and what was told to us supporters group by league officials, it really makes sense for Canada. The US model can never work for Canada. We don't have the population nor enough markets of 1M+ inhabitants to replicate it. The European vision with a pragmatic North American approach is what the CPL is aiming to do. I don't mind reading skeptical messages about CPL, but do ask questions at the same time. Naysayers actually have no idea of what the league vision actually is. By not understanding the Canadian context, geography and demographics, the reflex is to think that an MLS type of league in Canada is impossible. They are right, it's impossible and CPL understood that a long time ago, hence they came out with their own vision for Canada. Americans will never understand why CPL will work in Canada if they don't understand the Canadian context, something USL and NASL never understood and to some extend, even MLS. Outside of the 3 cities, no one cares about MLS in Canada
Do you honestly believe a nascent league that, at this moment, is not likely to have clubs in the only Canadian markets that really matter (or at best will have stepchild teams in those markets) will have anywhere near the revenues of the Brazilian or Russian leagues? Where is the money coming from? Gates of 3,000? A lucrative TV deal? Travel costs won't make or break the league; Soccer Canada is more than capable of screwing up the league itself and when the average crowd is 4K, it will put pressure on everybody. You seem to believe the CPL is going to be an instant hit because its founders say it's going to be wonderful.
It was never stated. At no point did the TOA people say or imply that they wanted to spend more on player wages. (There are almost no D2 players worth overspending on.) And there were no restrictions on wages that they were being held back by. They got honked off when Nike didn't sell USL to Jeff Cooper (because, really, how could Jeff Cooper miss?). They spoke in generalities about "the promise and ability to chart our own course" and nebulous complaints about "the structure of the league." They made continued noise about the team owners controlling their league, to the point of constantly repeating the canard that it was a FIFA requirement. When pressed, Selby Wellman (who didn't stick around for the actual start of NASL play) could only come up with standardized team websites and a rental van deal as reasons. Player wages were never stated, nor should they have been.
Or maybe knowing that the woods are littered with the bones of people who thought they had cracked the code of creating a successful league gives other people a pretty good idea, too. So you're going to take the three big markets out of play, but you're going to have a totally successful league because of 'the Canadian context," whatever the hell THAT means? Edmonton can't get 4K a game, and that's your best case scenario, but the league is totally going to be a success, you guys, because it's going to be Canadian. Okay, then.
You obviously know very little about the rest of Canada outside of Toronto or Vancouver. I'll leave it a that The ownership that went public so far have the means to meet the scope of the league. Where did MLS money came from in year 1? You just answered your own question. Again, making claims like this really show how little you know about Canada outside of maybe the 2-3 main city. I won't bother going in details to explain why Hamilton, Halifax, Winnipeg and Saskatchewan will exceed your 4K prediction (wherever that came from) It will be an instant hit. There's a huge demand for soccer in Canada. However, MLS made clear they weren't expanding and both NASL & USL don't draw crowds. CPL is going into markets where MLS does not exist and where people don't care about it. The markets that do have CFL in them will have the team owners being owning both football and soccer. The rest? There's no opposition outside of CPL. No football, no baseball, basketball and hockey is at a different time of year. Again, you don't know Canada who had the 4th highest viewership per capita in the last world cup, one of the highest live attendance in Brazil per Capita, we shattered attendance records for almost all the World Cups outside the main one and we still hold the record of TV viewership for MLS playoffs. More Canadians watch the MLS playoffs last year than the entire United States with a tenth of its population. Average attendance for CFL https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Football_League_attendance Canadians do go see their teams. The Lacrosse team in Saskatchewan instantly drew over 10k per average in their first year, hell even the Toronto Wolf pack in the English Rugby system turn out huge crowds. I won't bore you with attendance in cities like Victoria or Moncton who also host soccer games from U20 world cups and women world cups. Oh and Canadian loves watching Canadian teams facing each other (highest ratings in MLS and NHL) The demand was always there but we finally have people willing to bring it to people here and invest in the league to make it work. USL and NASL does not work and MLS doesn't care about the rest of the country. We're pretty excited that Canadians investors are going to make it happen.
NASL and USL doesn't draw in Canada. Are they even televised here? I'm not even sure. That mess of a league appeals very little to Canadians and its asking a lot to expect Canadians to get excited about their team playing American towns no one heard about. The team tries to get fans but it's not like the rest of the league draws that much better than Edmonton does... I know some do incredibly well. Until then, CFL is the main thing in town. However a CPL Calgary/Edmonton derby is another thing entirely. It's called instant sellout
[foghorn leghorn]It's a joke, son[/foghorn leghorn] https://www.thestar.com/news/canada...-soccer-league-a-hotspot-of-match-fixing.html
You're the joke "son". Your ignorance is obvious as your referring to another league that's unsanctioned
Exactly what am I "ignorant of" here? Seriously. I made a joke about match fixing in Canadian soccer - which, while not prevalent or even relevant to the CPL - happened. I then posted a factual news link explaining my reference. You not liking the joke, or possibly finding it un-funny and/or in bad taste is not the same thing as ignorance. You are astonishingly quick to judge in your posts. What you don't seem to realize is that more than a handful of posters here might actually really know the history of the last few decades of soccer in Canada as well, if not better, than you do. Most of us have been around for decades, are age-wise contemporaneous with you, and are currently - or have been - soccer professionals. I'd tone down the assumptions. And take the chip off of your shoulder. Like I have said repeatedly. I hope the CPL is a success.
Come on, Andy. Everyone knows you're just a noob and a poser. I mean what kind of reputable soccer writer knows shit about soccer anyway? The whole CPL derailment of this thread is hilarious. I am still not sure how a league without Montreal, Toronto, or Vancouver can be successful. The CFL has all three, right? Even if the CPL puts teams in those three cities, how will they not be second fiddle to the existing MLS squads? Like it or not, Canada and the US are joined at the hip when it comes to professional sports. Montreal is pining to get back into MLB, not whatever beaver-hunting baseball league exists in Canada. The CFL plays a slightly different game from the NFL, which allows the league to be viewed as the top tier. Otherwise the top tier for Canada is anchored in American-centric leagues: NBA, NHL, MLB, MLS, MLL, and NLL (though that one is debatable).