more TV ratings on CPL Hey #Canada #Soccer fans, soccer on #TV. Some AMA2+ (unconfirmed) ratings for #MLS #CanPl games.#MLS TSN: Impact-TFC: 74,000 (Sep1), Whitecaps-TFC: 108,700 #CanPl CBC: Forge-Valour: 28,000 (Sep5-not live), Cavalry-Y9: 56,000 (Sep5), CHCH: Pacific-Edm: 11,400 (Sep6) #soccermedia— Koen@KR United Media (@KRunitedMedia) September 9, 2020
Akeem Garcia might be for real. He's only 23 and getting better and better and with Joao Morelli, they are very dangerous on the counter attack. Outside of the boot finish ⚽️Akeem Garcia's 5th goal of the season is the @ElJimador Shot of the Match#CanPL l @HFXWanderersFC pic.twitter.com/5LaO9jlQ2I— Canadian Premier League (@CPLsoccer) September 9, 2020 Lots to like about this Halifax team! Oxner has been the best keeper so far, their midfield with Beland-Goyette, Rampersad and Sissoko are solid. Haitian International Geffrard and Shaale are an amazing CB duo, right behind Dunn & Jean-Baptiste. Note to teams, Haitians know how to defend!
Lots of eyes will potentially be watching the CPL finals this saturday MEDIAPRO Canada has secured distribution deals in the Americas, Africa and Asia, bringing coverage of the #CanPL #IslandGames Final between @ForgeFCHamilton and @HFXWanderersFC to close to 135 million television households in 65 territories. Details: https://t.co/JHaTWspenK pic.twitter.com/RJbhMThimi— MEDIAPRO Canada (@mediaprocanada) September 17, 2020
2020 CPL awards Finalists! Introducing this year's nominees for the CPL League Awards #CanPL pic.twitter.com/0xq6wS9FLI— Canadian Premier League (@CPLsoccer) September 18, 2020
Forge FC has defeated HFX Wanderers by the score of 2-0 and are the 2020 CPL Champions. Bobby Smyrniotis, who started Sigma FC is underrated as a manager and he out-coached Stephen Hart. His strategy to allow Halifax to keep possession throughout the game forced Halifax to play a style that isn't suited to them and eliminated their counter-attack which makes them a dangerous team. He sacrificed his own team’s strengths to weaken Halifax even further. This team is has the best midfield, solid defensively, deep, adaptable, experienced, brutally efficient and well coached. Truly a collective effort but Kyle Bekker, who said to be on the Vancouver Whitecaps watch list is the MVP of this tournament for me. Forge FC will represent Canada at the 2021 CONCACAF League and play Toronto FC at the Canadian Championship Finals for this QEW (GTA highway) derby Should Forge defeat Toronto FC in the finals, they will compete at the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League instead of the 2021 CONCACAF League who's berth would be given to HFX Wanderers as the CPL runner-ups. Congratulations to the North Star Shield : Forge FC from the steel city of Hamilton!
Who played well enough to show they deserve a look at a higher level this tournament? I'd say Dunn and likely Bustos.
Congratulations to Forge. They were the better team throughout this abbreviated season and deserved to hoist the trophy again. It may even be good for the league that Hamilton has come out so strong and set a bar for everyone else to aim for. I hope they do well in their upcoming Champions League matches. Happily it didn't matter to the outcome but I also hope that last goal keeps the record as worst goal in the final for quite some time. A shot that doesn't even reach the net and then whatever that was from the keeper. The best part was, right after the goal went in, the digital signs behind the net flash to "Where accidents unhappen." Overall, an entertaining end to a fun season that, at one point, didn't look like it was going to happen at all.
I would add Sissoko Having not played fully professional soccer before joining HFX, it might’ve been too early for #VWFC to commit to Sissoko. But they’ll surely be willing to do so after his performances at the Island Games.https://t.co/COFx0vlOYN— 𝙾𝙱𝙴𝙻𝙸𝚂𝚀 (@WeAreObelisq) September 20, 2020 If I'm Mo Farsi, I look for opportunities in Europe. Didic and Zator. Obviously Bekker who's said to be a target for Vancouver
I'd be curious about Bekker. He previously played for Toronto, Dallas, and Montreal in MLS with a total of 50 or 60 appearances before going down the to the USL. Maybe he could revive his MLS career at the age of 30. Or perhaps he'd be happy to remain a big fish in the CPL where he's done very well.
Whether to go to Europe or not depends on where in Europe they go. A lot of Europe ends up being a dead end and it is generally better to stay in CPL or MLS. From what I've seen, Western European countries, except Scandanavia, are generally okay, but only if they land in the top division. Landing in the second division of Germany can be okay as well depending on which team they end up on.
Jeff Paulus stepping down as FC Edmonton manager but will stay at the club as manager of player development. @FCEdmontonNow @CPLsoccer News regarding the club's head coach. pic.twitter.com/a2vwTOeark— FC Edmonton (@FCEdmontonNow) September 21, 2020
The CPL Finals drew great viewership rivalling MLS ratings in Canada 1308150694864592896 is not a valid tweet id
Looks like Forge forward Anthony Novak impressed enough to have clubs looking at him Hearing that there are a couple clubs sniffing around at @ForgeFCHamilton’s @AnthonyjNovak based on his strong play at #TheIslandGames. One scout I spoke to said that he is the player that has benefited and grown the most from his time in #CanPL.— Duane Rollins (@24thminute) September 21, 2020
This is an article about Winnipeg's off season hopes for its players: https://canpl.ca/article/valour-fc-...ping-core-of-roster-together-will-be-a-battle Many of the problems are common to most teams (players looking to move up, salary cap constraints) but there's also some particular stuff for Valour in that they had players in on loan in some key roles. I found this one quote from GM/coach Rob Gale to be interesting: “You’re only allowed a couple from one parent club and if we could get three or four next year, especially young under-21 Canadians like Julian, it benefits everybody.” It definitely shows an interest in working with other teams for Canadian player development, which is great. The part about only being permitted two players on loan from one parent club was new to me. That would be a way for the CPL to prevent their clubs from being used as unofficial farm teams.
"Canadians will ALWAYS prefer to watch the highest level of football" -Wrong, CPL finals did very well against Bundesliga and MLS. Their ratings excludes Onesoccer numbers. When done right, Canadians will strongly support their own. Putting the @CanPl #FINAL ratings (total 2+ for Sept.19 in a #socceraudience perspective. On the very same day #Sportsnet aired Dortmund-Monchengladbach. AMA was 23,000; later that day TSN aired TFC-DC Utd: 86,000 #MLS #CanPl #mediaresearch #Sportsbiz #KRUnitedMedia https://t.co/EsGAdIuqov— Koen@KR United Media (@KRunitedMedia) September 25, 2020
Bundesliga doesn’t seem to be catching on in the US or Canada. Probably because, even tho the other games are entertaining, the only team to really watch from a non-German perspective is BM. There’s also always going to be a bump for the championship game. The MLS Cup generally gets 4-5 times as many viewers as an average regular season gets...
CPL numbers have been strong throughout the tournament rivaling and sometime surpassing MLS ratings. With expansions in new markets, the numbers can only go higher. CPL did better than the Whitecaps game as well [Total overview #soccer on Canadian TV (Sept 19): #1 TFD-DC: 86,000 (#TSN), #2 Forge-HFX:54,000 (rept. night CBC), #3 Whitecaps-Real Salt Lake: 50,000 (#TSN), #4 Forge-HFX: 42,000 (live #CBC), #5 Dortmund-M'gladbach: 23,000 (#Sportsnet) #CanPl #MLS #Bundesliga #TV #soccerratings https://t.co/5CNHukG6qb— Koen@KR United Media (@KRunitedMedia) September 25, 2020 The league is proving that it can draw MLS level ratings. The league, despite its imperfections has done a lot of things right.Those are very strong numbers and that's without teams in the 2nd most populous province in the country - Quebec! They put a team in Quebec City and Montreal while being broadcast by the French CBC (SRC) and forget about it!!! In my opinion, by end of this decade, Canadian Premier League will become a top 3 CONCACAF league on all metrics
A couple of things: 1. You still aren't accounting for the difference between OTA and Cable ratings. Being on CBC is a huge boost for CPL and getting that deal compared to the TSN deal that MLS has is something the CPL should be applauded for. 2. CPL also benefit from having 2 Canadian markets. A persistent issue with MLS games is that there isn't really any out of market viewing on their games, so when you have one team in Canada and one team in the US, the ratings for those games are significantly lower than it would be if there were two teams from the same country. There's also the whole issue of Vancouver sucking hard again this season and many fans giving up on the team. It doesn't even seem like the owners are even trying in Vancouver (or Montreal, tbh). With Toronto's long period of suck, they at least were trying to respond to fan concerns and were throwing money at the problem trying to improve. Vancouver and Montreal are just making minor tweaks around the edges and hoping something happens. The only fix in those markets is a new owner.
According to Paul Beirne, TSN and Sportsnet were interested in broadcasting CPL but were outbid by a significant margin by MediaPro. That's why I'm still thinking that the rumble of MediaPro going all in for the MLS Canadian rights soon are valid. They want to become the 1 stop media for all Canadian content excluding the World Cup. (They got their hands on the Nations League, Gold Cup, WCQ and are trying to get CONCACAF League). They intend on launching their own cable channel while keeping the app, so MLS might be very interested as making some MLS games available on CBC would be massive for the league instead of being trapped in regional channels I'm changing my mind a bit on this. There's an newfound awareness/resignation that Montreal and Vancouver cannot compete with the top tier MLS teams. They aren't going to attract those mega stars like Miami or LA and they are at a huge disadvantage in regards to currency - only Toronto can keep doing it because they are backed by MLSE with are printing dollars with the Raptors and Maple Leafs. There's also the "green cards" loophole which is not doable in Canada as our immigration process are more restrictive. To be competitive, they have to spend even more money than it would take an average US team to achieve the same goals. even if you take MTL who are an average team, it costs them in reality much more to be the way they are than a US team. I don't think Americans are aware of those kind of challenges. Yes bad decisions have been made but they aren't the only/first/last teams to do that. Their only option to keep up is through development, which highlights the crucial mistake they've done which was neglecting that side of the business while trying to keep up with everyone else. This also explains why we're seeing these 2 teams playing more Canadians than before. That being said, they are taking measures to fix the developmental side of their business. Vancouver has confirmed that they will put a team in the BC League 1 league starting next year and Montreal just revived their U23 team which might join the pending new league made of the merger of PLSQ and L1O. Their approach makes more financial sense but results will take time. They acknowledge that they have too many young guys not playing minutes. Toronto have mismanaged their developmental side for years but have the dollars to stay at the top tier of the league by overpaying for talents to come to Toronto - having the Raptors & Maple Leafs printing cash certainly helps but MTL and VAN aren't set up that way business-wise. New ownership for Montreal isn't realistic, Joey ain't selling even if Montreal has become a de-facto "Bologna B-team". Saputo will stay in MLS as long as he has too but Serie A is his #1 priority so it's doubtful he spends more money than he already is in MLS. Vancouver, although there were rumblings that they wanted to sell, who else from Metro Vancouver would buy the Whitecaps with their stadium situation and do better? There's money in the region but CPL might prove a wiser investment. Best bet would be a foreign or American buyer but what if he wants to move the franchise because the Caps are eerily looking like the Nordiques and Jets - same sets of problems that did them in while there was a growing lists of rich owners wanting to get in the league south of the border... do the math. I don't know... At some point this might become a business decision in regards to their future.
Maybe? If they can get games on an OTA channel, I'm sure MLS would jump at the chance, but I definitely see them passing over MediaPro if the games end up on a new channel. When BeIN first started, they reportedly curb stomped the offer from the other non-ESPN networks that bid for MLS games. MLS ended up stiff arming BeIn because the other channels that bid were in significantly more households than BeIN was. I would imagine the same would be true in a similar situation with MediaPro. Nothing to disagree with in regards to Montreal, but I do think that Vancouver is and can be a draw. It might not compete with LA and NYC, but Vancouver is globally known and should be an easier draw than most MLS cities. There's also a lot of money in Vancouver that should be interested in buying the team, even if it doesn't have its own stadium. There's a lot of upside in the league and in Vancouver in particular. It shouldn't be hard for a dedicated owner to rebuild the brand and turn it into a situation similar to the Sounders.
Not sure how it works in the US but if Onesoccer goes on cable and are offered as part of the sport packages by the major companies (which they would), they'd be in as many households as TSN or Sportsnet or TVA/RDS in Quebec potentially more due to the CBC partnership. You have to think that the 3 teams would love their games to air on national TV from coast to coast to coast when it isn't always the case right now. But it IS hard. The currency is a MAJOR disadvantage and I don't think enough Americans understand this fully. Sure they could be like the Sounders but it would cost them significantly more than the Sounders to achieve that. Revenues in Canadian dollars and expenses in American dollars have doomed professional teams in the past. On top of that, just like the Nordiques and the old Jets, they don't own their venue and the tenant deal is horrible where they were virtually allowed to walk away only with ticket revenues. The new Jets own their venues - huge difference. It wasn't because there wasn't money locally to buy those teams or they didn't draw, no one wanted to buy them because the governments wouldn't lift a finger to help them and their venue situation was unsustainable so they were moved. The Vancouver Canucks owner, wanting to replicate MLSE in Toronto, walked away from the opportunity because he couldn't own BC Place. Unless you at least have the type of deal TFC has with the city or the Alberta teams with the respective cities, selling that club "as is" locally will be really tough. The currency is just an aggravating factor on top of it. Being a draw and known internationally isn't the issue for the Whitecaps. The problem is that the Whitecaps are a team made for MLS 1.0 or 2.0 (not sure where were at). They aren't build for where MLS wants to go and if you are mediocre for too long, fans get turned off and revenue drops. Having both currency and venue problem is almost a death sentence in a cross-border league because there's no way you can compete. Take it from a guy who saw NHL franchise leave - it's the same set of issues. Now their mishandling of the whole Davies transfer starts to make sens...they needed every penny they could get.
Due to COVID and the very long off season, many CPL teams will be looking to loan their players with York 9 announcing their loan this morning York9 FC can confirm the loan of Nicholas Hamilton to @DundeeFC. Good luck Nicholas! #UniteYork | #TheDee 🏴https://t.co/WToegXvSRh— York United FC (@yorkutdfc) September 28, 2020
I guess the question is whether we're talking about Vancouver becoming a contender or just being viable. You raise good points about the stadium and currency exchange. To my mind, however, those are more obstacles to building a contender. Toronto is probably the only Canadian market with the financial firepower to remain one of the big market teams in MLS. That said, Vancouver is an affluent area with a metro population of 2.7 million. There's no reason they can't be a viable team. Even if they don't win the Cup, they can be that team that plays entertaining soccer, usually finishes high enough to make the playoffs, and sometimes translates that into a thrilling Cup run. Most of their problems have actually been self-inflicted with terrible signings and an almost complete inability to capitalize on the stream of young players coming up through their development system.
One of the unanticipated results of covid could be an acceleration of the placement of Canadian players in Europe. TFC already has at least four players on loan there and, as you point out, many CPL teams will probably be looking that way as well.