Correction: they play in the English Pyramid which has pro/reg. Cardiff has been in the Premiership too! Blando13 I know its a casual mistake. Just please, please, please do not refer to the CPL as the CSL. There is no connection at all.
Correct, CSA, not CSL ... I tried not to use an acronym for the new "league" since it doesn't have an official name yet.
If anyone is interested, here is an interview with Steve Sandor, who is a really, really, respected soccer journalist in Edmonton and also the Eddies colour commentator for matches. He's also a really great guy. In the interview he discusses the challenges FC Edmonton have in the market, namely competing against hockey. New Video: @FCEdmontonNow Chat with @stevensandor : https://t.co/qi2DS1NSmR #FCEdmonton #NASL— Total NASL TV (@TOTALNASLTV) February 19, 2016
Watched this in the background was strombo's mini doc on landeskog, during 2nd intermission... Good find!
Turns out this might not be an issue. At the bottom of this article there is a very interesting nugget about how the future CanadianPL might look. http://www.canadiansoccernews.com/i...-issue-coming-in-next-month-montagliani-r5546 Outlines a scenario with, far as I can tell, 3 possibilities. 1: Stand alone CanadianPL (Still need Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal teams) 2: CanadianPL as an NASL conference (Still need Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal teams) 3: CanadianPL in USL (Already has Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal teams) If scenario 3 happens, that would be worst case scenario for the NASL for sure. Scenario 1 isn't terrible, but they'll still more then likely lose Ottawa, Scenario 2 s best case for sure.
USL option does not seem to be in anyone's picture or in play. NASL already left the table as well, supposedly because a Canadian division would hurt the NASL's American team quota for Div2 status... The radio interview itself doesn't give the same interpretations you suggest here.
Where was that said, the assumption by most so far seems to be it was because of the Traffic corruption incident?
@Blando13 your comments are far too sensible for BigSoccer It's a regional league for the southeastern US. It's already completely irrelevant in the entire western half of the United States, why not add Canada to that list?
http://the11.ca/2016/03/22/peterson...for-a-new-domestic-league-wed-wish-them-well/ Doesn't seem too concerning for the NASL at all. I think over if the CPL happens its a win for NASL, if it doesn't then it doesn't affect the NASL. If teams leave NASL to goto the CPL, then the CPL folds in a few years the NASL stands to gain additional teams north of the border. If the CPL is a go and succeeds, NASL only loses the Fury (possibly Edmonton) and potential markets north of the border. However, the MLS also loses those markets and if the CPL turns out to be really successful it could put pressure on the MLS sides to move their USL2 teams into that league. Until the NASL gains more markets in the US they cannot add anymore markets in Canada anyway, this OP's question was a joke right?
Maybe we'll still get some type of Soccer Bowl/Community Shield game between the NASL and CPL champions. That would be pretty cool
0% chance of NASL folding because the Canadian teams leave. In 2017, San Francisco and Chicago will join to offset the loss of Minnesota, and potentially Ottawa. Realistically, it seems unlikely that the Canadian Premier League will get off the ground until 2018. Bill Peterson said on the Rayo OKC opening broadcast that NASL is in deep discussions with 5 more groups, inclusive of Chicago. Let's say 2 out of 4 non-Chicago groups come to fruition and assume the won't be ready until 2018. 2015 NASL: 12 teams 2016 NASL: 13 teams (+Rayo, +Miami, +Puerto Rico, -San Antonio, -Atlanta) 2017 NASL: 14 teams (+San Francisco, +Chicago, -Minnesota) 2018 NASL: 14 teams (+2 of 4 groups Peterson is talking to, -Ottawa, -Edmonton) Consider that Peterson is likely to engage with even more groups between now and 2018. Peterson spoke of a cluster of west coast groups on the Miami FC - Tampa Bay broadcast this week. In March he spoke of 2 groups in Atlanta that could bring NASL back there. NASL is likely to grow past the loss of the two Canadian teams, assuming Edmonton chooses to leave which they reportedly do not want to do.
I think its safer to assume that out of the 5 groups Peterson is talking to, Chicago is one of them. They've yet to be officially announced. Just as the CPL has yet to be announced, it's premature to assume when Ottawa is leaving: 2018 might not be the start date of the CPL. Still its a good analysis.