Northern Super League to launch in April 2025

[narduch]

Staff news for Ottawa.

 

[JamboAl]

Know a few folks who went to the announcement this afternoon and there was a good amount of excitement and merchandise already for sale.  Best of luck to the team…will definitely be going to games next summer if I don’t buy a season ticket before then.

[red card]

On 8/14/2024 at 3:13 PM, Big_M said:

so project 8 took ownership of ottawa...hopefully they have investors joining

De rigueur of Footy Prime to let juicy info fly over their heads.

There should have been some follow up questions such as who is the funding source for P8? Is it Hokulani Limited as they still list P8 as being part of their portfolio. Or they couldn't find investors? Is this a temp structure or permanent.

And it wasn't on the radar of the rest of the media and fans. 

 

[K Edgar]

Northern Tribunes article on Ottawa Rapid FC

https://northerntribune.ca/northern-super-league-ottawa-rapid-fc/

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

On 8/16/2024 at 3:17 AM, red card said:

De rigueur of Footy Prime to let juicy info fly over their heads...

Not rocking the boat to maintain access is SOP in Canadian soccer journalism which is why some people in Canadian soccer circles react with astonishment when someone like Rick Westhead behaves like a professional journalist rather than a fawning groupie. Think you'll find that Halifax is generally believed to have mainly been funded by Bob Young when CanPL launched. As things stand at the moment, Dean Shillington is funding an extra club in BC to keep the league at eight. Nothing hugely unusual about having a make weight franchise to get or keep the show on the road.

[red card]

Potential benchmark for NSL is opening weekend for USL SL.

All three matches were announced as sellouts. Spokane & Tampa got 5k while Charlotte was 10.5k (higher than NC Courage highest 2024 attendance). Tv production was below CPL. Stadium infrastructure limited camera angles in the same vein as PFC's stadium in the first few years.

Better fan engagement than expected for a first match and better than often seen in NWSL. Many wore the home team kits. 

As expected, quality of play was lower than NWSL. But decent given a few teams took till the last minute to build their squads. 5 goals scored with 2 matches ending in 1-1 draws.

 

[narduch]

 

[narduch]

Upcoming stadium announcement for the Toronto team

 

 

[Cblake]

4 hours ago, narduch said:

Upcoming stadium announcement for the Toronto team

 

 

Without a doubt I believe it will be Lamport, giving fans easy access to both the TTC and GO plus all the restaurants and bars in Liberty Village. 

[narduch]

4 minutes ago, Cblake said:

Without a doubt I believe it will be Lamport, giving fans easy access to both the TTC and GO plus all the restaurants and bars in Liberty Village. 

Pretty sure it will be. But inaugural season at York Lions.

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

On 8/22/2024 at 10:25 PM, Cblake said:

Without a doubt I believe it will be Lamport, giving fans easy access to both the TTC and GO plus all the restaurants and bars in Liberty Village. 

Main question mark is whether TFC have some exclusivity clause over pro soccer in City of Toronto facilities. Lamport was where the winter bubble that used to be at BMO Field wound up as part of the deal that enabled grass to be installed for TFC.

Otherwise, I'm not sure why they would have to wait for upgrades given the rugby league team were able to play there in relatively recent times as long as the playing surface markings can be sorted out to an acceprable extent with temporary paint.

It's too bad the new Varsity stadium was deliberately made unsuitable for pro level soccer by the U-sports gridiron types and wasn't used for the 2007 U-20 World Cup stadium build as was looking likely at one point. It's location is ideal for access by TTC. A lot of underhand politics has gone into making sure soccer has very few viable options across the GTA.

[K Edgar]

 

Edited August 27 by K Edgar

[Kent]

To be perfectly honest, I had forgotten that Halifax and Calgary already had names and logos. Only Montreal left to go.

[Kent]

Maybe a long shot, but could this be a stadium possibility for AFC Toronto's announcement tomorrow?

https://www.thestar.com/sports/amateur/fletchers-fields-the-heart-of-ontario-rugby-for-58-years-is-closing-heres-why-it/article_9afe981a-5fe0-11ef-a307-631bff995145.html

I had never heard of this place, but another article mentioned the fields include a 3000 seat stadium (that hasn't been renovated in a long time). Does anybody know about this place? Would it be simple enough to expand the stadium to suit what AFC Toronto would be targeting for attendance?

[narduch]

12 minutes ago, Kent said:

Maybe a long shot, but could this be a stadium possibility for AFC Toronto's announcement tomorrow?

https://www.thestar.com/sports/amateur/fletchers-fields-the-heart-of-ontario-rugby-for-58-years-is-closing-heres-why-it/article_9afe981a-5fe0-11ef-a307-631bff995145.html

I had never heard of this place, but another article mentioned the fields include a 3000 seat stadium (that hasn't been renovated in a long time). Does anybody know about this place? Would it be simple enough to expand the stadium to suit what AFC Toronto would be targeting for attendance?

But the video promo had the subway on it. No subway at this stadium.

Based on that its either Lamport or York Lions

[Gian-Luca]

I believe I played at Fletchers Field as a kid, sometime in the early 1980s. But I don’t think I have been back since then (it’s pretty much out of the way even for those of us who live in Markham). so I can’t really comment on what the field or location was like in recent years.

[Kent]

8 minutes ago, narduch said:

But the video promo had the subway on it. No subway at this stadium.

Based on that its either Lamport or York Lions

Ah, I didn't even see the video promo. Link?

[narduch]

20 minutes ago, Kent said:

Ah, I didn't even see the video promo. Link?

 

[Trois Reds]

I don't know if this has been mentioned before, but according to the Vancouver Province, the NSL already has tv deals in place with TSN and CBC. They talked to Kate Bierness of TSN.

Sorry, I can't get the attachment on here. My phone is old.

[narduch]

4 minutes ago, Trois Reds said:

I don't know if this has been mentioned before, but according to the Vancouver Province, the NSL already has tv deals in place with TSN and CBC. They talked to Kate Bierness of TSN.

Sorry, I can't get the attachment on here. My phone is old.

If it was mentioned I forgot lol. This article is from June 11.

https://www.tsn.ca/soccer/fledgling-northern-super-league-strikes-broadcast-deal-with-bell-media-cbc-sports-1.2133118

[Trois Reds]

2 minutes ago, narduch said:

If it was mentioned I forgot lol. This article is from June 11.

https://www.tsn.ca/soccer/fledgling-northern-super-league-strikes-broadcast-deal-with-bell-media-cbc-sports-1.2133118

I went back and looked. It was mentioned, and I even liked it lol

[Kent]

18 minutes ago, Trois Reds said:

I went back and looked. It was mentioned, and I even liked it lol

I was on the league website to see if the video promo that narduch mentioned was on there and saw that headline. I had forgotten as well but when I saw it I flashed back to remembering people (mostly on facebook?) talking about the CPL needing to get on there too like the NSL.

[Kent]

42 minutes ago, narduch said:

 

Thanks! That trip looks more like going to York Lions stadium. From St. Patrick station, and the subway being above ground (looks like that's still the subway, not a streetcar), so that's gotta be on the way to York Lions stadium.

[narduch]

5 minutes ago, Kent said:

Thanks! That trip looks more like going to York Lions stadium. From St. Patrick station, and the subway being above ground (looks like that's still the subway, not a streetcar), so that's gotta be on the way to York Lions stadium.

One comment is saying that last second of the clip is Pioneer Station.

[K Edgar]

CBC reports on Vancouver franchise

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-womens-soccer-team-vancouver-rise-1.7305660