yellowsweatygorilla

Interesting, will have to look that up re: WHA. Certainly good point in terms of the importance of keeping things simple - considering this sport in itself is new for the people we are trying to bring into the fold. In Hong Kong, in order to fill out the league after financial troubles led to a number of clubs self-relegating, the HKFA just funded their own team made up of youth players that were unwanted by other clubs ... but even that would be unfeasible with our geography. I do wonder if some of the L1C clubs, if they didn't need to pay expansion fees or upgrade their facilities or have a professional squad, could afford a full CanPL season in a conference set-up. I suspect some may be able to given the initial plans for the Canadian National League as a second division. I wonder if CSB would be willing to forego facilities requirements and expansion fees to have 4-6 L1C teams join CPL but without allowing them to join CSB and the associated revenues (at least until they can afford the fee and have their stadium meet requirements). ..if there was enough interest/feasibility, they could even do pro/rel except only have it apply to these L1C clubs.

Yea, Brazil's structure has always interested me ... but sadly they seem to be moving away from that.

Completely out there, probably impractical, probably with a lot of negatives, idea I had to solve the now on record concern about league expansion and need for geographic conferences to limit travel expenses. Given one significant complaint about conferences is the repetitiveness of playing the same teams multiple times, what if we brought in each L1C champion. Matches against L1C teams count for the CPL table, but the L1C teams won't be playing a full schedule of matches, won't formally be part of the CanPL, won't participate in the playoffs, and won't be part of the CSB. Let's say we had expanded to 10 CPL teams when we do this, and L1 Central and L1 Atlantic have launched. Each conference will have 5 CPL teams and 3 L1C teams. So, East = Windsor, Forge, York, Ottawa, Halifax, Simcoe (L1O), Saint Laurent (L1Q), Moncton (L1A). The CPL teams will play their non-L1C conference rivals 3 times (12 matches total), the L1C teams in their conference 2 times (6 matches total), and their non-L1C interconference rivals 2 times (10 matches total). CPL clubs get a larger variety of opponents, can claim representation in Quebec, minimizes travel expenses, expands league without having to cut down on their CSB revenue L1C clubs get to showcase club and players, get to test the waters for CPL attendances, more manageable travel expenses given it's only 5 away matches in destinations mostly reachable by bus. This is also probably the closest we'll probably get to pro/rel and may lead to more investments in L1C so we have more SCR/TSS-level clubs. Some issues might include: needing to create more incentive for L1C clubs participating otherwise these matches vs CPL clubs would be glorified friendlies - albeit with higher stakes (televised, players in shop window, bigger crowds), having to fit 10 more matches to an already tight L1C calendar, having many teams unwilling or unable to afford even 5 away matches, cheapening CPL's professional status and image... but personally, I'd be excited if they were willing to try something like this as someone who never cared much for parity. I mean a table like this would be pretty great, a proper filled out league:

Yea. Fair. Though obviously hoping it is the higher amount since it'll make the fallout from losing licensing fees less dramatic

Ahh. Fair enough. I suppose overall sponsorship revenue would be very generous. That said, I do wonder if there's quite a bit of overlap considering every one of CSA's sponsors also has advertisements on one soccer

I read that as the minimum payment irrespective of the amount of revenue. And since the sponsorship revenue far exceeds that it should be above that number? How do you read it as?

Remember the other important tidbit from that article is that media pro takes half of the sponsorship revenue from CSB as part of the deal. According to the heritage committee, CSA took in $8 million in 2022. Another deal estimated at 3 million with struck with CIBC in 2023. So let's estimate that it's at 10 million. By scrapping the deal in theory CSB should also get back 5 million. If that is the case, it should significantly offset the loss in licensing revenue.

Not saying you are wrong, but Noonan literally suggests conferences will help with travel costs? https://northerntribune.ca/2024-canadian-premier-league-schedule-season/

Well, Kelowna was supposed to be coming in 2025 (though I know the latest murmurs are less optimistic). Not ideal, but suck it up with some lower budget teams with university stadia to fill out the numbers as a stop gap? Could Thunder Bay Chill afford travel within the West?

No I don't. I agree for conferences to be possible you need 12. Or if 10 you'll need much more interconference play. The hope too is that lower travel expenses will make expansion more feasible. And the latest voy cup proposal by canpl shows that travel is indeed a concern

That's fair, but the point is to move towards limiting travel. And a CanPL with conferences doesn't have to mean no interconference play, maybe each team goes on extended road trips in the other conference to limit airfare? I just don't understand why conferences would automatically put off people. What's the difference between conferences and divisions btw?

I think CFL shows that Canadians aren't inherently opposed to conferences? And we'd be over the moon if we got even half of CFL attendances. That said, if you're right, I am worried we're stuck. If that's the case, I worry it's just impossible to have a Canadian pro soccer league then with our geography. The best case scenario then would be for CPL clubs to join USL and play within their two conferences (again, not saying I want this ... just saying I rather have that than have no pro football outside of MLS in this country).

MLS, and (I think) every major professional league on the continent has conferences? I think as long as it gets marketed properly, and you have enough teams so it doesn't feel like you're playing the same teams every week, it'll at least be the same as what we have. There's just no comparables in terms of leagues that operate with our geography. The closest is Australia, and even then they have clusters of teams, with almost all within an area equivalent to the Quebec-GTA corridor. Same with China, with most teams on their East Coast, Russia on their Eastern third (equivalent to Ontario + Quebec).

No, they offer discounted tickets to CPL clubs and clubs are required to purchase from them. A former York United staffer who jumps on the discord said that airfare is a significant expense. It's no surprise that Noonan has publicly expressed the need for geographic conferences, and that's partly the urgency for expansion to 10 and 12.

Yup, though I don't have as much time this year to test and finetune. https://community.sigames.com/forums/topic/580699-fm24-canadian-megapatch