Originally Posted by
Initial B
Please note that there is no National TV contract with NASL nor does the league have a sponsorship with a national airline. A TV contract paying out at least $1 million to each team's salaries and a national airline providing discount fares to teams would leave NASL in a better position than they are now. If the new CPL doesn't have a TV contract, then it is doomed. To get a TV contract, you at minimum need a BC named team (Victoria, playing out of Royal Athletic Park), a Quebec-named team (in Quebec City, playing out of PEPS stadium), and a Toronto team for TV execs to show their sponsors that they have enough Market Saturation. The top 10 Canadian markets are:
1. Toronto/Hamilton/Niagara Falls
2. Montreal/Laval
3. Vancouver/Victoria
4. Ottawa/Gatineau
5. Edmonton
6. Calgary/Lethbridge
7. Quebec City/Levis
8. Winnipeg/Brandon
9. Kitchener-Waterloo/Cambridge/Guelph
10. London/Woodstock/Wingham
11. Halifax/Dartmouth
12. St. John/Fredericton/Moncton
Saskatoon and Regina are #18 and #20 respectively, but together they're probably the equivalent of Halifax. Those markets probably contain around 80% of the TV market.
Now, the Toronto team has to be considered separate from TFC for the CPL to not be considered minor league. It could be run by MLSE, but TFC would have to loan out players to the team for a season and player contracts would be seperate from TFC. If they want to turn heads with the new league and crank up the nostalgia, they'll name them the Toronto Blizzard. To give the league legitimacy and a quality benchmark, they'll need FC Edmonton and Ottawa Fury who by end of this season will have NASL playoff pedigree.
Through watching the Ottawa Fury this year, I can see the CPL acting a lot like the NASL is now: The teams will be a place for older Canadian players to finish out their careers (Julian de Guzman), those who don't quite have what it takes to play at MLS level (Maxime Tissot), good players who are playing for a better contract (Marcel de Jong), and players coming up through the academy (Dario Conte). FC Edmonton is very similar. Multiply this team by 8 or 10 and I would be very comfortable with the pyramid set up.