Quote:
Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame
We're better off getting an Arena Football League team first since football is a much more popular sport around here.
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This is a common misconception. Its one I hear all the time in Ontario from all the "experts" from Toronto. The idea that Calgary is a blue-collar football/hockey only crowd is a tired and outdated stereotype, and with the massive population growth of immigrants, inaccurate to boot. Reality is, hockey and football are the only real "major" league sports that have survived more than 5 years.
If you can get 2000 people to watch PDL soccer, and 2000 people to attend a poorly advertised friendly between Brazilian reserves and a makeshift Calgary Select squad, there's a base and appetite. I was just at a world club tournament in Detroit with River Plate, Pumas and two Hungarian Div 1 teams that was heavily publicized that did worse, and in the Superdome no less. Yet, broke and oversaturated (NHL, MLB, NBA, NFL, NCAAx2) Detroit is a better MLS market than Calgary?
Anyway, the CFL is about as niche a league as it gets. The main reason it does so well in Calgary is simply that there's nothing else even remotely close to major league in Calgary from when the Flames hang them up in April-June (lets hope, lol) to September. Baseball is a joke here, Basketball is non-existent, and the soccer entries that have tried have been too mickey-mouse or placed in too improper a venue to ever be taken seriously.
Which brings me to the two real reasons we haven't seen top division soccer since the Boomers (11000 average attendance in 1980 for a city of ~500,000 is pretty good, and would be in MLS range today, only reasons they folded was Skalbania being broke, and that league being in a death spiral). Sadly, these two reasons also explain why we may not again for some time.
1. Stadia. McMahon Stadium is suitable for the wrecking ball, and little else, unless 30-100 million dollars is found to bring it up to code. It works for the CFL (for now) because of the niche nature of that league, and the die-hard attitude of its supporters. But in 3-5 years, when McMahon is the lousiest stadium left, that will likely change. Hellard and Foothills are too small at ~2000 each. But, rumor is FC Edmonton's stadium plan is to play at Clarke (1200 seats) and add about 2000 temp seating... so Edmonton may be setting a precedent that allows these two facilities to be in play for a Calgary NASL franchise. Except for reason 2...
2. Calgary is too big for minor league sports, but too small for major league sports. This is an affluent city with a lot of money, and with ~1.5 million people within an hour's drive, big enough to support NHL, MLS and CFL. (Hitmen are the exception because of Hockey's prominence in Canadian culture and psyche) Trouble is, Calgary would also be one of the two smallest MLS centres, with Salt Lake City. All the previous soccer entries have been in weak leagues, or owned by people with no money/equity, who had to fold before the team could establish a fan base. I suspect NASL may also be too "minor league" to be accepted by the Calgary media and sports fan. MLS would be embraced. Trouble is, does the MLS accept "small fish" Calgary in a big pond, or does NASL accept a large and affluent market that may not appreciate the small pond of Division 2 soccer.
Edmonton lacks the corporate backing for MLS, I suspect they don't get a serious look unless they market themselves as "FC Alberta," and make a serious effort to be a shared team with several matches in Calgary. Only way there's MLS in Calgary is also as a shared team with similar treatment to Edmonton, and in a refurbished/rebuilt McMahon.
NASL needs more time to mold into a truly viable league before a Calgary entry can be considered. It barely works in Edmonton, and that is in a much less "sports snobbish" city.