Quote:
Originally Posted by Thunderball
CSA better not be that short-sighted. For all we know, this league could fold in one season like the CBL. Maybe when CPL has a few successful seasons, they can brow beat established franchises in established leagues to fall in line with the domestic league or lose sanctioning. Right now, CPL is div 1 in name only, and may end up being only marginally better than PDL, let alone USL, depending on how much they are willing to play for decent players.
My concern is that the Fury have a 7 digit payroll, and CPL is cheaping out on 500-700k caps (like Pacific FC has been saying) which would likely be a non starter for the Fury since it means cuts. I think it also means the CPL won't attract much for talent or many known NT players. If there are ownership groups that can't (or won't) afford a 1.5-2m payroll (with or without designated players), I'm concerned this league will be a bit of a joke when it comes to attracting more than die hards and friends/family. No one is expecting MLS level spending, but its got to exceed USL to be serious.
I hope I'm wrong and the league announces a reasonable salary cap and an ability to draw in some known players in Canada or abroad.
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Pacific FC has not said anywhere that the cap will be 500-750K. There is one article saying that the owner wants it to be less than 1 million. (Source:
https://www.kamloopsmatters.com/high...launch-1012589) Without any public information on what the cap actually is, there are a lot of assumptions being made before even a single player is signed. For what it's worth, the salary cap I've heard is 850K.
Don't get me wrong, I think that is way too low, but I don't think that means the league will be a joke, like you are implying.If you want to talk USL salaries, the USL's franchise agreement from 2016 recommended that clubs spend 200-400K USD on players (Source:
https://www.soctakes.com/2017/10/31/...ise-agreement/). I'm sure salaries have gone up since they've been sanctioned as D2, but that's not exactly a high number itself.
The Fury have made a lot of cost cutting moves in their 5 years, including gutting their squad after the 2015 Soccer Bowl run, scrapping their academy, folding their women's team, and the move from NASL to USL. Now, suddenly they want to be big spenders? I don't buy it.
In my opinion the nuclear option of pulling sanctioning is the better option in the long term. The CSA's long term plan is to detach itself from American leagues. They've already forced Ontario PDL teams into League1 Ontario (losing KW United), and have denied sanctioning to women's teams in Quebec, forcing them into the Women's PLSQ.This move by the Fury now puts that plan in jeopardy. Do they scrap their long term strategy in the interest of one team? Not to mention, the USL actually wants the Fury in CPL because it means their clubs don't have to get separate visas to play one game a year.
I don't think that will happen with the current leadership, but if Montagliani was still CSA president, I think it would.