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Thunderball · 07-10-2019, 12:11 PM

By 2026, I suspect Cavalry will be in their 12-20k seat stadium on the All Canada Ring (likely with at least one DP, lower third MLS revenues, and a league wide salary cap slowly approaching that of the CFL).

Only way this makes any sense is if Cavalry will be in a clear Div 2 USL or CanPL by then, or the whole league collapses/stagnates in the next few years.

I do believe that MLS is a bit worried that if CanPL grows to CFL levels in the next 7-10 years, Vancouver and Montreal might be receiving pressure from CONCACAF on their sanctioning... so may as well start destabilizing the league, undercutting the league, or set the stage to absorb the markets that seem primed to have the highest chance for long term success and viability for MLS. (Of course, some elements of MLS may be alright with the idea of Montreal and Vancouver having to sell their franchises to the highest bidding US markets and being forced into CanPL)

The other possibility is a Canada division of MLS with the existing 3 Canadian clubs, and maybe another 3-5 additional Canadian clubs, and this is a precursor step.

If Cavalry is stable, well supported, able to afford quality players to support the Canadian youth development model AND is competitive at a CONCACAF level, I would say either this hypothetical club would have to be Cavalry itself, or they would be taking a huge risk that fans don't accept the expansion club. Not sure the Flames (who else other than the Southerns) would want to drop the amount of cash for a MLS expansion team and want to compete with an existing known commodity that may already by then be playing (lower tier) MLS level football.

07-10-2019, 12:11 PM	#1470
Thunderball Franchise Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Calgary, AB Exp:	By 2026, I suspect Cavalry will be in their 12-20k seat stadium on the All Canada Ring (likely with at least one DP, lower third MLS revenues, and a league wide salary cap slowly approaching that of the CFL). Only way this makes any sense is if Cavalry will be in a clear Div 2 USL or CanPL by then, or the whole league collapses/stagnates in the next few years. I do believe that MLS is a bit worried that if CanPL grows to CFL levels in the next 7-10 years, Vancouver and Montreal might be receiving pressure from CONCACAF on their sanctioning... so may as well start destabilizing the league, undercutting the league, or set the stage to absorb the markets that seem primed to have the highest chance for long term success and viability for MLS. (Of course, some elements of MLS may be alright with the idea of Montreal and Vancouver having to sell their franchises to the highest bidding US markets and being forced into CanPL) The other possibility is a Canada division of MLS with the existing 3 Canadian clubs, and maybe another 3-5 additional Canadian clubs, and this is a precursor step. If Cavalry is stable, well supported, able to afford quality players to support the Canadian youth development model AND is competitive at a CONCACAF level, I would say either this hypothetical club would have to be Cavalry itself, or they would be taking a huge risk that fans don't accept the expansion club. Not sure the Flames (who else other than the Southerns) would want to drop the amount of cash for a MLS expansion team and want to compete with an existing known commodity that may already by then be playing (lower tier) MLS level football. Last edited by Thunderball; 07-10-2019 at 12:23 PM.