Quote:
Originally Posted by shermanator
Cavalry's attendance has gone up every year since the pandemic. Even this year despite having the worst regular season in club history by a wide margin.
If enough people want this league to be around, it'll be around. I'm increasingly convinced Canadians don't want it. They'll sure line up to pay $3000 a ticket for Canada vs Italy at the World Cup though.
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Problem is that people want as high end as possible, and people expected CPL to get there by now (even with the pandemic), whether that is reasonable or not is another story... but its what was promised (16 teams by 2026 anyone?). Personally, I'm glad there is still a league after covid, but I also expected 12 teams by now.
Problem is, the league's marketing just hasn't broken through despite the gift of CCC, and is not perceived to be more than minor league by the mainstream casual fan, and so many feel entitled to $5 tickets (look at all the whining from Forge fans for frankly, pretty reasonable season ticket prices). Maybe having TSN on board somewhat will help that, but even they don't provide scores and standings on their site.
Realistically, its a league of horribly underpaid veteran pros and interesting youngsters putting out some relatively high quality soccer that can legitimately keep pace with MLS and LigaMX in one off matches... which is arguably the best Calgary has ever seen, save maybe the Boomers, which the majority of us weren't even alive to see.
Thing is if people want the CPL to look more like MLS (or Australian A-League), they have to pay and show up and support the growth. Problem is, the league has bobbled a lot of opportunities, is seen to be stagnant (if its seen at all), is losing big sponsors (like CIBC and Macron), and has seen terrible owners ruin what should be some of the best markets (like Edmonton and Winnipeg). This means the owners needs to double down too, and show everyone they are serious about this being Canada Division 1. Supra and "Inter Toronto" are actually good signs of that, but a fresh coat of paint isn't enough, they need to spend on players too, including some known ones.
I also strongly suspect it isn't the Cavs owners holding this league back on low salaries and lack of designated players. Complain as we may about ATCO being unsuitable for CCC, I think the owners genuinely care and aren't afraid to spend reasonably.
I spend thousands per year on the Cavs, including both home and away matches, and I'll be going down with the ship if CPL fails and would follow them to whatever league is next, but people need to wrap their heads around the reality that CPL is likely the best we'll ever see and has the ability (and legitimate connections to international club football) to become a legitimate (albeit smaller) major league. Or don't... but there isn't another major league sport coming to any Canadian city not named Toronto anytime soon.