2024 Cavalry FC and CPL thread

[Bill Bumface]

They just released some face value tickets in 106 if anyone is looking. 5 in a row, a pair and a single left.

[FlamesFanStrandedInEDM]

$40 for a watch party in November seems reasonable…


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[jayswin]

Originally Posted by FlamesFanStrandedInEDM

$40 for a watch party in November seems reasonable…


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Ridiculous. We were going to attend just to be close to the stadium and experience some of the atmosphere. Final checkout was $84 for two. What the **** is that, seriously? That was a hard nope.

What do they think a watch party is? Our biggest sport is hockey and our premier NHL teams don't even charge to enter a watch party during playoffs, lol. They could have made a crap tone of money off liquor sales AND had a huge point of pride in the CPL on TV with a few hundred showing up to be part of it and watch on screen. But have fun with the dozen or so willing to pay that over just going to a pub.

[FlamesFanStrandedInEDM]

Originally Posted by jayswin

Ridiculous. We were going to attend just to be close to the stadium and experience some of the atmosphere. Final checkout was $84 for two. What the **** is that, seriously? That was a hard nope.

What do they think a watch party is? Our biggest sport is hockey and our premier NHL teams don't even charge to enter a watch party, lol. They could have made a crap tone of money off liquor sales AND had a huge point of pride in the CPL on TV with a few hundred showing up to be part of it and watch on screen. But have fun with the dozen or so willing to pay that over just going to a pub.

I like Tommy and the players, it’s just unfortunate that this team’s management continue to take their fans for granted. It feels like every season they have done something tacky in an attempt to turn a quick profit…

Last year I wasn’t even upset about the game in Victoria, I totally understood why it wasn’t feasible to play it at Spruce Meadows, but instead of making an affordable “close to cost” get away package to get their fans in the stadium, they went and charged a 250% markup from what it would have been to book it yourself through Expedia.

But $40 to stand in the cold November air to watch a screen is absolutely insane. Even the Oiler watch parties in Edmonton were $10 with the proceeds going to charity.

They keep striking out on literally the easiest lobbed softballs.


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[jayswin]

Yep, that is absurd. Absolutely insane idea on their part. Do they actually think a bunch of people are going to pay $40 to come and park and watch on a screen? How can they be that out of touch for grass roots football in a midsize city? What a bunch of absolute dummies, lol.

[M*A*S*H 4077]

I’m interested in who Forge is going to start at LB lining up against Musse. Parra has been suspended and missed the last three games, while Owolabi-Belewu did pretty well in the 1-2 playoff match. Based on the season it seems more likely to me Parra is going to start and they’ll try and get him upfield and force Musse to play more without the ball and tracking him on defence. I don’t think Parra is all that great defensively and he’s out of match rhythm and he’s someone that the Musse/Aird combo can hopefully expose.

AGR on Onesoccer has an article (https://onesoccer.ca/a/5-key-tactica...24-canpl-final) highlighting the 5 key matchups and this is one of them. He surmises that Forge could move to a back 5 to offer more help on that side.

Something I learned from that article is Sofascore has player heatmaps for the season on there. Quite interesting (to me at least) looking at where players are getting involved, or differences between them. Look at the Cavalry fullbacks as an example; Kamdem and Aird (https://www.sofascore.com/player/com...namentId=13470); you can see how much wider in defence Aird stays and Kamdem is more conservative and tucks into a LCB role a lot more. Aird is also getting in more crosses and getting on the ball closer to the opponent's box. I think it's cool to see a more statistical breakdown of something we've seen play out with our eyes.

Camargo is perhaps the most interesting one to me as it confirms how often he likes to drift wide (https://www.sofascore.com/player/sergio-camargo/155863) Not a lot going on in the middle of the field 20 yards out which isn't surprising as it is an area of the field where he is going up against stronger, physical CBs.

Interesting to see data like that readily available for a league like the CPL, I'll be tracking it next year for sure.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by FlamesFanStrandedInEDM

I like Tommy and the players, it’s just unfortunate that this team’s management continue to take their fans for granted. It feels like every season they have done something tacky in an attempt to turn a quick profit…

Last year I wasn’t even upset about the game in Victoria, I totally understood why it wasn’t feasible to play it at Spruce Meadows, but instead of making an affordable “close to cost” get away package to get their fans in the stadium, they went and charged a 250% markup from what it would have been to book it yourself through Expedia.

But $40 to stand in the cold November air to watch a screen is absolutely insane. Even the Oiler watch parties in Edmonton were $10 with the proceeds going to charity.

They keep striking out on literally the easiest lobbed softballs.


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Yep a little free fanzone area with a big screen and beer sales was all they needed to do.

[Jimmy Stang]

It looks like these "fan fest and viewing party" tickets allow access to the lower plaza and Canada House, which are inside the grounds. So the club is either expecting that they can't enforce whether people wander into areas where they can see the pitch, or they are planning to add extra ticket checks somewhere/somehow.

Sometimes this club is hilarious. "We know what we're doing" is the attitude, but I have no faith that they ever actually do.

Whatever - I have my ticket and I'm going early, but don't delay me getting to my seat because of extra ticket checks because you're clueless and greedy.

[TheIronMaiden]

The only thing that could ruin my time is forge winning.

[shermanator]

Great in-depth article of Cavalry and their success over the first few years.

An additional thousand are likely to be in the stands at ATCO Field for the finale’s return this time around.

“Attendance will be the biggest, by a decent margin, of all-time for us,” declared a beaming Mason Trafford, Cavalry FC’s former captain-turned-commercial and marketing director.

....

“We are a standard bearer for the league in terms of revenue generation, commercial aspects to Canadian partnerships — kind of all of those things that make the club money,” said Trafford, who can flag Calgary’s franchise among the top three CPL clubs with Forge and Halifax’s HFX Wanderers FC in most business metrics.

....

The numbers back the growth of Cavalry over its six-year existence:

• Average match attendance has increased 30% since 2019
• Season-ticket holders have increased 16% since 2019
• Merchandise has increased 25% from 2023 to 2024
• Partnership revenue has increased over 250% since 2019

Or maybe they're just striking out on the easiest lobbed softballs left and right, I don't know...

https://calgarysun.com/sports/calgar...growing-soccer

[shermanator]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1854697149570728167

[Slava]

Originally Posted by shermanator

Great in-depth article of Cavalry and their success over the first few years.



Or maybe they're just striking out on the easiest lobbed softballs left and right, I don't know...

https://calgarysun.com/sports/calgar...growing-soccer

I don’t know. You keep saying things like this and criticizing how the club is run. But frankly, we’re on the eve of their biggest game ever, in front of the largest crowd ever on national TV. The games are a fantastic experience and as a supporter (so yes, biased), I think the best sporting experience in the city. Maybe Spruce Meadows and the ownership group has been great and knows what they’re doing?

[M*A*S*H 4077]

We need to win so we never have to watch that Olympico highlight ever again

[shermanator]

Originally Posted by Slava

I don’t know. You keep saying things like this and criticizing how the club is run. But frankly, we’re on the eve of their biggest game ever, in front of the largest crowd ever on national TV. The games are a fantastic experience and as a supporter (so yes, biased), I think the best sporting experience in the city. Maybe Spruce Meadows and the ownership group has been great and knows what they’re doing?

Swing and a miss.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by shermanator

Swing and a miss.

lol, what did I miss? I mean really, this franchise is the class of the league or very close. Attendance has blossomed and there is way more buzz about this game than there was in 2019. It's pretty impressive growth given how things went for the league during Covid.

[Jimmy Stang]

The club should never be free from criticism. They pull things like the single floodlight, inflated travel packages for our biggest "home" game, $40 viewing parties, high ticket prices, learning and re-learning how to park cars, etc. I mean, you can say it as "30% increase in attendance over 6 years" and also "it took 6 years to finally have a sell out because ticket prices have kept crowds to about 2/3 of capacity".

And despite that, it is still a fantastic experience at a unique venue, commercially successful vs. other clubs, etc. I can't see a scenario where I'm not a season ticket holder. I get happy when I go there, and they do a lot of things right.

When they do stupid stuff, they should be called out on it. And I'm happy to give credit when it is due. It can be both things.

[Jimmy Stang]

And honestly, I'm just jumping in to the conversation of the moment. This week, of all weeks, there are far too many good things happening. Viewing party nonsense aside, the vibe right now is overwhelmingly positive, as it should be.

[shermanator]

Originally Posted by Slava

lol, what did I miss? I mean really, this franchise is the class of the league or very close. Attendance has blossomed and there is way more buzz about this game than there was in 2019. It's pretty impressive growth given how things went for the league during Covid.

The "Or maybe they're just striking out on the easiest lobbed softballs left and right, I don't know..." comment was a call back to a post earlier in the thread.

I agree with you completely, hence why I was sharing the article indicating the impressive growth in attendance, corporate partnerships and season tickets.

As Jimmy Stang says, this club should not be free of criticism, and I think we have done our share of criticizing this year. But this is a time to celebrate the club.

[M*A*S*H 4077]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

The club should never be free from criticism. They pull things like the single floodlight...

Single floodlight and Lake Escalante are part of our heritage and should the club ever get large enough that they have their own history area at Spruce Meadows those should be the first two items mentioned

[Slava]

The club should not be free from criticism, and that's not my point. But the reality is that this city has what...3/4 failed attempts to have professional soccer gain a foothold here? This is by far the most successful to date, and while there are things that I dislike (I mean $16 for a beer is egregious!), the reality is that they're not running a charity. Fans want everything to be perfect, but it all costs money. I got back and forth between wanting things to be cheaper and more reasonably priced and also wanting the club to be profitable and financially viable.

That's not to suggest that there haven't been missteps through the years. The first game, when they had one beer tent, was hilarious, and they just plain did not understand the type of supporters they were going to attract. And yes, parking was a headache for a while. But the truth is, Spruce Meadows has adapted through the years, and at least a piece of the fantastic game day experience is based on their efforts.