2024 Cavalry FC and CPL thread

[Thunderball]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

I'm still worried the outstanding lawsuits are enough to sink the already fragile league finances. Hopefully MediaPro is all bluster. It's just hard to imagine anyone picking up the rights when they are being contested in a lawsuit. The CPL and MediaPro need to settle quickly and move on to get past this.

One bright spot seems to be that both sides agree the contract is terminated and the rights are free to be sold again.

The issue is going to be who was justified in calling it off… the party who didn’t get paid for a year and has seen limiting broadcasting growth since 2019, or a party who is relying on promises to have 10 teams during Covid and 16 by 2026, and who thinks that is worth a declaration they were free to take rights for free plus $50m in damages?…

I suspect TSN or Sportsnet signs up soon. It won’t be for as much money (or any, but if it’s eyes on the league and visibility on sports sites like MLS, it’s a huge win long term.

[Addick]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1751243250201944180

For all those that think the way to grow the league is through exposure on linear television, the PWHL knows how their long-term market consumes media.

"the PWHL has dome produce their broadcasts, before splitting the rights between tsn, sportsnet, and cbc sports in canada. However, the difference is the PWHL streams every game for free on youtube, removing any barriers to viewership, a strategy that has helped develop an impalpable buzz in the league’s early days"

[shermanator]

OneSoccer streamed 4 CPL games live on YouTube in 2023. As of today they've drawn the following number of views:

HFX Wanderers vs Cavalry - 11k
Pacific vs Cavalry - 6.9k
York United vs Forge - 5.9k
Cavalry vs Atletico Ottawa - 7.4k

I don't know if those games were restricted to Canada or available globally, but those are the types of numbers we're dealing with here. USL Championship, which is the closest level to CPL in this area draws similarly. Could it make sense for CPL to get whatever they can on a national network, and stream the rest of the games live on YouTube?

[M*A*S*H 4077]

That’s a brilliant idea honestly. Have a game of the week on cable and the rest on YouTube. They need eyeballs on the game. If they don’t figure this out the CPL and soccer in Canada is dead.

The CPL side to me is far more important than the national team to grow the game. They need both, but access and visibility on the CPL is crucial

[shermanator]

The reality is that in order to grow the game in this country you need decades of work put in to change the perception of the sport. Most people still think it's a boring sport played by pussies. That perception is slowly changing and people are coming around and realizing it's a damn good time.

Unfortunately people think there's a silver bullet, one of which is putting the games on network TV, that will magically make the game explode in popularity. Putting games on TV will help, but it's not going to make a huge dent in things long term. Growing the game is going to be a slog. And people really don't have that kind of patience.

I've seen first hand how much the game has grown in the last decade in Calgary and we're at the point where it should be viable enough to stick around for a long time. Don't know if there are enough places in this country to make a domestic league viable long term but if this attempt doesn't work it will NEVER work.

[Addick]

Originally Posted by shermanator

Unfortunately people think there's a silver bullet, one of which is putting the games on network TV, that will magically make the game explode in popularity. Putting games on TV will help, but it's not going to make a huge dent in things long term. Growing the game is going to be a slog. And people really don't have that kind of patience.

100% At some point in their near future, a new professional league has to either start making a profit or consistently track in that direction. Exposure doesn't pay the bills and the CPL is getting to the point where owners need to see their investment becoming self-sustaining.

In the UK, DAZN had the Womens CL rights for the last couple of seasons and they put a lot or all of the matches on YouTube. DAZN could be primed to take a similar approach with the CPL.

Considering how many kids grow up playing football in Canada and how YouTube surfing has replaced channel surfing for them, it could be the perfect match. Die hards buy a season pass to watch all of their club's matches on DAZN, and DAZN start picking up future die hards on YouTube.

[shermanator]

Don't want to get too much of my hopes up until something is official, but Northern Tribune is one of the few supporter run sites with trustworthy sources.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1751711757637152852

[Jimmy Stang]

^ I will try and remain optimistic. The article does a good job of explaining why the logistics and costs of production are the toughest part. Having TSN, Sportsnet, Fubo, DAZN, even YouTube, etc. pick up games isn't the biggest issue - it is getting the product created so it can be picked up.

I am happy to pay for the product (as I have since day one), but I do think that wider exposure could be the silver lining in all of this. Maybe a network/service picks up some games and a bunch go on YouTube for free? If MediaPro/OneSoccer wasn't making money anyway, at least the league would be getting more eyeballs. To invoke a marketing term, it would be a bit of a "loss leader". Get people interested and then the value goes up, they buy tickets & merch, etc. I like how CBC had a few games during the inaugural season, and I always thought/hoped that MediaPro would sub-licence more matches to reach more eyeballs. Maybe they tried but there were no takers (likely, given the history of soccer on the big networks in Canada), or maybe they were holding out. But that seems to be at the centre of the disagreement with CSB.

I have always thought that MediaPro and OneSoccer must've cost a fortune to operate and how it could be sustainable (it wasn't, obviously), and it is a shame that it never took off like everyone had hoped.

While this is still very much an existential crisis for the league, and perhaps even a canary in the coal mine, there is also an opportunity to broaden the exposure for the league.

[TheIronMaiden]

I've only watched 2 or 3 away games. It doesn't really matter how they present it. I am only going to watch important away games. I don't care about seeing cavalry vs HFX for the 5th time that season.

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

I've only watched 2 or 3 away games. It doesn't really matter how they present it. I am only going to watch important away games. I don't care about seeing cavalry vs HFX for the 5th time that season.

I'm the opposite. I tried my best to watch as many road games as possible. I would even minimize the video and listen along while driving if I was out doing errands. But obviously with less interest or importance than actually going to Spruce Meadows. If I missed it, I missed it.

That being said, if the coverage got chopped a fair bit, and we got a selection of matches on a big network/service and little else, I think that would be a net gain for the league. But I do think it would make it harder to engage with the club/league for a lot of supporters, which isn't great. Even match highlights need someone to operate a camera or two, someone to edit it, etc. though that is still quite different than producing a whole live broadcast.

Maybe I'm setting the bar too low, but at this point I'll accept the survival of the league even if it means that I can't watch away matches.

[M*A*S*H 4077]

Finally some news on the goalkeeper front

https://northerntribune.ca/free-agen...-cavalry-2024/

Niko Giantsopolous or a loan keeper from Ligue 2

However, this morning saw journalist Emery Taisne tweet that Guadeloupean goalkeeper Davy Rouyard looked set for a loan with Cavalry. Rouyard hasn’t been getting minutes in Ligue 2 with Bordeaux, but he might just be Niko’s competition for the roster spot.

This is great, real competition for Carducci which should raise everyone’s game

[shermanator]

Would love to see Giantsopoulos back here, but if he does sign here he's getting a few games at best, barring injury or drop in form from Carducci. Don't really know why he'd make that move given that he left Cavalry to be a #1 in the first place.

The Guadeloupe keeper is intriguing though.

[Julio]

Honestly, the best case scenario for broadcast for CPL is an NLL or CEBL scenario, where there is a game of the week on linear TV, and the rest is on a streaming service.
Worse case is something more like what Canada West or the WMBL has, which is a standalone streaming service.

Production for sure is a huge question mark. The NLL at least could rely on 'Jumbotron' arena feeds as a base level of production, but that doesn't exist for CPL venues.

And it would be a wonderful surprise if there is any sort of broadcast rights fees above a token amount for CPL rights.

[shermanator]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

I'm the opposite. I tried my best to watch as many road games as possible. I would even minimize the video and listen along while driving if I was out doing errands. But obviously with less interest or importance than actually going to Spruce Meadows. If I missed it, I missed it.

That being said, if the coverage got chopped a fair bit, and we got a selection of matches on a big network/service and little else, I think that would be a net gain for the league. But I do think it would make it harder to engage with the club/league for a lot of supporters, which isn't great. Even match highlights need someone to operate a camera or two, someone to edit it, etc. though that is still quite different than producing a whole live broadcast.

Maybe I'm setting the bar too low, but at this point I'll accept the survival of the league even if it means that I can't watch away matches.

IMO that is setting the bar way too low.

The approach of having the occasional game on linear TV with no way to watch games otherwise might work for drawing in a few new eyeballs to the league. But not being able to watch every away game would be a good way to really piss off those who've supported this league to date.

Don't alienate your dedicated customers in the pursuit of new customers.

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by shermanator

IMO that is setting the bar way too low.

The approach of having the occasional game on linear TV with no way to watch games otherwise might work for drawing in a few new eyeballs to the league. But not being able to watch every away game would be a good way to really piss off those who've supported this league to date.

Don't alienate your dedicated customers in the pursuit of new customers.

I agree. I just hope it doesn’t bankrupt the league in the process.

[Bill Bumface]

Also imagine the CPL goal of the year gets scored with no cameras to get a good angle of it.

Being able to throw up highlights on social media is a pretty important aspect of bringing eyes to the league.

[MegaErtz]

There just isn't enough interest to justify a nationwide league. Most of these clubs, including Cavalry FC, are running at huge losses. Eventually we'll need to be honest with ourselves. I just can't see the league surviving longer than another season or two, even with a magical new TV deal. The cost of travel, salaries, insurance, etc. is just way too much for such a large country with so little interest in the sport.

[shermanator]

Originally Posted by MegaErtz

There just isn't enough interest to justify a nationwide league. Most of these clubs, including Cavalry FC, are running at huge losses. Eventually we'll need to be honest with ourselves. I just can't see the league surviving longer than another season or two, even with a magical new TV deal. The cost of travel, salaries, insurance, etc. is just way too much for such a large country with so little interest in the sport.

Based on how many dumb ass takes you've made over the years this confirms the league will be just fine. Thanks for the reassurance.

[MegaErtz]

I'm not trying to throw shade on the league, but let's be real here. The club is a toy for the Southern family. There's a reason the team in Edmonton folded.

Do we have any idea what the expenses and revenues are? Total player salaries, ticket revenue, sponsorships, anything? I have a very hard time believing that the team isn't bleeding money. Eventually these things need to take off and become self sustaining.

[Matty81]

Attendance is around 4k a game and has been slowly but steadily growing as has sponsorship revenue. FIFA provides some limited funding as well. I think it's on track to be self sustaining even thought it is a ways away still. Wasn't wild about their players unionizing and pushing the minimum salary from 22k to 30k with the league still not turning a profit, wasn't super bright even thought I understand why it happened, but semi-pro might have been the way to go right now as I think their player costs are the main expense. A league can absolutely be viable or close to it on 4k a game but probably not with a 1 million dollar payroll per team.

Obviously the league needs to survive the current media ####storm first, but provided they do, in order to move forward the next 4 years need to bring expansion and new facilities. Plan as far as growing eyeballs on the product and sponsorship revenues for the league to become sustainable was always to add new teams and expand the footprint, they need a strong team in Quebec and another one out west soon and that can't happen without stadiums getting built. I think the owners will stick with it as long as they see some light at the end of the tunnel but am a bit concerned by the lack of movement on that front lately. Lot of talk with mayors and councils but no results yet.