http://www.bluebombers.com/2017/05/06/winnipeg-football-club-looks-bringing-professional-soccer-manitoba/

 

Interesting.  If affordable for an entire family I think it would work as there are tons of soccer fans in this city. 

6 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Surprised you missed this...

http://3downnation.com/2017/05/08/cfl-teams-play-big-role-new-canadian-soccer-league/

 

 

Where does it say league initiative of the CFL?

Just that the first franchises are owned by people/organizations that also operate CFL teams.

Just now, JuranBoldenRules said:

Where does it say league initiative of the CFL?

Just that the first franchises are owned by people/organizations that also operate CFL teams.

The headline says... CFL Teams To Play Big Role...That's how I read it & the story as well. If I'm wrong then that's cool. However, to me the CFL wants to be involved as owners. That's how I read it.

9 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

The headline says... CFL Teams To Play Big Role...That's how I read it & the story as well. If I'm wrong then that's cool. However, to me the CFL wants to be involved as owners. That's how I read it.

You just posted:

Quote

Yep, this is a league initiative. I may be in the minority here but the CFL has plenty of issues they need to address first. Starting up a soccer league & diverting league funds into this is a mistake.

They aren't diverting league funds.  Is any other business that a owner of a CFL team gets involved with a "league initiative?"

5 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

You just posted:

They aren't diverting league funds.  Is any other business that a owner of a CFL team gets involved with a "league initiative?"

I think if the Stamps, Esks, Riders & Ottawa do become involved with the Ti Cats & Bombers, then I'd say it will be.

Soccer. Meh.

Has nothing to do with "The League".  Teams in the league have existing ownership groups and facilities that are ideal (or as close to ideal as these cities will ever get), therefore many will be interested.  Not all.  Toronto is already doing exactly the same thing in a different league.  Vancouver and Montreal would not be interested because they would have to compete against existing teams that have their own ownership groups and facilities.

5 hours ago, WBBFanWest said:

2) A large immigrant population that loves soccer (but not football), why not give this a try.  

Usually immigrants are not really ones for purchasing any sporting event tickets.  

The prime target audience should be 18 - 40 year old Canadian males... that's what every other larger sport attempts to bring in.  I don't think soccer would draw even as much as the Goldeyes (very old demographics that keep dying and shrinking).   

They can try the risk but I don't see it being successful.  

18 hours ago, Rich said:

The True North involvement is interesting speculation.

My initial reaction was ... I'd have no problems if True North was somehow involved in the project if only to mitigate some of the risk to the club, 

I don't know how much of an initial cash outlay is required to setup a league like this, but if TN were involved as a minority owner to help with that initial buy in cost, it would help mitigate the financial risk to the club.

But then I was really thinking about it, other then investment money, what else would True North contribute that the Bombers don't already do?  

The Bombers already have their own marketing and ticket sales departments.  Seems to be more synergies packaging Bomber tickets with Soccer tickets.  Like buy season tickets to both and if you buy a parking pass to the Bombers, get your parking pass to soccer free.

Bombers already have and own the arrangements with the food vendors.

Well considering the Bombers couldnt organize transportation to IGF without True North stepping in to tell them how, I'd say TN brings a lot to the table.  They also do concerts together with TN as the promoter.

Since we're all stakeholders in the Bombers, my concern would be if this league suffers financially and becomes a burden.  Im not a huge soccer fan but I like this idea.  The questions will come when its revealed how much cash was required initially and how much cash is required consistently and if it produces a return.  On one hand, I understand the feeling that the publicly-owned Bombers should not be funding potentially risky ventures but on the other, if they feel its a worthy investment and it creates additional revenue, then its a great idea.

If True North was involved I'd feel better from the perspective of their expertise in sports/event planning and marketing (not to mention their unlimited supply of money). But its not critical they are.  It would just make me feel 100% excited about this rather then 90%.

13 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

I think if the Stamps, Esks, Riders & Ottawa do become involved with the Ti Cats & Bombers, then I'd say it will be.

You are aware the reason people are so frustrated with your opinion is because you have changed your stance on literally every single reply you've made in this thread. You're more than entitled to your opinion and to discuss it, that's what we're all here for. But it's difficult to discuss something when every time someone responds to you, you change your mind about what you think and completely ignore what you've already said.

41 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Well considering the Bombers couldnt organize transportation to IGF without True North stepping in to tell them how, I'd say TN brings a lot to the table.  They also do concerts together with TN as the promoter.

The Bombers are a much more competent organization under Miller than they were under Garth Buchko. 

Buchko's mismanagement of opening IGF still haunts them in bad location perception to this day. 

15 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Yep, this is a league initiative. I may be in the minority here but the CFL has plenty of issues they need to address first. Starting up a soccer league & diverting league funds into this is a mistake.

There is no direct CFL involvement in this.  Despite the fact there has been nothing announced directly by the CFL in any of their communication channels, if this was something they were involved in, you wouldn't have seen the announcement happen when it did.  They would have waited until after the draft.

Aside from that, this being a "league initiative" and "diverting league funds" couldn't be any further from the truth.  I don't even know where you got that idea from the 3 Down article you posted. This is a textbook example of how false rumours get started.

16 hours ago, WBBFanWest said:

In places like Vancouver and Toronto where there is 1) A struggling CFL team 2) A large immigrant population that loves soccer (but not football), why not give this a try.  I suspect that they've actually done some market research and see potential.  Why would you deny them the opportunity to maybe make a dollar or two?

Toronto and Vancouver already have successful MLS franchises... I would guess those cities would not even be involved in this league...

2 hours ago, Mike said:

You are aware the reason people are so frustrated with your opinion is because you have changed your stance on literally every single reply you've made in this thread. You're more than entitled to your opinion and to discuss it, that's what we're all here for. But it's difficult to discuss something when every time someone responds to you, you change your mind about what you think and completely ignore what you've already said.

Three or 4 posts constitutes frustration? C'mon Mike. The trouble is, people don't want to discuss. They want to fight. Maybe I don't want to get into an argument with people getting all bent out of shape over what I said.  You used to criticize me all the time for arguing too much & for being too abrasive. So, now I don't argue. Just like I won't now with you here. I no longer live here posting 30 times a day & eagerly checking all the responses so I can fire back with piss & vinegar.  I was getting too stressed out so I no longer do it. I enjoy visiting here, maybe post 4 or 5 messages a day & leave. So, my answer to you is if f that's how you feel about my posting style then you're entitled to your opinion.

For as few details as we know already, seems like lots of unnecessary bellyaching to me.

The only connection this new league has to the CFL is ownership and use of stadiums.   Since they don`t directly impact one another, fear over potential impacts on the Bombers seems silly.  If anything, a venture like this is far less risk because of what the Bombers already employ in-house. 

I for one would welcome pro soccer to Wpg.  I don`t follow it nearly as close as I do football and hockey, but you know what, the atmosphere at games rivals any form of entertainment.  Not just in Europe anymore, either.  I watched Toronto FC`s run to the MLS Cup last year, and that was just plain fun sports to watch & fans were unbelievable.  I`d love to see a TFC game in the Big Smoke. 

This new league would obviously be a tier below the MLS in quality, but maybe they can sell the Canadiana of it and sell a decent amount of tickets. 

My thinking is the season would be quite short.  If you`re starting late summer, early fall you`re not leaving much time before snow comes. 

18 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

It was the same 30 years ago. Lots of people played soccer, especially the little kids who in the spring are on the fields everywhere. I just remember the Canadian Soccer League being a total failure even though thousands played the game. My question is why does the CFL want to take on the risk & become involved in a new Canadian soccer league? Some teams can barely pay their bills now. I don't understand the logic for the CFL to become involved here. The CFL needs (based on all the empty seats in every stadium) to grow the game of Canadian football, not soccer.

I am not talking kids playing soccer, I am talking 20-30 year old men playing and filling fields.

3 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Three or 4 posts constitutes frustration? C'mon Mike. The trouble is, people don't want to discuss. They want to fight. Maybe I don't want to get into an argument with people getting all bent out of shape over what I said.  You used to criticize me all the time for arguing too much & for being too abrasive. So, now I don't argue. Just like I won't now with you here. I no longer live here posting 30 times a day & eagerly checking all the responses so I can fire back with piss & vinegar.  I was getting too stressed out so I no longer do it. I enjoy visiting here, maybe post 4 or 5 messages a day & leave. So, my answer to you is if f that's how you feel about my posting style then you're entitled to your opinion.

It is what it is. Nobody wants to fight with you, dude. They're just questioning the opinion you're trying to present because it's remarkably inconsistent from post to post. Hard to follow. Just want some clarity on where you stand.

This topic isn't football and its starting to bug me .... I wish the mods would move it to general discussion

Do what I do when I see a topic started by BigBlue - click "mark as read".

3 hours ago, Mike said:

It is what it is. Nobody wants to fight with you, dude. They're just questioning the opinion you're trying to present because it's remarkably inconsistent from post to post. Hard to follow. Just want some clarity on where you stand.

My stand is I won't argue anymore. I'll state my case with anyone who actually wants to talk but if someone says (for example) that I'm against anything new as was said to me on this thread about the new soccer league, then I'll just say thanks, entitled to their opinion  & move on.

2 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

My stand is I won't argue anymore. I'll state my case with anyone who actually wants to talk but if someone says (for example) that I'm against anything new as was said to me on this thread about the new soccer league, then I'll just say thanks, entitled to their opinion  & move on.

It's not so much opinion, it's that you say something like "league initiative" like it is a fact, not your opinion, and then link to an article that contradicts what you've presented as a fact.

7 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

It's not so much opinion, it's that you say something like "league initiative" like it is a fact, not your opinion, and then link to an article that contradicts what you've presented as a fact.

Again, between the story headline & what I interpreted in that story, that's how I read it.

The first honorary 'non-import'... and cue the red ink.