Stating the obvious
I love the CanPL, but let's be real, please
The announcement this week that the Vancouver Whitecaps are for sale has caused many to worry what that might mean for the long-term viability of the team.
The thinking is that the ‘Caps are from an unfancied market (according to Americans), it doesn’t own its own stadium or practice facility, and with many US cities desperate to get into MLS (but not willing to pay the insane expansion fees that are currently being asked), a relocation might be in order.
Those who fear this will point to the Save The Crew fiasco from a few years ago (and to the Vancouver Grizzlies a generation ago, but I’m not sure that is close to the same thing) as evidence. They will tell you that, with the Crew, “no move” promises were made in the initial days following the sale announcement and that when a new owner came in a pledge was made to keep the team in Ohio.
Most Whitecaps fans know what happened next. If you don’t, the quick version is that the new owner, Anthony Precourt, lied and tried to move the team to Austin. The fans pushed back and were able to guilt MLS into keeping the team in Columbus while giving Precourt his team in Austin (basically to make the controversy go away, as they were getting roasted in US soccer circles).
It’s unclear whether they would get the same level of criticism if they moved a team from Canada to the USA. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say that they wouldn’t. It’s not a majority, but there is a significant minority of MLS fans who do not like that there are Canadian teams in MLS and wish that they would be forced out. Then there’s a significant amount more that aren’t actively against Canadian involvement, but also wouldn’t care one way or another if the Caps, Montreal and TFC left tomorrow.
It’s more than fair to think that there would not be a widespread #SaveTheCaps campaign if the new owner “pulls a Precourt.”
On some level, that type of parochialism is understandable. Soccer is a tribal sport and Canada is making noise internationally, at last. It makes sense that some US fans don’t like that “their” league is being used to help the enemy. What’s less understandable are the Canadian soccer fans who are hoping that the Whitecaps are moved so that the brand can be moved into the CanPL.
To be clear, the Caps are saying that it is a condition of the sale that the team stays in Vancouver. It’s understandable that some Whitecaps fans are taking that with a grain of salt.
(deep breath)
Ok, here’s the thing. Wanting the Caps in CanPL is…misguided. I understand the motivation. Those who want are sincerely passionate about the domestic game and want Canada to have a strong, Canadian-only league that is widely followed and can act as a pathway for our players to get to higher levels, while also driving widespread interest and passion in the markets it operates in. That’s all good. Worthwhile goals.
Maybe one day the CanPL might evolve into that league. Right now, however, it’s still a start-up that is clearly many steps below MLS in terms of overall quality and visibility. Having one of the three MLS teams drop down into the CanPL would be a significant blow to the game in this country.
It would reduce the amount of opportunities for Canadian players to make a good living as a professional player. The CanPL has a few lifers, sure, but it does not pay well enough for all but a few to stay for multiple seasons.
It would also provide fewer opportunities for Canadian players to be discovered by European clubs. Yes, the CanPL might be able to send a player here and there to Europe, but no one is going to be jumping straight to the top flights from there anytime soon. It will need to build its reputation through many successful smaller transfers first. The best path for a CanPL player to a higher level now is for them to go to MLS, in fact.
Although I can be critical of the direction MLS is going now as it relates to visibility, it would frankly be delusional to suggest that the CanPL is better known. Have a chat with soccer fans who are outside the CanPL bubble and ask them what they think of Valour’s struggles, or Forge’s back line, and you are getting blank stares back, for the most part. I’d say the CanPL has the visibility of the Welsh league in Wales, but the Welsh league is far, far more established and followed.
There is also a certain cognitive dissonance to think that all the current Whitecaps fans would just follow the team to the CanPL. No, what would much more likely happen, is that there would be two teams in Vancouver struggling to draw in the CanPL, instead of the current one.
If they even decided to keep going, that is. It would be equally likely that they would just call it a day, or negotiate for the brand to be transferred to VFC (or lost to, I don’t know, Cleveland). There would be no guarantee that there would even be a Whitecaps without MLS.
So, for now, can we put aside the fanciful idea that it would be desirable for the MLS teams to be in the CanPL. If we truly ever do get to the point where that makes sense then the teams themselves will ask to make the move. I doubt I’ll be here to write about it.
But, maybe that happens one day. That would be great. It’s not going to happen soon though.
In the meantime, we should all put aside club partisanship and hope that the ownership situation gets sorted and the Whitecaps remain part of the Canadian soccer scene for many years to come.
A Canadian soccer scene that very much still needs MLS.
CanPL hardcores would be served well to be realistic about the league. (There's a whole discussion to be had about how York 9/United starting so antagonistically against TFC supporters dug the hole for them early.)
I'm a fan myself. I love going to a game at Tim Hortons Field on a summer's afternoon, but I can also see there's a clear difference in the leagues. Simply dropping a "former" MLS club would remedy nothing.
If anything, it might quiet those begging for pro/rel to see how quickly the team will become unrecognizable as staff and players go to brighter pastures.
The Whitecaps need to stay in MLS. If anything, a CPL club or two would benefit from a promotion into MLS - allowing for some variety with who is in the final every year. It's not going to happen as the expansion fee is worth more than the league as a whole at this point, but that kind of makes the case for why we're comparing apples and oranges.