The history of Canadian football is permeated with geographical complexities, infrastructural failings, and a collective exasperation amongst native fans—but has a newly-established league put an end to decades of disillusionment? In this five-part series, Ryan Murray attempts to understand whether the Canadian Premier League is the vehicle that will help to awake a sleeping giant from its slumber, and re-address the balance of power across the North American footballing landscape. Legitimate hope or another false dawn? Let’s find out.
The rise in popularity and prominence of football outside the major European and South American theatres has been a hallmark of the sport in recent decades. Previous footballing outposts have constructed extremely competitive leagues, which, through partnerships with international broadcasters and sponsors, have generated colossal stakeholder revenues. Perhaps the most-recognizable examples of this phenomenon are in Japan (J1 League), Australia (A-League), and the United States (MLS), whose respective top-tier leagues all command considerable viewing audiences.
Nevertheless, there are multiple other countries who can now profess to having a very watchable, and indeed marketable, domestic league product. Although the recent introduction of salary caps has significantly impacted the spending power of its participant clubs, the Chinese Super League has experienced unprecedented growth, with a number of top players re-settling in the Far East after negotiating handsome compensation packages. Whilst in 2014, the launch of the Indian Super League would preempt a material change in the way football was perceived in the Asian subcontinent, with the likes of David Trezeguet, Alessandro Del Piero, and Robert Pires helping to engage a completely new demographic of fans.
Indeed, when landed successfully, a new league can be leveraged to completely recalibrate the local landscape: raising the profile of the domestic game, improving playing standards, and aiding the development of internal talent for the benefit of the national team.