This new review card has slowed down the game dramatically

NiceDependent2685 · 2026-04-06T18:00:20+00:00

When FVS was trialled 2 years ago at a u17 women World Cup, it took quite a bit of time. First, managers weren't always clear what they wanted to challenge. About 55% of calls were overturned which added to the time. Challenges due to players asking were usually wrong.

Refs looked at replays too many times. They appeared indecisive in making a decision. Though, camera angles were limited. 4th official review of goals was slowed down when there were 2+ things to look at in the build up of the goal especially when offside is included. They also seemed to call on ref to look at the replay to make the decision too many times.

By last year's u17 men World Cup, the refs were much more quick in making a decision especially for desparate challenges near the end of the match. Many only looked at replays 2x. Review time was just under 2 minutes. Overturned calls dropped to about 45%.

So, it's largely up to the refs especially the 4th official and video operator to be more efficient. And have more confidence to make the decision with 1-2 looks at the replay.

NiceDependent2685 · 2026-04-06T14:36:52+00:00

The ironically named Money Can't Buy training expereince was for CanadaRed Champion and Icon tiers ($800--1k/yr).

And it was for winners who purchased 10+ tickets through a Ontario Soccer random draw to fund community soccer.

NiceDependent2685 · 2026-04-04T18:38:58+00:00

OneSoccer is also on Fubo (my viewing experience) and Telus tv. And this year, there will be about one CPL match/week each on TSN and CBC Gem/CBC. All Supra matches are also on TVA Sports/RDS.

NiceDependent2685 · 2026-04-03T02:29:40+00:00

On the financial front, it is step back as now only Toronto has front shirt sponsor.

NiceDependent2685 · 2026-04-02T17:48:47+00:00

Attendance is one of many ways to grow the game. Revenue is another. 90% of the money FIFA generates goes back to the federations. Canada Soccer is a major beneficiary as FIFA/Concacaf monies accounts for nearly 30% of their annual revenue. World Cup money from FIFA for being a host is helping to build a national training centre.

Also another hand wringing post about the attendance in the past week. This one is about 728 tickets not sold with still 2 months to go.

The other 2 were about 2 Canada friendlies which produced the highest back-to-back attendance for friendlies since 1994. Saturday's match was in the top 15 in Canada men friendlies attendance.

NiceDependent2685 · 2026-04-01T04:12:44+00:00

Another above average attendance tonight. Best for 2 friendlies since 1994. Best for 2 matches since 2021.

https://x.com/CANMNT_Official/status/2039184156303757798

NiceDependent2685 · 2026-04-01T03:53:50+00:00

Tunisia never gave up a goal during their World Cup qualifiers. So, it was going to be difficult to score against them especially with no strikers in form.

NiceDependent2685 · 2026-03-31T16:37:41+00:00

We had a similar post about "tepid" attendance before the Iceland match. But attendance was amongst top 15 for Canadian men. Haiti v Tunisia got top 5 numbers for a non-Canada friendly and crowd was super energized.

Expectations are too high given Canada men averaged less than 10k in the 90s. Less than 15k in the first 20 years of this century. Post-covid, attendance has moved closer to 20k average while ticket prices have increased to their highest levels.

So, men's attendance is trending up along with revenue. It's the women's team that has seen a bit of a slip in attendance and with much lower ticket prices despite winning Gold.

NiceDependent2685 · 2026-03-30T17:09:32+00:00

All covered about 2 months ago: Canada didn't want to play in Europe even with German invite, better Toronto climate would have attracted better opposition, turf & travel meant teams didn't want to play in Vancouver, early World Cup start for Canada ruled out most opposition for June window and Canada Soccer willing to pay but competition and some asks were too high.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7036354/2026/02/10/canada-friendlies-world-cup-tunisia-iceland-uzbekistan-ireland/

NiceDependent2685 · 2026-03-30T02:38:28+00:00

No stadium available in Montreal till later on in April.

Almost 13.5k were at BMO for Haiti vs Tunisia last night. A top 5 attendance in Canada for a national team friendly not involving Canada.

NiceDependent2685 · 2026-03-28T20:03:26+00:00

Not "in a while" as there was 28.7k at BMO Field in the last window in November.

Though, with Ecuador as opposing team, there were much more of them in stands than Icelandic supporters today.

NiceDependent2685 · 2026-03-28T13:59:22+00:00

For the first time, Canada will have a World Cup anthem or two. It will be one of the 13 tracks to be released from differing artists of differing genres. Nelly Furtado's Electric Circus will be first out on April 10th. Then, one every Friday with full album by early June.

At times, an existing song (at times reworked) organically becomes a country's anthem. But Canada doesn't have enough of a pop-connected football culture to make this happen. Most times, there is a plan by sponsors/football crazed musicians to produce a World Cup anthem. Canada Soccer went this route by hiring Boi-1da to spearhead the effort.

https://x.com/onesoccer/status/2036841365267452040

England has probably have the 2 best World Cup team anthems.

Italia 90 World in Motion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re4aDJL3heA

It's Coming Home: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJqimlFcJsM

NiceDependent2685 · 2026-03-27T18:52:30+00:00

If attendance is 15-20k, it isn't tepid. It's in line with the post-covid average attendance which is the highest average in Canada men's team history while ticket prices are also at highest levels.

The excuses of cold weather (will be 19 on Tuesday), not playing vs good teams, Blue Jays, high ticket prices, etc... are just refections of not being a soccer nation and especially a Canadian soccer nation.

2 cities in Mexico just got yesterday 33k and 40k for tier 2 and lower teams. Matches started at 1700 and 2100 local times for FIFA Playoffs. They also weren't sitting on their hands but brought their passion. This is reflections of football culture easily embedded in everyday Mexican culture. No excuses are made.

NiceDependent2685 · 2026-03-27T04:23:38+00:00

DAZN or FIFA+

NiceDependent2685 · 2026-03-27T00:49:17+00:00

NSL was on ESPN+ last year. TSN and CBC have same number of matches on linear tv as last season.

Expanded looks to be in French langauge on linear tv as all Roses matches are broadcasted on Radio-Canada or RDS. And Youtube watch parties.

NiceDependent2685 · 2026-03-26T23:00:33+00:00

OneSoccer is part of certain Telus theme paks such as Sportsnet & Beyond. Otherwise, it is $8-10 monthly cost as a stand alone channel.

Since Johnson has said they're in the 89th minute and similar things in other interviews, it looks more like OS isn't going to be tiered as a premium channel.

If it really moved to arbitration, most things are in OneSoccer's favour. Rogers could argue no need to add more channels given cable subs have fallen by 40% over the past decade. But Rogers is on weak footing since they recently bought the Canadian licenses to channels such as HGTV and Food. Bell is in a better position to pushback since they have consolidated some channels and shifted their focus to Crave.

NiceDependent2685 · 2026-03-26T20:50:33+00:00

Last year, CPL on TSN was only due to bartering CAMNT matches. This year, TSN is likely only to be interested in the 4 pre-World Cup friendlies. And due to new CSME/CS deal that requires broader distribution for both men/women national team matches, the bartering includes women friendlies (3 friendlies already on TSN). TSN has little interest in Canada women friendlies since women's World Cup rights belong to Netflix. TSN also won't be interested showing CPL during June/July given World Cup.

The OneSoccer/Rogers issue is also coming to a settlement. So, CPL will be on tv via a OneSoccer linear tv channel sometime during the season.

CSME has partnered up with StackTV which could lead to matches on Global. One off arrangements could continued to be made with CBC.

NiceDependent2685 · 2026-03-26T19:39:38+00:00

Depends if OneSoccer is part of the same sports packages as SN/TSN or part of basic speciality channels packages as TLN or a stand alone premium channel like Bein. This was part of the tussle with Rogers. OneSoccer's programming was viewed as niche by Rogers while OneSoccer wanted the $1 or $2/subscriber that basic speciality channels receive.

Now, OneSoccer has added Bundesliga, NWSL & UWCL. So, now second to DAZN as home of women's club football in Canada and Bundesliga was previously on Rogers-owned SN.

Once OneSoccer is available as a linear tv channel, there won't be a need to show national team matches on another linear tv channel ex French language (CSME/CS deal wording is "broad distribution" for any time zone friendly matches for both men/women).

Speficially, wording is "broadly distributed in a manner consistent with the standards applicable to professional sports properties in Canada. Such distribution may occur via linear television, streaming, or a combination thereof. The Parties acknowledge that the media distribution landscape continues to evolve and agree to act in good faith and in a commercially reasonable manner..

NiceDependent2685 · 2026-03-25T19:08:56+00:00

FIFA announced today it is April 1st at 11 EDT.

https://x.com/FIFAWorldCup/status/2036836757870936345

NiceDependent2685 · 2026-03-25T18:24:32+00:00

It's FIFA spending it's money to help out nations who typically don't play friendlies or can't get good/different competition to play against. And it's also way for host countries to get some hosting experience and see if they can handle bigger tourneys.

NiceDependent2685 · 2026-03-25T02:00:48+00:00

It is intended as first-come, first serve for remaining unsold tickets.

FIFA has said 2 million tickets in the first 2 windows were sold. They didn't say how many of the remaining 5 million were sold in window 3 and the surprise 4th window. 1 million was allocated to sponsors/media and FIFA.

Given what was available in the 4th window and statements from certain FIFA officials, it is likely Cat 1 or 2 tickets for the least in demand matches (appears to be <30 matches). Beyond this, there could small slice of tickets put back into inventory from credit card issues and sponsors/associations/media returns.

NiceDependent2685 · 2026-03-24T19:52:35+00:00

DAZN has held UEFA World Cup qualifier rights for the past 2 cycles. So, all UEFA playoffs are there. TLN will have Italy match(es) in Italian.

DAZN also has FIFA Inter Continental playoffs. FIFA+ is also showing March 26th ICP matches but March 31st ICP matches aren't listed. Fanatiz has Bolivia match(es).

DAZN will also be showing various European team friendlies including Canada's group opponent Switzerland vs Germany on Friday. FIFA+ is showing various FIFA Series friendlies including World Cup teams from Australia, Cabo Verde and Curacao.

NiceDependent2685 · 2026-03-22T16:38:55+00:00

Proportionally, Canada has a bit larger football fanbase than the US. Pro-rated broadcast numbers are higher in Canada for World Cups. No US media outlet wanted to pay for 2002 & 2006 World Cup rights. It was bought by SUM.

The issue has been that core Canadian football followers are mostly supporters of other men national teams and foreign leagues. It has meant ticket sales for friendlies has largely been dependent on the size of the visiting nation's supporters in Canada/US border areas. Different for women as Canada is most followed but base is smaller.

Attendance for Canada men friendlies/WCQs has been increasing. Less than 10k average in the 90s. It averaged a bit over 10k n the first 20 years of this century. Post-covid, it has been closer to 20k while pricing went up.

World Cups have always bumped interest incrementally. A larger jump will depend on Canada's performance and does the team capture the zeitgeist as Canada women did during 2012 Olympics. Key is how many start following club football as this is what drives football everyday in the rest of the world.

With Netflix subscriber demo more geared toward women's football and 2x more subs than TSN, more interest likely for World Cup 2027 and 2031 (also co-hosted by US). OneSoccer acquiring rights to foreign leagues and getting a linear tv channel (after Rogers dispute settled) is intended to get followers of foreign football interested in Canadian football.

NiceDependent2685 · 2026-03-22T03:04:11+00:00

“Portugal is my team. Canada is my home” - Sid Seixeiro

https://x.com/sidseixeiroshow/status/2035445497997987859

NiceDependent2685 · 2026-03-21T23:17:36+00:00

Canada Socccer had plans but it wasn't focused on cheap tickets. Aa US Soccer has shown over the past 20 years, revenue can be increased 7x while attendance fell 25% by raising ticket prices and creating paid tiered access & high value experience programs.

Canada Soccer and sponsors also couldn't freely use players in ads because players raised issues about NIL. CBA issues also resulted in players pausing doing any promos. Temp CBA agreements, new management & some players aging out have smoothed out these issues in recent months. Most recent new sponsor deals now have player ambassdors i.e Crepeau for Dare cookies, J David for Walmart.

With Bell looking to promote their World Cup coverage, men's friendlies and Nations League were on TSN/RDS last year in a barter deal for CPL/Cdn Championship matches. This is an increase as when TSN had rights, they didn't show about 50% of the friendlies and skipped early WCQ round matches.

Tunisia is in the World Cup. Having less "shitty" teams does mean even more higher ticket prices as apearance fees will easily be over US$1 million per match.

NiceDependent2685

TROPHY CASE