Home NASL & USL More NASL & USL NASL Commissioner Peterson: Canadian expansion talks in next 60-90 days

NASL Commissioner Peterson: Canadian expansion talks in next 60-90 days

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NASL Commissioner Bill Peterson was in Edmonton for Sunday’s game between the Eddies and the Tampa Bay Rowdies. He was on hand to thank Edmonton City Council for approving the new $1.25-million permanent-football-line free turf that was installed at Clarke Stadium in July.

Of course, when he met with the press, the subject of expansion and a rumoured NASL Canada league came up.

And he said some expansion conversations are heating up.

“We have had discussion in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and over the next 60 to 90 days we expect to have more discussions in Canada,” said Peterson.

Peterson said he spoke with Canadian Soccer Association officials when the Board of Governors met in Ottawa last week, and the league is open to finding ways to better partner with the CSA. But he wouldn’t come out and talk directly about a rumoured NASL Canada division — saying instead that “it (the Canadian league) is a CSA agenda item.”

He said, though, that the NASL is interested in keeping those lines of communication open, and it will help identify potential partners who could be interested in bringing Canadian franchises to the league. In fact, Peterson said there could be as many as 10 Canadian markets that could possibly be NASL cities down the road.

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6 Comments

  1. Mike

    September 25, 2014 at 7:42 pm

    Believe it when you see it. All speculation & rumours I’m afraid. Even with all the nice new stadiums going up in Canada. Pity.

  2. Kahkakew Yawassanay

    September 25, 2014 at 6:40 am

    This commissioner is far to secretive about what cities he is seriously talking to about expansion clubs….and what cities have only expressed an interest but no serious discussions have occurred…I also believe all clubs future and present must meet season ticket goals to be viable…if FCE is bleeding millions how long can their commitment really be????

    • Steven Sandor

      September 25, 2014 at 6:51 am

      The Commissioner used to be far more open about naming cities or talking about the processes, but he’s clearly become more cautious. After the mess with the USL-NASL in Oklahoma City, it’s hard to blame him.

  3. Alan

    September 24, 2014 at 11:57 pm

    Calgary, Regina, Winnipeg, Spokane. NASL should be Canada’s 1st choice in my opinion if it’s looking at an established league. Our MLS experiance has run it’s course with three teams max. Go Edmonton!

  4. JonnyB

    September 23, 2014 at 3:10 am

    – Calgary
    – Winnipeg
    – Victoria
    – Spokane

  5. left back

    September 22, 2014 at 5:37 pm

    It is so important for teams like Edmonton that NASL expand in the west. It would be so good for Edmonton if they did 75% of their travelling to Northwest U.S. states and locally here in Western Canada. It would save so much $$$ and that would make the league very attractive to potential owners. Anyway… the league looks like it is improving and moving in the right direction…

    lets hope that direction is West!

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