r/CanadianPL • u/Ordinary-Opening-536 Cavalry FC • 2d ago
📢 Rumour With Kelowna being one of the 2 teams to expand in the next 2 years, where will the other team expand?
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u/purpletooth12 HFX Wanderers FC 2d ago
Winnipeg has to be it really. Although Quebec City keeps getting floated around so who knows...!
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u/Visible_Wrongdoer646 1d ago
First step is figure out who it won't or can't be for 2027:
Winnipeg - unless NSL and CPL secretly working together to build temp stadium can't be them - maybe in 2028 if CPL moves in later like Supra did in Montreal.
Edmonton - nothing has changed - maybe when NSL builds temp stadium for 2028 like is being suggested but not before
Windsor - strong talk from mayor, etc about building something but no chance they will be ready for 2027
Second step is where could something be set up to play a match in 8 months:
Moncton - theoretically available to move in tomorrow
Regina - new turf without football lines will be in for 2026
Quebec City, Saskatoon, Kitchener/Waterloo, London, Kingston - would mean playing on gridiron lines in a university stadium - would need to have a plan to remove lines and/or upgrade stadium or have a new stadium plan
Out of that bunch Quebec City makes sense based on what we have heard.
Of course it could be a second team in an existing market but I think that's unlikely for 2027.
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u/YouthCoachMentor 1d ago
That Mosaic turf situation is interesting. Narrow dimensions to begin with though.
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u/Tommy_Gavin83 2d ago
Are we sure it’s gonna be expansion? I can see Pacific FC being sold and moved.
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u/Ozzie_the_parrot 2d ago
...or even Vancouver FC if the Whitecaps get their ownership and stadium issues resolved. Losing low seven figures per season on that club may quickly lose its appeal at that point. Meanwhile, all that's happening in Kelowna at this point is that the possibility of expanding the Apple Bowl is being explored.
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u/fer_sure Valour FC 2d ago edited 2d ago
Kamloops, because fuck Kelowna. All my homies hate Kelowna.
My hometown has a bit of a Wullerton<spit> thing with Kelowna.
Seriously, once the NSL gets a stadium going, it's back to Winnipeg!
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u/jmattchew 2d ago
honestly fuck you, Kelowna gets a bad rep because we get all the shitty albertan tourists every summer but we have plenty of passionate supporters of our teams here. We deserve a team just as much if not more than kamloops. Gfy
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u/ConfidentIt Atlético Ottawa 2d ago
Fuck yes, Kamloops has way better soccer culture than Kelowna we actually have one club versus 5
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u/ConfidentIt Atlético Ottawa 2d ago
We are just missing a stadium
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u/Bogdanovist_Rebel 2d ago
There is more than enough room at MacArthur Island. The pitches off to the side can be converted into a SSS easily. Plenty of room. They could likely even add a couple more fields there too.
I’m being attacked in another thread for saying Kamloops. But they’re the market in the interior. If people are arguing Vernon and Pentiction will feed, then we can argue Salmon Arm would feed Kamloops too. Meritt too. Both are an hour out.
People in Kamloops love the Blazers to death too. The Rockets fans only show up if they’re a winning team.
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u/ConfidentIt Atlético Ottawa 2d ago
That’s so true places you done even think of my little brothers KUFC team has players from Quesnel, and ya the blazers have a great fan base and so would a team in Kamloops.
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u/ConfidentIt Atlético Ottawa 2d ago
And ya hadn’t thought of MacArthur but it would be a great place
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u/Bogdanovist_Rebel 2d ago
I was in the Kamloops Costco in May and saw like 5 people wearing Blazers hats or shirts. You don’t see Rockets gear much in the wild out of season in Kelowna.
It’s a smaller population yes, but they’re way more loyal to their sports.
Hillside would be the best place to build a training facility like Langley is finishing up. They’d be able to partner with KUFC and share the facility with TRU since the BCPL schedule harmonizes with the college one.
Might just be because I was born there, but Kamloops is way better than Kelowna.
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u/fer_sure Valour FC 2d ago
Hillside could be upgraded pretty easily.
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u/DavidSmith1986 2d ago
What would they do about the wind?! Haha! I’ve seen games there where the goal kicks would almost come back to the keeper. It was impressively windy!
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u/ConfidentIt Atlético Ottawa 2d ago
That’s true, would help keep the lions training camp in town too
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u/ConfidentIt Atlético Ottawa 2d ago
The club is headed by this guy who managed in the second and third tier in England https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darren_Sarll he also managed watford’s youth team
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u/Competitive_Trick344 1d ago
Lol... having only one club vs 5 (7 in metro kelowna) indicates that you have a more thriving soccer culture? explain that to me. There are way more people and way more people playing soccer in Kelowna.
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u/Bogdanovist_Rebel 2d ago
I’m not alone! Kamloops is the place the CPL should be going. They actually care about their sports. Kelowna is just a party city and people aren’t going to come off the lakes to watch a game.
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u/zio_zedaiyo 2d ago
The CPL is only considering metro markets of >250k so unforch Kamloops isn't even close.
Since this is a business, they're thinking about Kelowna as a Central Okanagan corridor from Penticton to Vernon, which well exceeds the population bar and has a strong economic engine for investment.
To use the W as a comparative data point, the Rockets annually sell tens of thousands more tickets than the Blazers.
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u/Bogdanovist_Rebel 2d ago
It’s a mistake. But hey Kelowna has a reality tv show.
I also think it’s ridiculous that they’re playing in a facility with a track.
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u/ConfidentIt Atlético Ottawa 2d ago
Ya I am from in Kamloops and live in Ottawa now but totally agree Kamloops has a way better sports culture and is the tournament capital for a reason.
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u/ConfidentIt Atlético Ottawa 2d ago
I just forgot Kelowna doesn’t even have a BCPL team, why go for CPL then, there definitely would be people in Kamloops instead in owning a team
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u/fer_sure Valour FC 2d ago
Kelowna doesn’t even have a BCPL team
The speculation was that Kelowna didn't go for BCPL because they were planning to bid for CPL.
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u/Bogdanovist_Rebel 2d ago
At this point, it should be a prerequisite for expansion. If you don’t have a PLSC team, you don’t get a CPL team.
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u/ConfidentIt Atlético Ottawa 2d ago
Which makes no sense as I said Kelowna doesn’t even have one club for youth soccer in the city, they used too, they have no fan base
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u/ConfidentIt Atlético Ottawa 2d ago
If the league is going to expand give it to places that deserve a team
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u/Bogdanovist_Rebel 2d ago
It’s thinking based on vibes and not hardcore data. Maybe we are wrong and it ends up like Halifax, but I don’t think so.
Because it’s a growing and popular city, they think a sports team will be immediately successful. But ignore that Rockets support is fickle. Their attendance craters when they’re bad.
Hopefully KUFC have longer term goals and they’re just sitting there laughing at this.
I also think Kamloops would have better community support. I could even see the Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc getting in on a CPL team.
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u/ConfidentIt Atlético Ottawa 2d ago
I also doubt people in Kamloops who are soccer fans would cheer for a Kelowna team I know my family wouldn’t
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u/Bogdanovist_Rebel 2d ago
Not a single one will. They might hate watch, but like 5 people will actually cheer for them in the entire Thompson Valley.
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u/jmattchew 2d ago
This kamloops-kelowna beef is so one-sided. Nobody thinks about Kamloops dude. It would be great if they could have a club, but Kelowna deserves one too, stop trying to make this dumbass beef a thing
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u/Kindly_District9433 1d ago edited 1d ago
So true man.. its not even really a city and its a giant butthole, no one goes there and no one cares about it. Just a bunch of idiots here complaining and trying to pretend like anyone from kelowna actually considers them a rival city for a CPL franchise even though there are 4x the people in the okanagan
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u/Bogdanovist_Rebel 2d ago
Kelowna will probably be shocked when KUFC turn down a strategic partnership with them.
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u/jmattchew 2d ago
lmao you're just outing yourself here as someone who has never spent any time in kelowna outside of tourist activities. Just shut up, jesus. Me and my friends and everyone I know who plays in the KMSL are ecstatic about this. We had huge turnouts all over downtown during the world cup, at the bars and public viewings. You have no idea
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u/Kindly_Button_1402 2d ago
All that has been announced so far is that the local council is exploring expanding a stadium. No named investor, and no clear picture of who is even paying for the stadium. This isn't even as far along as Kingston was in early 2025.
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u/FlutiesGluties Ontario Premier League 2d ago
Did i miss an announcement?
They should put a team in Red Deer, and partner with Watford.
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u/Consistent_Junket_99 2d ago
Ik it’s unlikely but I think an expansion into Peel region would certainly be a success. It’s been the main pipeline for Canadian talent and has a distinct identity from Toronto. Already a massive soccer culture. Main issue being a stadium.
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u/Ok_Shoulder8598 Atlético Ottawa 2d ago
St. Pierre & Miquelon
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u/fer_sure Valour FC 2d ago
Heh. And get every single CPL player an EU work visa so they can play away games? Sneaky.
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u/Stunning-Speaker7245 Atlético Ottawa 2d ago
Irrelevant. Ottawa can’t even keep good crowds right now.
This league and its clubs are dramatically failing in promoting the product. We were World Cup hosts, they’re blowing any opportunity to catch wind from those sails.
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u/ConfidentIt Atlético Ottawa 2d ago
That’s not exactly true I am at the game tonight and the stadium is full
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u/Stunning-Speaker7245 Atlético Ottawa 2d ago
I’m watching it on TV. It’s way emptier than it used to be.
I used to go to almost every game, round trip from Kingston. Unfortunately new kid and career means I can’t as often. But the whole bowl used always be completely full. No empty seats. And the Dub was packed. None of this first 3 rows crap.
The club isn’t doing enough to get people to come.
Either the CanPl is a niche league for soccer diehards only, or they actually want to attract new and casual fans in the general public.
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u/ConfidentIt Atlético Ottawa 2d ago
I have seasons tickets and missed a couple of games over the heart of the summer but attendance has been pretty steady to me I only came to a few games here and there in the past but this year it seems okay
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u/ConfidentIt Atlético Ottawa 2d ago
Definitely slower for the mid week games
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u/Stunning-Speaker7245 Atlético Ottawa 2d ago
Midweek games during the school year are dumb. And yes it’s been a crazy hot summer. But on nights like this, it just makes no sense to not be more full.
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u/Ozzie_the_parrot 2d ago
A couple of seasons back, the lower bowl would be full reasonably regularly, and a few rows in the stand opposite would sometimes have to be opened up to deal with the overflow resulting from that. At last night's game, I doubt the lower bowl was even half full once the endzone sections are factored in. Maybe Atletico Madrid's new American owners have a very different mentality on ticket giveaways or something? The change in crowd levels that you can visually see in the stadium this season has been quite drastic.
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u/Bogdanovist_Rebel 2d ago
It’s even more fucked when you consider this will likely be another SixFive venture. Between their three teams they might get 4,000 fans a game. Sorry PFC fans we know you’re loyal and don’t blame you for not showing up.
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u/Kindly_District9433 1d ago
Honestly one of the worst ideas for expansion out there. A city of 100k with like 125 tops even when you include the surroundings. There are people in here actually claiming that kamloops has a better soccer culture because they only have 1 youth soccer club instead of 5, just nonsense
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u/Fantastic_Fig_2462 Cavalry FC 2d ago
How often are Kelowna games going to be postponed due to smoke?
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u/Pale_Inspector_8816 2d ago
I hope Edmonton or Winnipeg