A New Canadian Soccer League

Two Divisions

  In order to make this league happen some realities have to be acknowledged and overcome. The first, and biggest, is the geography of Canada.
  It has long been acknowledged that one of the most daunting obstacles to a Canadian league is the real or perceived problem of travel costs. While it is possible to travel across any European Country in a matter of hours by train or automobile, the same trip in Canada would take several days. This hampers the ability of both teams and fans to travel to away games.
  To eliminate some, though not all, of the costs associated with flying teams across the country, a division into two groups seems logical. While the schedule would have to include some inter-division play within the regular season, the bulk of any teams season would be spent playing within their own division. As well the league would have to create a single travel pool from which funds would be made available to teams as needed. It is not unreasonable to expect teams with greater access to travel and sponsors to subsidise smaller market teams to ensure stable opposition.
  This philosophy of cooperation should also extend to marketing the league. Money should be contributed to a league marekting office which supports and coordinates with local teams to acheive the biggest effect for the best value. It must be noted that this cooperation is far short of the single-entity concept used in MLS. The single-entity concept has too many problems related to competitveness and will, I beleive, eventually be abandoned in the United States.
  The most logical split for Canada's geography is East and West. There would be eight teams in each division with the dividing line probably the Manitoba-Ontario border. This would restrict the geographical range in which the teams generally operate and provide the traditional East-West rivalry that Canadian fans are used to.