Rapid fire Q&A: CPL commissioner Mark Noonan says salary cap to increase for 2025
Make no mistake: CPL commissioner Mark Noonan is a very busy man.
On Wednesday night, he was in attendance for Halifax's match against Pacific FC. And although he had some time to take in the evening's festivities, much of his time pre-match was spent speaking to fans, media and other stakeholders as the league continues to build towards the tail end of its sixth season. The groundwork for 2025 is well underway.
Fortunately, The Wanderers Notebook was able interview Noonan before kickoff. Here is the conversation between Noonan and this publication's editor and reporter, Josh Healey.
JH: Hi, Mark. Thanks so much for doing this. We've only got 10-minutes but we were just talking about it, you had a fan meet and greet today at the Wanderers Grounds. Can you tell me a little bit about that and what you heard from fans?
MN: The first thing I wanted to do was thank them because they do such an amazing job of supporting (the Wanderers) and the city really needs to take notice of the care that goes into that. So I wanted to thank them first and foremost and also get some ideas from them. We talked everything from they want a league fantasy game, they want us to be in the EA FC video game, they want us to get a local rival for the Wanderers that they can travel to easier. Just lots of good input and importantly, I just wanted to thank them for what it is they do for the league.
JH: Speaking about the league, of course, we're here at an exciting juncture. The race for the final playoff spot is on. This Wanderers versus Pacific fixture is a big match. Can you talk about the level of competition and the quality of play in the league?
MN: We work hard at that. It doesn't just happen. It was a great weekend of football last weekend in terms of condensing the table. It was a great upset of Forge by the Wanderers, really holding up the top of the table and Pacific bringing up the bottom of the table. We work really hard to have as much competitive parity as possible. Last year, if you recall, we changed the playoff format. Under the old format, a lot of the games towards the end of the season didn't really matter. We wanted every game to matter. I think you're going to see, under the run in now, it's going to come down to the very last game as to who's going to lift the CPL Shield, who's going to be in a good position going into the playoffs and who's going to just make the playoffs. That's what we were trying to do.
JH: Just to confirm, I don't have the schedule in front of me, you guys also took recommendations to have all the final matches be played at the same day. And at the same time, as well, yes?
MN: Yes. I mean, we're not ready to announce anything yet because there's logistics that need to be worked out. It's something that we're looking into so I'd say stay tuned.
JH: Expansion is always something people talk about, you addressed it with the fans today. Where is the league right now and what can you tell us if anything has changed since your pre-season press conference?
MN: We continue to work hard at expansion. Our goal is to double the size of the league in the next eight to 10 years and we just need to ensure we have the conditions to be successful and that's stadium, ownership and municipal support. Just all the things you need to be successful. We'll expand when we have those.
I've said it before, we could expand tomorrow if we wanted to go into Canadian football stadiums with stitched on lines and not have a professional look but we're not going to do that. We're in this for the long haul, our owners are in it for the long haul and I'm confident we will eventually expand. Our pipeline is growing.
JH: That's good to hear. One of the locations, of course, is the City of Kelowna. I spoke with Mayor Tom Dyas about a month ago. He talked very glowingly about his relationship with the CPL and how they want a club. How is the league working with the City of Kelowna to move towards that objective?
MN: We did something really unique this year and took the league On Tour for a regular season game between Vancouver FC and Cavalry FC. We brought it to Kelowna as a test and wanted to see would the community come out. The game sold out in the pouring rain. Unfortunately, it was a 0-0 match, but it was a very competitive match, and it was a great proof of concept.
Now, we're working with Mayor Dyas and city council and city staff to see whether we can figure out the facility piece of that. We're really encouraged by the reception we got there, we love Kelowna, we love geographically how it connects our two B.C. clubs and Calgary, building out our western front, if you will. We're very bullish on Kelowna but we have some work to do with the city.
JH: You mentioned CPL On Tour there. Your trip to Kelowna obviously paid dividends because you've confirmed interest. I was in the City of St. John's earlier this summer for the Wanderers' International Summer Series and nearly 5,000 people came out to watch the Wanderers and Ipswich Town. Do you have other On Tour locations picked at this time? Have cities reached out?
MN: We're working on it, nothing to announce yet but I would expect us to be in at least one market On Tour next year, with the location to be decided. We believe in the concept, it worked well in Kelowna and we think it'll perform well elsewhere. It helps spread the gospel of the CPL.
JH: Speaking of the CPL gospel, we're here at the Wanderers temporary stadium. Obviously, it's got a great atmosphere and the club's attendance continues to rise this year. They are up a couple hundred people per match as well. What have you been hearing from Wanderers owner Derek Martin and how have you been doing your part to make it happen?
MN: We remain committed and bullish to doing our part to make it happen. Derek's doing a wonderful job working with the city on that. There's also a municipal election in October, which is important, because we need to know who the leadership is going to be and where they stand in regards to the stadium.
What I think the Wanderers have proved, no matter who gets elected, is that this is a huge benefit to the community economically and socially. I have friends in the United States., watching football, saying 'We need to go to the Wanderers Grounds. We need to road trip up there and take in a game.' They want to experience this great city and environment that's been created. This isn't just the Halifax Wanderers — it's now part of this global soccer ecosystem. And that's why you build a stadium.
JH: Moving on to the salary cap. Again, I know this year isn't done yet and you're still laying the groundwork for next year, but do you expect the salary cap to grow and go up for 2025?
MN: Yes.
JH: I believe this is the first year that the league had a full on audit with the clubs to make sure they were cap compliant. A couple weeks ago, I was here and asked questions to Atlético Ottawa head coach Carlos Gonzalez who made comments concerning delays in signings and other cap matters. In terms of the process to make clubs compliant, is there a plan or more information the league is planning to make public concerning salaries and player contracts? Or is that something to be worked out with PFA Canada?
MN: That's all part of collective bargaining, which we don't talk about.
Carlos (Gonzalez) regrets what he said. Perhaps, it was taken out of context in the heat of the moment. As he said, English isn't his first language. We had a nice discussion about that and there was a fine levied and we are going to keep that to ourselves. That's how we should deal with discipline.
But we did do an audit because that's what any league with credibility does. And there was a couple teams on the edge that needed to be helped and we made sure they stayed within the rules that everybody agreed to. There's nothing secret or nefarious about it. Everybody stayed within the guidelines and that's what will continue to happen going forward.
JH: Just two more from me as we're moments from kickoff. Is there any update you can provide about CPL matches and OneSoccer being carried by cable providers? I know that continues to be a big question people are asking.
MN: It's a work in progress. We have this behemoth Rogers, who just got bigger by buying MLSE today, that we are sorting through the regulatory process with them. We're very confident of our position and believe we'll be carried by Rogers and other cable systems in the near future.
JH: The near future?
MN: It's a work in progress, you know, and the government works at its own pace. We're confident and comfortable and that's important. These independent services need carriage because there is an audience out there. You saw it for the national teams when they were playing for Copa America and the Olympics. Millions of people are being denied the ability to see Canadian content when our national teams play on OneSoccer. That's not right.
JH: That's all the questions I had. Is there anything else you'd like to add or highlight?
MN: Not really. You asked great questions and we're building something really special here. We're not able to flip on a switch tomorrow and be the English Premier League. But if we keep doing the right things, day in, day out, we're going to build a great league that's going to be able to compete with everybody in the region.
JH: Fantastic, thank you, Mark.
MN: Thanks, Josh.
Cover Photo Credit: Canadian Premier League
