*By Michael Teich*
A soccer revolution is to coming to Canada as the country prepares to co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup and launch the Canadian Premier League.
"It’s not about selling tickets, or putting on a sporting event. It’s about creating a movement,” Canadian Premier League commissioner David Clanachan said in an interview with Cheddar.
The CPL's inaugural season will kick off with 8 clubs, and Clanachan said the league is in talks with 24 different cities and regions for starting new teams. The commissioner is confident the pro league will create a "pathway" for young Canadians to be able to play at the national team level.
“We are a soccer playing nation. More than 14% of the population play soccer on a weekly basis, which is unusual for a western country.”
But despite that, Canada's only World Cup appearance came in 1986. Clanachan hopes building a professional league powered by Canadian players and coaches will help elevate the sport's presence in the country.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/canada-makes-a-push-for-soccer-relevancy-2).
Alex Garfield re-enters esports, Cloud9 pulls off a miracle, Rocket League executes a win, and Z-Event raises 1 million euros. Featuring ESL SVP Brand Partnerships Paul Brewer, VP Pro Gaming Michal "Carmac" Blicharz, and Former MLB Professional Pitcher Jim Hoey V of Logitech G
SonixFox wins IPS 2 and donates 10k, the Game Award Nominees, Pokemon Let's Go, and big changes to Overwatch and Fortnite. Featuring NYXL Head of Business Development and Events Ben "MrBitter" Nichol, ReKTGlobal Esports VP Kevin Knocke, Cameron Davis, and Astro Gaming's Thadeous Cooper.
League of Legends World Championship, the Overwatch World Cup, and Serral's incredible victory at Blizzcon. Featuring
Unikrn CEO Rahul Sood, Aziz "Hax$" Al-Yami, and Kelsey Moser.
Amazon is reportedly looking to expand its foothold in live programming, with an eye on the 22 regional sports networks that Disney must spin off as part of its acquisition of 21st Century Fox. For Amazon, it would be the extension of a grand strategy that has been both simple and consistent: drive more Prime subscriptions.
PlayVS, a start-up created to build an infrastructure for high school esports, has announced a new Series B funding round of $30.5 million, led by Elysian Park Ventures, a firm that operates on behalf of the Los Angeles Dodgers ownership group. The new funding will also bring in new investments from Adidas, Samsung NEXT, and Plexo Capital, and angel investors include Sean “Diddy” Combs.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Monday, Nov. 19, 2018.
Mike Sepso is a gilded name in esports. His latest win? The senior VP of Activision Blizzard was recently appointed a strategic partner of Overwatch team league New York Excelsior. And he also happens to be the leader of Major League Gaming, which he founded with partner Sundance DiGiovanni in 2002. But before he assumed his throne, Sepso conceived MLG during a single lazy summer when he and his partner were basking in the glory of their previous company, Gotham Broadband.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Friday, Nov. 16, 2018.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
Super Bowl Champion Darrell Revis is now the face of online bookmaker PointsBet's digital sportsbook, launching later this month. Revis and PointsBet CEO Johnny Aitken told Cheddar how they're trying to educate consumers about legal sports betting.
