With 2026 World Cup on horizon, Canadian Premier League seeks further credibility in soccer landscape

After nearly six complete seasons, the Canadian Premier League finds itself at an inflection point.

The league has enjoyed its fair share of wins — the success of Hamilton's Forge FC, the steadily increasing player salaries and rising attendance numbers are just a few. But some hardships have been present too, with the league's fraught position amid the Canada Soccer Business-Canada Soccer fracas and the pandemic chief among them.

At this moment, though, ahead of the championship match on Saturday, Nov. 9, it appears as though there's some stability — and, consequently, an opportunity to further establish the league's place within the rapidly growing soccer landscape.

Smyrniotis has worked in the league from its first day, joining as Forge's director of football and business in 2018 before moving into his current position last year. His brother, Bobby Smyrniotis, remains head coach and sporting director of the Hamilton franchise.

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Before the CPL even existed, the Smyrniotis brothers witnessed firsthand the increasing levels of soccer talent in Canada through their Sigma FC academy.

They also watched as the cream of the crop fled Canada for greener pastures and more realistic paths forward in the sport.

"We just never had a platform for them to be able to do it within our own country," Costa said.

Smyrniotis doesn't appear to have misconceptions about his league — he acknowledged it is a stepping stone for players, coaches and even front-office staff. It's just that before the CPL existed, Canadian hopefuls didn't even have a stone on which to step.

"That's the opportunity that we had in front of us was really to start building the game in Canada. And when I say building the game, I mean, it's also building the football industry, something that we didn't have before, right?" he said.

"And our game allows us to do that. It's that connection from our communities to the global game. That's what our sport is."

Still, the CPL must exist as a viable business for it to remain that intermediate level of competition for Canadians.

The key there, Smyrniotis said, is that the on-field product remains strong.

He pointed to the CPL's success is club competitions like CONCACAF Nations League and the Canadian Championship as reasons for optimism in that regard.