HALIFAX — Soccer fans in Halifax hoping to see a team in the area are likely going to be “very happy” in the coming weeks, says the president of a local sports entertainment group.

The Canadian Premier League (CPL) unveiled its logo on Friday, and said team announcements should be rolling out in the coming months. Halifax has long been rumoured to be a place of interest for the CPL, which is due to start its first season in the spring of next year.

“What I can say is, we’ve obviously been working towards this day for a long time, we’re very excited about, you know, seeing the announcement today of the league, and I think Haligonians will be excited and very happy in the very near future to become a part of it,” said Derek Martin, president of Sports Entertainment Atlantic (SEA).

SEA signed a deal with the city last week allowing them to build a temporary stadium on the Wanderers Grounds, effectively clearing the last hurdle for Halifax to join Winnipeg and Hamilton in the new league.

“Obviously we’re taking on a pretty substantial project here, in terms of building something from scratch quite literally, both a venue and a team,” said Martin in a phone interview Friday. “We really strongly believe that the Wanderers Grounds is an amazing asset to the city of Halifax.”

Martin added that the location and the community surrounding it are central to the success of a potential team.

“It isn’t just about what happens during the 90 minutes of play on the field, not to belittle that, but in our minds that’s the least important part because that part we know will happen,” he said.

“We are literally two blocks from the Argyle entertainment district, we are two blocks from Spring Garden Road, we are two blocks from Quinpool Road. So you have this amazing opportunity for people to gather pre-game and postgame and make it an experience that’s much more than 90 minutes of watching football. It’s now an entire day of getting together with old friends, meeting new friends.”

Mike Whyatt, director of development for Soccer Nova Scotia, says that the event surrounding the actual match is integral to the culture of the game and that a team’s success will be tied to what fans see off the field.

“It’s critical. I think it really is critical,” he said. “If you look at the success of the MLS franchises, the ones that are thriving, they have built the stadium in urban locations. You know, you’re around the restaurants, you’re around the bars. That is part and parcel with soccer culture.”

Apart from the game and the experience surrounding it, Whyatt also expects a club to strengthen the soccer community in Nova Scotia.

“I think having a franchise in our backyard will only promote the growth of soccer in Nova Scotia. It gives a pathway, a visual pathway for any aspiring elite athlete, but it also gives the kids starting, you know maybe it’s their first contact, their initial contact with the sport. They may have had that interest purely out of going to their first game.”

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