Sports This Week: Pro arena soccer returns to Canada

YORKTON - Professional arena soccer is making a new foray into Canada.

The Canadian Crusaders debut Dec. 21, playing their inaugural game in Major League Indoor Soccer (MLIS) in Chicago versus the Mustangs.

Luigi Di Serio with the Crusaders which will play out of a facility in Scarborough, said while the MLIS has a bold vision, the Crusaders are moving forward with a level of caution.

Di Serio said the league sees itself “ultimately in competition with the MASL (Major Arena Soccer League), with the vision “to take over North American indoor soccer,” it will take time.

So the Crusaders want to build slowly as “the first Canadian team,” offered Di Serio.

In that regard the Crusaders are choosing to play out of a smaller venue initially knowing in-person fan numbers are not likely to be large. The smaller venue will help keep team costs reasonable as they find their niche in the crowded Toronto pro sports scene.

“We recognize we won’t have a huge fan base,” said Di Serio, adding the league and team will be streaming every game – 12 games per team -- to build fan numbers that way.

Di Serio said he does believe a fan base can be developed, noting indoor soccer in Canada “is very popular as a participation sport,” they just need those players to become pro team watchers.

Since there are a lot of players in Canada, Di Serio said the Crusaders have a good pool of domestic talent from which to build a team.

“Our players, as it stands right now, should be mostly Canadian,” he said, adding there will be some players from other countries who have permanent residence status too. “. . . It's all the locally grown and developed players that we’re excited about.”

Still the border, getting players into the US, and those teams coming here will be a challenge, with Di Serio saying as a result he fully expects the Crusaders to struggle with their roster on the road, and shine brighter in home games.

Longer term, Di Serio said, “a division in Canada is really our goal . . . We believe we have the talent pool here for that.”

It’s also a good time for the Crusaders and MLIS to get a foothold on the sport scene in North America ahead of the World Cup coming to the continent in 2026.

“With the World Cup coming to North America soccer’s going to gain a lot of popularity,” said Di Serio.

The MLIS will operate this season with nine teams, but Di Serio noted three expansion teams – Las Vegas, Utah and Atlético Orlando FC -- have already announced intentions to launch for the 2025-26 season.

The first home game for the Crusaders is Jan. 11, hosting Fort Wayne.