CFL 2021 season?
Going into 2021 what will the CFL look like? will it even exist?
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Argos president Bill Manning wants nine ownership groups to align for stronger CFL
3Down Staff 3downnation August 20, 2020 Toronto Argonauts president Bill Manning wants every franchise in the CFL to pull together. In the aftermath of a cancelled 2020 season, unanimous was not a word used to describe how the final board of governors vote went down. Manning believes the league and its power brokers must unite for the greater good instead of just thinking about what’s best individually for each team. “There’s a big difference in the ownership groups and the outlook amongst the nine teams, it’s important that we re-examine how we’re doing business and how we’re sharing within this league. You have three major markets that all essentially struggle, especially at the gate, and you have some wildly successful franchises,” Manning said on TSN 1050 radio in Toronto. “Like some of the other leagues, how can we better align all the groups so that as a whole the CFL is much stronger? We cannot have another situation like we had in Montreal where the owner just hands in the keys. It’s really important that the three major market franchises can play on equal standing with the other teams.” Commissioner Randy Ambrosie stated the CFL is absolutely committed to playing in 2021 and he wants to run the league differently than it has been in the past: more cooperative ecosystem off the field; more sharing of resources; more unified organization. Put all of that together and it could allow the league to thrive collectively. “There’s a lot of reasons why we believe this is a great opportunity for the league to reset itself. We’ve been going through a reset with the Argos the last few years from a business operations standpoint. The league itself, this is the best opportunity we have now over the next eight or nine months to reset this league, and make sure that we’re in much stronger financial setting,” Manning said. After the Canadian federal government denied the league a $30 million interest-free loan, the BOG decided against accepting money with interest rates attached and owners funding the season. Winnipeg had tentatively been chose as the league’s hub city if a season happened with the province of Manitoba willing to kick in $2.5 million, but it wasn’t to be. “It was a roller coaster. In the beginning, our franchise, we were a bit skeptical of receiving any government funding and we were skeptical of the hub to start with. And then as we learned more about the plan, and we looked at whether it’s better to cancel the season or to play, we really came around to playing — thought it would be best for the Argos with minimal risk and it just didn’t happen,” Manning said. The league and CFL Players’ Association had carved out a health and safety plan to both sides liking as well as the provincial and federal governments. Plus, there were positive steps made towards the financial aspects of the COVID-19 collective bargaining agreement. Manning was on the player relations committee and feels the partnership feeling needs to be used to work in harmony moving forward. “It’s very important that we improve our relations with the players’ association. I’ve sat on the most recent negotiations and I was pleasantly surprised. I had heard that it was antagonistic and it wasn’t. There’s a lot of room there to grow and really strengthen that relationship,” Manning said. “When you look at the strongest leagues, they’re in lockstep with their players. That’s something that’s very important and we look forward to improving that, and growing it, and having a league where we’re in lockstep with our players.” |
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Heard an interesting perspective on the future of the CFL.
Owners become league shareholders with class B shares available. It essentially becomes the AHL for the NFL. Some preseason NFL comes to Canada. 4 downs coming our way? |
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For the fools that think that we'll get to see the hot NCAA QB playing in Regina for a season better think again. The NFL already has a farm league. Its called the NCAA. |
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From someone who is not involved with the league, but from someone who has experience working with another league and folks currently involved with the CFL.
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NFL Europe was a failure. What makes people think that NFL Canada will be any better. Damnit do we have to copy every fucking thing from the USA? Can we not do one damn thing culturally that is uniquely Canadian? |
Total spitballing, but an interesting take from someone who loves the CFL, football and longer-term stability of football in Canada.
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There's no way that the CFL isn't in trouble at the moment. The private owners are wealthy and the community owned teams are in good shape but the league's continued existence pretty well depends on the teams being willing to run at a loss. That's pretty well a given for a year, but it becomes a lot more iffy if the current situation drags on beyond 2021. If Montreal and maybe one other team go under, suddenly the league is teetering on the edge.
That said, I think the CFL has a bit of a problem where it occupies an awkward middle space between major leagues and minor leagues. Team overhead is pretty high with ballooning coaching and administrative budgets, but team income from TV and tickets is not really in line with that. I suppose the NFL could be a lifeline if things get really dire, but I think a better approach is to scale the CFL's expenses down in line with the league's realities. In other words, cut costs and move more in the direction of a CPL scaled league. Make it a league with finances that are based on attendance of say, 12,000 a game instead of 25,000. That also has the huge benefit of opening up smaller markets to expansion... suddenly, places like Halifax, Quebec City, Moncton, Saskatoon, Victoria, K-W, London, etc. all become realistic expansion prospects because you no longer need the mid-major league CFL/MLS style 25,000 seat new stadium. A place like Moncton's stadium augmented by a few temporary stands becomes a perfectly fine venue. That said, I don't think the CFL is alone in this regard. If covid drags on and we don't return to 100% capacity again I could see other leagues losing teams too. The NHL, for example, definitely has a few weak links that will be in deep trouble. But the CFL is probably the canary in the coal mine here and will have to face a reckoning sooner than those other leagues will. |
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CFL if they implement a hard salary cap and roster sizes for coaches executives and players and sticks to it should be a break even operation. No need for Bo Levi to eat up 15% of a teams salary cap if no NFL team is taking him. No need for 12 positional coaches have 6 to 8. CFL 2.0 global initiatives a waste of 400k at league office, have interdivisional play only to save on travel costs. This league can work but it has to stop pretending to be NFL lite and be what it is at its best a grassroots football league for blue collar fans looking for good entertainment value at a fair price and enjoying players who are similar to them and work and live in their communities in the offseason. Ron Lancaster was a school teacher in the winter in Regina in the 70's thats a big reason CFL players are so beloved at the grassroots level.
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https://3downnation.com/2020/09/28/b...ner-candidate/
Behind the scenes: Ken Derrett being discussed as potential CFL commissioner candidate Football teams are always searching for their next big superstar and the same is true for the Canadian Football League. The commissioner is the face of the three-down circuit from coast to coast and Randy Ambrosie has filled the role since July 2017. If the board of governors decided to move on and select a new commish, one name that’s been discussed behind the scenes is Ken Derrett, according to multiple league sources. The Winnipeg native attended Laurentian University located in Sudbury, Ontario where he earned a bachelor of commerce in sports administration. In 2008, he received an honorary doctorate in sports administration from Laurentian and, in 2010, he was acknowledged as one of 50 distinguished graduates. His first job in pro sports was director of administration with the CFL from 1978 to 1988. He developed the annual business and operations plan for the Grey Cup. It’s a position that helped Derrett understand the ins and outs of the league. Derrett left the league office to work for Labatt as the manager of sport and entertainment properties. He managed Labatt’s partnerships with the NFL, Toronto Blue Jays, Canadian Olympic Association, Hockey Canada, Canadian Curling Association and the Commonwealth Games. In addition, he oversaw several strategic relationships for the company including SkyDome (now known as Rogers Centre), TSN and the Canadian Country Music Association. He was sought by NBA Canada and hired as managing director in 1995. David Stern took notice and brought Derrett into the association’s main office as senior vice president of global marketing partnerships. That’s where he crossed paths with former CFL commissioner Mark Cohon who was vice president of business development, managing director of NBA Europe and director of international marketing for part of the time Derrett was there. Chargers chief executive officer Dean Spanos tabbed Derrett to be vice president, chief marketing officer in 2001, earning the senior designation nine years later. He was responsible for all of the team’s marketing and sales functions. During his tenure, the Chargers experienced significant growth in premium seat sales, sponsorships and broadcast revenue and merchandise sales. Currently, Derrett is on the board of directors for The San Diego Foundation and is a marketing committee member for the 2021 US Open golf major championship — he’s been involved with the tournament in prior years. Derrett has unique experience, provides a Canadian birth certificate and would be an intriguing candidate for commissioner of the CFL. In order to entice coveted people, the league owners need to cede control and allow proper autonomy for the commish, similar to how the NHL, NBA and NFL operate. The most successful leagues have had an unquestioned leadership and many inside the CFL believe the lack of power is holding the league back. |
In relation to my post above about Ambrosie possibly being dumped as CFL commish Justin Dunk from 3downation.com was on the Rod Pedersen show today reporting that the CFL board of governors voted 7-2 in favor of dropping CFL 2.0 the global initiative which was what Amrbosie's baby during his whole tenure as commish which does not look good for him. Here is the link to the interview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMZwQKGYmks |
We need a businessman at the helm now, not a former athlete.
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It's funny watching NFL games that look like Toronto Argonauts home games!
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Take away the monster sized crowds/hype and you're left with the pure entertainment value of US football vs Canadian football. Maybe Canadian NFLers will start seeing the CFL in a more positive light.
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It has also highlighted how fast their game is.
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