https://www.tsn.ca/naylor-many-questions-but-few-answers-on-a-2021-cfl-season-1.1543725

The Canadian Football League has been outrageously quiet since it pulled the plug on its season more than two months ago, leaving behind a wake of speculation about where things are headed next.

With the reality setting in that COVID-19 is likely to still be around in some form next summer, there is real concern about what the 2021 season might look like or if it will occur at all.

There are teams that believe it is vitally important to play in 2021 and that without a season the CFL is in danger of being mothballed. Whether every team believes that is another question. And there is a lot to sort out before anyone can accurately predict what a season might look like and how much pain the teams are collectively willing to stomach to make it happen.

The league and its franchises are currently running through various scenarios for next season, trying to get a handle on true costs of each and working at ways to trim budgets and save money. That’s likely to continue until the league can truly choose a course of action, which feels like next April at the earliest.

Why? Well, there’s not much point in fully committing to a scenario that’s seven months away if that scenario might be totally unrealistic by the time you get there.

There has been no 2021 business plan presented yet, only regular updates to the presidents and governors about what the league is doing to prepare for the unknown.

It should be noted that teams will need to make decisions about retaining assistant coaches with expiring contracts by December, which will be the first real economic commitments to a 2021 season. Restrictions on signing players will need to be lifted well before the opening of February free agency, where players are likely to meet a cautious market – one in which signing bonuses will probably be absent.

There’s a collective bargaining agreement to amend, if not renegotiate, with the players, which will require some kind of pressure point because it always does. But the league can’t sit down with the players until it gets a true handle on revenues and it can’t do that until it chooses a course of action.

Will CFL teams be allowed to have full stadiums next summer? It doesn't seem likely. But just what percentage of capacity will be allowed – if any at all – is impossible to guess. It seems as if the league is counting on the restrictions that currently prevent fans from being in stadiums being lifted. But to what degree?

When will we see a schedule? Good question. Or could we see multiple schedules for different scenarios? Never say never.

Could it be a 21-week, 18-game season played in home stadiums? Unlikely, given the losses teams are expected to take with reduced numbers of fans in the stands. Could we see a return to the 10-week bubble? Maybe. A nine-game schedule played in home stadiums before fans? Perhaps.

The point is no one knows, so demanding answers to questions that can’t possibly be answered right now is a waste of time.

All we know is that there’s going to be a lot less revenue for teams to operate with under any scenario, not just because of crowd restrictions but also due to older fans choosing to stay home for their safety. The CFL’s fan demographics do it no favours in this regard.

Getting consensus on a best course of action won’t be easy for the CFL’s nine teams. Back in the summer, there were teams that were willing to play without government support and teams that weren’t. And just like then, the biggest challenge commissioner Randy Ambrosie faces now is finding a scenario they can all live with.

Adopting a revenue-sharing model so that each team absorbs the same amount of red ink would certainly make consensus-building easier, which many believe should be the direction for the future, COVID-19 or not.

The other elephant in the room is federal government, which many in the CFL believe left it high and dry last summer after months of back-and-forth talks where the league believed it was making progress.

Is the CFL prepared to go down that road again, knowing it doesn’t control the timeline and larger forces can change things in an instant? Perhaps, although it’s not as though the feds don’t have a long list of people coming at them with their hands out.

There will be voices demanding the owners suck up the losses of playing a season under any circumstance, as owners have done in other sports. But the business calculation in sports such as MLB, NFL, NHL and NBA is different because of the percentage of revenues those leagues derive from television.

Losses sustained by playing in those leagues can also be viewed as investments towards protecting massive franchise values. That’s not the case in the CFL, where teams can’t just float money on the backs of their franchise values, and where one third of the teams are publicly owned.

It would be beneficial for the league to soon announce its formal commitment to play some kind of season in 2021.

But beyond that, get ready for months more of waiting with lots of questions and speculation but very few answers.

17 hours ago, Tracker said:

To validate what some have shared here: the father of a good friend served on the bomber crew that flew the most missions over Germany in WW2. Every one of the air crew turned to alcohol to anesthetize the memories and associated feelings and this produced a horrible childhood for my friend and his siblings all of whom succumbed to addiction as well. They were the walking wounded and far from few.

The children of these vet. heroes (I call them all heroes for their dedication to the country) were subjected to the same 'shell shock' (PTSD they call it now)...The offspring carry the same traits as their fathers, another fact that govt. fails to recognize...I know my mother went through hell and for a young woman carried a heavy burden for a lot of years...War ruins and take lives, more than we care to admit 

37 minutes ago, Stickem said:

The children of these vet. heroes (I call them all heroes for their dedication to the country) were subjected to the same 'shell shock' (PTSD they call it now)...The offspring carry the same traits as their fathers, another fact that govt. fails to recognize...I know my mother went through hell and for a young woman carried a heavy burden for a lot of years...War ruins and take lives, more than we care to admit 

This is going a bot off-topic, but someone proposed that if a country is thinking of going to war, it should be under three conditions:

All of the politicians who vote for a war will have the names of 10 of their closest friends/family put into a draw where 1 of these 10 will be drafted and sent to front-line positions,

All citizens and corporations will have a visible "war tax" put onto their income statements and,

No corporation would be allowed to make profit on the war and must supply all goods and services at cost. 

Thanks to Noeller & 17 to 85 for starting this side tracked conversation about fathers with PTSD leading to alcoholism from WW2 when they started talking about generations. I honestly thought I was the only one who suffered thru something like this when I was young. It's comforting to know some of you understand.  Just as I understand what you have been through.

Edited April 28, 20214 yr by SpeedFlex27

16 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Thanks to Noeller & 17 to 85 for starting this side tracked conversation about fathers with PTSD leading to alcoholism from WW2 when they started talking about generations. I honestly thought I was the only one who suffered thru something like this when I was young. It's comforting to know some of you understand.  Just as I understand what you have been through.

There's so many who can relate. I'm a grandson to a ww2 vet. And my dad has similar stories to what was shared here. My grandfather never talked about the war, turned to alcohol (for many reasons but it started when he got back) and his relationships suffered. This also had an impact on my relationship with my father (as I'm sure it has for many people). 

It wasn't until I was an adult that these things were discussed openly. But because they were I understand that some of the things my dad said or did aren't conductive to a healthy relationship between father and son, but it was what he knew...it was what he was exposed to. Knowing more, I have been able to adapt my fathering style to my kids. Likewise as he's gotten older, he's become much more emotionally available especially when grand kids arrived. He's said on multiple occasions, that he feels so lucky to have them because he can try to make up for the mistakes he made raising us.

These discussions are extremely important to help break these cycles trauma can create. 

5 hours ago, Bigblue204 said:

There's so many who can relate. I'm a grandson to a ww2 vet. And my dad has similar stories to what was shared here. My grandfather never talked about the war, turned to alcohol (for many reasons but it started when he got back) and his relationships suffered. This also had an impact on my relationship with my father (as I'm sure it has for many people). 

It wasn't until I was an adult that these things were discussed openly. But because they were I understand that some of the things my dad said or did aren't conductive to a healthy relationship between father and son, but it was what he knew...it was what he was exposed to. Knowing more, I have been able to adapt my fathering style to my kids. Likewise as he's gotten older, he's become much more emotionally available especially when grand kids arrived. He's said on multiple occasions, that he feels so lucky to have them because he can try to make up for the mistakes he made raising us.

These discussions are extremely important to help break these cycles trauma can create. 

Hurt people hurt people. There are four non-negotiable steps to change and healing: awareness, closure, modeling of new behaviours and integration.

 

14 minutes ago, JCon said:

 

Thats awesome, hes probably played more football than any bomber during the stoppage. 

For those in Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, the city between them, and Montreal, would you go to a game that didn't involve the hometown team (or Bombers, if you're outside Winnipeg)? 

Seeing as the Ontario has already stated that they won't any crowds until September and BC has not approved the CFLs return to play plan, I wonder if we could host a select few games that don't involve the home team? 

I would go to support the CFL and to watch live football. I would likely boo both teams, though. 

8 minutes ago, JCon said:

For those in Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, the city between them, and Montreal, would you go to a game that didn't involve the hometown team (or Bombers, if you're outside Winnipeg)? 

Seeing as the Ontario has already stated that they won't any crowds until September and BC has not approved the CFLs return to play plan, I wonder if we could host a select few games that don't involve the home team? 

I would go to support the CFL and to watch live football. I would likely boo both teams, though. 

Honestly, no and I've had season tickets in both Calgary and Vancouver.

1 minute ago, TBURGESS said:

Honestly, no and I've had season tickets in both Calgary and Vancouver.

I hear ya. But, I feel desperate for some sort of social outing and watching live football that I think I would. 

23 minutes ago, JCon said:

For those in Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, the city between them, and Montreal, would you go to a game that didn't involve the hometown team (or Bombers, if you're outside Winnipeg)? 

Seeing as the Ontario has already stated that they won't any crowds until September and BC has not approved the CFLs return to play plan, I wonder if we could host a select few games that don't involve the home team? 

I would go to support the CFL and to watch live football. I would likely boo both teams, though. 

Sure, I'd just wear my Bomber gear, irritate the hell out of people (in a loving way of course) and carry a sign that says I'm here for the standings.

24 minutes ago, JCon said:

For those in Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, the city between them, and Montreal, would you go to a game that didn't involve the hometown team (or Bombers, if you're outside Winnipeg)? 

Gold.

Bombers for sure. The rest likely no at this point.

Alberta government has not issued official approval of CFL return-to-play protocols - https://3downnation.com/2021/05/19/alberta-government-has-not-issued-official-approval-of-cfl-return-to-play-protocols/

That leaves Winnipeg and Regina. Hard to see how that works for the CFL.

Alberta will approve it for sure. They will approve ANYTHING.... right now it's just about optics for them. But I have zero doubts that Alberta will be among the first (if not THE FIRST) to sign off on having the CFL fire up with fans in the stands. 

1 hour ago, JCon said:

For those in Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, the city between them, and Montreal, would you go to a game that didn't involve the hometown team (or Bombers, if you're outside Winnipeg)? 

Seeing as the Ontario has already stated that they won't any crowds until September and BC has not approved the CFLs return to play plan, I wonder if we could host a select few games that don't involve the home team? 

I would go to support the CFL and to watch live football. I would likely boo both teams, though. 

Since I can see all the games for free on TV, I doubt I would unless it was the Bombers. Add in the fact that I live out of town and the practical likelihood is low. But if they had really cheap ticket prices ($5-10) or free and free parking it could be a fun time, and the team would probably soak me on concessions. As long as the league covered the cost of hosting the game and the Bombers did not have to eat the cost of game production, it might be an idea to consider. As has been said, getting out to do anything social would be a welcome change. 

We're talking one or two games max. Just a way to get in 14 games. I really don't want Al  the Bombers home games concentrated into August with only one or two at home through September/October/November. Although the weather can sometimes be dodgy, I love fall games at the stadium.  

Actually, I love summer games there too. But, I like it spread out. 

 

Really hope the season gets going by Labour Day. Right now things are moving in the wrong direction.

50 minutes ago, bryan35 said:

Really hope the season gets going by Labour Day. Right now things are moving in the wrong direction.

nah, it's trending the right way for most of Canada. Manitoba is in the absolute worst of it right now, and they're the last province to see this part of the pandemic. It's going to start looking MUCH better within weeks. I feel, based on vaccine uptake, we're going to be looking really good for a Labour Day start at the very latest....

7 hours ago, Noeller said:

Alberta will approve it for sure. They will approve ANYTHING.... right now it's just about optics for them. But I have zero doubts that Alberta will be among the first (if not THE FIRST) to sign off on having the CFL fire up with fans in the stands. 

They didn't approve fans for Oilers games.

4 minutes ago, TBURGESS said:

They didn't approve fans for Oilers games.

coming soon -- COVID was raging out of control. Word on the street is 2nd round of playoffs (should they make it that far) would see fans in stands. As long as the numbers keep trending in the right direction...

On 2021-05-20 at 9:57 AM, TBURGESS said:

Alberta government has not issued official approval of CFL return-to-play protocols - https://3downnation.com/2021/05/19/alberta-government-has-not-issued-official-approval-of-cfl-return-to-play-protocols/

That leaves Winnipeg and Regina. Hard to see how that works for the CFL.

Last year they had it all figured out to operate just out of winnipeg, im not worried about the logistics in that way soo much. 

18 hours ago, bryan35 said:

Really hope the season gets going by Labour Day. Right now things are moving in the wrong direction.

QFT. A LD kick off to the season would be interesting. Do we play the riders or the cats? If we started the week before itd be the most intense first month of games ever. GC re match, LD, banjo bowl, and hope fully a buy week lol. 

I fully believe that once we get through this current wave of the pandemic, we're going to be through it for good. People will be vaccinated to protect us against future waves. Manitoba is the last province to see the crest of the wave, and once they're through it, things are going to look pretty good across the country. We'll start looking like the States are right now. I really believe that's about a month or two away. Labour Day CFL start is still very much in play, if not a certainty....

47 minutes ago, Noeller said:

I fully believe that once we get through this current wave of the pandemic, we're going to be through it for good. People will be vaccinated to protect us against future waves. Manitoba is the last province to see the crest of the wave, and once they're through it, things are going to look pretty good across the country. We'll start looking like the States are right now. I really believe that's about a month or two away. Labour Day CFL start is still very much in play, if not a certainty....

100%. 

I don't think we are through with the pandemic at all. The Covidiots will keep it going way longer than it needs to. The current vaccines will protect folks against the current strain(s), but we'll likely need to get a yearly vaccination to keep it at bay. We don't know how long the current vaccine will keep us safe especially when we are ignoring the science when it comes to time between doses.

Trudeau, the younger, is still talking about everyone will be vaccinated by the end of September. In political talk, that's one shot. In reality, it take two to get above 70-80% protected. Add in the 20% who won't get vaccinated at all, and we're in this for a long time IMO.

The idea that we'll all get back to the same normal as we used to have is based on hopes and dreams. We'll get back to a new normal with vaccine cards to get into places and to travel and a yearly outbreak that will mostly replace the flu outbreaks. The 3.4 million deaths worldwide including the 25,000 Canadian families who've lost a loved one will never forget this once in a hundred year pandemic. It's scar will remain for a generation or more.