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.

3/4 of the family will be fully vaxed by then. Can’t wait!!! I’ve never been so excited to hear Rod Blacks voice. 

What is this CFL and who are the Bombers 😉, it's been way to long now lets get to defending and winning b2b

4 hours ago, wanna-b-fanboy said:

Shaming someone that is openly sharing one of the reasons why they got vaccinated doesn't help. If seeing the bombers play is a reason for them getting over their hesitancy and getting vaxxed- I'm all for it, why call them out for it?

because it's reckless dangerous behaviour that has caused enough harm and needs to be called out. Why be hesitant to get a vaccine? Unless you're one of the people who have legit medical reasons that you can't get vaccinated there's no excuse. This slowly growing distrust of vaccines is a blight on society spread by morons who don't understand what the **** they're talking about. 

17 hours ago, 17to85 said:

As opposed to stopping this pandemic being reason enough?

There’s always one ******* with the holier than thou attitude. I said it was a big reason why, not the only reason. Not that it’s any of your business anyways. 

Maybe save your contempt for the actual anti vaxxers. Better yet, maybe you should relax and not force your opinions down everyone’s throat. 

In Alberta, they're actually having a Lotto Vax to try and convince Covidiots to get vaccinated. Three 1 million dollar prizes available. Once we get to 80% vaccinated, I say let the Covidiots and Anti-vaxxer's get sick and possibly die. We spend way too much time and money trying to keep the stupid folks in the gene pool.

27 minutes ago, TBURGESS said:

In Alberta, they're actually having a Lotto Vax to try and convince Covidiots to get vaccinated. Three 1 million dollar prizes available. Once we get to 80% vaccinated, I say let the Covidiots and Anti-vaxxer's get sick and possibly die. We spend way too much time and money trying to keep the stupid folks in the gene pool.

They're doing the same stupid stunt here. It's amazing how quickly some will drop their opposition to getting vaxxed with the remote possibility of getting some money. It's never been about the vax "hesitancy", it's always about them getting attention and something in return. It's all a grift. 

58 minutes ago, TBURGESS said:

In Alberta, they're actually having a Lotto Vax to try and convince Covidiots to get vaccinated. Three 1 million dollar prizes available. Once we get to 80% vaccinated, I say let the Covidiots and Anti-vaxxer's get sick and possibly die. We spend way too much time and money trying to keep the stupid folks in the gene pool.

Hey I put my name in for the lottery. I mean I got my needle as soon as I could possibly get it regardless but if the government wants to give away money why not to me? Better than wasting 1.3 billion on a doomed pipeline.

15 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

Hey I put my name in for the lottery. I mean I got my needle as soon as I could possibly get it regardless but if the government wants to give away money why not to me? Better than wasting 1.3 billion on a doomed pipeline.

I got my jab early and I got into the lotto Vax too. It's stupid, but I'll take it if I get lucky. Don't get me started on the 1.3 BULL-Stuff pipeline crap.

If it works change people's minds and can get things a lot closer to normal - great. There's a real chance we'll still be affected by variants and such for quite a while unless people get on board fast. Having large events, like bomber games, restricted to people who are vaccinated or have a legitimate reason for not getting vaccinated not only provides an impetus for vaccine hesitant to get their jab, but also makes bomber games safer for kids and those with medical reasons who rely on others to be sufficiently vaccinated. Giving people the option to get a vaccine in fine, but allowing those people to make large events unsafe for those with no option to protect themselves and others kinda sucks.

Although great news that the CFL is coming back, here is a big example of why this league is still in trouble. Went to TSN for their 5:00 pm Sportscentre show, and what do you think the lead story was for the official broadcaster of the CFL? The return of Canada’s biggest professional league? Nope. Ok, I guess the Habs in the final 4 of the Stanley Cup could rate as bigger. But that wasn’t it either. The lead story was Euro 2020. Then on the TSN website last evening they reported on the Stanley Cup, Euro, Blue Jays, NBA playoffs, rest of MLB, US Open golf, and the NFL. Two small opinion columns by Naylor and Lalji if you scrolled far enough, but zero news stories. Sportsnet had the story buried behind all the same stuff except for the golf. And on both sites if you search under the sports’ headings for links to stories, neither one has the CFL listed in the top banner (both have the “big 4” and soccer and then “other sports”. Sportsnet has the CFL ranked behind World Championship hockey and auto racing in the “other sports” menu, so 8th in priority, and TSN rates it 7th behind the big 4, soccer and golf. If the co-owner of the team in the largest market ranks it 8th and the host broadcaster ranks it 7th, is it any wonder the game is floundering in the big markets?

Edited June 15, 20214 yr by TrueBlue4ever

We have a neighbour...a church minister in fact....who's carrying on a campaign against govt. officials regarding their implementation of the covid rules and regulations...Can't believe the ignorance of this man...in fact it's bordering on criminal in my opinion....Don't get vaccinated....don't wear masks....arrest govt. officials who insist on covid regulations, is his mantra....I can't believe some of the people who actually listen and follow this guy...So this is what we have to contend with....thank goodness this idiot is in the minority but he and his ilk are out there....We have/had a lot of hurdles to overcome in this pandemic and we sure as hell don't need people like him...Maybe a bolt will hit him and bring him into reality....can only hope

1 hour ago, Stickem said:

We have a neighbour...a church minister in fact....who's carrying on a campaign against govt. officials regarding their implementation of the covid rules and regulations...Can't believe the ignorance of this man...in fact it's bordering on criminal in my opinion....Don't get vaccinated....don't wear masks....arrest govt. officials who insist on covid regulations, is his mantra....I can't believe some of the people who actually listen and follow this guy...So this is what we have to contend with....thank goodness this idiot is in the minority but he and his ilk are out there....We have/had a lot of hurdles to overcome in this pandemic and we sure as hell don't need people like him...Maybe a bolt will hit him and bring him into reality....can only hope

Hiding behind a faith he customizes for his personal gain and greasy motives with absolutely no intention of following its actual teachings is what’s really maddening here and some people buy this grift hook line and sinker.

Edited June 15, 20214 yr by HardCoreBlue

2 hours ago, HardCoreBlue said:

Hiding behind a faith he customizes for his personal gain and greasy motives with absolutely no intention of following its actual teachings is what’s really maddening here and some people buy this grift hook line and sinker.

They're worried about people's souls!! Of course, I mean money. It's all a grift. 

Edited June 15, 20214 yr by JCon

11 hours ago, 17to85 said:

because it's reckless dangerous behaviour that has caused enough harm and needs to be called out. Why be hesitant to get a vaccine? Unless you're one of the people who have legit medical reasons that you can't get vaccinated there's no excuse. This slowly growing distrust of vaccines is a blight on society spread by morons who don't understand what the **** they're talking about. 

Yeah, I mean, I'd shame them if they were talking about how they ran stop signs or sped in school zones too. Same basic idea, don't be a jerk.

11 hours ago, 17to85 said:

because it's reckless dangerous behaviour that has caused enough harm and needs to be called out. Why be hesitant to get a vaccine? Unless you're one of the people who have legit medical reasons that you can't get vaccinated there's no excuse. This slowly growing distrust of vaccines is a blight on society spread by morons who don't understand what the **** they're talking about. 

Yeah, I mean, I'd shame them if they were talking about how they ran stop signs or sped in school zones too. Same basic idea, don't be a jerk.

anyone who didn't immediately jump at the chance to get a vaccine is an ******* or really dumb, and possibly both. 

I don't care about peoples motivation to get vaccinated as long as they do.

3 hours ago, Stickem said:

We have a neighbour...a church minister in fact....who's carrying on a campaign against govt. officials regarding their implementation of the covid rules and regulations...Can't believe the ignorance of this man...in fact it's bordering on criminal in my opinion....Don't get vaccinated....don't wear masks....arrest govt. officials who insist on covid regulations, is his mantra....I can't believe some of the people who actually listen and follow this guy...So this is what we have to contend with....thank goodness this idiot is in the minority but he and his ilk are out there....We have/had a lot of hurdles to overcome in this pandemic and we sure as hell don't need people like him...Maybe a bolt will hit him and bring him into reality....can only hope

He sounds like a real oxygen thief, IMO.

16 hours ago, Bomber_fanaddict said:

3/4 of the family will be fully vaxed by then. Can’t wait!!! I’ve never been so excited to hear Rod Blacks voice. 

I'm not so sure I agree... with the departure of Chris Cuthbert ... they need new play by play guys.   Anyways CFL season is a go!   Am pumped to watch the Bombers defend their grey cup!

3 hours ago, Stickem said:

We have a neighbour...a church minister in fact....who's carrying on a campaign against govt. officials regarding their implementation of the covid rules and regulations...Can't believe the ignorance of this man...in fact it's bordering on criminal in my opinion....Don't get vaccinated....don't wear masks....arrest govt. officials who insist on covid regulations, is his mantra....I can't believe some of the people who actually listen and follow this guy...So this is what we have to contend with....thank goodness this idiot is in the minority but he and his ilk are out there....We have/had a lot of hurdles to overcome in this pandemic and we sure as hell don't need people like him...Maybe a bolt will hit him and bring him into reality....can only hope

I have an acquaintance/ friend  who is a very nice woman. Hard worker,  hard life ,maybe late 60s,  beautiful singer and very religious. She's not pushy with it but it's a  pretty hard core church, prayer warriors ,Jesus heals  all that kind of jazz. We've had some great talks about religion as I have always had an interest in religion and the history of religions and am fairly well read on it. As I said just a nice person.

Well we found out last week she has Covid and Stars flew her from our local hospital to go into a  ICU.  I hope she makes it . Explain what that has to do with Jesus.

 

Probably a good time to edit a chunk of this thread and move it over to the COVID thread........

Back on track: 

 

28 minutes ago, the watcher said:

I have an acquaintance/ friend  who is a very nice woman. Hard worker,  hard life ,maybe late 60s,  beautiful singer and very religious. She's not pushy with it but it's a  pretty hard core church, prayer warriors ,Jesus heals  all that kind of jazz. We've had some great talks about religion as I have always had an interest in religion and the history of religions and am fairly well read on it. As I said just a nice person.

Well we found out last week she has Covid and Stars flew her from our local hospital to go into a  ICU.  I hope she makes it . Explain what that has to do with Jesus.

 

At some point in our  lives, it comes to us that we are not going to live forever, and most of us have our share of regrets about the things we have done and the way we have treated people. And then many will begin to fear that God is "gonna get them for that" and all the judgmental stuff we have heard as children makes us fear that we are going to Hell for not being perfect. Those who have accepted this crap fall into what they hope will be perfect obedience to dogma rather than the final direction of the Christ- treat others as you would be treated and love your neighbours (all others) as you love yourself. Our faith reflects our concept of our Creator- either angry, condemning and unquestionable or loving, encouraging of us to be better and tolerant of the paths that others choose that do not do harm. We are all imperfect but most of us desire to do and be better.  Its all about choices.

 

Edited June 15, 20214 yr by Tracker

Wonder how the team will decide how gets into IG Field in August. I assume half capacity so it makes sense to go ST holders but do we have more than 16,800? If so, it should be the longer you've been a ST Holder, the higher up in line you are.

11 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

Wonder how the team will decide how gets into IG Field in August. I assume half capacity so it makes sense to go ST holders but do we have more than 16,800? If so, it should be the longer you've been a ST Holder, the higher up in line you are.

I think that's how they'll do it. But, if you didn't get into the first game, you'll probably get a chance for the second. 

I mean, we might have less ST holders than that. Some might not want to attend. Its likely a Moo point.

3 hours ago, rebusrankin said:

Wonder how the team will decide how gets into IG Field in August. I assume half capacity so it makes sense to go ST holders but do we have more than 16,800? If so, it should be the longer you've been a ST Holder, the higher up in line you are.

I think Bomber for Life members will get priority