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.

2 hours ago, wbbfan said:

It can be a lot of things for sure. I have never heard or seen 4 in one day though. Not in any size camp. It could be some thing with causation too. Time will really tell. Its going to be really interesting to see how a lot of vets play and come to camp across the league.

I missed most of my soph year and was out of cleats  and didnt train with cleats on in the off season, as soon as I put them on and made a cut I tweaked my knee.  I also injured my calf once post 30 and have had calf, high ankle, plantar problems a plenty since then.  

I talked to a player at camp. He said that all the injuries happened on the same drill. It seems like maybe that drill was too hard to with coming out of quarantine. 

50 minutes ago, stevethe3rd said:

I talked to a player at camp. He said that all the injuries happened on the same drill. It seems like maybe that drill was too hard to with coming out of quarantine. 

I would stick with that if I were you.

2 hours ago, stevethe3rd said:

I talked to a player at camp. He said that all the injuries happened on the same drill. It seems like maybe that drill was too hard to with coming out of quarantine. 

I notice the Riders don't want to say what drill it was. Fans & media have a right to know. I think if 4 players go down one after the other, then fans & media alike have to question why the drill wasn't shut down sooner? As well as what the drill was that ended 4 players season before they even started.

9 hours ago, Bubba Zanetti said:

What in gods name is going on at Mosaic??? They add marbles to their turf this year?

 They should have filled in the gopher holes at Mosaic ! 

8 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

I notice the Riders don't want to say what drill it was. Fans & media have a right to know. I think if 4 players go down one after the other, then fans & media alike have to question why the drill wasn't shut down sooner? As well as what the drill was that ended 4 players season before they even started.

Nothing is official right now. It's all offseason, so the Riders couldn't really say anything. All voluntary. 

2 hours ago, the watcher said:

 They should have filled in the gopher holes at Mosaic ! 

But then what would they use as latrines?

Edited July 9, 20214 yr by Tracker

Streeeeeetch those leg muscles ....When there has been a long lay off and guys are trying to get back to serious playing form this kind of thing in Saskabush is going to happen....I hope we go slow at tc (in the beginning) and break the players in slowly...I think hoping everyone is at peak form and really putting the pressure on is a mistake....I think we have the coaching that will dictate that..I don't know what the hell is going on in Melonville

50 minutes ago, Tracker said:

But then what would they use as latrines?

For the amount of **** that come out of riderfans... gopher holes ain't going to cut it.

13 minutes ago, wanna-b-fanboy said:

For the amount of **** that come out of riderfans... gopher holes ain't going to cut it.

Have you seen the size of their rodents? 

20 minutes ago, JCon said:

Have you seen the size of their rodents? 

 

Every time I see riders with any reference to the 13th man... I am INSTANTLY transported back to this memory:

 

And it warms my cold black heart.

Edited July 9, 20214 yr by wanna-b-fanboy

10 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

I notice the Riders don't want to say what drill it was. Fans & media have a right to know. I think if 4 players go down one after the other, then fans & media alike have to question why the drill wasn't shut down sooner? As well as what the drill was that ended 4 players season before they even started.

2 hours ago, JCon said:

Nothing is official right now. It's all offseason, so the Riders couldn't really say anything. All voluntary. 

Wow, wow, wow... All teams are doing these workouts. Teams better not stiff their players & not pay them because they are voluntary. They better have been sanctioned. 

Just now, SpeedFlex27 said:

Wow, wow, wow... All teams are doing these workouts. Teams better not stiff their players & not pay them because they are voluntary. They better have been sanctioned. 

Nope, I don't think anyone becomes the teams responsibility until TC starts this weekend. But, I'll be happy if I'm wrong. 

1 minute ago, JCon said:

Nope, I don't think anyone becomes the teams responsibility until TC starts this weekend. But, I'll be happy if I'm wrong. 

The Riders better pay the 4 players their season salary & cover their surgery, medical expenses & rehab.. 

 

https://www.cfl.ca/2021/07/09/elks-make-roster-moves-day-camp-opens-draheim-retires/?fbclid=IwAR2wsArS_Pu5opYfXOFjXGY7jMktsNv7MrWULaCrK7ivFkRb3R8vRicECa8

So the Elks lost on OT in Kelly due to injury and the other Draheim just retired, Ouch.

1 hour ago, M.O.A.B. said:

 

oh, yeah. THAT makes it all better. The injured players will really appreciate it.

This is what MLSE has always wanted. Good riddance I say. How far ahead would the CFL be if they didn't have to constantly float this franchise?

Edited July 9, 20214 yr by Bigblue204

2 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

This is what MLSE has always wanted. Good riddance I say. How far ahead would the CFL be if they didn't have to constantly float this franchise?

I agree in theory, with the concern that our national TV deal could go kaput without a franchise in Toronto. If we were able to maintain the TV deal without them, then GTFO and don't let the door hit your ass on the way out. 

Just now, Noeller said:

I agree in theory, with the concern that our national TV deal could go kaput without a franchise in Toronto. If we were able to maintain the TV deal without them, then GTFO and don't let the door hit your ass on the way out. 

This has been the argument for a while. And it could be that there is a decent viewership in that city. However considering the on going lack of overall support. I don't buy it. I also think this would open up an opportunity to start a team in the GTA somewhere. 

13 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

I notice the Riders don't want to say what drill it was. Fans & media have a right to know. I think if 4 players go down one after the other, then fans & media alike have to question why the drill wasn't shut down sooner? As well as what the drill was that ended 4 players season before they even started.

Looks like it was a pretty stupid drill:

https://pifflespodcast.com/blog/how-4-riders-went-down-in-1-drill

TL:DR for those not wanting to click:

Quote

-all 4 players went down during the same drill in front of a strength and conditioning coach, all within a very short time frame.

-players were told to throw a medicine ball in the air, and then make an explosive cut before the ball hit the ground. It wasn’t until the 4th player went down that the drill was stopped.

It also leaves question marks as to why this drill continued after multiple Achilles injuries occurred in a short span. Given the fact that players are returning to the field for the first time in 2 seasons, it might be wise to ease them into things, rather than throwing them directly in to explosive drills ahead of training camp.

 

Edited July 9, 20214 yr by wanna-b-fanboy

3 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

This has been the argument for a while. And it could be that there is a decent viewership in that city. However considering the on going lack of overall support. I don't buy it. I also think this would open up an opportunity to start a team in the GTA somewhere. 

It's not as much about the TV audience IN Toronto (though I understand it's apparently much larger than you'd think), but moreso about the fact that the TV networks are based in Toronto. In order for the league to maintain legitimacy, it needs a franchise in Canada's largest city......or so the argument goes. 

1 minute ago, Noeller said:

It's not as much about the TV audience IN Toronto (though I understand it's apparently much larger than you'd think), but moreso about the fact that the TV networks are based in Toronto. In order for the league to maintain legitimacy, it needs a franchise in Canada's largest city......or so the argument goes. 

Fair enough if the audience is there. I still think getting a team into the GTA would be better for the CFL then the argos, even if they stay. 

And yeah that argument is always from people like Naylor who just want TO to be something that it isn't and hasn't been for nearly 2 decades.

21 minutes ago, wanna-b-fanboy said:

Looks like it was a pretty stupid drill:

https://pifflespodcast.com/blog/how-4-riders-went-down-in-1-drill

TL:DR for those not wanting to click:

 

I'm not even sure what the point of that drill would even be....seen a lot and been involved in a lot of innovative things, but thats a head scratcher

42 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

This is what MLSE has always wanted. Good riddance I say. How far ahead would the CFL be if they didn't have to constantly float this 

This just seems childish. You won't play the way I want so I'm leaving and starting my own game. If you can't draw 5000 people to games in a  legitimate league with over 100 years of history, an exciting structure of game, Canadian rivalry and known players, how many will you draw to games in  a league that is just another reincarnation of a league that is a serial failure. Its the same old Toronto is to big for the CFL  mindset. It just pisses me off to tell the truth. Other than the TV money I'd like to help them through the door with a boot in the butt. In what way will any of this BS help them get more cheeks on the seats right now ? And I would suggest that's the desired effect of the storey. Good. Leave.