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.

I count myself incredibly lucky to have bought in '07, I think thats the year things started to slowly heat up and prices around the city began to inflate... Bourkevale Park area, South side of Portage between Berry and Ferry, a stone's throw from the river... for only 91,500 back then. At this point, even a marginal upgrade would cost me another 200k. What would 90k get nowadays? The loft of a garage?

Edited July 17, 20214 yr by MOBomberFan
Cody Spelling

I think a big part of the boom is that (some) people have been saving tons of money through the pandemic. Those fortunately to not lose jobs or business income. Not spending on entertainment/travel/etc. puts a lot of money in the ol' savings account.

1 hour ago, WildPath said:

I think a big part of the boom is that (some) people have been saving tons of money through the pandemic. Those fortunately to not lose jobs or business income. Not spending on entertainment/travel/etc. puts a lot of money in the ol' savings account.

I can tell ya for a fact that sales of recreational toys like camper trailers and boats have gone through the roof. 2021 boats sold out in the spring and they've been booking 2022s for awhile now. Everyone couldn't travel so they bought toys. 

1 hour ago, WildPath said:

I think a big part of the boom is that (some) people have been saving tons of money through the pandemic. Those fortunately to not lose jobs or business income. Not spending on entertainment/travel/etc. puts a lot of money in the ol' savings account.

I don't think it's that. I think it is more people just joining the frenzy. Plus foreign money driving up some markets has a spill over into others.

2 hours ago, Noeller said:

I can tell ya for a fact that sales of recreational toys like camper trailers and boats have gone through the roof. 2021 boats sold out in the spring and they've been booking 2022s for awhile now. Everyone couldn't travel so they bought toys. 

 

1 hour ago, 17to85 said:

I don't think it's that. I think it is more people just joining the frenzy. Plus foreign money driving up some markets has a spill over into others.

https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/household-savings-in-canada-skyrocket-during-pandemic-as-ottawa-doles-out-billions-in-emergency-benefits

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bakx-record-savings-pandemic-spend-1.6071493

Definitely spending was up in some areas, but the articles source facts that say savings have gone way up throughout the pandemic.

"The savings rate in the second quarter of 2020 surged to 28.2 per cent, up from 3.6 per cent before the COVID-19 pandemic struck."

"In fact, Canadians amassed $212 billion last year, versus $18 billion in 2019, according to Statistics Canada. That works out to $5,574 per Canadian on average in 2020, compared to $479 in the previous year."

"The average savings rate jumped from 1.3 per cent of disposable income in 2019, to 14.9 per cent in 2020. In April, May and June of 2020, the savings rate peaked at about 27 per cent."

Where is Shankman when you need him? Haha jk

2 hours ago, 17to85 said:

I don't think it's that. I think it is more people just joining the frenzy. Plus foreign money driving up some markets has a spill over into others.

Yep, that and that sweet sweet tax-free status on sale proceeds due to the principal residence exemption.

Gonna be one heckuva retail spending binge when restrictions are lifted.

On 2021-07-15 at 4:38 PM, TrueBlue4ever said:

I have a different problem. Live in Manitoba, long time season ticket holder, doubly vaccinated, but one shot (the 2nd) happened in Ontario and Manitoba Health does not have my updated vaccination record, despite me sending them all the info. So for now I can’t get the passport, and I confirmed with the Bomber office that nothing else will suffice, even though I have other documentation that shows I am fully vaccinated. So I may be barred from going to the stadium because Manitoba Health has screwed up their records despite me giving them all the correct info. Hope to get it all corrected before August 5. 

Got my second vaccination certified and have my digital passport! Bring on life again, and see you at the stadium August 5th!!!!!

On 2021-07-16 at 3:17 PM, Bubba Zanetti said:

The housing market in Winnipeg has really exploded but its a much more recent phenomenon. It may have been creeping up incrementally since the 2010's but it really hadnt started going bonkers until the pandemic. Lots of stories over the last year or so of people bidding like 30K, 40K over asking price and still losing out

Thats not true though.  
 

in 2010 we bought our house 30k over asking  against five other bidders and were not the highest big but the sellers recognized my last name and the side was friends with my sister in highschool.

 

all my fiends had similar experiences over the past 10’years.   

On 2021-07-16 at 3:17 PM, Bubba Zanetti said:

The housing market in Winnipeg has really exploded but its a much more recent phenomenon. It may have been creeping up incrementally since the 2010's but it really hadnt started going bonkers until the pandemic. Lots of stories over the last year or so of people bidding like 30K, 40K over asking price and still losing out

Over ask doesn’t mean anything. Realtors are intentionally listing houses for under market value to encourage bidding wars.

On 2021-07-16 at 3:17 PM, Bubba Zanetti said:

The housing market in Winnipeg has really exploded but its a much more recent phenomenon. It may have been creeping up incrementally since the 2010's but it really hadnt started going bonkers until the pandemic. Lots of stories over the last year or so of people bidding like 30K, 40K over asking price and still losing out

I think the housing market in Winnipeg broke in 2002, 2003... the mortgage rates took a complete nose dive after 9/11 and everyone that could, got into the market. Houses doubled in price over the next couple of years. That was the era where affordable housing died.

22 hours ago, WildPath said:

I think a big part of the boom is that (some) people have been saving tons of money through the pandemic. Those fortunately to not lose jobs or business income. Not spending on entertainment/travel/etc. puts a lot of money in the ol' savings account.

Hmmmm what’s this disposable income you speak of?

On 2021-07-17 at 9:39 AM, MOBomberFan said:

I count myself incredibly lucky to have bought in '07, I think thats the year things started to slowly heat up and prices around the city began to inflate... Bourkevale Park area, South side of Portage between Berry and Ferry, a stone's throw from the river... for only 91,500 back then. At this point, even a marginal upgrade would cost me another 200k. What would 90k get nowadays? The loft of a garage?

Bought our house in 2001. Paid off in 5 years

Bodog odds came out today and they have the Riders with better odds of winning the Grey Cup than the Bombers lmfao. Based on what? The Riders losing 3/5 of their o-line and their 2 best defensive players, not to mention Elimimian as well?!?! Where do these oddsmakers come up with this?

48 minutes ago, Bubba Zanetti said:

Bodog odds came out today and they have the Riders with better odds of winning the Grey Cup than the Bombers lmfao. Based on what? The Riders losing 3/5 of their o-line and their 2 best defensive players, not to mention Elimimian as well?!?! Where do these oddsmakers come up with this?

Grey Cup Champions beating all 3 teams that have the same or better odds. And we did so entirely on the road. But whatever. Not a big betting guy.

51 minutes ago, Bubba Zanetti said:

Bodog odds came out today and they have the Riders with better odds of winning the Grey Cup than the Bombers lmfao. Based on what? The Riders losing 3/5 of their o-line and their 2 best defensive players, not to mention Elimimian as well?!?! Where do these oddsmakers come up with this?

Also has a lot to do with money that will come come in.  Rider fans are going to screw with a lot of lines.

1 hour ago, Jpan85 said:

Also has a lot to do with money that will come come in.  Rider fans are going to flush a lot of money down the toilet.

FYP

 

Als cut crapinga. Prior to that they had 5 kickers in camp. Reminds me of when they had like 17 qbs in camp. 

48 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Als cut crapinga. Prior to that they had 5 kickers in camp. Reminds me of when they had like 17 qbs in camp. 

TBurg now has the competition he wanted for Legghio if he sucks. 

Riders just lost their two projected starting tackles. Cyrus Kouandjio, who was penciled in as their starting right tackle, just informed the team he is retiring and Terran Vaughn, who was projected as their starting left tackle, has been out with a shoulder injury since the 14th and its more serious than originally thought. Run Cody run!

Edited July 19, 20214 yr by Bubba Zanetti

14 minutes ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

TBurg now has the competition he wanted for Legghio if he sucks. 

Why not.

24 minutes ago, Bubba Zanetti said:

Run Cody run!

Since that's all he's really good at I don't think he needs a reminder. Be fun watching the Bombers front 7 beat the crap out of him anyway.

MAN....who is gonna be the Rider's O-line...and who are the back-ups....what a mess there, They have Clarke...who after 2 years off will be more of a stick than he was...and then what??