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.

First it’s 4 down ball, then smaller fields then we become NFL lite. **** that. Keep your grubby little fingers off our game! Work on generating more profit for players and teams and getting fans in seats in places like TO, MTL and BC. 

I'd sooner get rid of punting. Make everyone gamble on third down. More passing. More scoring.

It's dumb. But so is 4 downs.

6 minutes ago, Super Duper Negatron said:

I'd sooner get rid of punting. Make everyone gamble on third down. More passing. More scoring.

It's dumb. But so is 4 downs.

Nah. Make missed field goals worth 4 points. Then Lauther can keep his job lol.

The two best things they could do for the game are. 

1. Get rid of the Football Ops cap or at least significantly increase it

2. Bring back the 3rd QB roster spot. 

36 minutes ago, Super Duper Negatron said:

I'd sooner get rid of punting. Make everyone gamble on third down. More passing. More scoring.

It's dumb. But so is 4 downs.

Some teams in hs and college are doing this now. The analytics of value for punting is terrible.  

I would do rugby punts with 2 on side gunners every punt and go for it more on 3rd and less than 4

15 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Some teams in hs and college are doing this now. The analytics of value for punting is terrible.  

I would do rugby punts with 2 on side gunners every punt and go for it more on 3rd and less than 4

The analytics for kicking in US football are awful, but it's a different game.  There are 4 downs and the goal posts are 10 yards past the goal-line.  

In Canadian football both teams are always closer to scoring based on the rules of the game which makes field position far more important.

But yeah if you're coaching midget and you don't have anyone who can kick, don't kick.

32 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Some teams in hs and college are doing this now. The analytics of value for punting is terrible.  

I would do rugby punts with 2 on side gunners every punt and go for it more on 3rd and less than 4

I've found it odd that for years now, special teams hasn't really evolved at all. It's starting to happen with punting nit just for distance and height. But it seems like there is a lot more that could be done to that side of the game.

1 hour ago, Eternal optimist said:

Nah. Make missed field goals worth 4 points. Then Lauther can keep his job lol.

You mean Mourtada?

The way I view Ambrosie is he's all talk but does nothing. In the end, the CFL may make minor changes but virtually nothing will get done. I don't believe anything he says. It's all BS. 

On 2021-12-09 at 5:30 PM, greenrider55 said:

Or Antonio Brown, who created a fake vaccine card. 

Did he buy it off of Evander Kane lol

33 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

The analytics for kicking in US football are awful, but it's a different game.  There are 4 downs and the goal posts are 10 yards past the goal-line.  

In Canadian football both teams are always closer to scoring based on the rules of the game which makes field position far more important.

But yeah if you're coaching midget and you don't have anyone who can kick, don't kick.

Us rules and fields have those teams always closer to scoring not Canadian.  Just based on the longer field not even factoring in the much higher level offenses at every grass roots level. More schools in Texas and Alabama average 40 plus points than every school in Canada. 

20 hours ago, Nolby said:

I wish these awards were televised,at least something.

What a joke by TSN. Just disgraceful. The CFL Awards relegated to their You Tube channel while they replay the Western Final on their main channel & have Sports Centre on the rest. TSN is a joke of a network. They don't give a rat's ass about the CFL. 

44 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Us rules and fields have those teams always closer to scoring not Canadian.  Just based on the longer field not even factoring in the much higher level offenses at every grass roots level. More schools in Texas and Alabama average 40 plus points than every school in Canada. 

Biggest difference in kicking between the NFL & CFL is the fact kickers in the NFL have to kick the ball off the ground while CFL kickers use a tee. That's huge. Don't get rid of punting. 

Edited December 11, 20214 yr by SpeedFlex27

Bring back sacrificing virgins at half time. 
Offer raw beef at the concessions.

 

 

If they changed it to four down football I would probably be done with the CFL it’s perfect the way it is. No major changes are necessary. 

0% chance this ever happens. 

33 minutes ago, Rod Black said:

Bring back sacrificing virgins at half time. 
Offer raw beef at the concessions.

 

 

The 70s were lit!

 

---

4 out of 9 teams had new (different) HCs this year. 

How many new OCs? Winnipeg, Sask, Edmonton, BC, Ottawa, Toronto. Am I missing any?

Maybe a bit of continuity would help offensive production?

We're also seeing some pretty elite defensive playmakers, both old and young. It's a good time for defence right now. The pendulum will swing back. 

Edited December 11, 20214 yr by JCon

1 hour ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

What a joke by TSN. Just disgraceful. The CFL Awards relegated to their You Tube channel while they replay the Western Final on their main channel & have Sports Centre on the rest. TSN is a joke of a network. They don't give a rat's ass about the CFL. 

Biggest difference in kicking between the NFL & CFL is the fact kickers in the NFL have to kick the ball off the ground while CFL kickers use a tee. That's huge. Don't get rid of punting. 

I think encouraging onside rugby punts would make the game much better. 

21 minutes ago, JCon said:

The 70s were lit!

 

---

4 out of 9 teams had new (different) HCs this year. 

How many new OCs? Winnipeg, Sask, Edmonton, BC, Ottawa, Toronto. Am I missing any?

Maybe a bit of continuity would help offensive production?

We're also seeing some pretty elite defensive playmakers, both old and young. It's a good time for defence right now. The pendulum will swing back. 

Wish I could draw on the article explaining the unusual number of rookies in the CFL this year. 

6 minutes ago, Rod Black said:

Wish I could draw on the article explaining the unusual number of rookies in the CFL this year. 

Yeah, and nevermind that there was a whole year off. 

Both these idiots Ferguson and some other clown picking Hamilton 

 

Whoever the media picks loses... leafs Habs Ticats. 

 

Bombers are better. More than a TD win 

9 minutes ago, Goalie said:

Both these idiots Ferguson and some other clown picking Hamilton 

 

Whoever the media picks loses... leafs Habs Ticats. 

 

Bombers are better. More than a TD win 

Clown is just the host. Not a football guy, so it's all good that he picks the underdog. He's not expected to provide analysis. But, Ferguson picks the Ticats because of karma. No analysis, just karma. I could probably find a way to make a reasonable argument that the Ticats could win and I'm just a fan. 

56 minutes ago, JCon said:

We're also seeing some pretty elite defensive playmakers, both old and young. It's a good time for defence right now. The pendulum will swing back. 

Indeed. In particular, DLs are better than OLs across league.  Some QBs are not that bad, but when they play teams like Winnipeg, Hamilton, Toronto, or even the Riders, the protection is just not adequate.

I really feel like the media wants to make it seem like it's a toss up, when the reality is this is just two different levels of teams. The Bombers are so much better than everyone else, the only way they lose is if they hurt themselves, and I can't see them doing that two weeks in a row. You could say that maybe they're over confident or whatever, but I refuse to believe MOS would let that happen. This is a team of destiny that is going to finish off their season properly. 

23 hours ago, JohnnyAbonny said:

https://3downnation.com/2021/12/10/cfl-will-closely-review-and-consider-three-downs-versus-four-in-off-season-report/

uh what? 

It seemed a little cold outside but I double checked the calendar just to make sure it’s not April 1…

2 hours ago, Rod Black said:

Bring back sacrificing virgins at half time. 
Offer raw beef at the concessions.

 

 

                       

1 hour ago, Goalie said:

Both these idiots Ferguson and some other clown picking Hamilton 

 

Whoever the media picks loses... leafs Habs Ticats. 

 

Bombers are better. More than a TD win 

Hamilton is missing some major pieces in Addison,Ted Laurent and Frankie Williams at DB. I feel bad for Ted but in the end it's the next man up. They don't have our horses and they don't have all of theirs,Harris will have a monster game and my dark horse MVP will be Darvin. LETS ******* GO!!!!!!!!