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2021 Season


Jpan85

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20 minutes ago, Super Duper Negatron said:

What I thought was "am I willing to pay over and above what I am already paying for cable to have a CFL season?".

Also the CFL is far from the only reason I pay for cable.

Does this not meet the definition of "pay-per-view"? I absolutely love the CFL, but I think that'd be a tough sell... maybe if other leagues had completely shutdown, they might be able to in a vacuum. For the most part though other leagues have maintained seasons, albeit shortened or adjusted (NFL, NBA, NHL etc.), so there is arguably just as much competition now as before the pandemic.

Add to that the fact cable would be considered non-essential by most consumers, and I think it'd be really, really hard to make that viable.

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There aren't nearly enough people who'd PPV for CFL. Cable subscriptions pay TSN (Bell) which pays the 10 million per year fee to the CFL, so we are indirectly paying the league to watch games. Would I pay above and beyond that? Sure, but what am I getting above and beyond? I don't think making a straight donation is in the cards. The GC base thing was dumb and not particularly well received. Is there something else they could do...? 

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PPV would be an abysmal failure. We don't have the population here to support it. We don't have one city the size of Chicago, New York or Los Angeles. There isn't enough revenue. Plus as people have pointed out, TSN is the rightsholder. They'd be giving the games away for free if they allowed PPV. Just not any kind of option. Now, this single team betting bill that passed in the H of C earlier this week could mean huge revenue streams for the CFL. I guess unlike Pro Line you can bet just on Bomber games for example. This could open up $$$ for each CFL team & create a following. 

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Some more information and quotes via 3DN:

 

Commissioner Randy Ambrosie has stated multiple times since the 2020 season was cancelled that the CFL wanted to reset its business model.

“We’ve done more work on that than the league has done in 50 years. We’re going to make substantial improvements to our business model starting this year and running through years to come,” Ambrosie said on The Green Zone.

 

Ambrosie has done it by cutting nearly half the staff at the league office, lowering the football operations cap, and the directing each franchise to spend to the salary cap floor for the 2021 season, reducing player compensation.

Sources have told Dan Ralph of the Canadian Press that the year long absence has cost the three-down league somewhere between $60 and $80 million dollars, though the CFL has not yet unveiled its official financial results.

The decision to cancel last season came after the federal government refused support for a $30 million interest-free loan to fund a hub city in Winnipeg. The league’s precarious financial position might require government support once again. Unlike 2020 however, the CFL won’t leave it all up to a hand out.

“Right now, June 10 we will kick-off, that’s our plan. We’re looking at every possible scenario that we can be flexible if necessary to make a season happen,” Ambrosie said.

“We want to play, we want to get our players out on the field. We’re hoping the vaccine roll outs begin to accelerate because there’s nothing like a CFL game with fans — but right now I’m just feeding off the energy from our board of governors.”

The massive losses have the CFL trying to find a way to play in 2021 and put fans in the stands to return their primary source of revenue. The CFL unveiled its 2021 schedule back in November. The pre-season is scheduled to begin on Sunday, May 23, while the regular season is slated to get underway on Thursday, June 10.

“Is it possible that there’s a few weeks of the season where we maybe don’t have fans? That’s a scenario that we’re talking about and then maybe after that governments will start to allow larger gatherings and we get 25-30 per cent of our stadiums filling up,” Ambrosie said.

“We’re talking about playing in our stadiums, we’re talking about playing in our stadiums with a smaller group of fans and then we’re hoping that as the season goes along, people are vaccinated and they are desperately wanting CFL football.”

With as many questions facing the league now as there were a year ago and some anonymous sources drawing ire for suggesting a 2021 season may not be plausible, Ambrosie insists there is only one possible outcome for the CFL.

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1 hour ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Looks like Ambrosie was working with the other major leagues to get the Government onside to create new revenue streams for the CFL. Wonder if his critics will give him credit for that, or will they just blame him again for not detailing every aspect of his plan with them first rather than planning quietly behind the scenes?

https://3downnation.com/2020/06/12/cfl-commish-signs-joint-statement-with-nhl-nba-mlb-and-mls-counterparts-to-legalize-single-game-betting/

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39 minutes ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

Looks like Ambrosie was working with the other major leagues to get the Government onside to create new revenue streams for the CFL. Wonder if his critics will give him credit for that, or will they just blame him again for not detailing every aspect of his plan with them first rather than planning quietly behind the scenes?

https://3downnation.com/2020/06/12/cfl-commish-signs-joint-statement-with-nhl-nba-mlb-and-mls-counterparts-to-legalize-single-game-betting/

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11 hours ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

Looks like Ambrosie was working with the other major leagues to get the Government onside to create new revenue streams for the CFL. Wonder if his critics will give him credit for that, or will they just blame him again for not detailing every aspect of his plan with them first rather than planning quietly behind the scenes?

https://3downnation.com/2020/06/12/cfl-commish-signs-joint-statement-with-nhl-nba-mlb-and-mls-counterparts-to-legalize-single-game-betting/

Impossible. It's obvious he wasn't doing anything, just trying on new scarfs and figuring out how he can with hold more information from discussion forums. He's actively trying to kill the CFL and I won't change my mind until he personally makes me a walby burger!!!

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If curling can go ( and I'm  curling fan ) surely the CFL can go.  I don't really care if it's Ambrosie or some of the more powerful heads of individual teams that get it done. Fans, no fans, Trudeau money , no money, shortened season, regular season  just play some CFL football. Figure it out. Like any big issue in business start with a basic premise " we play football in 2021 " announce it and start working on each issue, one by one .

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2 hours ago, Noeller said:

How on earth is that even remotely comparable...? 

Because they figured out a way to do it. No provincial playdowns. Changed the structure of the playoffs. Changed the wild card situation. The NHL restructured the entire league due to border issues.  Tons of businesses have totally  changed their business model.  You can't tell me there isn't a way to do this. That's how it is comparable

Edited by the watcher
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6 minutes ago, Eternal optimist said:

I will definitely be watching more curling now that i know it's a contact sport.

What's contact  got to do with it. Lots of contact sports are going. All my point was is that NFL, Premier League,  UFC, NHL, AHL, NBA, .......and now curling have figured out ways to run their sports. But somehow it's insurmountable for the CFL ?  

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36 minutes ago, the watcher said:

What's contact  got to do with it. Lots of contact sports are going. All my point was is that NFL, Premier League,  UFC, NHL, AHL, NBA, .......and now curling have figured out ways to run their sports. But somehow it's insurmountable for the CFL ?  

Don't forget minor league baseball as the Goldeyes league has a plan even with the  border being closed. 

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1 hour ago, rebusrankin said:

CFL needs a plan period and given last year many of us are going to be skeptical of Ambroise until he gives us reason to be otherwise.

That's the problem. There's not a lot of trust between fans & the league with the Commissioner in the forefront of it all. We just feel that whatever he says just isn't the truth. It's all for show. He disappears when news is bad & reappears when he can give us good news. And then we're not sure it really is.... 

 

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Edited by SpeedFlex27
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