2025 CFL (Non-Bombers) Season

[SpeedFlex27]

7 hours ago, Mike said:

I definitely agree. Once the existing head coaches retire or die, we should just fold the league. 

Yeah, well to me bringing in someone who has been rejected time & time again is a real ballsy move by Hervey as it could blow up in his face. The culture of losing is even worse in Edmonton than it was here before Mike O'Shea was hired. When Osh was hired by the Bombers he had time to rebuild the culture. The team wasn't going to fold. They were loing money but the fans still showed up. We'd still get 21-24000 per game despite the losing. Princess Auto Stadium was never as empty as CWS is now. These are dire times. The  Elks have to win now. Killam can't afford to go 0-5 or 1-6. The new owner wanss to see results. As far as coaches dying, hardly. There's always talent coming up. I'd look to hire  a successful coach from USports & give him a shot over a career STC who has been trying to get a HC gig for a minimum of a decade or more. That's just me. You may have a different perspective, Mike. 

[SpeedFlex27]

5 hours ago, wbbfan said:

I’m not talking nfl retreads, realistically that isn’t likely no matter what with the cap even if it went up.  
 I’m talking young minds from down south. The cfl is so far behind the 3/4 levels of us football in innovation now it’s really sad. 

The systems flat lining of innovation up here is going to exacerbate the leagues demographic problem. 

 

We can't attract those coaches anymore. It used to be an assistant or HC job in the CFL was a prestigious one, Just below the NFL. Now, coaches in the US would rather coach D3 or NAIA before coming up here. The low dollar, low salary, high taxes & cost of living & lack of mrdical & pension benefits just kill coaching opportunities for young guys wanting to come up here & make a career in the CFL. Not to mention the expansion of coaching staffs in the NFL & opportunities in the UFL make it nearly impossible to find quality US assistants. 

Edited yesterday at 12:07 AM by SpeedFlex27

[Mike]

1 hour ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

We can't attract those coaches anymore. It used to be an assistant or HC job in the CFL was a prestigious one, Just below the NFL. Now, coaches in the US would rather coach D3 or NAIA before coming up here. The low dollar, low salary, high taxes & cost of living & lack of mrdical & pension benefits just kill coaching opportunities for young guys wanting to come up here & make a career in the CFL. Not to mention the expansion of coaching staffs in the NFL & opportunities in the UFL make it nearly impossible to find quality US assistants. 

So … don’t find from other leagues and don’t hire anyone who doesn’t have head coaching experience ?

[17to85]

1 hour ago, Mike said:

So … don’t find from other leagues and don’t hire anyone who doesn’t have head coaching experience ?

[SpeedFlex27]

3 hours ago, Mike said:

So … don’t find from other leagues and don’t hire anyone who doesn’t have head coaching experience ?

I honestly don't know what the solution is. I know that as Wbbfan says, we no longer are the innovative league we used to be. 

Edited yesterday at 05:37 AM by SpeedFlex27

[SpeedFlex27]

2 hours ago, 17to85 said:

I thought passport photos were private. How'd you get that?

[SpeedFlex27]

12 hours ago, JohnnyAbonny said:

Our coach was a ST coordinator with no prior head coaching experience.

 

He wasn't passed over for a HC position for 10 years or more. And he had more time to work with than Killam will ever have in Edmonton. 

[TBURGESS]

Thought this was interesting.

 

[kelownabomberfan]

Elks are in big trouble.  

[JuranBoldenRules]

1 hour ago, kelownabomberfan said:

Elks are in big trouble.  

My partially qualified opinion…

BC is ok because they can host every 3-4 Grey Cups.

Calgary and Edmonton are both in real trouble.  Like there’s no way they aren’t burning $5 million a year on operations.  Need stadiums and play in really tough CFL markets in this era.

Montreal loses a lot of money on operations and has no ability to make that back on hosting Grey Cups anymore.

Toronto is as usual.

Ottawa needs to win soon or they will be in trouble too.

I don’t believe the earlier schedule has been positive for league revenue.  If anything it’s harming them at the gate.

[wbbfan]

2 hours ago, kelownabomberfan said:

Elks are in big trouble.  

Most of the league is either in trouble or right in the verge of being in trouble. Ham and bc are ok because their owners can eat it / buy fans and won’t sweat losses. We are rock solid of course. 
 The rest, at best treading water. 
 

Even at that, if bc/ham had a sudden ownership turnover they’d be in serious trouble quickly. 
 For us, we obviously have deep coffers now. And a strong fan base. But we did at the turn of the 90s to. If we had an extended competitive collapse, the eventual fan base exodus would be a massive problem for the league. The riders are half way down the toilet already. If the top draws in the league barely got 20k the tsn deal would plummet and total gate average would be serious trouble. 
 

The league is at a crossroads. New tsn deal soon, bunch of teams on the fringe, already failed to capitalize on a younger generation the new commish has his work cut out for him, and the board. 

[rebusrankin]

Montreal has a rich owner as well.

[GCn20]

3 hours ago, TBURGESS said:

Thought this was interesting.

 

Yea, if only the BC crowd would stay beyond the pregame concert they would really be on to something.

[Super Duper Negatron]

30 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Most of the league is either in trouble or right in the verge of being in trouble. Ham and bc are ok because their owners can eat it / buy fans and won’t sweat losses. We are rock solid of course. 
 The rest, at best treading water. 
 

Even at that, if bc/ham had a sudden ownership turnover they’d be in serious trouble quickly. 
 For us, we obviously have deep coffers now. And a strong fan base. But we did at the turn of the 90s to. If we had an extended competitive collapse, the eventual fan base exodus would be a massive problem for the league. The riders are half way down the toilet already. If the top draws in the league barely got 20k the tsn deal would plummet and total gate average would be serious trouble. 
 

The league is at a crossroads. New tsn deal soon, bunch of teams on the fringe, already failed to capitalize on a younger generation the new commish has his work cut out for him, and the board. 

Bombers have an advantage in that about 1/3 of attendees don't even watch the game. My niece couldn't name a player other than Willie Jefferson but goes to 5 games a year.

[Fatty Liver]

1 hour ago, wbbfan said:

Most of the league is either in trouble or right in the verge of being in trouble. Ham and bc are ok because their owners can eat it / buy fans and won’t sweat losses. We are rock solid of course. 
 The rest, at best treading water. 
 

Even at that, if bc/ham had a sudden ownership turnover they’d be in serious trouble quickly. 
 For us, we obviously have deep coffers now. And a strong fan base. But we did at the turn of the 90s to. If we had an extended competitive collapse, the eventual fan base exodus would be a massive problem for the league. The riders are half way down the toilet already. If the top draws in the league barely got 20k the tsn deal would plummet and total gate average would be serious trouble. 
 

The league is at a crossroads. New tsn deal soon, bunch of teams on the fringe, already failed to capitalize on a younger generation the new commish has his work cut out for him, and the board. 

Depends what the viewer numbers are, if they can increase the viewers of broadcast and streaming services, they could potentially make more revenue through other venues.  Somehow league revenues have gone up, when game attendance appears to have fallen off a cliff.

Edited 4 hours ago by Fatty Liver

[wbbfan]

2 hours ago, rebusrankin said:

Montreal has a rich owner as well.

They do, but not one willing to eat losses, buy fans, improve the stadium/invest seriously in the team. Hamilton and bc have owners with deep pockets and real passion for the team and league. That’s the difference. 
 
The old Olympic stadium is going through a massive rebuild that’s going to turn the stadium back into a top notice facility. But the ALs aren’t involved or seemingly even interested. 
 

1 hour ago, Super Duper Negatron said:

Bombers have an advantage in that about 1/3 of attendees don't even watch the game. My niece couldn't name a player other than Willie Jefferson but goes to 5 games a year.

It’s true, the vibe at the rum hut is next level. I’ve got a couple cousins who never cared for any sports and both love going to games and hanging out at the rum hut. Ones become a pretty good bomber fan. 
 

They could legit sell 5-10k standing only tickets in the concourse area and still fill the seats. 
 

My uncle was never more than a casual tv fan when times were good. He’s had season tickets the last few years now. And was getting 5 packs back to 18. The game day experience in the stadium is phenomenal. And yes, being a great team helps too. 
 

49 minutes ago, Fatty Liver said:

Depends what the viewer numbers are, if they can increase the viewers of broadcast and streaming services, they could potentially make more revenue through other venues.  Somehow league revenues have gone up, when game attendance appears to have fallen off a cliff.

They would have to completely flip the value proposition of the league to do that. Which would be a gigantic change, for what in the end would leave us in a similar financial situation. 
 

Don’t get me wrong, we desperately need to grow the streaming and tv side of the market and that’s the future. But the league is a gate driven gate dependant entity. And the viewership product is miles away from being where it would need to be. 
 

Imo is mostly smoke and mirrors from short term windfalls. Like the modest epsn us tv deal. 
 

To take the next step the league needs tsn to create what the nhl has on tv. (Atleast last I saw and perceive, I don’t watch hockey) the CFL is in a position where if it isn’t growing, it’s dying. 

[Goalie]

NHL had the lowest finals ratings in the last several years. Not sure they the one you want to be copying. 

[wbbfan]

29 minutes ago, Goalie said:

NHL had the lowest finals ratings in the last several years. Not sure they the one you want to be copying. 

The nhl season and post season is egregiously long. I feel like they always taper down into the finals. But again not a hockey guy. 
 The presentation, pre game, none game related coverage (trade deadline, draft, free agency) is very much what I think the cfl needs. 
 

the current presentation is more like a cheap Canadian sitcom about people the announcers working an ESPN the ocho type sport. 
 

In my experience, the NHLs presentation doesn’t confuse selling the steak with selling sizzle.