From the Feb 27 Calgary Sun:

It’s been more than three months since the Saskatchewan Roughriders battled the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the 2013 Grey Cup.

The battle that takes place over the next three months, however, will be just as important.

With the current collective bargaining agreement set to expire the day before training camps open in May, the CFLPA and CFL owners are set to begin negotiations in earnest March 6-7 at the Delta Calgary Airport Hotel.

The two sides exchanged initial proposals earlier this month.

“I don’t think it was pleasing to anyone,” said CFL veteran Keon Raymond, who is one of two Calgary Stampeders player reps, along with fullback Rob Cote.

When the two sides meet face to face next week, Raymond is expecting opinions to be aired.

“I think we expect it to be a little rowdy,” Raymond said.

“(The owners) are going to come with a lot of minimal, but it’s the beginning of the negotiations, and when you have a lot of money on the line and guys fighting for something, it’s going to be tough.

“We definitely have to stick together and be unified as one.”

The most contentious issue will be how the monetary pie is divvied up, as it’s expected the CFLPA will want to see the league’s $4.4-million salary cap increase significantly.

A new five-year TV rights deal with TSN and RDS worth a reported $43-million was signed last year, which is worth approximately 21/2 times more than the previous deal and is expected to more than double what CFL franchises pull in on the TV side to $4.3 million.

“It factors in a ton, knowing it’s almost two or three times more than what it was the last time,” Raymond said.

“We feel like the league is doing a great job and, obviously, there’s no league without the players, but the fans are the most important thing, as well. This is entertainment, and I think we’ve given them a great product to put on the field.

“You definitely want to be compensated for the things that you put your body into.

“I don’t know if the owners really understand the type of physical punishment we put our bodies through.”

New stadiums and increasing viewership and interest in the CFL around the country have the players asking, what about us?

“It just kind of seems like everybody is kind of reaping the benefits except for the guys that are putting in the work,” Raymond said.

The last time around, a new CBA was signed on the final day before training camps opened in 2010.

“We have a great amount of respect between our two organizations,” CFL commissioner Mark Cohon said at the annual state of the league address during Grey Cup in Regina back in November.

“We have a good working relationship, we’re very transparent in terms of them understanding our businesses, our challenges, the opportunities ... We must remain prudent and smart about our business.”

You'll have to leave Jason Boltus out of the conversation.

Apparently, he signed with the AFL Orlando Predators.

So, out of the million players that could play in the CFL, that leaves 999,999, which is better anyways, because it's more easily divisible by 9.

Maybe my numbers are way off, I don't know. All I'm saying is that the owners need to be tough on the players and not compromise this opportunity to finally put the league in a really strong position, financially.

Tough on the players? You have got to be kidding?

You'll have to leave Jason Boltus out of the conversation.

Apparently, he signed with the AFL Orlando Predators.

So, out of the million players that could play in the CFL, that leaves 999,999, which is better anyways, because it's more easily divisible by 9.

Seriously? Curious if any of his bomber game footage made it onto his highlight tape..

 

 

 

Makes sense? No, that doesn't make sense. The players are easily replaceable. We're not talking about the best players in the world here. We're talking about the B-list football players and there are tons of them out there. If they don't like the salary they're getting, too bad, we can find another guy to do your job just as well for whatever pay he can get. The owners have all the leverage and they should use it. Caving to the players' demands would be a huge mistake.

The CFL B List? Then why do you watch? No one is forcing you. Find another sport you can grumble about salaries while calling the CFL bush. Who needs you? Hey the North American Lacrosse League needs fans & they pay their players peanuts so it's right up your alley. Go follow it. 

 

Why does acknowledging that the CFL doesn't have the best football players in the world mean he shouldn't watch it?

 

It's not what Atomic said it's how he said it. Big difference. The CFL is the one league in the ******* world that the players are in the community interacting with fans in all kinds of different ways. Most basically play for the love of the game & he's bitching about salaries? And advocating that owners should get tough with the players to the lpoint of shutting down the season in 2014?? Hell, 3 teams DON'T EVEN HAVE ANY OWNERS as they're community owned.... Nope, I don't take back what I said. I know the NFL has better players but at the same time if you are a true fan you appreciate what you have which is still pretty damned good. 

 

 

I don't see how you can possibly get annoyed with the way I talk to you sometimes and then still think you're justified in talking to Atomic the way you did in this string of quotes. He's not exactly saying anything that's untrue. Nor is he saying anything that should be offending you to the point that you're telling him he shouldn't watch the CFL. To a certain extent, a lot of these guys are replaceable. Some of them aren't, but most are. The owners have a good chance to make the league financially stable and while I definitely think that the players deserve their fair share of the new revenue, it shouldn't be an overwhelming amount.

It must be hard to be CFLPA member when only half your members have real high value to the league and the other half of the members are easily replaceable.

There's a million (literally) players that could play in the CFL and we would not notice a difference whatsoever.  The owners need to fight hard to keep costs down.  I'd be willing to lose a season to negotiate a fair (for the owners) CBA.  The players work hard, no question, but we could find plenty more just like them to do the same job.  The health of the league is the number one priority here, and it can't be compromised due to one over-inflated TV contract.

 

I would offer to increase the yearly salary cap increase increment from $50,000 to $100,000, and immediately raise the cap from 4.6 million to 4.8 million.  More than fair.

Sorry but I can't agree with you. Would you explain how it is that with such a pool we have been unable to get a decent QB in years?  I agree there are a lot of players out there that could make it here but if they don't feel they are properly renumerated they will stay home. Thankfully, I beleive the owners do not share your viewpoint.  The good players are good because they are committed to the game year run so their income represents hard work not for just six months. Taking a hard line is never the best solution.

There's a million (literally) players that could play in the CFL and we would not notice a difference whatsoever.  The owners need to fight hard to keep costs down.  I'd be willing to lose a season to negotiate a fair (for the owners) CBA.  The players work hard, no question, but we could find plenty more just like them to do the same job.  The health of the league is the number one priority here, and it can't be compromised due to one over-inflated TV contract.

 

I would offer to increase the yearly salary cap increase increment from $50,000 to $100,000, and immediately raise the cap from 4.6 million to 4.8 million.  More than fair.

You need to look a little closer at the numbers.  Under the old deal at 15 million per season each team collected 1.8 million.  Under the new deal at $40 million each of the 9 teams will collect 4.4 million.  That's an increase of 2. 6 million per team so even is the teams raised their cap by a million for 2014 each team to say 5.5 or 5.6 million each team would still be ahead by 1.6 million from the previous season.  That should be more than an adequate amount to improve their bottom lines.

 

And what's this about an over-inflated TV contract?  Based on what exactly?

 

 

 

 

Makes sense? No, that doesn't make sense. The players are easily replaceable. We're not talking about the best players in the world here. We're talking about the B-list football players and there are tons of them out there. If they don't like the salary they're getting, too bad, we can find another guy to do your job just as well for whatever pay he can get. The owners have all the leverage and they should use it. Caving to the players' demands would be a huge mistake.

The CFL B List? Then why do you watch? No one is forcing you. Find another sport you can grumble about salaries while calling the CFL bush. Who needs you? Hey the North American Lacrosse League needs fans & they pay their players peanuts so it's right up your alley. Go follow it. 

 

Why does acknowledging that the CFL doesn't have the best football players in the world mean he shouldn't watch it?

 

It's not what Atomic said it's how he said it. Big difference. The CFL is the one league in the ******* world that the players are in the community interacting with fans in all kinds of different ways. Most basically play for the love of the game & he's bitching about salaries? And advocating that owners should get tough with the players to the lpoint of shutting down the season in 2014?? Hell, 3 teams DON'T EVEN HAVE ANY OWNERS as they're community owned.... Nope, I don't take back what I said. I know the NFL has better players but at the same time if you are a true fan you appreciate what you have which is still pretty damned good. 

 

 

I don't see how you can possibly get annoyed with the way I talk to you sometimes and then still think you're justified in talking to Atomic the way you did in this string of quotes. He's not exactly saying anything that's untrue. Nor is he saying anything that should be offending you to the point that you're telling him he shouldn't watch the CFL. To a certain extent, a lot of these guys are replaceable. Some of them aren't, but most are. The owners have a good chance to make the league financially stable and while I definitely think that the players deserve their fair share of the new revenue, it shouldn't be an overwhelming amount.

 

What's an overwhelming amount though out of the additional 2.5 or so million in tv revenue?

It must be hard to be CFLPA member when only half your members have real high value to the league and the other half of the members are easily replaceable.

Yea that one half is just a jersey with a number apparently.. The name plate is actually a plastic holder with "insert name here"

 

 

 

 

Makes sense? No, that doesn't make sense. The players are easily replaceable. We're not talking about the best players in the world here. We're talking about the B-list football players and there are tons of them out there. If they don't like the salary they're getting, too bad, we can find another guy to do your job just as well for whatever pay he can get. The owners have all the leverage and they should use it. Caving to the players' demands would be a huge mistake.

The CFL B List? Then why do you watch? No one is forcing you. Find another sport you can grumble about salaries while calling the CFL bush. Who needs you? Hey the North American Lacrosse League needs fans & they pay their players peanuts so it's right up your alley. Go follow it. 

 

Why does acknowledging that the CFL doesn't have the best football players in the world mean he shouldn't watch it?

 

It's not what Atomic said it's how he said it. Big difference. The CFL is the one league in the ******* world that the players are in the community interacting with fans in all kinds of different ways. Most basically play for the love of the game & he's bitching about salaries? And advocating that owners should get tough with the players to the lpoint of shutting down the season in 2014?? Hell, 3 teams DON'T EVEN HAVE ANY OWNERS as they're community owned.... Nope, I don't take back what I said. I know the NFL has better players but at the same time if you are a true fan you appreciate what you have which is still pretty damned good. 

 

 

I don't see how you can possibly get annoyed with the way I talk to you sometimes and then still think you're justified in talking to Atomic the way you did in this string of quotes. He's not exactly saying anything that's untrue. Nor is he saying anything that should be offending you to the point that you're telling him he shouldn't watch the CFL. To a certain extent, a lot of these guys are replaceable. Some of them aren't, but most are. The owners have a good chance to make the league financially stable and while I definitely think that the players deserve their fair share of the new revenue, it shouldn't be an overwhelming amount.

 

Hey Mike, since you brought this up.... Way to go putting down one of the best & most loyal posters here in KBF on the Vince Li thread. That was real nice. He never deserved that. It was a cheap shot & totally uncalled for. You've done it to me, KBF & others here. And you're doing it more & more. Why?

 

Hey Mike, since you brought this up.... Way to go putting down one of the best & most loyal posters here in KBF on the Vince Li thread. That was real nice. He never deserved that. It was a cheap shot & totally uncalled for. You've done it to me, KBF & others here. And you're doing it more & more. Why?

 

 

Take it up with him in a pm. Nobody else cares.

I'd actually like to know how much the tv deal is actually worth, I've heard so many different numbers thrown out there (30, 35, 40, 43).

 

There have also been some rumblings yet again that the league might be talking about lowering the ratio again, I'm sure that this is just a ploy during negotiations, but if anything I believe the ratio should be going up not down.

Let's be realistic here. How many teams in the CFL are making money? Sure there is a great new TV deal but take Winnipeg for example and the huge debt load they will have to service in the not too distant future. Before they open the vault to the players let's see some stabilization of the franchises.

 

 

Hey Mike, since you brought this up.... Way to go putting down one of the best & most loyal posters here in KBF on the Vince Li thread. That was real nice. He never deserved that. It was a cheap shot & totally uncalled for. You've done it to me, KBF & others here. And you're doing it more & more. Why?

 

 

Take it up with him in a pm. Nobody else cares.

 

I will when he stops making public comments about me. You don't like it then take it up with Mike. 

Well, at least they talked for one day….

 

CFL CBA talks break down:

 

Two days of CBA negotiations scheduled in Calgary made it through one day, but apparently that was enough for both the CFLPA and owners, as talks scheduled for Friday were cancelled, with one source saying the sides were “too far apart.”

It’s not known how long the parties met for on Thursday at the Delta Calgary Airport Hotel, but apparently it was long enough to decide it wasn’t worth a second day of dialogue.

CFL president and COO Michael Copeland issued a statement Friday afternoon.

“We don’t comment on ongoing collective bargaining negotiations but we remain focused on reaching a new agreement that is fair and reasonable for our teams and players,” Copeland said in an e-mail.

 

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/2014/03/07/21520136.html

Well, at least they talked for one day….

CFL CBA talks break down:

Two days of CBA negotiations scheduled in Calgary made it through one day, but apparently that was enough for both the CFLPA and owners, as talks scheduled for Friday were cancelled, with one source saying the sides were “too far apart.”

It’s not known how long the parties met for on Thursday at the Delta Calgary Airport Hotel, but apparently it was long enough to decide it wasn’t worth a second day of dialogue.

CFL president and COO Michael Copeland issued a statement Friday afternoon.

“We don’t comment on ongoing collective bargaining negotiations but we remain focused on reaching a new agreement that is fair and reasonable for our teams and players,” Copeland said in an e-mail.

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/2014/03/07/21520136.html

Baby steps are still steps in the right direction...

They'll meet again. No worries.

yeah no worries here because both the league and players know that they need to get a deal done. Most of the players are very replacable and the teams know that if they don't play games there's no league. They'll work something out eventually. 

Yep, this is standard operating procedures for collective bargaining.  Nothing to see here...a deal will get done. 

I guess it all hinges on how greedy the players think they can get and how much the league digs in their heels.

Arash Madani
@ArashMadani

“We get the feeling the league and owners believe we’re weak. They’re sorely mistaken,” said a #CFL player close to the negotiations.

 

Arash Madani
@ArashMadani

Have learned the #CFL proposed an 8-year CBA – longer than the TV deal (league's main revenue source). CFLPA response: "That's ridiculous."

 

Arash Madani
@ArashMadani

In the dark on CBA: #CFL coaches and general managers. Five front office types told me they have "no idea" what's gone on with negotiations.

 

 

Arash Madani
@ArashMadani

The CFLPA has kept membership aware of the process via conference calls. One player said union and #CFLare “at polar opposites right now.”

More detail here:

 

http://www.sportsnet.ca/football/cfl/cfl-pa-at-impasse-in-cba-negotiation-talks/

 

 

“That eight-year proposal is ridiculous,” said a team union rep. “The rest of their proposal – All the (league) did was follow the same model as before, with some minor salary cap increases of $100,000 a year.”

 

So the league offered exactly what I suggested they should offer.  Funny!  And here I was being told I wasn't even close with my initial offer.  I guess all the business experts here need to study up a little bit to get on my level.  

“That eight-year proposal is ridiculous,” said a team union rep. “The rest of their proposal – All the (league) did was follow the same model as before, with some minor salary cap increases of $100,000 a year.”

So the league offered exactly what I suggested they should offer. Funny! And here I was being told I wasn't even close with my initial offer. I guess all the business experts here need to study up a little bit to get on my level.

Well not to be an ass buy you were inplying thats what it would be and as you can see, thats the first offer.. The badgering between the 2 will leave that number in the dust im sure..