Just wondering about Randy's comments about cancelling the season.
What would motivate him to make that particular statement at the hearing.
Also wondering how did we go from expansion of the game (HFX) games in Mexico, Grey Cup Vanier Cup pairing to the season and the league on the brink.
Thoughts
its called COVID-19 or something like that
Aside from that has it always been because of their business model.
How do the owners really feel about it.
Would like to hear from them in regards to their commitment to stick it out.
Thoughts
I think the owners have been told to seal their lips and hope Randy can pull something off with the feds.
Franchise CEOs are free to explore additional funding with provincial and civic governments in their jurisdictions but the real pot o gold is if Randy can somehow force the feds to cave!
It also doesn’t help that the way he asked sounded like a handout than a request.
The fact that that’s the number that sticks out. Media and politians are all over the number.
The Commissioner seemed ill prepared for moment.
It never took a rocket scientist to see the writing on the wall for this season. The only reason any sport is considering playing is TV money, the CFL doesn't have enough of that to play without fans.
Early polls from fans showed people didn't even want to go to a stadium without a vaccine and now it looks like health officials won't even allow it.
His statement is what many of us knew the day this hit North America.
There's no point in waiting, unless a miracle treatment comes.
As a nearly 60 yr CFL fan I would be extremely sad if the CFL suspended operation due to a global pandemic.
But I'd be far sadder if 100s of CFL fans perished by ignoring safety protocols because it "feels good" to get out and scream their faces off, inhale a few brewskis at various CFL venues. Going even further if infected fans became vectors (aka carriers) of the virus into the general population.
There are priorities in life - and their are priorities!
It's time for Ambrossie to get tough. The government has mandated shut downs and is causing undue hardship on the cfl. The league should sue the federal government
Not sure if suing the government will change the CFL’S situation.
As much as I want the league to survive this unfortunate reality they have to start changing the way they are doing business.
Work with the cities that own the buildings they play in for some sort of revenue sharing arrangement.
Open up with variety of tv networks for better tv deals
All will be moot if they cannot have a season and most likely the of league.
Never assume the government will be there to assist.
As a pro sports organization the business model needs to change
Or the feds should step up and take responsibility for sinking businesses that bring a lot of revenue to cities across the country. Not just ticket sales. Think of local restaurants, bars, hotels, gas stations, groceries stores, and everything else that see an uptick in sales because of game days especially in cities where the league is popular
True enough
Still hoping for some sort of resolution in terms of some loan to get through or the owners dip into their pockets and prepare for the next season.
Time to renegotiate the CBA
Randy needed to go in to the meeting and not have all the answers in my view. Now they have let him know , now he is getting advice from everyone, 1st step is dealing with the PA to find out what they want. There is only so much money the Federal Gov’t will allow to pay players under this plan so that talk with the PA will be interesting. The players can either take this with a top up from the teams or be released.
I think there won’t be a season this year because of the crowds so they must focus on the strategy to open next year . How much money will that take. That’s what Randy has to show them .
I would be willing to pay something extra for the tickets I buy . I can see adding $2.50 - $5.00 surtax to the ticket price, so we can help pay off this loan wouldn’t be much of a burden next year.
What ever happens we see that the league needs additional revenue even in good times. What they get now is not enough.
Ambrosie is going to have to go back with a better strategy. Maybe asking the fans if they are willing to put advances down now to save the CFL. Don’t ask for your 2020 season ticket refund.
Ask players and coaches to take a cut in pay for a year. One of the MPs had said that the bail out money was going to bonuses. Ambrosie didn’t clarify that
Maybe go to TSN too and explain that you are going to get zero revenue because of the canceled CFL season. How about doing your share and give us an extra $4 MILLION per team. It’s only for one season, you have had good ratings from us and if you don’t give us more money, we may not be around next year.
Then they go back to the government showing them the business plan
Ambrosie works for the league and the owners/governors, not the other way around. I’m sure he would have approached the government after first consulting with, or having been directed by, them.
CFL team attendance is almost entirely “local” (scope varies by team) … thus money spent at the game and before/after the game is a primarily matter of re-distributing money that would be spent elsewhere in the city from one restaurant/bar to another (for example), not bringing in “a lot of revenue to cities” … a team like the RRs that draw fans from a wider catchment MAY bring a fair amount of new revenue to Regina … but at the expense of the revenues of local towns/cities … the CFL is not like industries that bring in revenue to Canada from outside the country
You may be right from an Economics standpoint GHT170, with the “propensity to spend”, but real life isn’t always so black and white, is it. For example, we live 2 hours from the stadium, so the $100.00 or so that we spend on a game isn’t diverted to other businesses there. We either don’t spend it on things like gas, meals, snacks, beer, or spend it locally. Either way, no game means a loss to the stadium located businesses. And we are not the only commuters.
[quote="cflbest, post:13, topic:67609"]
Maybe go to TSN too and explain that you are going to get zero revenue because of the canceled CFL season. How about doing your share and give us an extra $4 MILLION per team. [/quote]
When are people going to realize that virtually every business on earth (perhaps with the exception of those producing PPE and ventilators) is facing reduced revenues? Bell/TSN is not going to come up with an additional $45 million on top of the $40 million it was already planning to pay for rights to a full 2020 season. It's just not happening. It would be pretty funny to hear how the CEO of Bell would react to being told it's just "doing your share."
Yes, and a gain to other business not located near the stadium. Economic impact around the stadium, negative. Economic impact elsewhere, positive. Net economic impact nationally, neutral.
I allowed for your situation, just don’t think it is a significant portion of CFL attendance overall … AND … your attending games may not just redistribute spending in a city but it does just redistribute spending in a region … what it contributes to (for example) Ottawa it takes away from Kingston … it is a net zero game for the Provincial/Canadian economy …
Like any business, they’ll have to make a business decision after a cost-risk assessment. If, for example, the CFL contract brings in $200 million of profit, then TSN might pony up tens of millions now if they fear not doing so will put that profit in jeopardy in the years to come.
And I’m not saying that I think they make $200 million a year from the CFL deal, just using such an inflated number to make the concept clear.