Only two teams turned a profit last year. Something’s wrong. It’s the elephant most are ignoring. How can it be fixed?
The hard but obvious question is: Does the product need to change? People invest in products that are attractive, that competes for attention and has widespread appeal? Right now it’s failing in all 3 fronts. I love the CFL, but my 26 year old son who played football has no interest in CFL unless it changes.
lower the salary cap, no imports.
we should use men as bait to get more women to go to games. all male chippendales cheerleader squads and lots of hot men in the beer gardens etc.
Wow. No wonder the elephant gets bigger.
You have no idea if the non community teams lost money, they don’t disclose their balance sheets.
I would be out as a fan then and I expect that would greatly reduce the fan base. The opposite would be better for attracting fans. The casual fan doesn’t care what nationality or fake nationality the players are and the casual fan represents the majority of fans.
the reason I say no imports is that in order to lower the cap, lower salaries would be required and less imports would apply, I think
But I dont seriously make this suggestion although it wouldnt bother me
Probably, but the quality of the on field product would suffer and the CFL would be seen as more minor league by many and in fact it would be. I think that a better on field product would attract more fans.
but it isnt? It would cost more which would then require more attendance just to keep the status quo.
The salary cap is negotiated between the league and PA regardless of who they pay what so I don’t think removing imports (or Nationals) would change that amount
So, what needs changing to improve the product and increase interest? It will be a very sad day to see the league fold over a stubborn refusal to do what is needed to draw a younger audience. My son was recruited to play QB at a big university. He told me he and his age group would follow the CFL if they moved to a more NFL style of play. If we don’t listen to the younger ones, the league is hooped.
we have notable less population per team than the USA does. Even if we played NFL rules with NFL talent, we still could not match them. CFL “machine” will never be anywhere equal to the NFL machine. CFL is eventually going to completely fail as a pro league. Only as a semi pro league would it have any chance to continue longer. As we older gens die out, good bye CFL. As long as younger gens have the attitudes they have, there is no answer for the league
When you black out your audience as it was done in the 1970s into the 1980s, the next generation set will find another league to follow as they did with the NFL.
This is on the owners (David Braiely and others) for generations of lost fans.
Of course the new generation wants American style rules as that what they grew up with.
But then again I am one of those fans that won’t change so it can be my fault for holding back growth by attending games live 
So an interesting comment by Americans on the 2 and Out Podcast suggest talking more about the players’ alma maters. A Tar Heel fan followed Darius Durant from NCAA to the CFL and has become a lifelong fan since.
Its an interesting concept to get the international audience going.
To add to that thought, maybe outreach by the CFL to schools which their stars came from to encourage watching their alumni play a unique brand of professional football.
What did your son and his friends think of the DC Defenders championship run?
I assume since the only thing that he cares about is NFL-style rules he must’ve been huge into the UFL. Or maybe we can recognize that the NFL is an unavoidable cultural phenomenon that transcends its rules and young people will follow it because it has an immensely popular video game, billions of dollars of marketing, and the rest of the sports landscape bending the knee refusing to put anything up against it.
It’s not the rules, that’s a convenient scapegoat. Without the rules, the CFL becomes the same as the UFL and no one outside of St Louis would care.
Cfl expansion to the American market failed because they tried to compete a 3-down product with a 4-down one. It was doomed to fail. To them it as deficient. Why diminish the opportunity to score with ball possession? What a stupid concept! However it’s an entirely DIFFERENT matter to introduce 4-downs to our market. That is precisely what younger players are saying why the Canadian game can’t measure up. It lacks the same level of opportunity for 4-down success. Add to it a larger field and better TV coverage, it would attract a more ch younger market. Also, get rid of BC Places beaton-down rug for a field! It’s ancient and looks ridiculous.
My son’s comments represent the sentiment of a huge representation of future fans who once played the game. You can’t woo them from the NFL by any degree by offering a far inferior alternative.
That’s exactly what the CFL would be if played be NFL-style rules. At least with different rules it can purport to be a different enough game to not have direct comparison and be found to be obviously interior.