Off-season Relevance

There have been a couple of articles recently about how quiet the league is during the off-season. Both articles point to the NFL and speculation about where star players might be traded. With the small number of teams combined with the high degree of free agency in the CFL, it's not likely we'll see blockbuster trades very often, but is there something else the league should be doing to remind fans of its existence from December through April?

Maybe some sort of skills competition could be organized in connection with the combines, so fans (and the aspiring players) could see some star players performing the drills. I'd be interested to find out who in the league can post the fastest 40 time, or who can do the most reps on benchpress.

Even just having a few star players there to give advice to the participants and/or offering reports on the standout performances.

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A few years ago the league had CFL week, basically a large combine in Saskatchewan followed by a year later in Winnipeg

MARK’S CFL WEEK IN SASKATCHEWAN WILL BE BIGGEST OFF-SEASON EVENT IN LEAGUE HISTORY

The next year it was supposed to be in Toronto but it didn't happen due to the CBA negotiations IIRC, the next year was Covid and go on from there.

That felt like a second Grey Cup in terms of the league showcasing an event with different markers bidding for it.

I would love to see something like that return on that scale and can add back anther annual event.

Or we can speculate on rule changes that may or may not happen :smiley:

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They could be doing lots of things. Sending staff out to different groups and drumming up support for the team.

BC Lions could do something with the Vancouver Aquarium, schools, have contests for the best Lions artwork and display it in the Vancouver Art Gallery etc. They could do some cross marketing with other sports like golf, hockey, basketball etc. In Vancouver itself you’re not going to make any inroads unless you start trying to connect with the Asian community.

One of the problems is that they rely heavily on their Twitter account and their web page to put news out. They also need to start putting ads out on local news broadcasts. I haven’t seen it done over here.

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For me, any attempts at off season promotion are of no interest, although I have no objection to those taking place. Presumably this would be done to attract the casual fan or non fan. As a huge CFL fan I already follow what (little) is happening in the off season and any promotion attempts would not make me more or less of a fan. When the season starts I would be all in as usual.

I am also a fan of other sports that I watch and am not retired. I have said it before, but there is only so much time available to watch sports and as a result I welcome the off season in any sport I watch. It gives me a break and allows me to watch other sports or do something else useful with my life other than just watching sports. It also heightens the anticipation for the start of the season. So trying to make a sport of interest year round has no interest for me.

Just giving one perspective to off season relevance and I recognize that others may feel differently. Right now I am eagerly anticipating what I consider to be the greatest sporting event of the year, the Masters, which is less than one month away.

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There's really no sound reason why the CFL, CFLPA, current local players and alumni can't hold a few events in and around their city and Provenance as a meet and greet, an opportunity to get some autographs, sell some merchandise. At schools, community centers, malls or conference room...etc

Years ago when sports cards were big(er) you could go to sports card stores and meet some players, also remember the Canad Inn held autograph sessions I would drag my children many times to meet players, now in their 40's they still talk about it.

I have a photo of myself with Perry Tuttle, I'm wearing his GC rings 88/90 he was on crutches, I jokingly asked how fast can you run? His response you won't make it to the door!

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Do you believe the Masters is the toughest Major to win or is it the Open Championship?

I can’t say which is the toughest for sure, but if I had to pick it would be the US Open. The British Open can be very tough but that is often because of pure chance as a result of morning and afternoon conditions being night and day far too often. The Masters and PGA I think are both easier to win than the other two, especially since the Masters is always played on the same course, which is also part of its appeal. What I do know for certain is that the Masters is the hardest sporting event in the world to obtain a ticket for.

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Cool. Didn’t know you follow golf.

Good to know you watch other sports. I casually follow golf, tennis but prefer Formula 1 for my auto racing fix.

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IMHO the CFL tends to ‘roll over and go to sleep’ after the Grey Cup which tells me that our league has probably tried and failed miserably in the past to keep its audience interested in the off season. It could be that some time ago our CFL tall foreheads discovered the hard way that money spent promoting CFL interests in the middle of Hockey Season was money well wasted.

So that’s gotta change. Instead of waiting for the CFL to FINALLY keep itself relevant in the minds of football fans during the winter like the NFL with their deep pockets ALWAYS manages to do… step up to the plate TSN. Pull a Fox Sports move and pony up the cash ($150,000,000 with a plan as I recall) to make the CFL way more interesting than it already is.

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The Masters is tough, but The Open can be far more so depending which course it is.

Nothing will ever be as challenging as the Lunar Invitational (you have to be on the Low Earth Orbit Tour just to be considered).

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He’s using the wrong club, and his stance is all wrong. He’s gonna slice it big time.

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Looks like a bad weather British Open morning!

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A little less grey though.

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Tragically Heroic Astronaut ‘Crash’ Burnington’s 1500 yard drive on that hole sliced way past the green and came to rest underneath the Lunar Excursion Module. Forced to play by the rules, Burnington’s backswing completely disabled his rocket motors and marooned him forever on the Lunar surface. His caddy, Astronaut Kinda Expendable later quipped, “One small swing for Man, one giant f*** up for Mankind.”

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They say that Neil Armstrong saw a group of UFOs observing the Moon Mission just above the edge of the crater on where it was stationed. Hence that would explain the missing two minutes of the NASA transmission

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So . . . the league should organize a golf tournament on the moon to stay relevant in the off-season?

Hmm, might be more feasible than building all new domes, but I still don't think it likely.

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I say a celebrity golf game with CFL HOFers against CFL all-stars, a foursome

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That’s true, but the more important question mission control had to ask was how these UFO’s managed to sneak onto the Lunar Golf Course during a live tournament.

If it was up to me Lunar Security would get a nasty email.

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Your argument is sound. Mind you people were ALSO skeptical about the feasibility of converting Home Depots to indoor CFL stadiums… then look what happened.

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