I think Randy has the league going in the right direction.
Sounds like there’s a potential owner in talks for the Halifax location and I think it’s right the CFL cuts bait (gets off the can) if that doesn’t pan out after a predetermined time.
I like his strategy about investigating why people watch and the separate reasons for why they care. I think that’s smart in terms of knowing how to position the league for future marketing (fun, fast and entertaining) that will actually grow the base.
Agreed about them positioning away from Halifax. That’s what the tone seems to be.
But I like the 2019 research into the fans and developing marketing based on that. Very smart. And surprisingly it doesn’t seem that it was done previously. Just assumed what would work.
Very happy about the balanced schedule returned. I do wish that the league would switch to one division. At least give it a try. Would be easy to go back if it does not work.
It would not be easy to switch back. The reason one division is not going to happen is they need more than 2/3rds majority to approve such a move. The eastern teams are most likely not going to give up two guaranteed home dates for the playoffs.
However, if the eastern teams came into a BOG meeting and they had a severe hangover from partying the night before and accidently gave one division approval, the western teams would most likely not give approval to switch back.
I understand the mechanics of such a switch and the economics that go with it but, part of this leagues problem is that the thinking is too provincial rather than seeing the bigger picture of what is best for the league, thus creating an image staleness. This makes it tougher to maintain interest for fans that currently follow the CFL and attracting new fans.
Yep, totally agree with you. I was talking to a guy on Youtube who was sick of the CFL because he felt that they could expand to Halifax, Quebec City and Saskatoon and the CFL was choosing not to do so. I told him Roughriders wouldn’t want the competition and would block a Saskatoon franchise. He had some choice words for me.
What you said is the truth though. When is the last time we saw a structural change in the league that made you say, “wow, that is out of the box thinking and I like it?” I am a football junkie. I love the Canadian game and the CFL but it is has been a long time since I have felt that. To be honest, probably have to go back to American expansion, ill fated though it was.
Saskatoon is actually part of the Riders’ catchment area. So I believe you’re correct. The fan base couldn’t support two franchises in that province.
After trying to catch a Bomber’s game against BC in Vancouver while in Halifax recently, I realized the difficulty with time zone vïs-à-vis later game starts (or to be more precise game end times) for most of the CFL fan bases. A regular start time that allows attendance after working hours would mean a game between the Lions and the Schooners (?) in Vancouver wouldn’t conclude on the east coast until the majority of of the CFL demographic faithful (somewhere between 50 to 65 years old) would have been asleep for a couple of hours.
Not sure any kind of scheduling acrobatics could rectify the time zone difficulties.
Any ideas?
I think the games between Vancouver and Halifax hosted on the west coast would have to be early afternoon. This past season most of the home games started at 4 o’clock local time. This most likely helped people in the east watch the Lions play. I could see a 2 or 3 Saturday or Sunday start if the league ever expanded to Halifax.
Do you mean 4 o’clock starts on weekends? Because all of the weekday games in Winnipeg start at or around 7:30.
And while I agree that scheduling west coast games on weekends would help make it work, I was using the worst case scenario. Many games held in the west would negatively affect the television ratings. Weekday games in Halifax would start before many folk out west would be home from work also.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all in and excited for a 10th team located in Halifax. I just personally exerienced the difficulty staying awake while vacationing until after 1:00 am to watch a game and wonder how the scheduling can mitigate this issue.
I also think the benefits will far outweigh the negatives but can’t see how this won’t negatively affect the ratings.
I doubt many people on the west coast were watching too many CFL games that didn’t involve them during the week. As you say the Thursday night games were usually early here. Some in the east started at 4 or 4:30 based on my memory. Having said all that the scheduling this past year has been much better than other years.
How dare you share an opinion that contradicts some random guy on Youtube! lol
Great idea, have a team in a market of 250k and another in a market of 225K just down the road. What could go wrong?
Yep, totally agree with you. I was talking to a guy on Youtube who was sick of the CFL because he felt that they could expand to Halifax, Quebec City and Saskatoon and the CFL was choosing not to do so. I told him Roughriders wouldn’t want the competition and would block a Saskatoon franchise. He had some choice words for me.