TORONTO – Stewart Johnston has spent his entire professional career connecting viewers with the news, sports and entertainment that they love. On countless occasions, he has given Canadians from coast to coast to coast a reason to stand and cheer for their heroes.
He seems passionate;
“I am deeply humbled and profoundly honoured by this incredible opportunity,” said Commissioner Johnston. “Long before I worked with TSN and RDS to broadcast the CFL, I was a fan. Growing up, I sat with family and friends, watching the legends of the game. I’ve loved working closely with this league, getting to know its stars and being a part of the most unforgettable celebration in Canadian sports – Grey Cup Week. To think that I will present that iconic trophy to this year’s winners in Winnipeg this November is a dream come true.”
I hope he does great things for the CFL in the future!
I wonder if they pursued Mike Morelli at all
They took somebody from TSN which concerns me
dose this mean TSN we’ll lock up the negotiation rights for the CFL for the perceivable future. Without allowing anybody else to bid that’s my concern
I want to see more games on over the air stations I’d like to see CFL games move to CTV or another OTA broadcaster from TSN. Not everyone wants to pay for a subscription to TSN to watch Canadian football
I would bet that there are less than 1% of people who have OTA TV. even if they are watching CTV or CBC or Global, the vast majority are doing it via a cable subscription. I do agree that they need to get some games on these networks but people are going to get them via subscription anyhow. We recently gave up cable TV and I will have to buy a stand-alone TSN subscription. Don’t really like that but it is still way cheaper than the hundreds of cable channels we never watch. Now if they could get them onto CBC Gem or Global which I get for free on our Roku, that would be something for me.
Well he is an employee of the CFL now. One would hope he will do what’s best for the CFL and not TSN. In my own opinion however, I don’t see another network stepping up to buy rights to CFL games. CFL will be on TSN until how we view sports changes.
Well this is good news, well anything that includes Ambrosie leaving is great news. He was the worst buffoon of a Commish in my lifetime.
Anyway this seems like the right guy because you want someone with his background going in to make the TV rights contracts. I am very optimistic about this move.
I can’t afford a cable subscription even basic cable is too much money
I have to choose internet or cable TV
Which one is more useful to me is the internet
Yep. Although I’ve never been impressed with the TSN broadcasts, this new guy can only be better than Ambrosie. Speaking of TSN, can we please replace the tiresome Suitor who thinks that any penalty on a defensive receiver is worthy of a long-winded whine?!!!
The Zero Football background of the new Commissioner doesn’t serve the game itself. Expect this “Media Jesus” to be crucified by the Owners if he doesn’t deliver a huge TV deal in 2027. I don’t think he’ll deliver so we might as well start calling Stewart by his new nickname - “TOAST”…
They tried it last September and October, the lowest rated CFL games were on CTV!! CFL fans and sports fans subscribe to TSN & Sportsnet.
It’s 2025 EVERYONE has the internet and young people can watch on their Iphones, Ipads etc The days of TV and having an antennae are long gone.
As for TSN, they are the only network capable of broadcasting the CFL.
And Mike Morelli? what are his qualifications?
I couldn’t disagree with you more because Ambrosie wasn’t smart at all and you need a business man running things and not former players cause that is a joke! This new guy has all of the credentials to do a fantastic job and send the league the right direction. Ambrosie was constantly on his heels because he accomplished nothing and for years flirted with merging with USFL and changing to 4 downs.
I gather you just like to complain as opposed to having something to say!
Hard to get excited about yet another new commissioner, given that the job is controlled by the BoG, but I suppose he can’t do worse than Ambrosie.
FYI, signing up for a Bell Media account is free, and with it, you can log in to ctv.ca, where I assume you could have watched CFL games. (I log in using my Shaw credentials, so I can’t say for sure if Bell Media account offers the same content.)
why not?
So if you have the internet you can watch all games on CFL+ all you need is a VPN which is cheap or there are some free ones.
Or the TSN internet at $19 a month, that’s pretty cheap.
Global doesn’t have the facilities to do live sports and hopefully the CBC will be going under if they can’t stand up without taxpayers funding.
Seems promising.
I think this a good hire for the CFL. It’ll probably be an easy transition, too, as Mr, Johnson would already know the Board of Governors and executives and also have a good working knowledge of the league and its business. He really can “hit the ground running” on that front.
I have to think this appointment also cements the relationship between the CFL and TSN/Bell. Considering Rogers just renewed their NHL rights again kind of makes the CFL one of TSN’s primary properties. It’ll be fascinating to see what happens with the French-language rights. Surely, the Alouettes owner wants his team’s games on his network in Quebec? Even more fascinating will be what the future holds for streaming rights in Canada and globally.
I don’t know this man, so I can’t say much about his appointment nor about his skill set. My hope is that he can grow the Canadian game “WITHIN” Canada and start with a team on the East Coast.
No!! not again!
there will be no team on the east coast, there are no investors and no city or region willing to put out hundreds of millions of dollars for a CFL stadium.
We have had 8 or 9 teams for 70 years and probably 8 or 9 teams for another 70 years. The game is not growing, TV ratings and attendance way down over the last 10 years.
The problem is young people don’t identify with the CFL and see it as minor league. The CFL has been trying to address that for years.
The new Commish was chosen by the “experts” so hopefully he can grow the game through a new TV/streaming contract and more money in the future for the contract. Two years ago everyone was talking about the millions coming in to the CFL from sports betting, I don’t know if that actually happened but there are a lot of ads during the TSN broadcasts so I assume they are making money from the ads.
There is a reason the Salary Cap is rising over $400K per team due to revenue increases driven by growth in the game on and off the field.
It is growing financially