This off season Cohon should be focusing on expansion and stadium upgrades, with a view towards the next TV deal.
IF we can get this league to at least 10 teams before the next TV deal comes up for renewing, as well as bring some newer stadiums in, it will give the league lots of leverage in the next TV deal.
Because 10 teams means 5 games a week instead of 4. They could easily sell off 3 games a week to TSN lets say, and 2 games to CBC.
Playoffs and Grey Cup could also go to the highest bidder.
With more teams not only do you increase your fan base nationally, but also make yourselves a better TV property.
Which means more money, alot more money for the league.
Mark has Lots of work this year…
New contract with Players…
New drug use policy
Assist Hunt group with Ottawa expansion project
Plan and prepare Moncton game
New policy regarding prevention and head injuries
Exposure in US market
Get CFL involved in the Football Hall of Fame
^ Also the whole argos situation. He said he wanted Cynnamon and Sokolowski to make up their minds in a "couple of weeks".
It's also rumored that the Pan-Am games want him to head that whole thing. I hope he doesn't go though, he's a very good commissioner.
The CFL should recognize that he's probably the best commissioner the league has ever had and renegotiate his contract now and sign him long term.
Woo the media in Toronto to start supporting to Argos. Toronto is the largest market in Canada and the Argos are taking a crap kicking. Also convince the corporate intrests in the Bills to support the much cheaper but potentially as successful Argos.
Finding and owner/someone who wants to put a team in Quebec City and find some way to straighten out the folks at Lavalle that are preventing a no brainer expansion to their stadium and a CFL team in QC.
Assist the Ottawa expansion in any way possible, we all want to see it happen sooner rather then later. I'm sure the Riders and Blue Bombers wouldn't mind being in the same conferance again.
That's pretty much it.
Other then Rogers…who is sponsoring this series and how much are they paying?
I'd say any company who had ads in the stadium that game, I didn't watch it though so my apologies if Roger's was the sole sponsor of the event. If so, perhaps convincing them to buy the team and promote it or care more about another tennant of the centre is not unheard of.
I know right now we are thinking of getting a cell phone for the first time in our lives and I staunchly refuse to get a phone on the Rogers network. If Rogers did put some money into the CFL big-time with some big-time advertising, I might reconsider this position.
Funny, I am in the exact same boat. I’m not even considering Rogers - but I will go in to politely explain to the sales rep that I won’t even be considering a Rogers phone as I don’t support Rogers because Rogers doesn’t support the CFL, ask the rep to pass the message up, and then walk out.
Don’t do it Earl ! Your life goes down the toilet when you get a cell phone, not to mention a 17 fold increase in brain cancer occurances.
I checked the Bills in Toronto website…
Suprise suprise… The Toronto Sun is a major sponsor.
So is Budweiser… man that sucks… Budweiser is my favorite commercial beer… Not that I drink much commercial beer… I generally get microbrews or imports.
Budweiser supports the CFL too. They’re a corporate sponsor of the Bombers so you can keep drinking it.
The Toronto Sun is a major sponsor of the Argos too so at least they’re giving money to both. It would be nice if they were giving more to the Argos than the Bills but I doubt that’s the case.
I hear ya HF, actually I don’t think we need a cell phone, wife and me live a very simple life but she wants something for emergencies when she visits Ottawa to visit family. I’m more interested in this Google android phone coming out next year, not for the phone aspect but for the web browsing aspect of it and ability to run more than one app at a time which even an iPhone can’t do I don’t believe. There are a couple phones out there now running the Google android system but it might be best to wait for Google to sell their own devices.
IF YOU WANT THE USA MARKET STOP SAYING “THIS IS OUR LEAGUE”
I am not much for that slogan either, I understand what they were looking to accomplish but not necessary.
I want the ratio to be 1 to 1 import, non import, this way no one is a minority and I'm not against US expansion in the right markets, those would be border states with no NFL potential. and they would need to find a legal way to keep the ratio intact.
Thank you for saying what I’ve been thinking for almost as long as I’ve been aware of that slogan (although I wasn’t thinking it in all-caps 
).
Nationalist or patriotic advertising doesn’t do much for me. “Like this. You’re Canadian.”
I had never thought about the alienating effect it could have on non-Canadians who might be interested in the CFL. “This is Canada’s league. Ours! You have your own. Go watch that.” I doubt that’s what they’re trying to say, but it wouldn’t be surprising if it came off that way.
US market? CFL needs to get their own backyard fixed here in Canada, aka Ontario. I like that the league promotes Canadian first, this is an Canadian league founded in Canada, for Canadians, if an outsider likes it, its due to the rules, if they are insulted that we take pride in being Canadian, thats pretty lame since the only teams are in CANADA. Why promote the CANADIAN Football league outside of Canada, as an universal league when its not? Hint the leagues name says it all!
Like the NFL isn't marketed to Americans.
I watched the start of that Super Bowl last year, and it was as red, white and blue,
star spangled affair as you can get.
And not one mention of CAnada.
How surprising.
This was a brilliant marketing ploy by the CFL, which appeared when the bills were making plans to come to Canada. You know, when all the brilliant people in Toronto saying the death of the CFL was imminent. I'm not one of those hugely patriotic people but, I love that slogan. Is it not true? Is it not our league?
We gave the world Football, Hockey, Lacrosse, the first recorded baseball game was in Canada, basketball was invented by a Canadian and yet we're only truly passionate about two of those sports. One of them has been bastardized and the other is still true to its values.
It's a terrific slogan, reminding us that this is a candian league, a league that unites us. This is terrific marketing, they perfectly played the slice of Canadiana thing. It rallied Canadians, who made it clear that we don't want an NFL team.
It's hands down THE best marketing slogan ever used by the CFL (and maybe the ONLY one). Not all Americans are offended by another country's patriotic marketing. In fact, there is an entire generation of young Americans who are VERY interested in what's going on Canada. If the geezers (like me) down here can't handle it so what. It's a league by and for Canadians. I say keep using it, because it's a GREAT slogan.