CFL announces changes to the game - merged topics

[bomber beetle]

In the 2000s, the Montreal Alouettes made money, playing in a stadium with a capacity of 20,200 seats, so the analogy that every team loses approximately $3.5 million, if they average under 23,000, would be incorrect.

I recall this exact conversation in the media back in the early 1990s. "We need to make radical changes to the league, or it will fold!"  So the CFL, in its infinite wisdom, decided to place several expansion franchises in the United States. How did that go?

Perhaps the Alouettes made money during that time. Yes, you are correct that it would not necessarily mean a hit of $3.5 million. Overall though, it was a financial bloodbath:
https://3downnation.com/2019/05/28/alouettes-lost-over-12-million-in-2018-report/
The Bombers took a pretty big hit after Wettenhall left and the league ran the team while looking for new owners.

Another tidbit of info: when Ambrosie tried to get a government handout during Covid he stated that the CFL regularly loses between 15 and 20 million each year. Subtract the number teams that were making money and the numbers get scary for those that were not.

It can be argued that expansion saved the league back in the 90's. It failed in practice, but expansion fees allowed the Canadian teams to survive at a time that things were very desperate...I would say far more desperate than things stand right now.

Moving forward, the league needs more revenue and that will be hard to achieve when the number of followers is slowly declining. When the commish says the model is unsustainable it is absolutely true. Teams need to make enough money in good years to cover the losses in the lean years...that is just not happening.

 

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Perhaps the Alouettes made money during that time. Yes, you are correct that it would not necessarily mean a hit of $3.5 million. Overall though, it was a financial bloodbath:
https://3downnation.com/2019/05/28/alouettes-lost-over-12-million-in-2018-report/
The Bombers took a pretty big hit after Wettenhall left and the league ran the team while looking for new owners.

Another tidbit of info: when Ambrosie tried to get a government handout during Covid he stated that the CFL regularly loses between 15 and 20 million each year. Subtract the number teams that were making money and the numbers get scary for those that were not.

It can be argued that expansion saved the league back in the 90's. It failed in practice, but expansion fees allowed the Canadian teams to survive at a time that things were very desperate...I would say far more desperate than things stand right now.

Moving forward, the league needs more revenue and that will be hard to achieve when the number of followers is slowly declining. When the commish says the model is unsustainable it is absolutely true. Teams need to make enough money in good years to cover the losses in the lean years...that is just not happening.

Around the same period the NFL loaned the CFL money to help it survive.

From Wiki.

"In 1997, the NFL provided a US$3-million interest-free loan to the financially struggling CFL. In return, the NFL was granted access to CFL players entering a defined two-month window in the option year of their contract. This was later written into the CFL's collective bargaining agreement with its players. The CFL's finances have since stabilized and they eventually repaid the loan. The CFL–NFL agreement expired in 2006. Both leagues attempted to reach a new agreement, but the CFL broke off negotiations in November 2007 after Canadian telecommunications firm Rogers Communications paid $78 million to host seven Bills games in Toronto over five seasons (the last Bills Toronto Series game was played during the 2013 NFL season)."