major announcement - big changes to cfl playoff and season start

[bomber beetle]

The enigma is that league revenues and the salary cap have gone up the past 2 seasons, but nobody will explain how that happened or what it means.  Is this CFL gloom just a case of team owners always hoping for higher returns, cause I don't see them increasing spending if their revenue is truly in the red.

I believe there is an agreement with the players' association whereby when revenues reach certain levels the players get a cut. Something like that.
The problem is that expenses are going up at the same rate if not higher.

[bomber beetle]

Revenue growth is a lagging indicator which means that the groundwork was done in previous seasons. I.e. revenue growth is from the Ambrosie era. My guess would be gambling revenue.

Profits are harder to evaluate because only 2 teams open their books (WPG & SSK). The media keeps citing old information that the other 7 teams are losing money.

This offseason we have heard that Montreal is now in a break even position.

In Calgary, if not for a rain game they would have moved from the red to the black. So they are close to even.

I would not be surprised if Hamilton is in the black as well.

Teams have good years and almost break even.
For most teams, that is the ceiling.
A few bad years and millions are lost.
The league needs to find a way to have at least seven of nine teams making a decent profit consistently.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

I believe there is an agreement with the players' association whereby when revenues reach certain levels the players get a cut. Something like that.
The problem is that expenses are going up at the same rate if not higher.

According to the CFLPA they had to fight tooth and nail to get that late payment from the CFL last season, so I guess the breakdown is it's not a healthy relationship if one side is trying to screw the other.

[theaardvark]

Teams have good years and almost break even.
For most teams, that is the ceiling.
A few bad years and millions are lost.
The league needs to find a way to have at least seven of nine teams making money consistently.

OK, lets make it so that 8 of 9 teams make the playoffs.  So that even the final game of the year might have playoff consequences.  No more "meaniningless" home games in September, having already been eliminated.

Ticket sales are important, and STH will fill a large number of seats, but actually getting them out to the game to sell concessions to, and selling tickets and putting butts in the seats that would stay home if the team had been eliminated is a little gravy on the season.

[BIGBLUE204]

Who is the target audience if not the fans of the CFL & how do the rule changes bring in non-fans?

What's funny, to me, is thinking that any rule changes are going to magically help the situation. If you think that these rule changes help, please expand on how.

There are a few rules I'd like to change, knowing that they won't help put fans in the stands.

1. Only 2 types of players: Canadians and imports, and it doesn't matter what position you play. All these different designations are dumb.
2. X number of Canadians get a guaranteed starting spot, with X being less than today. Better players make better games. If the CFL ever expands to the US again, the ratio won't apply for the US teams anyway.
3. Go to a single division. We don't need the antiquated East Vs West format.

The target audience is people who don't have the grey hair me and you do.

I don't know if anyone thinks the rule changes are a magical solution. I've not heard anyone, especially from the league suggest that. And if they have it's purely speculation. Rule changes for the most part don't bring in fans. I don't even like most of the rule changes coming. I do like the new playoff format, mostly because it's more football and I'll never say no to more football, especially more CFL football.

I 100% believe the changes to the on field game, and the playoff format are long plays to increase revenue and attract investors while making it easier to get an expansion team, if not multiple, within a decade. If it means I am going to be forced to watch more football, that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. Will all this stuff work? I have no idea, I don't know what the head office knows, I don't know what their targets are financially. I know CFL stands are empty across the league and trying nothing is a great way to make sure that continues.

[theaardvark]

I don't think anyone disagrees that change needs to come.

I think the debate is and always will be, how much and how fast.

Tweaks aren't going to change the bottom line, but changes will.  And the league is betting on these changes to improve the bottom line.

We still have 3 downs, 12 men, a 65 yard wide field, waggle, and ratio.  This is a visibly different product from US football, and uniquely Canadian in the makeup of players.

We tried the US expansion, where we lost ratio, lost the draft, and had just an ever changing list of players no one bonded with.  CFL-US was just another minor league, that was quirky to boot. 

These changes are designed to make the game more modern, faster, more offense.  The league maintains its qwirkiness that makes it easier for it to have die hard fans, like me, who watch CFL but not NFL.  I am a tiny minority, but us weird fans can be the difference between red and black ink.

[blue_gold_84]

[bomber beetle]

The earlier start date could be a big deal too.

I know many people (most of whom are getting older) that dropped their season tickets because they do not want to go in late October and November.
In 2027 the regular season will end on October 9th.
Long term it should be easier to maintain season ticket holders and also to attract casual fans to the late season games.
Add one more team to the league and I think we will see the Grey Cup moved to mid October. (Perfect!)

[TBURGESS]

The golden age of the CFL, when BC and Toronto got 50K fans in the stands, is long gone, and it's not coming back & no rule changes are going to change that. 

Change for change's sake doesn't do anything except piss off the grey-haired fans like me. 

Calling any game that isn't lose and go home a playoff game is just wrong.

Changing from division-based ranking to non-division-based after the first week of playoff games is absurd. 

If the rule changes aren't to put more fans in the stands, then what good are they?

Two teams get a playoff game that they didn't get before. That means paying the players and the travel for an extra week in seasons where you have little to no chance of making the grey cup. How does that help the financial success of those teams?

I'd argue that the CFL needs to make changes other than to look for more teams, which would bring more fans in & expand the CFL's reach and 'fix' part of the playing the same teams too many times problem. I'd also argue that that the changes the CFL has made are more likely to bring the death of the CFL sooner rather than 'saving it'. 

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

The golden age of the CFL, when BC and Toronto got 50K fans in the stands, is long gone, and it's not coming back & no rule changes are going to change that.

Change for change's sake doesn't do anything except piss off the grey-haired fans like me.

Calling any game that isn't lose and go home a playoff game is just wrong.

Changing from division-based ranking to non-division-based after the first week of playoff games is absurd.

If the rule changes aren't to put more fans in the stands, then what good are they?

Two teams get a playoff game that they didn't get before. That means paying the players and the travel for an extra week in seasons where you have little to no chance of making the grey cup. How does that help the financial success of those teams?

I'd argue that the CFL needs to make changes other than to look for more teams, which would bring more fans in & expand the CFL's reach and 'fix' part of the playing the same teams too many times problem. I'd also argue that that the changes the CFL has made are more likely to bring the death of the CFL sooner rather than 'saving it'.

Unfortunately the golden age of the CFL also included limited access to the NFL product.  Back in the day it didn't make much sense to be a fan of an NFL club as you'd only got to see them once or twice a year on TV.  Some crazy Canadians now buy season tickets so they can fly into every home game, over time we've accepted a distorted reality that is out of wack, but it looks like we are in for a correction.

[Tecno]

I don't think anyone disagrees that change needs to come.

I do.  A lot will depend on your political and life philosophy.

I hate change for change's sake, or just for shock value, or just to say "see I'm doing something"!

Johnston can ruin the entire CFL, make it go broke in 2 more years, and walk away with a nice golden parachute & pension, and his next sleazy MBA job.  He doesn't care.  No skin off his nose.

[Tecno]

The target audience is people who don't have the grey hair me and you do.

Except the 45+ crowd just happens to be the huge majority of the loyal STHs.  Until they are all dead you can't just ignore them and tick them off with unwanted changes.

[Tecno]

For those who say that I'm just complaining and not offering any solutions, here are the rule changes that I'd like to have seen... None.

I agree... except for one: tandem blocking (eliminate or enforce, but not neither!)   

In other words, I want rule tweaks to actual in-game rules, not wild fundamental changes.

[jets4life]

Unfortunately the golden age of the CFL also included limited access to the NFL product.  Back in the day it didn't make much sense to be a fan of an NFL club as you'd only got to see them once or twice a year on TV.  Some crazy Canadians now buy season tickets so they can fly into every home game, over time we've accepted a distorted reality that is out of wack, but it looks like we are in for a correction.

When was this...just curious. Around 1984, I could see at least half  of the 49ers and Vikings games on the American channels, which happened to be my 2 favorite teams of the 80s. Was it different in the 70s?

I just Googled the American TV deal in place at the time. The NFL negotiated with the big 3 networks (ABC, NBC, and CBS) in 1982, and struck a 5 year TV deal. The Golden age of CFL would have been 1977-83,I assume? 

NBC (Channel 4) would televise AFC games
CBS (Channel 6) would televise NFC games
ABC (Channel 8 until 1986) would televise Monday Night Football

I know that Channel 12 (CKND TV) would be the Canadian network mainly responsible for televising the NFL for the entire duration of the 80s.  The games would usually go from noon to evening.  I think CTV (Channel 5) also showed NFL games, IIRC.  I'm pretty sure MTN Channel 8 (debuted in Winnipeg in 86) also showed NFL games.

In 1989, TSN became affordable to both sides of the river (Videon and Greater Winnipeg Cable), and with it I believe they showed a Sunday Night Game.  Then of course, with the cable TV boom, and FOX outbidding CBS in 1994 for rights to the NFC games, people could pretty much watch the majority of games for any team.