CBA - "Marketing money"

[TecnoGenius]

Also what the hell is Hamilton spending their marketing money on?! haha.

Ticats are heavily integrated with that city.  They do a ton of promo stuff.  We joke, but they are probably the 2nd best fan base (WPG as #1).  They show up and are loud every game even when their team sucks for years (like now).  They have as much passion as we do.  Maybe more; though in a more rough & rowdy way.

I made some good HAM friends at the GC, and they were great, knowledgeable fans.  Though I do hear they are rough on you if you show up there for a game vs them... but that's ok, just wear your thick skin.

It's the SSK fans that turned out to be poser fairweather fans.  They claimed to be #1 fans but just 2 years of sucking and their barn is half empty.  OTT and BC fans will be giving them a run for their money soon.

[theaardvark]

"Bighill's side gigs"?

Bighill managed to find a company willing to fill in his year, allowing him to work when not playing, with the eventual intention to have him there full time whe he retires.

Any player/team is welcome to field these kinds of offers/opportunities.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

"Bighill's side gigs"?

Bighill managed to find a company willing to fill in his year, allowing him to work when not playing, with the eventual intention to have him there full time whe he retires.

Any player/team is welcome to field these kinds of offers/opportunities.

Okay, but not really. You make it sound like he printed resumes and went applying door to door which is not at all what happened.

He got a job at a high end financial services company, who had (and still has) senior leadership on the Bombers board, with no real prior financial services experience and outside of the scope of his college education (Kinesiology). No doubt he's a smart guy who put in the work to launch that career after he got in the door but it's exceptionally hard to conclude that the Bombers didn't play a big role in assisting that opportunity which they've then taken advantage of by paying him less than what he'd make on the open market afterwards.

[Jesse]

Okay, but not really. You make it sound like he printed resumes and went applying door to door which is not at all what happened.

He got a job at a high end financial services company, who had (and still has) senior leadership on the Bombers board, with no real prior financial services experience and outside of the scope of his college education (Kinesiology). No doubt he's a smart guy who put in the work to launch that career after he got in the door but it's exceptionally hard to conclude that the Bombers didn't play a big role in assisting that opportunity which they've then taken advantage of by paying him less than what he'd make on the open market afterwards.

Absolutely. The Bombrrs found him an opportunity.No knock against Bighill, who did all the necessary work before and after; but it was part of the contract negotiation for a (at the time) top of the league defensive player.

[pdirks67]

Ticats are heavily integrated with that city.  They do a ton of promo stuff.  We joke, but they are probably the 2nd best fan base (WPG as #1).  They show up and are loud every game even when their team sucks for years (like now).  They have as much passion as we do.  Maybe more; though in a more rough & rowdy way.

I made some good HAM friends at the GC, and they were great, knowledgeable fans.  Though I do hear they are rough on you if you show up there for a game vs them... but that's ok, just wear your thick skin.

It's the SSK fans that turned out to be poser fairweather fans.  They claimed to be #1 fans but just 2 years of sucking and their barn is half empty.  OTT and BC fans will be giving them a run for their money soon.

100% agree. I've been to Bomber games in every CFL city except Calgary, and Hamilton had the best stadium vibe. The fans were passionate and knowledgeable.

[blue_or_die]

What comes to my mind is Bighill's guaranteed side gigs, which were much talked about when he joined here ages ago.

And who can forget BLM's numerous off-field perks, and (IIRC) his wife got cush gibs too.

Teams have been cheating the cap for ages.  The odd thing with Rourke is BC is spelling it out!  Why not have the decency to just hide it away like every other team!  Sheesh.

These examples are different than the marketing thing though.

The marketing money is money they team spends on the player for specific team-organized events, while the examples you listed are "opportunities" that are presented to a player that can be tied to the team in some way, shape or form.

Not saying it's completely fine (although it can be argued it is), just clarifying the difference.

FWIW, I would be in favour if it was at all practical to simply ensure there's transparency and the specific affiliation to the team for these "opportunities" is disclosed and vetted to ensure it meets some Ts & Cs.

For example, I think Weston Dressler getting free ice cream for life in Regina for coming back to the Riders after the NFL is more acceptable than whatever the heck BLM was getting under-the-table money for in Calgary. Note how I didn't use the Bighill situation as an example 

[ichabod_crane]

100% agree. I've been to Bomber games in every CFL city except Calgary, and Hamilton had the best stadium vibe. The fans were passionate and knowledgeable.

Calgary has had a GREAT VIBE since the latter 90's until the last 4-5 years or so when COVID started. Now seems to have gone downhill a bit, but the view from almost any seat in old McMahon stadium is good to even great! The old barn is aging though, but still fun when I went to the Bombers game earlier this season.

[TecnoGenius]

Calgary has had a GREAT VIBE since the latter 90's until the last 4-5 years or so when COVID started. Now seems to have gone downhill a bit, but the view from almost any seat in old McMahon stadium is good to even great! The old barn is aging though, but still fun when I went to the Bombers game earlier this season.

Yup, I love going to WPG games in CGY McMahon.  I've been to 3 now.  Every CGY fan I've ever been seated near (or met in hotels) has been awesome.  I even like the ancient stadium, except for those toilet lines, yikes.  Makes the old Wpg Arena seem like luxury.  Just watch out, those "Carny" type workers will try to rip you off on price (maybe just for the fans wearing blue though).