Luke Wilson goes off on the CFL..

[bomb squad]

The QB sneaks in the CFL is my only issue. It feels like there is way too many

I think if it's 2nd or 3rd down and 1 yard or less you shouldn't be able to do the sneak, and require to hand it off or do another play.

If it's 2nd and 2 you do a sneak only get a yard and a half , on 3rd downyou can't do a sneak again.

Would make for a more exciting game

I'll give you the 2nd and 1 or less is a bit ho-hum. I wish teams would go big more on those. Otherwise, everything else about sneaks is quite fine. Streveler and Stevens are exciting to watch in those situations.

[bomb squad]

It is the receiving teams choice, Sask opted for the kickoff.

Saskatchewan would have been kicking team if the field goal was successful. Anyways, it was spotted at the 40, like it should have been. Just rewatched it.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

You can't say we're spending too much time trying to differentiate from the NFL when you're speaking of things that have existed since before the NFL existed. There's no reason to arbitrarily align our rules with the NFL.

It wouldn't be done arbitrarily, it would be done strategically. And who came up with what first matters not at all to prospective fans and so isn't particularly relevant. If the CFL enjoyed any advantages to being first to market in the category of football entertainment those advantages have long since tapered.

I have never heard of very many CFL fans say they watch the league because we give 1 point on a missed field. Or they we have a yard off the ball. Or that the play clock only starts after the spot.

More of the ticket buying/tv watching public couldn't make those distinctions.

If anything, we should be paying particularly close attention to what someone like Wilson is saying, he's a Canadian who is a fan of the NFL first and that's a segment of the Canadian public that the CFL is positioned well to win over by doing things to align and reduce friction points. For NFL only fans in Canada, that's how you'd have to do it.

I'm sure the true-Blue CFL crowd on here would loudly tell everyone we don't need them, but the owners in Edmonton, Toronto, Calgary and BC might feel differently -- you know, the people who pay for this thing.

[Jesse]

It wouldn't be done arbitrarily, it would be done strategically. And who came up with what first matters not at all to prospective fans and so isn't particularly relevant. If the CFL enjoyed any advantages to being first to market in the category of football entertainment those advantages have long since tapered.

I have never heard of very many CFL fans say they watch the league because we give 1 point on a missed field. Or they we have a yard off the ball. Or that the play clock only starts after the spot.

More of the ticket buying/tv watching public couldn't make those distinctions.

If anything, we should be paying particularly close attention to what someone like Wilson is saying, he's a Canadian who is a fan of the NFL first and that's a segment of the Canadian public that the CFL is positioned well to win over by doing things to align and reduce friction points. For NFL only fans in Canada, that's how you'd have to do it.

I'm sure the true-Blue CFL crowd on here would loudly tell everyone we don't need them, but the owners in Edmonton, Toronto, Calgary and BC might feel differently -- you know, the people who pay for this thing.

On the flip side, no one is going to start watching our league if we remove the yard of the ball or eliminate the rouge. It's 100% arbitrary to align with the NFL for no reason.

[The Zipp]

That's because we're in North America though. In Europe and Asia, other sports are way bigger and there's significantly more people across the pond than on our end.

the biggest sports league in the world by revenue is the NFL...not just north america.  The fact that is a very significant population outside of NA and the NFL still beats them all is testament to how huge a machine the NFL is.

The challenge is that we are a mere flea sitting on the behind of an elephant and play a very similar (not identical) sport as the elephant.

and to be clear - I am huge fan of the flea and the elephant...it is just very hard for the flea to be relevant and like Mr. Wilson says it is tough when you play 4 games a week - hard to hide the dud.  When there is a stinker on SNF - people talk about it but its a short week and the hype train just moves on to Thursday night football.

[blue_gold_84]

It wouldn't be done arbitrarily, it would be done strategically.

How so?

the biggest sports league in the world by revenue is the NFL...

Revenue isn't a sole determining factor in how good or popular a sports league is, though.

[Blueforlife]

i do believe that the NFL is the largest sports league in the world by revenue. how many people watching the championship event is a relevant marker but so is revenue so i will stand by the statement that the NFL is king of "hype".

Over hyped imo

[Jesse]

Revenue isn't a sole determining factor in how good or popular a sports league is, though.

And it's kind of a red herring argument.

NFL is synonymous with football, practically. Again, switch over to Europe/Asia, to soccer and to a lesser extent baseball, and they're so huge and cover such a large territory that there are several professional leagues.

If you want to compare global revenue of Football vs Soccer, not just NFL to one of the European soccer leagues, Soccer wins. And then you point out how many people watch their championship series' vs how many people watch the SUper Bowl and it starts to come into context a bit more.

[The Zipp]

How so?

Revenue isn't a sole determining factor in how good or popular a sports league is, though.

You are right and I said that audience size on TV is a relevant marker...revenue is a big one though and certainly does speak to popularity - if people/business didn't care then the numbers wouldn't be that big.  If you are any sort of sports fan - even not a football fan you will recognize how big the NFL is.

[gobombersgo]

"Let me be very clear, if the goal is to grow the game for a younger demographic. This sort of stuff will not do it...."

This is what I dont like about his rant.

Why should the concern be to cater to fans that may never watch or go to a CFL game? And to possibly alienate existing fans in the process.

If people are worried about the size of crowds and viewership how about looking into why people have been turned off from the game. My guess it isn't because of the rouge or the 3 minute clock.

Use the Riders as an example.

Why did they go from 28k or so season tickets to around 20k, and how will they manage to build up that number again?

Is it easier to try to change the game to attract new fans or try to find out why fans have left and work on bringing them back?

Sure CFL fans are getting older and will need to be replaced by a younger crowd but you cant be wasting all your energy on going after fans that may never go to a game.

The key is to keep existing fans happy, work on bringing former fans back, work with the corporate community, and attracting new fans with the help of existing fans.

The next generation of fans will most likely be children or friends of current fans. Not someone thats sitting at home and just decides to go a game because the league got rid of the rouge.

[blue_gold_84]

You are right and I said that audience size on TV is a relevant marker...revenue is a big one though and certainly does speak to popularity - if people/business didn't care then the numbers wouldn't be that big.  If you are any sort of sports fan - even not a football fan you will recognize how big the NFL is.

The NFL is a sports business juggernaut, if not the sports business juggernaut. Billionaire owners aplenty, numerous corporate sponsorship deals both nationally and locally, and multiple lucrative broadcasting deals - and that's just its domestic footprint. The NFL has the luxury of predominantly operating in the world's wealthiest country, as well targeting customers (and their wallets) from a population of over 340M people.

The only two comparables I can think of are MLB and NBA. The CFL can't - and the reasons for that are obvious.

I guess that's why I'm irked by Wilson's criticism. It's not objective.

[bomb squad]

I've said this for years every time this type of debate comes up, and it still applies today. It's all about attitude. It's not the product. The rules and product are fine. It's the attitude towards the league. How do you change people's attitude is the challenge. The inferiority complex if you will. Tough nut to crack. 

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

"Let me be very clear, if the goal is to grow the game for a younger demographic. This sort of stuff will not do it...."

This is what I dont like about his rant.

Why should the concern be to cater to fans that may never watch or go to a CFL game? And to possibly alienate existing fans in the process.

If people are worried about the size of crowds and viewership how about looking into why people have been turned off from the game. My guess it isn't because of the rouge or the 3 minute clock.

Use the Riders as an example.

Why did they go from 28k or so season tickets to around 20k, and how will they manage to build up that number again?

Is it easier to try to change the game to attract new fans or try to find out why fans have left and work on bringing them back?

Sure CFL fans are getting older and will need to be replaced by a younger crowd but you cant be wasting all your energy on going after fans that may never go to a game.

The key is to keep existing fans happy, work on bringing former fans back, work with the corporate community, and attracting new fans with the help of existing fans.

The next generation of fans will most likely be children or friends of current fans. Not someone thats sitting at home and just decides to go a game because the league got rid of the rouge.

I believe the Bombers have succeeded in attracting a younger audience than Sask has, especially families.  In Wpg attending games has become a fun event, as have the Jets block parties.  True Bomber games may not attract much of the under 20 crowd, but at this point in history those kids are experiencing severe economic challenges. The demographic attending Bomber games is far younger than the old fogeys that sit on their hands and scowl at Rider games amongst a scattering of drunken yahoos.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

On the flip side, no one is going to start watching our league if we remove the yard of the ball or eliminate the rouge. It's 100% arbitrary to align with the NFL for no reason.

Maybe not exclusively. But it would probably help in some cases. You'd have to do the market research to find out how significantly.

If the AHL played on European ice, with an extra forward and awarded .5 of a point for hitting the post the predictable net result would be that less Jets fans would attend Moose games.

The only question is market size -- that is whether there are enough Jets fans who would be interested in going to Moose games if it were more similar to make it worth your while. I think that's an open question. But at some point if (young now, all at some point) consumers expect football is played a certain way and you offer a less popular alternative, you need to either live with the market share you have and try minimize the attrition or you make a change.

I think the CFL can exist quite comfortably with what it has now and what it's built. But I wouldn't expect significant growth without change.

[Horseman]

Don't watch the NFL except for the Super Bowl, NFL is run oriented which is boring, CFL is pass oriented produces more excitement.