COVID-19 : How it could impact Lions/CFL

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Hambone
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maxlion wrote:
Mon Jun 15, 2020 4:01 pm

The US response has been disorganized, but the Canadian numbers are not much better on a per capital basis. China and Vietnam, on the other hand, have essentially eliminated the virus.
Cases per million population:
USA - 6790 (11th highest)
CAN - 2654 (#43)

Deaths per million population:
USA - 363 (#9)
CAN - 220 (#17 tie with Peru & Brazil)
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Randy Ambrosie has heeded calls for more transparency, writing a public letter to CFL fans today (below) in which he revealed, among other things, that he and all members of the CFL executive team took voluntary pay cuts of at least 20 per cent in April. I wish he would have gone further and explained exactly what scenarios the league was exploring for a return to play but this is at least an overdue step. Perhaps more details will emerge when the league opens negotiations with the CFLPA.
We are in this together, all of us who love and support, and are part of, the Canadian Football League. And that is why I want to share a short update with everyone today.

Like so many businesses, we have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. We have been forced to postpone our season. We continue to assess whether we can still play a shortened season in 2020 against two criteria: whether we can do so safely, and whether it is financially viable. We love our game and want to see it back on the field.

We know this situation is tough on our fans, sponsors, employees --- and especially tough on our players. Some have received off-season bonuses, but many have gone without pay since last season. We know that’s enormously difficult for them, their families and we’ve been working on ways to help.

One example is our ongoing work with the Canadian Football League Players' Association asking the federal government to change the criteria for its wage subsidy program so that our players are fully eligible. Together with the CFLPA, we’ve written to government explaining the circumstances and asking for the changes. We know government is managing a crisis across the entire country, but are optimistic they will find an opportunity to act on our submission and help assist the players that COVID-19 has prevented from going to work. 

We also understand that our players want certainty. So do our fans and so do I. We want to make as informed a decision as possible on this year, to make it as soon as possible and most of all to make the right decision for Canadians. Above all, with COVID-19 re-opening plans continuing to evolve across the country, we will be guided by the advice and experience of Canada’s Public Health Officers who have worked tirelessly and endlessly to protect Canadians during the pandemic.  

Our focus also goes far beyond whether we play in the fall. We are committed to taking actions that not only allow us to weather the COVID-19 storm, but also ensure we have a foundation to renew, reinforce and one day continue the growth of the CFL. It was reported this week that non-player football operations across the league have been asked to cut their budgets by 20 per cent. We know this is tough on our very dedicated coaches, general managers and scouts. But we all must show leadership at this time. That’s why I and every member of our league’s executive team voluntarily took pay cuts of at least 20 per cent back in April. There have also been pay cuts, reductions in hours and even layoffs across the nine CFL clubs as well as the league office since the pandemic struck. We continue to look for more efficiencies and opportunities to overcome the challenges of COVID-19. We are leaving no stone unturned when it comes to controlling costs and creatively looking for revenue.  

Our fans make the game possible and they too have sacrificed. The vast majority of CFL season ticket holders have chosen to leave their pre-season deposits with our clubs, providing us with much needed operating capital. We can’t thank them enough. The enthusiasm and support of Canadians from coast-to-coast inspires us every day – and at no time more than during the COVID-19 crisis.  

When it comes to the role of the fans, not all sports leagues are the same. Larger US-based leagues play for a larger North American market and get the lion’s share of their revenue from television. While we are grateful for our US fans - and those even further abroad - the CFL plays for Canadians and depends on ticket sales more than any other source of funds. From a financial point of view, playing without fans is far less important to making it through COVID-19 for the NBA or NHL than it is for our league.

We love our game, our players, and our fans. We’re working hard everyday to find a way to get back on the field in 2020.

We look forward to more opportunities to work with the CFLPA on our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including whether there can be a season in 2020, the short term and long term recovery plan for Canada’s league and what we need to have in place together for 2021 and beyond. The practical and financial realities imposed by COVID-19 will – as is the case for many Canadian businesses – provide a framework for talks on a new collective bargaining agreement. A strong, positive, and productive partnership with our players is critical to enduring the pandemic, returning to the field, and getting back on the track to pursuing a future that will directly benefit players, the league, and our fans. 

We are strongly committed to working positively with our players and to always trying to build a better relationship. Only by working together can we reach our goal: to come out of this pandemic, and out of 2020, having done all we can to secure the strongest possible future for the CFL, its players and all of us who love and support this wonderful league.

Thank you so much,


Randy Ambrosie
Commissioner, Canadian Football League
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https://www.tsn.ca/radio/vancouver-1040 ... -1.1487320
LeLacheur was just on with Donnie & the Moj. He sounded pissed off --"wonder how those things get started"--with regard to the reports of a major communication gap between the league/players (most of which came from Farhan).

A few interesting things---the social distancing modeling for BC Place was done by PavCo, not the Lions. That explains why they bothered to do it (even though it will probably take a New Zealand-style improvement before anyone will be sitting in BC Place to watch a game.) He mentioned "it's up to Dr Henry" .

The only option he spoke about was "Hub City" (singular), so it's looking like once they know they can or can't have fans in the stands by Sept, all the delays will end. When asked he said "within 45 days" for a deadline/drop-dead date.
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I get the reluctance of not wanting to offer a handout at the federal level but it would be nice if the players were eligible for the emergency wage subsidy. Nationals would be a given and American vets that have at least been paying Canadian taxes. Where it gets tricky is any American rookie that Ottawa has yet to collect a red cent from.

Can't see how the Hub city model would proceed without federal help as the revenue would be very limited beyond TV money.

The wage subsidy program is set to expire at the end of August but who knows with the economy still being so vulnerable.
LeLacheur pointed out all Lions office staff are currently working on the wage subsidy. Not sure about the football operations side as well.

I was surprised from the outset at how vulnerable the league's future is. They agreed to a new 3-year CBA prior to last season that actually saw the cap increase $50,000 each year. Surely, there must of been some pre-COVID warning signs about the league's business model — enough for Ambrosie to launch his CFL 2.0 initiative in search of more revenue.
Obviously no one plans for a pandemic and many businesses have or will not get through it. Every team also took a $600,000 hit to operate the Als last season, leading up to the $20 million in losses overall. Besides the Als, I'm sure Ambrosie is aware BC and Toronto are vulnerable if their deep pocket owners are tired of the losses and just want to walk away. MLSE probably represents the Argos last chance in Toronto.
Ottawa potentially in trouble for a 3rd time just can't happen either.
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https://www.tsn.ca/3-downs-how-conversa ... -1.1487393
Summarizes very well the challenge of getting player buy-in to the hub city proposal (on top of everything else in terms of the future of the league).
TSN Football Insiders Farhan Lalji and Dave Naylor discuss the latest with the CFL’s current economic situation amid COVID-19, what the dialogue is like between the league and the players as well as what the CFL could look like beyond this season, if there even is one.
CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie sent a letter to fans and players outlining the current situation around the CFL’s attempted return to play. He continues to meet with various levels of federal and provincial governments. What’s the latest on the players and the league as far as conversations?
Naylor: Well the league’s player relations committee has reached out to the Players’ Association to invite them to begin formal bargaining about the 2020 and 2021 CFL seasons. Now, in terms of 2020, this is going to involve, we expect, some harsh realities. Things like prorated salaries. Like the fact that players may have to enter a bubble in a hub for most or perhaps even all of the season. So, these are issues that are going to come up in the short term. In the longer term, I think they’re going to talk about things to try and stabilize and make sure that this league is economically viable beyond this season as it continues with the conditions of COVID-19.
Lalji: I think the players are already upset entering these negotiations. They had a survey that was sent out by the PA to all of its members. And there was some major pushback on areas such as prorated salaries and shorter work weeks. Coupled with the fact that they’ve already got a grievance in place because the league has withheld its June 1 roster bonuses and when they found out this morning that government discussions were happening without them they said wait a minute, the last time this happened, it was clear they were given assurances by the league that this wouldn’t happen again without player involvement. It’s happened. They’re not happy about it.
Naylor: Well, in terms of where this is going on the possibility of playing, we’ve talked, Farhan, for weeks now about various models the league has studied. It seems like they are closing in on finalizing a picture to go with one or two hub cities. And these would be hub cities that teams and players would have to enter and be in perhaps for the entire course of the season. Certainly for the start of a season. And that’s going to mean tough things for the players to accept and I think there are also some teams in the league that are not necessarily convinced that this is viable. So, the first thing the league is going to have to do is get consensus around the table with its own teams and then try to follow that up by presenting this vision to the players.
Lalji: As far as the players are concerned, I can tell you right now that there are some high-profile players in the league that have already made the decision to move on and pursue other opportunities. At least for this season. Just so much uncertainty about what lies ahead. They’ve got to provide for their families and when you look at the possibility of leaving those families for three months entering into a hub for a fraction of their existing salaries, there are some that are going to say thanks, but no thanks.
Naylor: Some more tough news in the CFL this week. The football operations cap, which is everything from general managers and scouts right down to coaches, will be down by 20 per cent in 2021. And this is, I think, part of an overall belt tightening we’re going to see across the CFL. I mean, the commissioner has taken a cut, we know that there is going to be a 20 per cent reduction in business operations for teams and for team presidents up to 30 per cent. You don’t have to be a genius to figure out this is eventually going to land on the players as well. I would expect that for 2021, I’d be stunned if they aren’t facing something like a 20 per cent pay cut as well in terms what of the salary cap will be for next season.
Lalji: But it won’t be that simple because unlike the coaches, there’s a player union. They’ve got the opportunity to collectively bargain this even though the dynamics around that will be a little bit different. But I can say this, I don’t think at any point during this pandemic has it ever been this dire about playing in 2020.
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https://www.tsn.ca/it-s-time-for-clarit ... -1.1486862
Dave Naylor's excellent article from Wednesday covers everything facing the CFL this year. The NHL has had their players involved for most of the past few months of constructing their Return To Play. Does the CFL think the CFLPA will jump for joy and immediately agree to everything they've worked out? Given how little time there is, I don't see it happening.
It’s bubble or bust for the Canadian Football League.
The CFL has revealed precious little about any plans in its attempt to play football starting in September.
But as the picture of what this summer and fall is going to look like in Canada becomes clearer, it isn’t hard to rationally deduce that a bubble format is the only way the league could play a shortened season. Maybe it's one city, maybe it's two. But that has to be the course.
The NBA and MLS are going into bubbles, while the NHL is going into two. Major League Baseball will not, if it plays at all.
All the obvious concerns about the CFL’s ability to operate this fall can be addressed with the bubble model. All but one, that is – the economics. (More on that later.)
At the top of that list is players contracting COVID-19 from someone in the public or, even more importantly, players giving it to a member of the public.
The latter concern has to have caught the attention of provincial governments worried about the potential of a COVID-19 outbreak from players crossing the border from the U.S., where infection rates are increasing in many areas.
CFL teams each have about 60 players under contract who are currently residing in the U.S., which means having more than 500 players, plus coaches, entering the country – many coming directly from such hot-zone states such as Florida, Texas or the Carolinas. There could also be concern about players within Canada bringing the virus with them from ​one part of the country to another.
Creating a bubble that players could enter for the duration of the season would address that completely. It would also give the league a way around the mandatory 14-day quarantine for those crossing from the United States, as players could serve their quarantine within the bubble and engage in significant physical activity, if not actually practice.
Eliminating travel is another key, since there is real concern about the possibility that someone among each team’s 46 players, 11 coaches and multiple support staff could become infected during transportation or while in a visiting city.
Players would live within the bubble and not be allowed to leave until their season is done.
The challenges of such a model are obvious. Housing nine football teams in one city, or four in one city and five in another, would be a significant logistical operation. Players may have to agree to prorated wages, or perhaps less, which might not be worth it for some. And there’s always the danger something could go wrong.
Back in March and April, it was possible to imagine a world where the change of seasons had all but erased COVID-19 and the CFL might be able to carry on per usual. But that fantasy is now gone. The world isn’t going to change very much between now and whatever the CFL considers its drop-dead date, which most figure to be sometime in mid-July.
Teams will not be able to operate within their home cities and risk outbreaks by travelling every second week, even in a shortened schedule.
Even a model where multiple teams occupy the same city seems far-fetched at this point, as jurisdictions understand how high the stakes are for keeping COVID-19 under control.
Yes, you could test every player. But along with the risk of false negatives, allowing players to come and go within the community raises the possibility that one of them could bring the virus to the locker room.
Based on current provincial health regulations, it may not even be legal to stage CFL games this summer or fall without some kind of exemption for being separated from the public, as in a bubble.
The challenge in all of this is going to be money. With limited or no gate for games, the CFL is cut off from its biggest revenue source. While a hub-city model would eliminate travel expenses, there would be other additional costs, such as housing and feeding players, and having the staff to make the whole operation work safely.
So why doesn’t the league just come out and say all of this? Why aren’t the players in on exactly where the thinking is, like they have been in leagues such as the NBA and NHL?
The answer may be in the mystery over whether the CFL has its own house in order.
Several sources say they believe that not every team believes playing this season is the best course of action, and that the prudent thing is to pull the plug and move towards 2021.
This has never been a point of debate in other leagues, as the television money in the NBA, NHL and MLB makes the risk worth the reward. Even MLS, without a megabucks TV contract, came out of the chute and quickly committed to finding a way to play, which it will do next month at a tournament in Orlando.
But in the CFL it’s always been an open question about whether playing this season is the best course of action, with some of the arguments economic and some of them not.
Before the CFL can move any closer to a season, it has to decide two things. The first is whether it is fully committed to having a season, if at all logistically and safely possible. There's an economic component to that decision as well, but the league must have a handle on what the financial risks are at this point.
If the answer is no, then start the clock on 2021 and give players and coaches the clarity they deserve so they can make decisions for themselves and their families.
If it’s yes, then pick a model, tell players, coaches and fans, and take the necessary steps to see if it can work. That’s going to involve a lot of tense conversations with the players, sponsors, governments and the league’s broadcast partner, TSN. There’s not a lot of time to put things together.
It may not be reasonable to expect a CFL season, given all the league is facing. But at this stage, a little clarity is a mild ask.
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I’ve never been a fan of the hub city concept. It’s like a road trip with players separated from their families for 9 to 12 weeks, eating, sleeping and socializing 24/7 with teammates in their bubble, all at the expense of their teams. I doubt that many veteran players would support it. Teams would have little or no exposure in their home markets and would not be able generate spectator or sponsorship revenues. I would much rather see teams quarantine in a bubble for training camp or longer and play home games in their local stadiums, with or without fans. They could travel safely by charter bus or plane to 4 road games without crossing paths with the travelling public. Financially, that’s the most feasible model for playing a partial 2020 season. It’s also the best way to remain connected to fans.
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Given the events of the last 24 hours in the NHL, MLB, NFL all reporting new cases of Covid positive among players and staff in some cases, the conversation just got a lot more complicated for all professional sports organizations including the CFL. We are not talking just a case here or there. Austin Mathew's of the Maple Leafs is reported to be one of the 11 NHL players afflicted just as an example. Maybe I'm just thick but I'm still not seeing a realistic path forward for actual play time this year. As things currently stand, it would be difficult if not impossible to insure that players and staff could remain clear of possible contamination unless the league was prepared to isolate all the coaches, medical staff, cooks, hotel employees, drivers, cleaners and so on. And in some cases, people can't do it even if they wanted to because of other obligations. There are just too many people involved and too many stray variables. And once one team has a case, then everybody else on that team would be both a risk and at risk for the virus. Maybe I'm too cautious but since the popular catch phrase seems to be that leagues care about the welfare of their employees, how does bringing a bunch them together into close confines reflect that? I appreciate that there are many things that can be done to try and mitigate risks but these folks change together, travel together, sit next to one another on a bench, fight with one another. They are like a family but the larger that family gets, the more difficult it becomes to control the risks. I don't know what the CFL does at this point but I think the progress or lack of progress with other leagues is going to be very instructive. It's hard to know what is going to happen as a result of yesterday's sports news but I can be pretty sure that all of these leagues plans for restart have been seriously threatened.
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Sir Purrcival wrote:
Sat Jun 20, 2020 11:41 am
Given the events of the last 24 hours in the NHL, MLB, NFL all reporting new cases of Covid positive among players and staff in some cases, the conversation just got a lot more complicated for all professional sports organizations including the CFL. We are not talking just a case here or there. Austin Mathew's of the Maple Leafs is reported to be one of the 11 NHL players afflicted just as an example. Maybe I'm just thick but I'm still not seeing a realistic path forward for actual play time this year. As things currently stand, it would be difficult if not impossible to insure that players and staff could remain clear of possible contamination unless the league was prepared to isolate all the coaches, medical staff, cooks, hotel employees, drivers, cleaners and so on. And in some cases, people can't do it even if they wanted to because of other obligations. There are just too many people involved and too many stray variables. And once one team has a case, then everybody else on that team would be both a risk and at risk for the virus. Maybe I'm too cautious but since the popular catch phrase seems to be that leagues care about the welfare of their employees, how does bringing a bunch them together into close confines reflect that? I appreciate that there are many things that can be done to try and mitigate risks but these folks change together, travel together, sit next to one another on a bench, fight with one another. They are like a family but the larger that family gets, the more difficult it becomes to control the risks. I don't know what the CFL does at this point but I think the progress or lack of progress with other leagues is going to be very instructive. It's hard to know what is going to happen as a result of yesterday's sports news but I can be pretty sure that all of these leagues plans for restart have been seriously threatened.
Extra points for being realistic.

Pro sports is not that big of a priority other than for those that make their living from it. Best move IMO would be to call the season and start planning for next year. No shame in playing safe. Next question would be if they have the financial stability to see them through which I kind of doubt.

If they play, I will watch.
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Well summarized Murdoch. We are not even over the first wave.

Be safe.
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Maybe folks don't need to place a high priority on pro sports. Lest we forget though while players and coaches make the big bucks in terms of sheer numbers they are a small portuon of those who rely on the industries that are sports. The Lions have more non-playing staff than players on their payroll. NFL teams have around 250 non-playing staff. I'd imagine with nothing happening at BC PLACE there's a lot of employees there ripe for layoff. That's all not mentioing the people working in the hospitality sector in the general area of BC Place, Rogers Arena and Granville strip who rely on event nights to offset the rest of the nights when not much is happening. In industry it's often stated that for every direct job at a mill or plant there are two indirect jobs that rely on that.
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https://www.tsn.ca/radio/vancouver-1040 ... -1.1488290
Dave Naylor on with Halford & Brough this morning--overall not too optimistic about anything--now that the league has finally got around to going to the CFLPA (back on Thursday) with their hub-city proposal (which they are calling the "eco-system bubble").
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The one aspect of the "bubble" thing I kind of chuckle about is how it might impact team cohesiveness. In sports it's often discussed how things like road trips can serve as valuable team bonding exercises, especially when a team might be struggling. I just wonder how teams of 50 athletes might be getting along after they've been cooped up together in isolation for 2 or 3 months? Will they bond or wind up ripping at each other's throats?

Lol. Imagine that 1994 Lions Grey Cup team scrapping on the team bus on the way to the game if they'd been stuck together for months on end. Wilburn might have killed somebody or been killed. :wink:
Last edited by Hambone on Tue Jun 23, 2020 3:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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I thought it was the 2004 team that scrapped on bus. BB
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Hambone wrote:
Tue Jun 23, 2020 9:56 am
The one aspect of the "bubble" thing I kind of chuckle about is how it might impact team cohesiveness. In sports it's often discussed how thinks like road trips can serve as valuable team bonding exercises, especially when a team might be struggling. I just wonder how teams of 50 athletes might be getting along after they've been cooped up together in isolation for 2 or 3 months? Will they bond or wind up ripping at each other's throats?

Lol. Imagine that 1994 Lions Grey Cup team scrapping on the team bus on the way to the game if they'd been stuck together for months on end. Wilburn might have killed somebody or been killed. :wink:
If any league (CFL, NHL) going back 25-50 years ago, had tried bubble concepts like these, they would have ended in a riot. It goes to the antagonism and hostility that was considered so important for coaches to instill in their players against opponents.

AND in some cases (like the Lions example you gave) even team bonding was not at the level at is today.
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