Randy Ambrosie optimistic about 2021

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B.C.FAN
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I fail to see how allowing 5,000 fans in the stands will generate any revenue for teams. We prepaid for our season tickets and game packs last year, and teams have spent all the money, and more. This just clears a liability off their books.
Huge Talent
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5,000 fans in seats sounds good to me at this point. Would be great to watch some live sports. Besides, at BC place it will feel like just another mid summer crowd.
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BC 1988
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BC 1988 wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 9:33 am
Ambrosie just sent out a letter about alignment with the XFL.
A Message to CFL Season Ticket Holders from Commissioner Randy Ambrosie
Dear ------

Today the CFL is announcing that we have agreed to work with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and his fellow XFL owners to identify opportunities for the leagues to collaborate, innovate and grow the great game of football across North America.

As a season ticket holder, you are one of the CFL’s most supportive and dedicated fans, and I want you to hear from me what this means for the league and for fans.

First of all, these discussions will not affect the upcoming season. We hope that, as the pandemic wanes, the league will get the green light to resume play with a full season in 2021.

These talks with the new owners of the XFL are aimed beyond that. With a shared desire on the part of both leagues to give the sport we all love new energy and excitement and make sure it thrives for years to come.

While the XFL doesn’t have a long history like ours, they do share our passion for football. Dwayne Johnson, who was a member of the Calgary Stampeders after playing at the University of Miami, is proud of his ties to the CFL and his family’s Canadian roots. He knows and loves our game and our passionate fans. His fellow owners, highly successful entrepreneur Dany Gracia and sports industry leader RedBird Capital, share his excitement about what working with the CFL could mean.

So, while we don’t know what collaboration or partnership might look like, we do know it’s at least a conversation worth having, to see what ideas we can come up with to promote and grow the game here in Canada, across North America and abroad. We want to share the excitement of Canadian-style football that fans like you know well.

We’re proud of our game and cherish the deep connections our fans have to it. We look forward to seeing what possibilities our discussions might uncover, and to sharing those with you as the process unfolds.

In the meantime, our focus in on returning to the field to play CFL football this year.

Football has been played in Canada under the CFL banner since 1948, but the Grey Cup has been part of our country since 1909. The bond between football and Canadians has never been stronger, and our goal, always, is to respect and strengthen that bond. That is why I’m writing to you today.

Thank you for being there for the CFL. We can’t wait to get back on the field – and we’re so looking forward to seeing you back in the stands.

Yours in football,

Randy's Signature
Randy Ambrosie

Commissioner
....and after all that we get this from Ambrosie:
https://3downnation.com/2021/07/07/cfl- ... angements/
Our talks with the XFL, exploring the potential for collaboration and innovation, have been positive and constructive.

While we remain open to finding new ways to work together in the future, we and our XFL counterparts have jointly decided to not pursue any formal arrangements at this time.

We at the CFL are now squarely focused on preparing for August 5th and the start of our 2021 regular season, which will culminate December 12 with the playing of the 108th Grey Cup in Hamilton, Ontario. We are looking forward to this year and a bright future for our league.
and the XFL "will be back in 2023".
Over on RF, they went through a 249 page, 3722 post (and counting) thread to get to this point (without it, their site would have been a lot less busy.)

I thought Halford & Brough's take on this as the announcement from EDM came down

is worth mentioning (starts at 33:00)
https://www.sportsnet.ca/650/halford-br ... -want-out/
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DanoT
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I am glad to hear that a deal between the CFL and XFL is at least for now, going nowhere and i hope it stays that way.

All that the XFL has going for it is a wealthy well known actor/former athlete owner of the name "XFL". The XFL has no teams, no GM, coaches, or players. They don't even own a football and as such have nothing to offer the CFL.
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B.C.FAN
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DanoT wrote:
Wed Jul 07, 2021 1:46 pm
I am glad to hear that a deal between the CFL and XFL is at least for now, going nowhere and i hope it stays that way.

All that the XFL has going for it is a wealthy well known actor/former athlete owner of the name "XFL". The XFL has no teams, no GM, coaches, or players. They don't even own a football and as such have nothing to offer the CFL.
Agreed. The rampant speculation about a potential CFL/XFL merger was wild and largely unsubstantiated. I just tuned it out.
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BC 1988
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Agreed. I thought it was insulting the way the CFL was depicted to be desperate for the Saviour to lead them to the promised land (even if all He had was a reputation for "what he's cookin' " and a bunch of slightly game worn XFL jerseys). It would have been very distasteful to give up our most unique (and valuable) parts of our game for the lure of RedBird Capital.
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David
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Covid aside, the CFL really needs to commit itself to a sustainable growth model and stick with it. Expansion in a 10th city? Fixing moribund franchises? Scaling its brand internationally with global football alliances? How to maximize wagering?

Pick one or two priorities and stick to them. Maybe it's not the reality but my perception is that Ambrosie and/or the BOGs are all over the map. A new shiny bauble comes along (e.g. XFL alliance) and focus seems to shift to that and everything else seems to be put on the backburner.

Personally, job 1 is helping the struggling markets. Resources need to go to this before everything else (although attendance issues in Vancouver and Montreal are somewhat reflective of winning % for the past decade and poor playoff performances, rather than abject apathy IMO).


DH :cool:
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B.C.FAN
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David wrote:
Thu Jul 08, 2021 12:54 pm
Covid aside, the CFL really needs to commit itself to a sustainable growth model and stick with it. Expansion in a 10th city? Fixing moribund franchises? Scaling its brand internationally with global football alliances? How to maximize wagering?

Pick one or two priorities and stick to them. Maybe it's not the reality but my perception is that Ambrosie and/or the BOGs are all over the map. A new shiny bauble comes along (e.g. XFL alliance) and focus seems to shift to that and everything else seems to be put on the backburner.

Personally, job 1 is helping the struggling markets. Resources need to go to this before everything else (although attendance issues in Vancouver and Montreal are somewhat reflective of winning % for the past decade and poor playoff performances, rather than abject apathy IMO).


DH :cool:
My three priorities for the CFL, in no particular order, are:

- Expand global marketing through the CFL 2.0 initiative
- Increase operational efficiencies through centralized administrative support
- Develop new revenue sources through legalized sports betting

A byproduct of these initiatives is a more stable business model, with strengthened franchises across the league.
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BC 1988
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I'm hesitant to say this but I hope the CFL BoG don't decide to pull the plug on the season if their projected fans/stands end up being curtailed due to rising COVID counts. There don't appear to be cases popping up among players in camps, but the general population is a different story.
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/c ... b-enca-651
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/o ... U-EyBNeUqU
https://www.straight.com/living/covid-1 ... s-and-more
A lot of this is on the provincial health authorities. Alberta willfully declaring COVID over as of July 1st, Dr. Henry insisting that making masks voluntary will work (and now having to backtrack in Interior Health).
On the more optimistic side high case counts are not as worrisome as last year due to our excellent vaccination rate, but more caution needs to be exercised than politicians are willing to do (at least until COVID can be reduced to something controllable like an annual flu shot.) It's a big world out there and most of it is way behind us--and the lunatics in the US are squandering their riches.
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BC 1988
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Similar to what the NFL is doing, Ambrosie announced these measures today aimed at reducing COVID cancellation of games.
https://www.cfl.ca/2021/08/03/cfl-moves ... -covid-19/
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BC 1988
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Reports are that EDM-TOR on Thursday will be the first postponed/cancelled game due to multiple EDM players with positive tests. Since the team is below the 85% vaccinated threshold, they would be charged with the forfeit and an L.


EDIT--the official CFL announcement right now is this will be a postponement for the time being, with the hope to reschedule. As a result it is not a forfeit and L for EDM

https://www.cfl.ca/2021/08/22/cfl-state ... -thursday/
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DanoT
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If I was the new owner of the Lions I would tell the players that after investing millions in the team, any possibility of a future game forfeit is not acceptable so any one not wanting a vaccine will be traded for a vaccinated player or released.
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BC 1988
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HAM and OTT have just announced (along with the Blue Jays) the double vaccination requirement/recent negative test result for attendance of those age 12 and up.
https://www.cfl.ca/2021/08/23/ontario-c ... admission/
BC could be about to with the expected unveiling by the Prov Govt this week of a system to show proof of vaccination.

EDIT : The Calgary Flames and Stamps have just implemented their vaccination policy effective Sep 15th.
https://www.stampeders.com/2021/08/23/c ... on-policy/
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BC 1988
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The first apparent release of a CFL player due to breach of COVID protocol is EDM OL Jacob Ruby (NAT).
https://3downnation.com/2021/08/31/elks ... us-report/
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Cant wait for the 13th and the 24th. BB
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