Why the CFL wants to move up its schedule
John Hodge 3downnation November 28, 2017
The 2017 CFL season is officially in the books following the Toronto Argonauts’ 27-24 Grey Cup victory over the Calgary Stampeders. Below are my thoughts on the game along with a few other key off-season issues.
Money, money, money
CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie made waves this past week when he suggested that Grey Cup games may soon be played in October, almost three full weeks sooner than the earliest Grey Cup game of all-time (the 1997 Grey Cup was played on November 16).
There are a lot of moving parts to the argument both for and against moving up the CFL schedule — tradition, cold weather, snow, competition with the Stanley Cup playoffs, competition with the NFL, etc. — but there’s really only one factor that matters to the CFL office: money.
The CFL has been selling its American television rights to ESPN for a paltry sum for close to a decade now. Former commissioner Mark Cohon — the man who made the first ESPN broadcast agreement in the late 2000s — didn’t see the deal as an opportunity to make money, but as a chance to gain exposure south of the border. Now that the CFL is getting a fair amount of attention from an American audience, it may be time to capitalize by negotiating a more lucrative broadcasting agreement.
And I believe the league will get it.
More and more Americans take an interest in the CFL every year for a number of reasons.
For one, many big-name college stars who end up in the CFL bring with them legions of fans who want to follow their careers through the pros. Players like DeVier Posey, Trent Richardson, Darvin Adams, Tommie Campbell, and James Wilder Jr. all come from huge football schools with massive fan bases. Seeing former college stars enjoy professional success in Canada should only turn more American fans onto the Canadian game.
Secondly, the CFL is phenomenally entertaining — I’ve been following it and the NFL for almost twenty years and the 2017 season was as compelling a campaign as I’ve seen north or south of the border. With a shorter play clock, more passing, and all types of shenanigans (ie. game-winning rouges, kickbacks, etc.) that don’t exist in the American game, Canadian football is a delightful alternative to the ground-and-pound, clock management game of the NFL.
Finally, the CFL kicks off three months prior to the NFL regular season. This is where moving the schedule earlier comes into play — the more games the CFL can play before September, the more a potential CFL television deal would be worth south of the border.
Randy Ambrosie is a smart man. He knows how to generate new revenue streams for a league that, despite its success in markets like Regina, Winnipeg, Ottawa, and Edmonton, has areas of concern in cities like Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal.
NBC Sports reported this past week that the CFL is looking to alter its schedule for the purpose of negotiating a broadcasting deal with the NFL Network. If the NFL Network is interested in negotiating for the television rights currently owned by ESPN, that should positively affect the CFL’s ability to demand a good dollar amount for its product.
I like having the Grey Cup in November as much as any CFL fan, but the league needs to maximize its money-making opportunities. If moving the season up by a month means bringing a significant new source of revenue to the league, consider me first in line to attend an April preseason game.