What’s next for the Canadian Football League?
The league has canceled its 2020 season. There’s optimism it will return next year. There’s also the belief that this is a chance to make some vital changes to how the league operates.
“It’s a great opportunity to think about what the game is going to look like in 2021,” said Len Rhodes, who was president and CEO of the Edmonton Football Team from 2011-2019. “This is a golden opportunity for the CFL to not only evolve, but reinvent itself so it’s in tune with today’s time.”
Mark Cohon, who was CFL commissioner from 2007-2015, agrees.
“Are there new things we can think about? Are there new playoff formats we can think about? Are there new rules we can think about? Do we have the right number of games?” said Cohon.
Rhodes believes it’s a chance for the league to use a lost season to find new energy and new ideas, similar to what the NHL did after losing the 2004/05 campaign because of a work stoppage. But that could mean a major overhaul in how some teams thing, especially if they’re struggling.
“While there’s a willingness to work together, they won’t if there’s issues in their own backyard,” said Rhodes.
That was Cohon’s experience. He found that more successful franchises like Edmonton, Calgary and Saskatchewan were more likely to think of the league as a whole. That’s why Rhodes thinks it’s time to reconsider how the league is governed.
“Have one single ownership group for all nine teams or 10 teams in the future, where each team is a shareholder, but there’s only actually one ownership group,” said Rhodes. “That would force teams to realize it’s not only what happens with their bottom line. They’re going to be touched and influenced by what happens with the other eight teams.”
“Potentially, do you bring in a TV partner in that? When you look at when Major League Soccer was started, it really was that central structure. There were a few owners who owned multiple teams at the time,” added Cohon.
“You have a central body. You have executives that run the teams. You work out an agreement on how players are transferred, how players are developed, things like that.”
It will be interesting what, if anything, the league does over the fall and winter, and how radical its ideas turn out to be. Rhodes is of the mind that no stone should be left unturned.
“I would keep the door open for an affiliation with the NFL as a development league so that there’s authenticity. If you do that, change the rules so that the game is played the same way north and south of the border,” said Rhodes.
Cohon doesn’t believe the CFL should become a development circuit for the NFL, but there is a history of the leagues working together.
“Is there an interesting collaborative way to bring a lot of different parties to think about what is the right model working forward?” wondered Cohon. “It’s worth having discussions, but personally, I love the three down game. I think that’s what makes our product unique, and we should continue with that,” said Cohon.
The 2020 CFL season was officially cancelled on Aug. 17 after the board of governors met to decide the league’s fate.
The CFL sent Ottawa its $30-million loan request Aug. 3. It was a reduction from the $44-million amended requisition it presented last month.
The CFL first approached the government in April for up to $150 million in assistance due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
– With files from Elisha Dacey, Global News
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