"The opportunity is to find new ways to take our three-down game and make it more fun, fast and entertaining."
Article content
There should be no confusion, no ambiguity.
Advertisement 2
Article content
Canadian Football League commissioner Randy Ambrosie says the words. Then he repeats them slowly, pausing between each word: “We are a three-down football league.”
There has been plenty of social media chatter in recent days and weeks wondering why the CFL hasn’t shot down rumours it may look at four downs. In a 30-minute one-on-one interview, Ambrosie made it very, very clear: While the CFL could tinker with its rules, the three downs, which makes the league and its rules distinct from the juggernaut National Football League, is staying.
“We are not going to four-down football. I can promise you that,” Ambrosie said.
In the interview, Ambrosie also talked about a consumer research study commissioned by the CFL, expansion, negotiations with the CFL Players’ Association as they try to agree on a new collective bargaining agreement and CFL 2.0.
Advertisement 3
Article content
“Our consumer research study tells us there’s a big group of people across the country that are available to us as potential fans,” he said. “These were sports fans and they understand football; it wasn’t just random people. They say to us they want more game flow, they want more action and more scoring, they want to see more continuity on the rosters. So how do we build the most fun, fastest, most exciting football product in the world that will achieve those outcomes, something that will bring new fans into our game? It comes down to this amazing, three-down football game we have. You go into the room and you decide our focus is on making three-down football the best brand of football played.
“We know our two-and-outs are up. Not just for 2021, our two-and-outs have been climbing. So you say, ‘Is a two-and-out an exciting series of football?’ The answer is probably no. How do you massage the game so you get more first downs, more big plays and open up a bit more scoring. The question about four-down football causes people anxiety. The conversation for us was, ‘Is that a viable option?’ The vast majority of the conversation was, ‘No, no.’ The opportunity is to find new ways to take our three-down game and make it more fun, fast and entertaining.”
Advertisement 4
Article content
TSN’s Farhan Lalji suggested changes the league could make include moving kickoffs back to the kicking team’s 25-yard line, timing tweaks to speed up the game and narrowing the hashmarks on the field.
CFL 2.0, an initiative intended to bring about a strong global reach with the employment of players from outside of North America has been criticized from both outside and inside the league. Some CFL general managers and coaches are skeptical it will ever pay dividends, but Ambrosie insisted the league needs to continue to view it as a long-term plan.
“Not everything you do is going to result in a transformation overnight,” Ambrosie said. “You plant seeds, you nurture them and they grow over time. We’ve had our first global all-star, Cody Grace, the punter in Calgary. Thiadric Hansen has had success in Winnipeg. Why would the CFL not want to be in the epicentre of the global football movement? Why would we defer that to someone else? We created an opportunity that could potentially open doors to global revenue opportunities. If you ask me the question, ‘What is the global football opportunity going to be if you don’t do it?’ I can tell you the answer, ‘Nothing.’ What is the opportunity if we take a small step? The answer is, ‘I don’t know.’ But the answer is zero if we don’t try it at all.”
Advertisement 5
Article content
Ambrosie is hopeful the CFL’s partnership with Genius Sports, announced late last year, will help create relationships with fans across the world.
“It’s part of a bigger vision, a bigger opportunity,” Ambrosie said. “You can’t get anywhere if you don’t go anywhere. You have to try things. My job is to lead. If I haven’t convinced (team employees) yet; I have to keep working at it. I have nine partners, nine teams, nine governors, nine presidents. My job is persuasion and influence. Not everyone is going to see every opportunity the same way at the same time.”
So where does the league stand with expansion? We haven’t heard much about a Halifax group’s bid to join the CFL since regional council in 2019 voted in favour of a one-time $20-million contribution toward construction of a stadium. Through a pandemic and the financial shortfalls that has caused, there is still hope. Adding a 10th team would make the league’s scheduling easier. With nine teams, there are currently three bye weeks. That could be cut to one or two with 10 teams and the Grey Cup could be played earlier in November.
Advertisement 6
Article content
“That (Atlantic Schooners) group continues to work with us,” Ambrosie said. “We’re going to apply the carpenter’s saying, ‘Measure twice and cut once.’ We’re taking a methodical approach. Are we still enthusiastic about it? You bet. A lot has changed since 2019. We’ve had to revisit the whole thing. We’re taking the right approach to having our 10th franchise and officially welcoming Atlantic Canada as the 10th team. I believe a 10th team is a tremendous opportunity for the league.”
With a team revenue-sharing program now in place, the CFL will also need to come to an agreement with its players’ association on a new CBA before the 2022 season. Asked how that was going, Ambrosie said: “I’d like to have a long-term mutually beneficial partnership with our players. We’re sharing information with the players in an unprecedented way. Ten days ago, we delivered our market research study to the players, before it became public. We’ve made transparency and openness the ingredients in a new relationship. I give huge marks to the CFLPA — to Solomon (Elimimian, president), to Brian (Ramsay, executive director), to Ken Georgetti (senior adviser) — they are trying just as hard as we are to build a real partnership. Going into the bargaining, I feel very optimistic. I’m not going to get into what’s being talked about. But I feel very good about the relationship right now.”
'WE ARE A THREE-DOWN FOOTBALL LEAGUE': CFL commissioner hoping for more action, more scoring - Ottawa Sun
Read More
No comments:
Post a Comment