The CFLHousing Allowance Puts Argos at a Competitive Disadvantage; the NFL Window
The exponentially rising housing prices in Toronto when combined with the standard CFL housing allowance puts the Argos at a competitive disadvantage. This also applies to the BC Lions because of Vancouver housing prices.
The article in the url below also notes that HC Ryan Diwiddie and Calgary HC Dave Dickenson, unlike some of their colleagues want to end the NFL window, but all of them want the rules governing the window clarified because the NFL did not agree to the conditions the CFL wanted, preventing players like Tre Roberson and Jonathan Kongbo from attending NFL tryouts. As a result, teams let them had to let them go in order to keep verbal commitments, without any guarantee they had to come back to honour contracts if they failed to make the NFL.
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Heading into the off-season, CFL teams and players were operating under the assumption that any player could test out the NFL waters and sign lucrative contracts with teams in the big league south of the border. Not everyone loved the “NFL window,” as it’s called, but rules are rules and CFL teams believed this was one they were going to have to live with.
Then, in early-December, news emerged that the NFL hadn’t agreed to the conditions the CFL wanted. Suddenly, guys like Calgary Stampeders all-star Tre Roberson — who had another year left on his contract — were unable to attend any of the workouts their agents had set-up with NFL teams. The Stamps would end up releasing Roberson, while Winnipeg Blue Bombers would do the same for defensive lineman Jonathan Kongbo.
It was a frustrating and confusing situation, as the CFL’s GMs and head coaches sat down for winter meetings at Blue Mountain on Tuesday morning, they were hoping to get a better idea of what exactly is going on.
“Right now there is no clarity, so I’d like something,” said Stampeders president/GM John Hufnagel. ...
The CFL has a standard housing allowance for all teams, and with housing prices continuing to sky-rocket in Toronto, that money doesn’t go nearly as far for players who sign with the Argos as it does in other markets. It’s not something that gets talked about often, but it’s something the Argos would love to see the CFL address at some point.
“They gave us a housing rule to tell us that the housing (prices) wasn’t all that different across the league,” said Argos GM Mike ‘Pinball’ Clemons. “We do feel there is a distinct disadvantage, and part of it is when you publicize that you maybe bring it more to light. So if I publicize it are they going to change the rules and help us out and say ‘Yes, there is a disparity here’? They evidentially did a longitudinal test and suggested that the range (of housing prices) wasn’t significantly different from market to market.”
According to the PadMapper Canadian Rent Report, the average cost of a one-bedroom apartment in Toronto was $2,300 in May of last year, compared to only $900 in Regina. A player’s housing allowance is going to go a lot further if they’re playing for the Riders than the Argos, there’s no question about that.
It’s an issue the league is willing to address if it’s brought to them. “My view of this is that if this is an issue and the Argos or any of the other teams that are operating in big cities want to put this on the table for us to discuss, we should,” Ambrosie said. “I would say (to the league’s presidents and GMs) that if there’s something we need to talk about, let’s talk about it. That’s the culture I’d like to create.”
https://calgaryherald.com/sports/cfl...2-66380e12bc3f
