Being someone who has worked for years in marketing as well as the "arts, media and tech" industry, I must speak out and say the CFL has lost a Colossal marketing opportunity using videogames. And it's really really sad. Consider the numbers below, which came from a 2014 report on the Canadian videogame industry.... (A link to the report is below)

81% of Canadians aged 13-17 have played videogames in the last 4 weeks.
64% of Canadians aged 18-34 have played videogames in the last 4 weeks.
54% of Canadians overall identify themselves as "gamers"
62% of Canadians own a video game console.

Every one of those gamers (millions - mainly in the GTA) are playing one football game. And that's Madden NFL football. That's it. Kids and young adults across Canada are interacting online with 3D games in a super commercialized NFL world. They can BE the bills. THEY CAN CONTROL TOM BRADY. And they are learning about nothing but NFL players, NFL rules, NFL hype and NFL glory. That's it. And when they can completly immerse themselves in a NFL world, for hours on end, it becomes appealing. If the CFL wants to say "videogames are for kids".... Or "their not creating new fans".... It's truly ignorant. The report also says the global economic impact of the videogame industry by 2017 will reach 102,000,000,000!

Today, I heard another 14 year old talk about the new Madden game coming up. He's pumped. Lives on the prairies...... And could probably name more NFL players then CFL players.

This is a bigger marketing opportunity than broadcast television in my mind. And it's sad to see the CFL left behind.

I spoke with someone who's highly prominent in the industry about this. This person said the CFL would need an investment of about 12 million dollars just to get 1 major game released on XBOX-ONE or PS4. The CFL continues to say it's not a profitable investment. They couldn't sell enough games to make their money back. And their right. 1 in 3 videogame users would have to buy it for the league to break even.

But that's not why investing millions into videogames is a good investment. What makes it a good investment is once people play a CFL game, and interact it, and immerse themselves in it, and enjoy it, they will want see the product at the stadium, or on TV. The videogame becomes an interactive commercial for the CFL.

But for some reason it doesn't happen. I've been told by VERY CREDIBLE SOURCES that a CFL videogame (For Wii - XBOXONE or PS4) is not going to be produced or released in the foreseeable future.

That's too bad. So this fall, me and millions of others will flock to game stores, and by Madden. Sit in front of our TVs, and play NFL football. And soak in the NFL (or NHL, or MLB, or PGA, or NBA, or F1, or TENNIS) more, and more, and more.