We agree with you Paul, that they need to look at finding increased revenue streams, and understand that the league is probably in very bad shape financially, however looking at this from both a fan of the league, but also from a business stand point (my brother and I are business analysts and have experience with retail, customer/service mgt, and sales/marketing), the handling of the announcement was absolutely terrible. Being the commissioner and someone with the corporate experience he has, he should recognize how important communication is.

Do we feel having a conversation with the XFL is a bad thing, absolutely not! Think it’s a smart idea. But not being somewhat more open and direct in messaging is the problem, because it leaves too much to speculation and a feeling that the league is begging for money, and will give up anything for it.

Some thoughts
  • He just seems willing to sell out too quickly. Going to CFL 2.0 (which we think is a good initiative), who were originally going to lose the roster spots? Canadians! If there is a merger of sorts, what makes anyone think that Ambrosie wouldn’t sell out the Canadians again? No Canadians, 4-down football…don’t think that will help anything and may make things worse, and I know I’m not keeping season tickets for that!
  • Referencing the Rock’s social media followers doesn’t guarantee anything, just because he has Twitter/Instagram followers doesn’t mean that all of a sudden stadiums will be packed and the world will rush to watch a game
  • Being in such financial need, you would’ve thought he would have come to that review with the Finance Committee more organized and with clear information, and with the players, but we saw how that turned out.
  • Look at the how a solid and real leadership model works over in the NBA. How much constant communication there is with Adam Silver and Chris Paul, and it was like that with David Stern as well.
  • If they do some sort of merger, that would cost the CFL Teams quite a bit more, as they would have to pay in US Dollars, and may be forced to pay higher salaries than they do now
  • The XFL did not have a players union, how would the CFLPA take that?
  • If he wants to engage with more youth, it’s surprising to hear that he (as the commissioner of the league) and the CFL only became an associate member with Football Canada in 2020
  • Look at the amount of effort that Jim Mullin is putting in to help grow the game, align football, try to help sell the game, and market, etc. Where is the league here to help this, shouldn't they recognize that supporting this only helps the CFL as well?
  • We sent a bunch of suggestions to the Argos leadership in the past, on how to engage more youth (some of which they’ve used). Basically, there is a lot that can be done and hasn’t been done yet by the league to get those youth out. If we want a model, use the Raptors before they were popular, and you’ll know what we’re talking about.
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