CFL cutting back on Nationals?

[carlos]

I don't believe the league will do this, but if it does, it's doomed. Reducing the number of Canadians would just open the door for teams to year after year bring in cheaper talent from the huge talent pool available in the U.S. This would result in even less roster continuity that we now have, which IMO is really bad for the league.

If the league was smart, they would go back to having 10 Nationals guaranteed starters spot, and I would take it further to say they should mandate always having a minimum of 5 national players on the field at all times. Balance it out between offence and defense.

They seem to take for granted the fans will flock back once the gates are open with what ever they decide to do. I don't think that will be the case and while the covid situation has become a factor of everyday life disinterest may play an equally large role.

[paulwoods13]

They seem to take for granted the fans will flock back once the gates are open with what ever they decide to do. I don't think that will be the case and while the covid situation has become a factor of everyday life disinterest may play an equally large role.

I think the league is looking at it from the opposite point of view -- deathly afraid that fans have been lost forever. Attendance was going down long before COVID kaiboshed a season and put the league out of mind for a year (while also creating a coterie of fans who won't be so eager to gather in large groups after the pandemic ends, if it ever does). Anything the league comes up with at this point, whether it's minor rule tweaks, major proposals to change roster rules or a total merger with the XFL, will be designed with the intention of reviving a flagging business.

[carlos]

Anything the league comes up with at this point, whether it's minor rule tweaks, major proposals to change roster rules or a total merger with the XFL, will be designed with the intention of reviving a flagging business.

If it is a flagging business the problems lie off the field of play. I apologize for my extremist position but while the CFL books may not be too rosy Bell Media is raking it in. Teams are more or less left to flounder on their own. All the top people are well looked after throughout the league.

If the CFL believed in Canadian football why do they not partner with the CFLPA and give them an ownership share and seats on the board. That would be the way to move forward together. Instead they are rumoured to be considering a partnership with the Rock (who made the best $15 million investment of his life) and are almost certainly headed for some kind of labour dispute related to the 2022 CBA.

It is my impression that they welcome the opportunity to finish the players off and have complete disregard for fan opinion of their moves. Winnipeg Blue Bombers conduct business as if they were invincible. I cringe every time I hear of Wade Miller being a man of influence in the league. I suspect big money is coming with the single game betting legislation through sponsorship of some form. They know the opportunity is now before the legislation changes.

I may not have it right but I thought the CFL turned down the loan with the repayment plan and cancelled the season when they did not get the requested $30 million grant. I wish I could be more trusting.

I'm buying a ticket to OV's Canadian fun league. If he can make a deal with the PA, I will pay more for my ticket. CFL without the players will fade away along with Eatons and Sears. I have no interest in watching Wade Miller be rich. The memory's will live on in my mind

[paulwoods13]

If it is a flagging business the problems lie off the field of play. I apologize for my extremist position but while the CFL books may not be too rosy Bell Media is raking it in. Teams are more or less left to flounder on their own. All the top people are well looked after throughout the league.

If the CFL believed in Canadian football why do they not partner with the CFLPA and give them an ownership share and seats on the board. That would be the way to move forward together. Instead they are rumoured to be considering a partnership with the Rock (who made the best $15 million investment of his life) and are almost certainly headed for some kind of labour dispute related to the 2022 CBA.

The CFL books may indeed be "not too rosy," but MLSE is a for-profit business, not a charity. Much as we might all wish otherwise, it has no moral obligation to lose money indefinitely on any its operations.

It's arguable whether or not MLSE has done enough to market the Argos, but the suggestion (not made by you, I acknowledge) that it should pour as much money into a money-losing subsidiary as it does to a player on the Raptors seems to ignore the reality that investment requires a reasonable prospect of return. Although there have been many bad ownership groups over the past four decades, and any bad decisions by ownership groups, some of them did put money into marketing the team. Has any of that produced a reasonable return on investment?

I know of no corporation that would simply hand a piece of ownership to its employees. And there is not a single entity here but nine separate entities, with three different ownership structures.