Quote Originally Posted by Jon Gonzo View Post
Great point. I think litigation; ground sweeping, potential game changing litigation in inevitable in most pro sport. Probably not a great era to be a Commissioner in this era of liability? It's only just begun for the NFL and CFL, and Bettman is really going to get it good soon enough. I suspect they'll have no choice but to ban bare knuckle fighting (but that's another topic). Maybe being a Lawyer will be a pre-requisite?
There's no doubt that the CFL's existence could be threatened because of legal action over past concussions. The NFL coughed up $1B to former players -- the CFL would be put out of business if it were ever ordered to pay even a fraction of that. That said, if and when the league has to fight such action in the courts, it will need the services of an expert legal team of labour and litigation specialists. There's little to no chance, IMO, that the league will look to either of those specialized areas of the law for the commissioner role. For one thing, the league has managed to argue successfully (so far, at least) under labour law that retirees have no choice but to pursue grievances through the union. So there's no imminent danger of some massive lawsuit hitting the league.