CFL 2023

[MoontoScott]

Good news for the CFL today. Pierre the Billionaire has bought the Alouettes and says he is committed to the long term in Montreal. The league needs more billionaire owners.

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[Captain Fantastic]

Good news for the CFL today. Pierre the Billionaire has bought the Alouettes and says he is committed to the long term in Montreal. The league needs more billionaire owners.

Fond of the ALs too. Happy about this.

 

[MoontoScott]

Fond of the ALs too. Happy about this.

Even if he isn't really committed to the long term it has to be a relief for the other teams (including the Elkimos) who were going to have to pick up the tab for the season.

 

[Kyle McMahon]

Glad this didn't drag on like most CFL ownership changes. The timing was bad and probably cost the Als in free agency, but no tears will be shed for Maciocia.

 

[Stoneman89]

Now he needs to buy the Coyotes and move them to Quebec City? The Daily Double.

 

[MoontoScott]

The longer term financial model for the CFL might involve 9 billionaires owning the league. Accordingly there are many billionaires in Canada and lots of them have big egos.

The super rich owner is the blueprint in the NFL and perhaps this is the way Canada has to go too. If the average salary in the CFL was to double (not a big deal when you consider the current average $65K Macdonald's money) then it might help the very high turnover rate.

The CFL will never compete directly with the NFL but could attract some longer term players and a sense of identity for each team--like it once was.

 

[Gunnersaurus Rex]

$65K is McDonalds money? Damn....times have changed....

 

[Paralyzer]

Good news for the CFL today. Pierre the Billionaire has bought the Alouettes and says he is committed to the long term in Montreal. The league needs more billionaire owners.

Sweet. Moneybags will bail out the CFL instead of us!

 

[Bring Back Bucky]

$65K is McDonalds money? Damn....times have changed....

Yes. Even a happy meal is 23k now.

 

[bellagiobob]

Same shit, different day.

 

[joestevens29]

Same shit, different day.

“Athletes, read your contracts thoroughly. It’s a shame what goes on in this business.”

Have no idea what the actual story is here, but obviously there are guys that need to understand things better

 

[Paralyzer]

“Athletes, read your contracts thoroughly. It’s a shame what goes on in this business.”

Have no idea what the actual story is here, but obviously there are guys that need to understand things better

He probably gambled his 25k loan and requested for his signing bonus, and needed it now to pay the loan sharks, or he'd be popped or something. Isn't that how most athletes do business when they don't read the fine print?

 

[Valhallis]

This has felt like a long off-season. Probably because I'm not too optimistic about the Elks this year again. I do think they'll win their first game at home!

 

[joestevens29]

This has felt like a long off-season. Probably because I'm not too optimistic about the Elks this year again. I do think they'll win their first game at home!

Hopefully not in September when the fans have already mailed it in

 

[Kyle McMahon]

“Athletes, read your contracts thoroughly. It’s a shame what goes on in this business.”

Have no idea what the actual story is here, but obviously there are guys that need to understand things better

I guess he should have followed his own advice and made certain of what contract he was signing?

 

[bellagiobob]

 

[Captain Fantastic]

While the player has the responsibility to read his contract , I can see Jones being an absolute prick in regards to any player concerns. Look at the roster he turned over last year. Big mistake making him the GM of the team . As a coach , he's bad enough. He can say the situation is above his pay grade and that it's the policy of the President and CFO but I'm betting he's injecting his own d-baggery in this.

 

[bellagiobob]

Interesting that apparently Jones has four one year contracts, as opposed to a four year deal.

 

[Cloned]

Interesting that apparently Jones has four one year contracts, as opposed to a four year deal.

Yeah he’s gone if a better offer comes from the States or whereever.

 

[bellagiobob]

Yeah he’s gone if a better offer comes from the States or whereever.

I was thinking the opposite, that we can turf him and not have cap issues if he sucks again this year.

 

[bellagiobob]

 

[MoneyGuy]

I was thinking the opposite, that we can turf him and not have cap issues if he sucks again this year.

Jones is safe even if this season is a repeat of last season.

 

[Oilhawks]

Hey, maybe the CFL will get some fans back if they aren’t the worst officiated league in North America. I for one will jump back on the bandwagon if so!

 

[bellagiobob]

 

[K1984]

In reading all the articles about various teams and their struggles to fill the stands it is frankly annoying to me that it seems to be blamed on the economy, pricing, etc across the board. That just ain't it. Prices for the Oilers and Flames have escalated since 2015. No issues selling out those arenas with a massive secondary market. Prices for concerts lately have been insane as well, no problems selling those either. We aren't talking about $5,000 season seats for the CFL here, pricing is already at a basement level that is affordable for almost everyone.

The difference? People actually care about those sports/events enough to find room in their budgets to attend. Honestly, I feel that even if you gave away "Elks" tickets for $0 I'm not sure if you would get 30,000. The team is nowhere on the radar of anyone and nobody cares. Lack of winning gets blamed in Edmonton for declining interest, but that's not the case in Calgary as they have been annual contenders for at least 10 years. At this point I feel the league is basically at Edmonton Stingers/Prospects level where people go for something to do if they're bored, but have no real care about the game.

I posed this question to my Dad (a long term huge CFL fan) the other day - If you walked up to 100 random people in Edmonton and asked them "name one player on the Elks" how many do you think would be able to give you an answer? I'm not sure that any more than 10 would be able to get it. 10 years ago you probably would have had 50% at least that would know somebody. Even me, who watches the team, answered my own question with "Cornelius," but had to pause to think of another one.

This is a league wide problem that honestly might be insurmountable to overcome. This isn't an economic issue, this is a "nobody follows the league or gives a rip anymore" issue.