CFL Week celebrations win-win for league, TSN
Regina event, which revolved around spirit of access, was much-needed shot in the arm
The inaugural Mark’s CFL Week was such an overwhelming success here this past week that the following statement was made:
“I believe there are now two events during the year that CFL fans will travel to take in for a week — the Grey Cup and this,” said TSN vice-president and executive producer Paul Graham.
There was a lot of green in the capacity crowds of the remarkable event, or combination of events, but there were fans wearing jerseys of teams all over the league.
It was a festival of access involving the fans, the media and the stars of yesterday, today and tomorrow. It was brilliantly designed, developed and executed by the league’s new vice-president of content and marketing Christina Litz.
“With what we witnessed here I can assure you TSN would be interested in becoming an even bigger presence going forward. I can see us bringing the panel here and setting up for additional involvements,” said Graham.
The week, which included two days of TSN full uniform shoots of 56 star players, several days of complete access ‘car wash’ one-on-one media interviews, five nights of fan-player Brier Patch-style interaction with a fan zone, the Canadian Football Hall of Fame introduction of newest inductees, CFL coach and general manager rules committee meetings, coaches media interviews and final weekend of CFL Combine to test draft eligible players, was unprecedented.
Which begged the question. What do they do with it now?
Take it to Winnipeg next year? Or run another one here with more fan and media components, develop the event into an even bigger show, and then start moving it around?
Most involved believe the next one needs to either be in Alberta or Winnipeg, driving distance for the fans from Regina. With Edmonton and Calgary bidding for the 2018 Grey Cup and Winnipeg’s stated desire to host this next year, it looks like a decision between running it here again and perfecting it next year or taking it to Winnipeg and adding new inspiration from the Bombers organization.
“It was a tremendously ambitious project and, to be honest, this exceeded our expectations. We heard great feedback from the players who were in town, great feedback from TSN and the media who showed up and gave this great coverage,” said Litz who designed, developed and delivered the project. “The best part, the most important part for me, was the fans that showed up. They’ve been fantastic. They packed the house at the Fan Fest.
“There is zero question from anybody, including our title sponsor Mark’s, who are thrilled, that we’ll do this next year and for the years to come. We all believe this is a new tradition for us.”
There’s no doubt they’ve invented something to take forward here.
“I think there’s been a real economic impact for Regina but the real impact for me was on fandom,” said CFL Commissioner Jeffrey Orridge. “It wasn’t just the Regina and Saskatchewan community, it was the Canadian community. People came from all over the country to experience this sight unseen. And after they experienced it, I believe they left here thinking they experienced something special, something that’s never been done before.
“I think they were thrilled with the access they got to our current stars, hall of fame legends and an introduction to new stars with the CFL Combine. It’s never been done by any other league in pro sports before.”
Everything involved here revolved around access, the one thing the CFL football ops people restrict once the season starts.
A question in the coaches press conference came from TSN’s Farhan Lalji to B.C. Lions Wally Buono that dealt with the elephant that had been in the room all week. Buono, the league’s elder statesman and winningest coach of all time, is the one guy who doesn’t restrict media to one day of access a week to his players in the dressing room during the season — zero by counterpart Ed Hervey in Edmonton.
“One thing I want to say, the CFL can’t just exist in the months of June to November. We have to keep the focus on the CFL all year round. This week goes a long way to help that,” Buono said. “I was pleased to hear how thrilled the players were with the event. That, to me, was what made this a real positive. Obviously you want the fans involved and you want the media here. The fact that the players came here and saw this as a tribute to whom they are and what they do was very, very positive.
“I heard that you guys in the media have been good to us, which is great. You are the people who send the message to our fans. I have not been afraid of the media. The media is not intimidating to me. You guys are our message to our fans. If we understand each other and respect each other’s roles, we can do our jobs. Our most important assets are our players and we should allow the media to have access to them. To me, it has not been an issue and never has been an issue.”
It would be wonderful to report that the experience here this week has inspired commissioner Orridge to ask the board of governors to adopt the NFL policy of four days of 45 minutes of dressing room access per week to help the media tell the CFL stories to the fans.
Orridge offered no hope at all that the incredible success of this event would bring the league out of the relatively recent darkness brought on by Hervey, Chris Jones and the like around the league. If this week didn’t inspire him toward action for when it really matters during the season, he’s truly hopeless.