CFL asking feds for assistance
LEAGUE ASKING FOR UP TO $150M IN FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
The Canadian Football League is asking the federal government for up to $150 million in financial assistance due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie told The Canadian Press on Tuesday the league’s proposal involves three phases: $30 million now to manage the impact the novel coronavirus outbreak has had on league business; additional assistance for an abbreviated regular season; and up to another $120 million in the event of a lost 2020 campaign.
“We’re like so many other businesses across Canada,” Ambrosie said. “We’re facing financial pressures unlike anything we’ve seen before.
“Our best-case scenario is we’re almost certain to have to cancel games. But at worst if this crisis persists and large gatherings are prevented, we could lose the whole season and the types of losses we could incur would be devastating.”
If the season is wiped out, Ambrosie said the CFL’s long-term future would be in peril.
“One of the things, I think, that the CFL and all of us who love the league pride ourselves on is we’re striving to be very optimistic,” he said. “But to be realistic, the kinds of losses could have an effect on the future of this league.”
A federal official declined to comment on the league’s proposal.
The federal government already has introduced a $73-billion wage subsidy program to cover 75 per cent of wages for employers that have seen sharp declines in revenue since the novel coronavirus pandemic hit Canada hard last month.
The wage subsidy program makes up half the roughly $145 billion in federal spending on COVID-19 countermeasures, and will cause a ripple of changes for the millions of workers who have either lost their jobs or had their hours slashed due to the crisis.
Three of the CFL’s nine teams — Edmonton, Saskatchewan and Winnipeg — are community-owned. The remaining six are privately owned.
Ambrosie said the CFL is an important part of Canada’s fabric. The CFL was founded in
1958 following the merger of two previous leagues. The Grey Cup was first presented to Canada’s football champion in 1909.
Unlike many other professional leagues with Canadian teams, the CFL mandates a minimum amount of Canadian content for its rosters. Twenty-one of 46 players to dress each game must be Canadian.
“I wake up every day reminded how important this game is to Canada,” Ambrosie said. “How big a part of Canada it’s been for now 107 Grey Cups and the 108th that would be played this year.
“How many Canadians have been positively affected by this great league and also how aligned we are with Canadian values. In so many ways we are so much like this country and we want to make sure we’re around for the next generation and the generations after that to benefit from what this league has stood for.”