CANCELLING SEASON COULD SOUND DEATH KNELL FOR CFL
Former player and ex-bombers CEO says games can be played in half-full stadiums
Even as it looked more and more this week like there won’t be a Canadian Football League season due to the coronavirus pandemic, a former Winnipeg Blue Bombers CEO made a plea for the league to do anything it can to put games on the field.
Lyle Bauer, who played on the offensive line for the Bombers from 1982-91 and won three Grey Cups, served as president and CEO of the football club from 2000-09, and was president of the Calgary Stampeders from 2010-13, believes the league could die if there are no games this season.
“Unfortunately, out of sight, out of mind is well proven,” Bauer said from his home near Slocan Lake in the B.C. interior.
CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie made an impassioned plea to the federal government for a $150 million financial bailout on Thursday, saying the most likely scenario for 2020 is that there will be no season because of COVID-19.
He said the league lost $20 million last year when there were no disruptions. The total losses this year, with no games, or even a partial season, would be massive.
Ambrosie is even worried about the 2021 season, and believes the only way the league can survive is with government assistance.
In Bauer’s view, the league needs both government help and some kind of presence on the Canadian sporting landscape this year.
“I think for a variety of reasons the CFL should do exactly what I am suggesting,” Bauer said. “It keeps the CFL alive, all fans engaged, protects and preserves sponsorship and broadcast rights, and it will be one of the only games around.
“CFL fans would embrace the idea and co-operate and more importantly support the initiative. Missing an entire season could be tragic.
“I also think the CFL owes it to the players to do everything possible to have a semblance of a season. This is their livelihood and how they look after their families.”
Given the uncertainty surrounding the CFL’S ability to stage games with fans in the stands — gatherings of that size are banned through to September in most parts of Canada — the likelihood of the league getting started in 2020 is very low.
However, Bauer believes the league should try to work with health officials to come up with a plan for half-full stadiums with socially distanced fans.
“Many of the CFL teams could accommodate their attendance with proper distancing and protocols,” Bauer said.
“Teams with large stadiums like B.C. and Edmonton could reassign seats to provide social distancing compliance. Other clubs like Winnipeg, Calgary, Saskatchewan may have to assign seats and come up with an appropriate social distance plan. Toronto would have no problem doing the same as B.C. and Edmonton, given their capacity and attendance history.
“With this type of plan, you would still have lower gate receipts etc. However, the losses would be considerably less than cancelling a season.”
Bauer believes protocols could be put in place to allow for concession sales, bathroom usage and merchandise sales. He said with all CFL stadiums being an outdoor environment (B.C. Place has a retractable roof ), the risk of COVID-19 transmission would be lower.
Bauer figures there would have to be regular player testing, and fans would have to wear face masks but it’s “workable.”
Jason Kindrachuk, an expert on emerging viruses from the University of Manitoba, said he would have strong concerns about any plan that involves fans in the stands of sporting events until there is a COVID-19 vaccine — even if the fans are socially distanced and sitting outdoors.
“My concern in regards to having fans at events, even if outdoors, goes back to this idea of the ‘six-foot’ distance between ourselves and others,” Kindrachuk said.
“While the majority of respiratory droplets are likely transmitted in this distance, there could be exceptions to the rule which would make it more difficult to say exactly how far to make that distance between fans, in all directions.
“There’s also the issue of how would you enforce this at all sections of a stadium, from the entrance, through the concourse, at the food lines, washrooms, and in the stands.”
The CFL owes it to the players to do everything possible to have a semblance of a season. This is their livelihood.