CFL commissioner: Canceling season is most likely scenario

Ottawa, Ontario — Canadian Football League Commissioner Randy Ambrosie said the most likely scenario is to cancel the season because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Ambrosie made the admission Thursday in testimony to a House of Commons standing committee on finance. He appeared via video during a panel on arts, culture, sports and charitable organizations after news broke last week that the CFL requested up to $150 million Canadian in assistance from the government.

The commissioner said the league's future is “very much in jeopardy” and that teams collectively lost about $20 million last year.

“Ours is a big brand but not a wealthy business,” Ambrosie said. “Unlike large U.S.-based leagues, our biggest source of revenue is not TV — it's ticket sales.

“Governments coping with COVID 19 — for reasons of public health that we totally support — have made it impossible for us to do what we do. Our best-case scenario for this year is a drastically truncated season. And our most likely scenario is no season at all.”

The CFL has already canceled the start of training camps — which were scheduled to open this month — and pushed back the opening of the season to early July, at the earliest.

“I don't mind telling you, this is humbling but the fact is we need your support,” Ambrosie said. “So we can be there for all the community groups that depend on us.”

Following Ambrosie's presentation, committee members took turns taking the commissioner to task.

“Some of your comments have a lot of holes in them,” said Kevin Waugh, a former sports journalist from Saskatoon,

Saskatchewan. He asked if the CFL was looking for a bailout or loan?

Waugh also pointed out the CFL's three community-based franchises — the Edmonton Eskimos, Saskatchewan Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers — all turned seven-figure profits in 2018. He added the league's six remaining franchises are privately owned by people or corporations with deep pockets.