CFL grinds out new agreement with its players
Tentative deal isn’t loved by all, but CFLPA secures revenue sharing for the athletes
It’s obviously far easier to satisfy the needs and wants of nine Canadian Football League franchises than it is to placate hundreds of players looking for respect, especially when it comes in the form of wages and benefits.
So there will be unhappy members of the Canadian Football League Players Association today, men whose expectations were not met by the tentative collective bargaining agreement reached with the league in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.
It would appear that Winnipeg safety Jeff Hecht is one of them. He posted a large red X on his Twitter feed Wednesday afternoon. Calgary punter Rob Maver, on the other hand, was effusive in his support for the new deal.
“I tip my hat to the @CFLPA, this is a MASSIVE step in the right direction,” Maver tweeted.
He would not, however, offer comment to Postmedia reporters. In fact, not many people on either side of the fracas were talking on the record in much detail about the deal, which TSN’s Farhan Lalji reported would span three years, through the 2021 season.
If that’s the case, it matches up with the expiration of TSN’s broadcast rights agreement with the league, which makes perfect sense given how integral the TSN millions are to the financial security of the CFL. The rights fees essentially cover each team’s salary cap, which last stood at $5.2 million prior to collective bargaining.
Lalji also reported that players will get a 20-per-cent cut of those TSN rights fees and revenue generated by CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie’s pet project, the so-called CFL 2.0 initiative that is spreading the brand across the globe.
Ambrosie said weeks ago that a TV deal in Mexico was imminent. Sources say it will be signed with MVS Comunicaciones, a Mexico City media conglomerate, and the announcement may have been delayed by the CBA talks.
The commissioner also said he expects digital streaming deals in Europe, the product of working agreements he hashed out with football entities in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Italy, France, Austria and Germany.
So it appears the players will indeed be sharing in the “mother of all pies,” which is Ambrosie’s favourite way to wax on about league revenues. He’s intent on doubling them ASAP and the players will now be treated as partners in that desire. Perhaps not full partners, but revenue sharing at any level is a new step in that direction.
For the longest time it appeared the two sides weren’t going to move toward one another quickly enough to avoid a labour disruption. Negotiations started March 11 but broke down in mid-April when the CFL called a two-week halt to talks, citing other priorities, which inflamed the CFLPA leadership.
When talks resumed April 29, it was only after the CFLPA advised members not to book travel to camp and the membership had voted 97 per cent in favour of a strike on May 19, Day 1 of camp, if it became necessary. The CFL returned fire, informing the CFLPA that players on the five teams in Alberta and Ontario wouldn’t be in a legal strike position until May 23, four days after camp began. The CFLPA fired off their own salvo to GMs and coaches, suggesting that the four teams on strike May 19 would suddenly be at a competitive disadvantage.
So it was just like any other labour negotiation; a little messy, a little ugly, mostly down to the wire. But enough progress was made Sunday and Monday for the CFLPA to advise its players on Tuesday that they should prepare to attend camp as scheduled.
And the deal was announced by the league early Wednesday morning, putting an end to fears of a labour disruption that would have cost both sides dearly.
The league anted up with the revenue sharing piece and a commitment to long-term health care, which had been a make-orbreak issue for the CFLPA. The players had to swallow the fact that veterans will be facing salary cuts or unemployment by the 2020 season, since the salary cap will rise one per cent while the minimum salary escalates 20 per cent.
The pact still has to be ratified by league governors, who met for most of Wednesday in Toronto. Players are to conduct an electronic ratification vote, though CFLPA officials would not respond to a request for the date of that vote.
Will they manage 97 per cent approval?
It’s hard to imagine, given that those players are not nearly a homogeneous group and various pieces of the deal will impact certain groups more than others.
But the CBA, 66 days in the making, should certainly have enough support for ratification on both sides. Labour peace beckons once again.