COMMISSIONER NO LONGER A ROOKIE
CFL boss has big plans for his second year running league Argonauts’ opener proves to be hot ticket
Sitting at the desk in his office at the Canadian Football League headquarters, Jeffrey Orridge seems more comfortable than he did this time a year ago when he was just getting his feet wet as the league’s commissioner. He’s seen the league through a season that had its ups — scoring increased and games were competitive — and downs — the league went a full year without a drug-testing policy before finally coming up with a new one for 2016. Through that and myriad of circumstances planned and unplanned that throw themselves at a commissioner in a year, Orridge has some kilometres under his feet in his role. With a new season set to kick off on Thursday, Orridge sat down with the Star to discuss what awaits him and CFL fans in the coming five months. This interview has been edited and condensed.
You were at the Argos’ pre-season game with your son. What did you think of the atmosphere at BMO Field?
You could feel it. It was a palpable difference between experiencing a game at Rogers and going to BMO Field. A much more intimate setting, the sightlines are great, a much more social atmosphere. Even with the stadium not completely full, it was still a concentration of energy. The vibe was just younger, cooler, newer, fresher. It was a fresh vibe.
Do you think tailgating will help create a culture that’s been absent from the Argos for a long time?
What I think the tailgate adds to it, it’s a full game-day experience, which I think we were missing before. It’s that kind of environment that is really fan friendly and fan focused and it gives fans an opportunity to congre- gate; not just with the people they came with but with other fans before the game.
One of the biggest changes made in the off-season was that the league was able to implement a new drug policy. After a year where there wasn’t one, are you happy with what’s been created?
It was regrettable that we didn’t have it for last year but the great thing is that persistence willed out and we were able to get four organizations — it wasn’t just the CFL who was involved but we spearheaded getting CCES (the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport), the World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited lab, as well as the (CFL) Players Association — to join hands on an enhanced and new and improved policy.
Was honouring previous suspensions from other leagues, CIS, the NCAA and NFL, etc. the most impor- tant part of the drug policy?
What’s important is that we send a message that there’s no room for performance enhancing drugs in this league. You can’t take a shortcut if you’re sanctioned somewhere. You can’t just go to the CFL as a way out.
Do you feel like you always have to be cognizant of concussion issues? You dealt with the Arland Bruce concussion suit through the winter (a judge dismissed the suit in March) and the NFL and NHL have been in court over this as well.
Player health and safety has always been paramount to the CFL. What we have done this year is institute an injury spotter. If there’s a player that’s in distress we can radio down to the field and have an official . . . pull that player out of the game for additional protocols. In addition to the protocols we already have, we instituted a King-Devick test, which focuses on eye movement and speed and lan- guage and that is to augment the protocols that we have in place. The focus is on prevention to begin with, proper tackling, blocking techniques, starting with youth, we partnered with Football Canada to do that. Certainly we continue to emphasize that but then assessment and treatment, that’s what we’re focused on.
What do you take from your first year on the job, good and bad?
I think generally it was a learning experience. There was a lot of preparation and planning for this coming year. There really was no off-season for me. Whether it was (conversations) with fans or the media or with experts among my staff or the board of governors, we set about making significant improvements and changes for things like drug testing. We set in place an anti-tampering policy with coaches and continued to roll out the new brand, having a rela- The rivalry between the Toronto Argonauts and the Hamilton TigerCats is one full of history, venom and Twitter cheap shots.
Playing at BMO Field this season, the Argos are hopeful they can match their rivals in an area where the competition hasn’t been close in recent years — butts in seats.
With the two rivals set to kick off Thursday night to open the CFL season, the Argos say ticket sales have picked up and are hoping to sell out the 27,000 seat venue.
On StubHub, the secondary ticket website says the Argos are out to a strong start in making their new home feel like one.
The season-opener against the Ticats will be the highest-selling regular-season Argos game StubHub has ever seen, according to Shannon Kelly, the company’s manager of Canadian strategic communications.
It will also be the highest-selling overall Argos game since the CFL East final in 2013.
As of Tuesday, Argos ticket sales were up 1,244 per cent on StubHub year over year.
Having the Tiger-Cats as their opening opponent helps things, as Kelly pointed out that eight per cent of purchases are coming from Hamilton. But Toronto accounts for 18 per cent of sales, with Brampton, Mississauga (seven per cent each) and North York (four per cent) making up the top-five buying areas.
“(It’s) very fair to say Toronto is out to see the Argos for the first time on BMO Field,” Kelly said. Chris O’Leary tionship with Adidas come together, a globally recognized brand for performance apparel. To give fans an additional element there were so many things that we worked on during the course of the year and the things that I implemented prior to the season beginning that we’re particularly proud of.