The CFL didn't play in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Multiple sources have consistently said that cost the league between
The CFL resumed in 2021 with a condensed 14-game regular-season schedule. Play ends Sunday with the
It's a rematch of the '19 final, which
"
"I'm not going to suggest we don't have challenges on the horizon. We do. I want to say, frankly, we did a lot of the heavy lifting that was long overdue."
While Ambrosie spoke Friday the CFL announced a long-term partnership with
Ambrosie gushed about the partnership's potential for the CFL, citing fast growth and a broadened reach for the league in existing and new markets. But again, he was short on specifics, saying most of
Ambrosie said a big impetus of the deal was the legalization of single-game sports betting in
He also stated the pandemic forced the CFL and its teams to refine their business models, including the adoption of revenue sharing among the clubs. Again, Ambrosie didn't provide details, saying only the move was widely accepted across the league.
That was an interesting comment. It's hard to imagine officials with the CFL's three community-owned teams -
"I think now we've created an environment, we've created a philosophy that all teams can and should, if they do most of the right things, be able to break even," Ambrosie said. "Now, it's going to take a little bit more work.
"But at the heart of the philosophy is we want all teams to be able to break even if they do some, most, if not all the right things. We're going to hold each other accountable to that standard."
The
Not that MLSE can't afford it. The organization also owns the NHL's
On
Normally, the players would have to quarantine for four days and provide two negative tests before being able to resume team activities. But the CFL announced the five could return if they quarantined for 48 hours and provided three negative tests.
Bethel-Thompson, McCoil and Richards all successfully completed the protocols and played. The other two, rush end
Following Sunday's game, some Argos players and vice-president of player personnel
"We can't have that ... we have to be a beacon for tolerance, not intolerance," Ambosie said. "We can't stand that type of thing happening.
"We deal with our business in the family and we will."
Ambrosie stated the CFL didn't change its COVID-19 protocols for
"We don't let a guy who got a C in Grade 9 science make those decisions," Ambrosie said. "We didn't change the policy, we let the doctors do what we had decided we would let them do at the very beginning of the season."
The CFL encouraged players to get vaccinated and implemented a policy that would apply to game cancellations caused by COVID-19 issues involving teams that didn't reach the vaccination threshold of 85 per cent. Game forfeits and lost pay were potential consequences.
In October, the league announced eight teams reached the 85-per cent level and figured 93 per cent of players would have been fully vaccinated by
"One of our core principles was we needed to get our players vaccinated, we needed to get our football operations vaccinated," Ambrosie said. "We're not going to stray from that, we believe that is in fact the right thing to do.
"Some of the answer will be decided by government policy. Part of the answer has to be formed in a conversation with our players and our players' association. A lot of the story about the future for vaccination status is going to be written in the months to come and we want to be a leader ... because it's the best way to keep people safe and healthy and keep our athletes on the field."
The CFL's return to play hasn't been fully embraced by fans. The average attendance this year was just 19,164, down from 22,917 two years ago and 27,767 from back in 2011.
Many have complained the level of play has fallen off. This year,
In 2019,
"In a world where time pressure seems to be a constant theme, the question is, 'Do we need to make our game faster?'' Ambrosie said. "It's the general question, 'How do we keep moving our game forward?
"How do we make our game more entertaining? Faster, I think is a theme we're looking for."
This report by
© 2021 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved., source