Friday’s festivities at Grey Cup 109 in Regina began with the annual State Of The League address from CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie. He told reporters the goal is to have the fastest and most entertaining brand of football in the world and he believes rule changes have led to that with scoring up seventeen percent. The Commissioner was asked if the Global 2.0 initiative into its 4th year, has led to substantial revenue? ” I would say no, but has the program started to show signs of progress? I think the answer is yes! I think we’ll see global revenue kick when we have more and more players make significant contributions.
On the topic of the operations cap, Ambrosie stated it was a necessary move and one the CFLPA wanted. ” It gave us an opportunity to live within our means and if you want to build something sustainable you need to have an affordable platform. It also addressed the players concern that growing staff costs were talking away from their bottom line.”
Pre-pandemic a CFL week was held in the spring, bringing fans, media and players together to keep the league visible in the long cold off-season. Ambrosie shied away when asked if the league might bring the popular event back. ” I think the simple answer is we need multiple touch points at various times in the off-season in our different centres. How do you create more events? As much as I loved the CFL weeks in Regina and Winnipeg, we need to look at more digital content to get the players’ stories out to the fans and make that connection.
The Winnipeg native, who has been Commissioner since 2017, is hoping to remain in the big chair for as long as the board of governors want him. ” I serve at their pleasure. This is an interesting job because you have to learn to get good at it! It’s not a command-and-control job like in my past life. There is much collaboration with teams who have differing opinions on the direction of the CFL. I believe over the years during some trying times I’m doing a better job of managing it.
Grey Cup 109 between the two-time defending champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Toronto Argonauts will be played Sunday at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, Saskatchewan.
