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| Cody Fajardo (#7) fires a pass downfield for the Roughriders. |
On Monday, the CFL officially cancelled its 2020 season due
to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. That official announcement didn’t come
as a surprise.
The CFL had too many obstacles to clear in order to get back
on the field in 2020. Being a gate-driven league when it comes to revenue, the
CFL faced rough waters with all parts of Canada having instituted limits on
mass gathering to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the moment, it is a battle to get clearance to have 200
people out at an event let alone an average crowd of 25,000 that attends a CFL
game.
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| Bo Levi Mitchell (#19) slings a pass downfield for the Stampeders. |
In other words, the CFL was looking for $150-million in
financial assistance if its nine teams are unable to play the 2020 regular
season and playoffs.
In early May, CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie made a
presentation to a House of Commons standing committee on finance, and his
performance in that presentation didn’t go over well.
That put the CFL behind the 8-ball in trying to secure funding from the Government of Canada.
That put the CFL behind the 8-ball in trying to secure funding from the Government of Canada.
 |
| Gainer the Gopher meets Rider Nation after a Roughriders touchdown. |
The CFL examined using the Business Credit Availability
Program with assistance from Export Development Canada and terms couldn’t be found
on that front.
While all that was going on, word came out on July 21 that
Winnipeg would be the hub city to play an abbreviated 2020 campaign in a bubble
format without fans in attendance.
On Aug. 3, the CFL asked for a $30-million interest free
loan from the Government of Canada and news broke on Sunday via TSN football
insider Dave Naylor that the request had fallen through.
 |
| Andrew Harris charges upfield for the Blue Bombers. |
Besides not getting funding from the Government of Canada,
the CFL was running out of time to get about half the league’s players back to
Canada from the United States, follow quarantine rules, stage training camps
and hold a regular season and post-season.
As a result of the CFL cancellation, the Grey Cup will not
be awarded for the first time since 1919.
Back in 1919, the Grey Cup was not awarded due to a lack of
interest along with a rules dispute between the league that complete for the
trophy at the time. The game was cancelled from 1916 to 1918 due to Canada’s
participation in the First World War.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers downed the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
33-12 in last season’s Grey Cup held at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alta., on
Nov. 24, 2019.
 |
| Roughriders safety Mike Edem (#15) closes in on a hit. |
Like most sports leagues, minor sports bodies and teams in
Canada, the CFL is fighting for its survival.
The sports world in Canada is on the road for a major reset.
No one knows for sure what the reset will look like.
The sports world that existed in Canada on March 10 before
all the shutdowns that happened to battle the COVID-19 pandemic is gone for a
very long time. Anyone with any type of common sense can see that.
It is conceivable you could have leagues, minor sports bodies
and teams go bankrupt and reboot after the pandemic is deemed to be over and
mass gatherings are allowed to happen again.
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| Roughriders RB William Powell (#29) follows his blocking downfield. |
Canada’s sports system relied heavily on volunteers before
the pandemic started and that reliance will likely increase when it is declared
the COVID-19 pandemic has passed. Volunteers usually burn out and have to
retreat to focus on jobs where they can make a living.
It is hard to envision elite athletes being able to focus on
training for their sports like a full-time job unless you play in the NHL, NFL,
NBA or MLB.
The era of elite athletes coming to training camp to get into shape might return in Canada, which happened for most of the time up until around the mid 1990s.
The era of elite athletes coming to training camp to get into shape might return in Canada, which happened for most of the time up until around the mid 1990s.
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| Mosaic Stadium all set for the 2019 Labour Day Classic. |
Still, the CFL’s cancellation of the 2020 season is a sign
the reset for the sports world in Canada became that much more real and hit a
higher gear.
You can be sure there will continue to be a sports world in
Canada, but the road that sports world will travel will not be an easy one for
the foreseeable future.
It might even take two or three years to travel that
difficult road, which makes things even that much scarier.
Roughriders CEO Reynolds offers reassuring
words
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| Craig Reynolds speaks at Saskatoon Minor Football Field in 2017. |
On Monday, the CFL officially announced it had cancelled its
2020 campaign. A short time after that official announcement, Reynolds, who is
the Saskatchewan Roughriders president and chief executive officer, spoke to
the teams fans in a video posted on the club’s YouTube channel.
In his speech, Reynolds says every avenue was exhausted to
trying to make the 2020 campaign a reality. He added he believes the team and
its fans will find the resiliency to make it through these challenging times.
Reynolds helped create a bright spot in what was a sad day
for the CFL.
If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.
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