Bombers $7-million loss a CFL reality check

Andrew Harris tears downfield for the Bombers in 2016.

So how much money can CFL teams lose and continue to exist?

It seems we are going to find out.

A sizable group of CFL supporters believe the league can survive anything including the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world.

This sizable grouping, which seems to be loud and passionate on social media channels, believes the CFL will return and roll like it did in 2019 when the COVID-19 pandemic ends and large crowds can go to stadiums again for games.

Those supporters also seem to believe the financial elephant in the room CFL clubs are facing doesn’t exist.

The financial elephant made an appearance on Monday, when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers released their annual report. The community-owned Bombers announced an overall loss of $6,982,217 for 2020.

Of course, the CFL didn’t play any games in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bombers experienced a $32.3-million decrease in revenue in 2020 compared to 2019.

No events have been held at IG Field since February of 2020, but the Bomber still incurred $3.4-million in expenses for the upkeep of their home stadium.

The Bombers won the Grey Cup in 2019, which was the last time the CFL held a season. For 2019, the Bombers posted a $3.5-million operating profit.

Still, Bombers president and CEO Wade Miller tried to put a positive spin on things.

“When you lose 89 per cent of your revenue, obviously it’s tough,” said Miller in a statement on Monday. “We didn’t play any football and didn’t hold any events at the stadium, so it was challenging.

Chris Streveler (#17) throws a TD pass for the Bombers in 2019.

“I wish we weren’t presenting a loss like this today, but a lot of work was done by our entire team to mitigate that. Our projections last June were for a $9.5-10-million loss. There have been some things which really helped change that – the federal programs that were set up and the unbelievable response from our corporate partners who stepped up and our season ticket members.

“Our fans, partners and stakeholders have stuck with is and rallied behind the team. I’m going to use the Andrew Harris line: ‘They had our back.’”

All CFL fans would love to see Harris, who is the Bombers star local product running back, tear down the field again like he did in the 2019 Grey Cup in Calgary. In that contest, Harris carried the ball 18 times for 134 yards and one touchdown, and he caught five passes for 35 yards and a major score.

Harris was named the game’s most valuable player and most valuable Canadian as the Bombers romped to a 33-12 victory.

Still, the reality is we don’t know when Harris, the Bombers or any of the CFL’s other eight franchises will be on the field again.

While vaccines for COVID-19 are rolling out across Canada, the spread of COVID-19 variants are raising concerns.

On Monday, British Columbia introduced a three-week “circuit breaker” style lockdown to combat variants.

Saskatchewan’s provincial capital city in Regina, which is home to the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders, is dealing with tighter restrictions along with surrounding areas to combat spread of COVID-19 variants. The rest of Saskatchewan is dealing with somewhat lighter restrictions.

Ontario is experiencing more concern due to COVID-19 variants.

On the financial side of things, the Bombers are viewed as arguably the healthiest team in the CFL along with the Roughriders. Miller said the Bombers hit the point where they were debt free this past September for the first time since 1992, but that distinction didn’t last long.

Bombers LB Adam Bighill (#4) studies an offensive look in 2019.

If the Bombers lost close to $7-million in a year the CFL didn’t play, one wonders what the losses will be like for the other CFL clubs.

The Canadian Press had previously reported the CFL’s nine teams are expected to lose a collective $60-to-$80-million for the lost 2020 campaign.

As the Roughriders and the Edmonton Football Club are community owned teams, they will have to publicly disclose their finances for 2020 at some point this year.

The British Columbia Lions, Calgary Stampeders, Hamilton Tigers-Cats, Montreal Alouettes, Ottawa Redblacks and Toronto Argonauts don’t have to publicly disclose their finances, but you can expect them all to be crying for financial help.

If the CFL doesn’t play in 2021 or has a shortened season or plays with limited fan attendance, how much more red ink will be added to the already mounting losses?

 Do private owners keep eating the financial losses?

Do creditors look the other way when it comes to community franchises that own them money?

If a team posted a loss like the Bombers did for 2020 in the late 1980s or early to mid 1990s, there wouldn’t even be discussions about the team folding. The team would fold.

It is safe to say a $7-million loss in the current day is viewed differently than a $7-million loss in 1986.

Ultimately, teams will need money in order to continue operating. Your options at that point are hope governments step in and pay off all the debts that are incurred by the CFL member clubs or you attract new owners or investors.

On March 10, news broke that saw the CFL and XFL reveal they’re poised to begin serious discussions about a potential partnership. The XFL is the spring start up league in the United States that was bought out of bankruptcy in August of 2020 by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Dany Garcia and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital.

The Bombers celebrate a TD from Kenny Lawler (#89) in 2019.

According to the XFL’s website, RedBird Capital manages US$4-billion in assets.

At the moment, no one else with deep pockets has stepped up to dance with the CFL.

Of course, some diehard supporters of the Canadian version of three-down football say they would rather see the CFL die than form a partnership or possibly merge with the four-down XFL game.

Looking at the financial numbers, the Bombers Grey Cup victory in 2019 might go down as the last game ever played in the CFL unless this partnership is explored.

At the moment, no other options seem to be presenting themselves to keep the CFL alive.

“The Rock” is watching

With 15.1-million followers on Twitter and 226-million followers on Instagram, it would be fair it wonder if Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson paid attention to anyone that didn’t remotely approach his star power.

Canadian football supporters got an indication on Saturday that “The Rock” might be paying more attention than you might think.

Football Canada president Jim Mullin and Winnipeg Blue Bombers fullback Jon Rush sent messages back and forth on Twitter talking about a tweet that speculated what a partnership would look like between the CFL and XFL.

Mullin and Rush were commenting on a tweet from Aaron Geisler, who is the executive director of the Ontario Football Alliance. Geisler said he would be interested in a late winter early spring six to eight game CFL/XFL season and then a traditional eight game CFL season that runs August through November.

Johnson along with Dany Garcia and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital own the XFL.

Mullin said in a tweet that Johnson wanted games at various times of the year. Rush chimed in that he worried about player safety in that type of scenario and injuries could pile up without an adequate off-season to train.

Along with those concerns, Rush worried about time to fully recover physically along with the prospect of players being able to get second jobs.

Out of nowhere, Johnson sent a tweet to Mullin and Rush saying, “Hi gents, I never said that. We’ll figure out a smart season that’ll create phenomenal opportunities for players and be the best experience for fans. I played ball for years and wrestled 280+ night a year (for years) so I know the value of smart scheduling and recovery.”

While there aren’t a whole lot of specifics of what a partnership between the CFL and XFL would look like or how far those discussions have progressed, it is cool to see Johnson is paying attention to what people in Canada are saying about those talks.

Maier becomes Blades all-time wins leader

Nolan Maier won his 86th career regular season game on Wednesday. 

Nolan Maier moved passed one of the Saskatoon Blades all-time greats to capture one of the franchise’s most prestigious career records.

On Wednesday, Maier made 29 saves to backstop the Blades to a 3-2 victory over the Winnipeg Ice in a WHL regular season contest played in a bubble environment at the Brandt Centre in Regina. Maier also chipped in the offensive side of things picking up an assist on the Blades second goal of the contest scored by veteran star left-winger Kyle Crnkovic.

The victory was the 86^th regular season win of Maier’s career with the Blades and moved him past Tim Cheveldae for the franchise’s all-time record in that department.

Cheveldae collected his 85 career regular season wins playing three seasons for the Blades from 1985 to 1988 before moving on to a lengthy NHL career. He was the Blades goaltending coach from 2013 to 2020.

Maier, who turned 20 in January, joined the Blades shortly after the 2017-18 campaign got underway and quickly cemented himself as one of the WHL’s top netminders. He has appeared in 146 career regular season games with the Blades posting an 86-46-12 record, a 2.94 goals against average, a .902 save percentage and eight shutouts.

Brandon Lisowsky and Colton Dach each netted singles for the Blades, while rearguard Aiden De La Gorgendiere has continued to break out as an offensive-defencemen picking up a pair of assists. In the Blades 10 games this season, De La Gorgendiere has two goals, nine assists and a plus-12 rating in the plus-minus department.

Anderson MacDonald and Connor McClennon replied with singles for the Ice. Zachary Benson picked up assists on both Winnipeg goals.

Gage Alexander turned away 25 shots to pick up the setback in goal for the Ice.

With the win, the Blades improved to 9-0-1 to sit first in the East Division, while the Ice fell to 6-4 to sit third in the East Division in the developmental campaign.

The Blades return to action on Friday, when they take on the Moose Jaw Warriors (8 p.m., 98.3 COOL FM).

86 and counting.

Congrats, @NolanMaier1 👏 pic.twitter.com/yLwX5LUUdR

— Saskatoon Blades (@BladesHockey) April 1, 2021

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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Bombers’ Grey Cup win is a welcomed development

Videos of the Bombers’ Grey Cup wins in 1988 and 1990.

    The Winnipeg Blue Bombers actually won the Grey Cup?

    While never can be a long time, a Bombers Grey Cup win just seemed like something that would never happen again. You almost thought the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets had better odds of winning the Stanley Cup in a 31 team league that the Bombers would have in a nine team league.

    That was exactly what happened on Sunday at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alta. Playing before 35,439 spectators, the Bombers hammered the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 33-12 to become CFL champions for the first time in 29 years.

    In the win, a proud graduate of Winnipeg’s Oak Park High School Raiders football team in running back Andrew Harris picked up most outstanding player and most outstanding Canadian honours helping his hometown Bombers win the title.

    Harris ran the ball 18 times for 134 yards and one touchdown, and he caught five passes for 35 yards and one touchdown.

Andrew Harris (#33) became a Grey Cup hero for the Bombers.

    Online, emotion was pouring out from Bombers fans who couldn’t contain their joy as they were brought to tears they were so happy.
    It was weird to think that actually happened.

    Once upon a time, that wasn’t the case.

    Way back in 1990, the Bombers were guided by the tandem in general manager “Kindly” Cal Murphy and head coach “Smiling” Mike Riley. Both are still revered figures to this day in the Manitoba capital.

    Under their guidance, the Bomber topped the CFL standings that year with a 12-6 record and hammered the Edmonton Eskimos 50-11 to capture the Grey Cup at B.C. Place in Vancouver, B.C.

    It was joked the Grey Cup game that year was like a Super Bowl, as the NFL title games around that era were usually blowouts. The Bombers win in the 1990 Grey Cup goes down as one of greatest blowouts in the history of the CFL title game.

    The defense containing the likes of Greg Battle, Tyrone Jones, James West, Rod Hill and Less Browne hammered the Eskimos into submission.

A Tom Burgess player card.

    Bombers quarter back Tom Burgess, who was acquired in a trade with the Saskatchewan Roughriders before the 1990 campaign began, had an up and down season. Against the Eskimos in the 1990 Grey Cup, Burgess had one of his finest days in the league as he guided the Bombers offence like he was NFL legend Joe Montana, or Bombers icon Ken Ploen.
    The 1990 win marked the third time the Bombers won the Grey Cup over a second year period and was the 10^th CFL championship victory for the Winnipeg franchise.

    At that time, no one knew it would take 29 years for the Bombers to win their 11^th Grey Cup.

Between the 1990 and Sunday’s Grey Cup wins, the Bombers advanced to the Grey Cup game five times and came up empty handed in each of those tries.

    Their most hard luck setback arguably came in 2007, when they fell 23-19 to the Saskatchewan Roughriders at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ont.

    Winnipeg went into that contest without star quarterback Kevin Glenn, who broke his arm in the team’s victory one week earlier in the East final.

    Over that span of time, the Bombers had sensational years like their 14-4 campaign in 2001. They had campaigns where they were dreadful going a combined 7-29 in the 1997 and 1998 seasons and 3-15 in the 2013 campaign.

A Less Browne player card.

    Winnipeg fans stayed loyal to their club, but it seemed like a Grey Cup win would be something that just wouldn’t happen. It seemed like fate was against the Bombers, when it came to winning another CFL crown.

    Bombers fans that remembered the Grey Cup wins in 1984, 1988 and 1990 were aging and did their best to pass down stories from those glory days.

    A much smaller amount of Bombers fans remember a previous run of glory years under legendary head coach Bud Grant that saw the Bombers win Grey Cup titles in 1958, 1959, 1961 and 1962.
    Before Sunday’s Grey Cup win, the Bombers had a whole generation of fans that had never seen their team win a CFL title.

    Murphy became a Bombers icon serving as the team’s head coach and general manager during his time with the club from 1983 to 1996. Still, he had a bitter departure from the team following the 1996 campaign.

    Some said for a handful of years after his departure the Bombers were haunted by the “Curse of Cal.”

    I was fortunate enough to become friends with Murphy, after he started residing in Regina, Sask.

    I remember a visit around 2009 where he said he didn’t like that “curse” notion. He had a fond spot in his heart for Winnipeg, and he liked getting back there to do good things in that centre.

A Bombers Grey Cup shirt from 1990.

    Murphy told me any ill feelings were buried in the past long ago, and he wanted to see the Bombers win the Grey Cup again. The Bombers have been handing out the “Cal Murphy Heart of a Legend Award” since 2002.

    While scouting for the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts, Murphy always took time to visit with the Bombers fans at the Labour Day Classic games between the Bombers and Roughriders in Regina.

    Murphy passed away in February of 2012 at age 79, but you can bet somewhere out there he was happy giving off his trademark cackle laugh to go along with his huge grin after the Bombers finally won it all again.

    Even this season, it appeared the Bombers jinx when it came to winning the Grey Cup would continue. They entered the campaign as favourites to make and win the Grey Cup, but you were waiting for things to unravel.
    During a 32-16 home win over the B.C. Lions, Bombers star quarterback Matt Nichols was lost for the season due to a shoulder injury, and it seemed like Winnipeg’s title hopes would go down with him.

    Before the CFL’s trade deadline on Oct. 9, the Bombers acquired veteran quarterback Zach Collaros in a trade with the Toronto Argonauts.

Late Bomber GM and HC Cal Murphy.

    Collaros actually began the campaign as the Roughriders starting quarterback. On the Roughriders fourth play of their regular season opener, he suffered a concussion injury on a cheap hit by Tiger-Cats linebacker Simoni Lawrence.

    The Roughriders fell in that June 13 encounter 23-17.

    With Collaros down, Cody Fajardo had a meteoric rise to the pedestal of Roughriders star starting quarterback. Deemed expendable, Collaros was traded to the Argonauts in late July.

    He never took a single snap in Toronto. It seemed like his football days might be over, because he had a history of concussion injuries.

    Unexpectedly, Collaros became the savour of the Bombers season. He was inserted as the starting quarterback in their final regular season game, when they slipped past the Calgary Stampeders 29-28 at I.G. Field in Winnipeg on Oct. 25.

    That allowed the Bombers to finish the regular season with an 11-7 record. Collaros played well in all three of the Bombers post-season victories, which included downing the Roughriders 20-13 in the West final in Regina on Nov. 17.

    Inconceivably, he became a Grey Cup champion with the Bombers completing 17-of-23 passes for 170 yards in Sunday’s CFL championship game. In the process, Collaros prevented the Tiger-Cats, who topped the CFL regular season standings with a 15-3 mark, from winning their first Grey Cup since 1999.

Bombers fans like “The Golden Boy” can soak in their Grey Cup win.

    Overall, the 29 year drought between Grey Cup titles for Bombers fans just wasn’t fair for the support they have shown their club.

    The Bombers and their supporters very much deserved this long awaited Grey Cup title win.

    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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    If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.