Jeffrey Orridge appointed CFL Commisioner

[Otto-matic]

A leading executive with a lifelong passion for sport and more than 20 years experience in building major brands and businesses, Jeffrey L. Orridge is the new Commissioner of the Canadian Football League.

“Jeffrey will be a tremendous leader for our league at an exciting time for its future,” said Jim Lawson, Chairman of the CFL’s Board of Governors, as he announced Orridge’s appointment as the league’s 13th Commissioner.

“He has every skill set our board was looking for and he clearly understands what our league means to this country and what our fans and partners mean to this league.”

Most recently the Executive Director of Sports and General Manager, Olympics for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Orridge has overseen rights acquisitions, partnership management, revenue initiatives and program execution involving marquee sports properties and digital opportunities.

In his role as chief strategist and negotiator, he successfully secured the media rights to the 2014 and 2016 Olympic Games, the 2015 Pan Am/ Parapan Games, and the 2018 and 2020 Olympics.

Orridge structured a multi-year sub-licensing agreement to preserve and amplify the Hockey Night in Canada broadcast and brand. Under his direction, the 2014 Sochi Olympics and 2014 FIFA World Cup achieved record setting broadcast reach, digital consumption and profitability.

http://www.cfl.ca/article/jeffrey-l-...fl-commisioner


Sounds like a good hiring!

[Hustle]

Worked a bunch with him in the past (while he was at the CBC)..... this is a solid, solid hire.

Not personally a big CFL guy but if I was a fan I'd be very excited right now

[troutman]

Job #1 should be getting another team out East, in Quebec City or the Maritimes.

[shermanator]

I will argue that expansion is job #2. Job #1 for the new commissioner should be to stabilize the Argonauts.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by shermanator

I will argue that expansion is job #2. Job #1 for the new commissioner should be to stabilize the Argonauts.

No one has figured out that problem. Should just move them to London, or get them out of the Dome into a smaller outdoor stadium.

[The Familia]

My list of priorities for the new commish would be as follows:

1) Stabilize the Argos: This includes finding a new owner and stadium.
2) Expansion: Get that 10th team either in Halifax or Quebec City.
3) Technology: Revamp the CFL website and App. Need to keep the younger generation on board. I would also push hard for a video game.
4) Product: Ensure the product remains strong. Small rule tweaks, nothing major.
5) Advertising: Need to push hard with advertising and promoting the star players. Commercials, news print ads, banners, etc. The league needs to up its marketing to attract newer and younger fans.
6) Media: Need to get the media in larger cities on board to promote the league and not trash it.
7) Game Day: Ensure the game day atmosphere in all stadiums and cities is top notch. Tailgating, promotions, etc.
8) Big Game Hype: The league does a good job with Labor Day but needs to promote other major weeks such as opening kickoff and Thanksgiving. Also, they need to promote team rivalries. Need to build up the hype and hatred between cities and teams.

[troutman]

Job #2 - have season start one month earlier and end one month earlier.

[M*A*S*H 4077]

Originally Posted by The Familia

My list of priorities for the new commish would be as follows:

1) Stabilize the Argos: This includes finding a new owner and stadium.
2) Expansion: Get that 10th team either in Halifax or Quebec City.
3) Technology: Revamp the CFL website and App. Need to keep the younger generation on board. I would also push hard for a video game.
4) Product: Ensure the product remains strong. Small rule tweaks, nothing major.
5) Advertising: Need to push hard with advertising and promoting the star players. Commercials, news print ads, banners, etc. The league needs to up its marketing to attract newer and younger fans.
6) Media: Need to get the media in larger cities on board to promote the league and not trash it.
7) Game Day: Ensure the game day atmosphere in all stadiums and cities is top notch. Tailgating, promotions, etc.
8) Big Game Hype: The league does a good job with Labor Day but needs to promote other major weeks such as opening kickoff and Thanksgiving. Also, they need to promote team rivalries. Need to build up the hype and hatred between cities and teams.

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but having conversations with some guys in the league and Keon Raymond (CFLPA rep) it appears the league is really starting to take this seriously.

They recognize that they need to attract the younger fans. There's no reason why the CFL can't be as popular as the NFL or NHL in Canada. Better marketing and bringing in technology and making it a better live fan experience would do wonders for the public's perception of the sport. They're tossing around the idea of "Thursday Night Football" since the NFL kind of failed with that one, but putting the emphasis on fans and making it a fun family experience at those games.

Some guys really believe TSN is going to contribute to the downfall of the CFL. Having 1 panel means that there's only ever one voice to the public about the games (unless you seek out the local radio guys). The NFL has multiple panels talking about different games, even if they aren't covering the game. Having more voices talking about the games would allow for more opinions of guys and change public perceptions of players (no longer player A is great/terrible because TSN says so).

Having a NFL style media day leading up to the Grey Cup. The first few years would be low attendance but it would be tough to see people not incorporating that into their Grey Cup trip experience as it gains traction, same thing with the draft. The NFL has come up with a fairly robust business model, it would take some scaling down and altering to make it work for Canadians but a solid framework exists.

These are all things the league has been discussing over the past year(s) and I am really excited to see where the new commissioner takes the league! Perhaps CaptainCrunch or any of you other guys with connections to the league/Stamps have something else to add

[Johnny199r]

There's a lot of hate from TFC fans about the Argos possibly moving to BMO field. CFL Football will tear the grass up pretty quickly and require field turf to be laid instead. BMO originally had turf but was switched to grass a few years later because TFC couldn't attract top players to play on turf (soccer players hate turf).

[The Familia]

TFC fans can get bent. That stadium was publically funded and should have been built for football and soccer from the start.

[Johnny199r]

I see the arguments from both sides, I'd be sad if I was a TFC supporter who never got to see top players from other teams (Thierry Henry etc) because they refuse to play games against opposition who play on turf fields for health reasons. I'd also be sad as an Argos fan, to not have a good stadium situation.

[pylon]

Originally Posted by troutman

Job #2 - have season start one month earlier and end one month earlier.

Job # 3 - Adopt a middle name that starts with the letter P and formally use that initial for all professional and public correspondence.

[Hockey Fan #751]

Originally Posted by Johnny199r

There's a lot of hate from TFC fans about the Argos possibly moving to BMO field. CFL Football will tear the grass up pretty quickly and require field turf to be laid instead. BMO originally had turf but was switched to grass a few years later because TFC couldn't attract top players to play on turf (soccer players hate turf).

Doesn't almost every NFL team play on natural grass now? And the Eskimos played on grass for years. I don't understand why they couldn't play on grass. It's 9 games a year.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Hockey Fan #751

Doesn't almost every NFL team play on natural grass now? And the Eskimos played on grass for years. I don't understand why they couldn't play on grass. It's 9 games a year.

13 of the NFL stadiums (for 14 of 32 teams) have artificial turf, and two have hybrid natural/artificial systems. Chicago is the northernmost team to play on 100% natural turf (Green Bay uses a hybrid).

A lot of European soccer teams are moving to hybrid systems because they're more durable and recover more quickly after events than 100% natural systems.

If the Argos do move into BMO Field, I could see them looking at a hybrid turf.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by M*A*S*H 4077

There's no reason why the CFL can't be as popular as the NFL or NHL in Canada.

Having only 9 teams is a problem.