108th Grey Cup - Winnipeg vs. Hamilton

[chedder]

I'm just under 50 and would quit if it went to 4 downs also. I'm biased as I played past high school and think it's an exciting brand of football. I don't want to watch what's strictly an NFL minor league.

Unfortunately, the nfl marketing hype and the worship of all things American has captured the younger crowd. That and fantasy football. All of the young 20 somethings I know are glued to games due to their fantasy leagues and online betting.

[White Out 403]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Enjoy the seasons we have left as I have a feeling this may be the last decade of CFL football. A lot of people will blame the pandemic but the reality is that attendance had been declining year over year for a decade and the pandemic is simply accelerating the death of the league. As a Canadian it's very saddening but the league has always been their own worst enemy as owners spent too many decades trying to screw each other over instead of bettering the league to remain viable long term.

Been hearing this since the 90s at least, from "radically canadian" and "our balls our bigger" slogan times.

Am I concerned? Sure. I love the CFL. But to say it has a decade left ignores how much worse things were and the league still persevered.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by White Out 403

Been hearing this since the 90s at least, from "radically canadian" and "our balls our bigger" slogan times.

Am I concerned? Sure. I love the CFL. But to say it has a decade left ignores how much worse things were and the league still persevered.

Worst Grey Cup viewership and worst attendance totals ever indicate that this could be different.

[White Out 403]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Worst Grey Cup viewership and worst attendance totals ever indicate that this could be different.

I think losing a whole year and then having a late Grey Cup in December didn't help and can be attributed to a large chunk of that viewership decline.

Work to be done for sure but the league is far better off now that it was in the 90's when a 3 teams were believed to be on deaths door with no prospective ownership

[White Out 403]

Did some googling. I doubt anyone will suggest the NFL is on borrowed time in 10 years (but I do think football as we know it may be for other reasons)



I haven't vetted that picture so no idea if its accurate

[Jason14h]

They are considering going to 4 downs because games are incredibly low scoring and little action

Defense has gotten 2 good and pass rush too fast that 3 yard check downs on 3 downs is offence death

Either need to allow more Americans so the O line can be stronger or something

This isn’t the exciting CFL of years past

[Erick Estrada]

A massive blow to the league is the state of Edmonton. A lot of fans won't come back because of the name change alone and it just seems like that city has shifted more and more to an Oilers city and less of a CFL city. Calgary is the same and I just don't think the league can survive based on Saskatchewan and Manitoba fans being the only ones that overly care about the league. Vancouver and Toronto can't even get 10k in the seats. They were discussing on 960 this morning with Brunt that Steinauer leaving to US college is another massive blow as there's not enough good coaches in the Canadian game. This has to be as bleak as it's ever been.

[White Out 403]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

A massive blow to the league is the state of Edmonton. A lot of fans won't come back because of the name change alone and it just seems like that city has shifted more and more to an Oilers city and less of a CFL city. Calgary is the same and I just don't think the league can survive based on Saskatchewan and Manitoba fans being the only ones that overly care about the league. Vancouver and Toronto can't even get 10k in the seats. They were discussing on 960 this morning with Brunt that Steinauer leaving to US college is another massive blow as there's not enough good coaches in the Canadian game. This has to be as bleak as it's ever been.

Yeah, I think this is just a failure of memory for how awful the 90s were

[tvp2003]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

Defense has gotten 2 good and pass rush too fast that 3 yard check downs on 3 downs is offence death

Either need to allow more Americans so the O line can be stronger or something

I'd agree with this -- the two things that would help the on-field product IMO is better coaching, and better offensive line play. There aren't enough good Canadian OL these days, and offences are suffering as a result. The lack of padded practices is surely a factor as well.

But moving to four downs so you can throw 3 yard check downs is boring football. Keep three downs, but give offences a better chance at converting WITHOUT resorting to more involvement by officials (i.e. more DPI and roughing the passer type calls).

[Jiri Hrdina]

My interest in the CFL has never been lower. I find the quality of the play to be poor - a lot of sloppy football and bad plays. In the league's glory years there was strong quarterback play and good talent overall. And the games were often more exciting than the NFL.

For me that simply isn't the case anymore. It's just not good football.
And in Calgary the situation is even worse because I will never pay $ to watch a game in a stadium as bad as McMahon.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by White Out 403

Yeah, I think this is just a failure of memory for how awful the 90s were

Wrong. The 90's were awful for Bombers and Riders fans because their teams were crap most of the decade. They were good times for Calgary, Toronto, BC, and even Baltimore. Most of the best teams ever assembled were in that decade.

[White Out 403]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Wrong. The 90's were awful for Bombers and Riders fans because their teams were crap most of the decade. They were good times for Calgary, Toronto, BC, and even Baltimore. Most of the best teams ever assembled were in that decade.

The 90s were awful for the CFL business wise. far worse than today. But I guess as a Stamps fan you don't really have any concern over that because you remembered Flutie and Garcia and Dickenson and times were good. Meanwhile, the leagues finances were literally on fire and the league was on life support. Cmon now. Pot meet kettle.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by White Out 403

Yeah, I think this is just a failure of memory for how awful the 90s were

To be fair, basically no one in the 90s got to watch every nfl game, every nhl game and every college game each week. Plus every baseball game. I think despite some positives, the public in Canada has moved away from the cfl and they will never come back.

Granted, plenty of cfl games weren’t on tv but it kept CFL teams on the front page of the local sports section. CFL was in the public consciousness in all their markets. Nowadays, the cfl is a distant last place in almost every market they play in, except Sask. Even in Winnipeg, they are a Jets town.

And it’s not just that the CFL doesn’t get enough attention in BC and Toronto. It’s that they’re not even on the map. They are totally and completely irrelevant there.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by White Out 403

The 90s were awful for the CFL business wise. far worse than today. But I guess as a Stamps fan you don't really have any concern over that because you remembered Flutie and Garcia and Dickenson and times were good. Meanwhile, the leagues finances were literally on fire and the league was on life support. Cmon now. Pot meet kettle.

You don't know what you are talking about. The league expanded to the US for crying out loud. You don't expand when you are on your last legs. The only difference between that and the next decade was the TSN deal.

CFL record book
Highest Season Total Attendance 2,582,087 1995
Highest Season Capacity Average 46,691.5 1995

Best attendance ever in the 90's.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Yeah the 90s may have had some good teams but it also basically bankrupted the CFL. It is not a time to be cherished as glory years. The league was close to folding. No one made money, not just the Riders/Bombers. Hell Toronto only stayed afloat by just not paying Flutie any of his money.

[Julio]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

You don't know what you are talking about. The league expanded to the US for crying out loud. You don't expand when you are on your last legs. The only difference between that and the next decade was the TSN deal.

The league expanded to the US mainly to get expansion $ from the new owners.
For the Stamps, Larry Ryckman was the owner...until he was convicted of stock fraud, and a receivership court sold the team.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Yeah the 90s may have had some good teams but it also basically bankrupted the CFL. It is not a time to be cherished as glory years. The league was close to folding. No one made money, not just the Riders/Bombers. Hell Toronto only stayed afloat by just not paying Flutie any of his money.

It was expansion that nearly bankrupted the league. The CFL only started making money again because of the TSN deal.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

It was expansion that nearly bankrupted the league.

The same expansion that you just claimed was proof of how healthy the league was?

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

My interest in the CFL has never been lower. I find the quality of the play to be poor - a lot of sloppy football and bad plays. In the league's glory years there was strong quarterback play and good talent overall. And the games were often more exciting than the NFL.

For me that simply isn't the case anymore. It's just not good football.
And in Calgary the situation is even worse because I will never pay $ to watch a game in a stadium as bad as McMahon.

It's a lot of this for me. I still watch some games and have some interest. But I have very little interest in actually going to McMahon for the 2nd best football experience in the city (Cavalry ftw!!). It's just a terrible fan experience, from the bad access/parking/getting there right through to the stadium and amenities. The game can be good, but it's just plain not that fun. I almost feel bad saying that. What that means though, is that my kids are also not going to games, and that next generation won't likely be fans either. Pro-sports is a tough enough sell going forward, but the CFL has a major issue coming.

I'm surprised the CFL got through the pandemic, so good for them. But to me, the league would have to make some huge changes to gain relevancy these days.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

The same expansion that you just claimed was proof of how healthy the league was?

I never said it was healthy. I said it wasn't on its last legs. Read my post again. The CFL was healthy in the 70's and period of 80's, then again in the mid-2000's largely because of TSN. However it's been a steady decline as attendance has dropped to its lowest in decades.