The CFL "will show a slight profit for the second
consecutive year after spending more to make more,"
according to Perry Lefko of the TORONTO SUN. Outgoing
President Jeff Giles said that the league had a growth of 5%
from '99 when it had C$8M in profits. Giles said the CFL
spent more money in 2000, including C$500,000 in a new
Radically Canadian marketing campaign (TORONTO SUN, 11/23).
THE TOP BRASS MEET THE PRESS: Outgoing Chair John Tory,
Giles and new CFL Commissioner Michael Lysko met the press
on Friday before the league's Grey Cup weekend, and Lysko
said that it would take "at least three more months" before
he reveals his plan for the league. Lysko: "I'm assuming
the full time role Dec. 1 and for me to have said anything
in Nov. 1 would have been ridiculous. People assumed that I
should have some grand plan. I'm more familiar with the
issues than I was a month ago" (TORONTO SUN, 11/24). Lysko
said that there are three markets for potential Canadian
expansion for the league, but did not specify. He added
that U.S. expansion should "only be considered once the
Canadian franchises are solidified" (OTTAWA CITIZEN, 11/25).
Lysko said that he does intend to meet with XFL Chair Vince
McMahon about relations between the two leagues, but in
Montreal, Jack Todd wrote that "the clumsy Lysko left the
impression that for McMahon, he will be little more than an
after-dinner snack" (Montreal GAZETTE, 11/25). In Toronto,
Stephen Brunt wrote that Lysko "showed once again that he
still has a way to go before feeling comfortable in the
job." He "seemed ill at ease" (GLOBE & MAIL, 11/25). Also
in Toronto, Damien Cox wrote on Lysko's plan for expansion
and noted this "first plank of the Lysko platform ... could
make or break his administration" (TORONTO STAR, 11/25).
CFL NOTES: Ad time for the CBC's broadcast of
yesterday's Grey Cup was "virtually sold out at a top rate"
of C$41,000 for a 30-second spot. Optimedia Canada President
Sunni Boot, on the game's viewership demo: "They're more
affluent than the Super Bowl audience. The only thing that
beats the Grey Cup is golf" (TORONTO STAR, 11/25)....In
Toronto, Ken Fidlin credited Tory, who "presided over an era
of unprecedented chaos in the CFL boardroom" and "more than
once [brought] the league back from the brink of extinction"
(TORONTO SUN, 11/25)....Giles said in his farewell press
conference: "I thought, and I still think to this day, this
league needs a strategic partner to take it to the next
level. I don't think we have the resources to take it to
the next level" (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 11/24)....In Toronto,
William Houston reported that the league "does not own the
rights" to the domain name of either Greycup.ca or
Greycup.com. CFL Dir of Marketing & Communications Jim
Neish: "Somebody beat us to the punch." He said the CFL
will attempt to acquire Greycup.ca (GLOBE & MAIL, 11/23).
