Rogers-CFL End Five Year Partnership; Bills Acrimony to Blame?

Rogers Communications Ends Five-Year Sponsorship Relationship With CFL

The CFL will begin its '08 regular season on Thursday, but it will be "in need of a title sponsor for its various player awards" after the league failed to renew its agreement with Rogers Communications, according to David Naylor of the GLOBE & MAIL. Rogers had been a CFL sponsor each of the last five years. It had paid C$250,000 a season to sponsor player of the week, player of the month and year-end awards and had also sponsored the Grey Cup halftime show the past two seasons. Sources said that Rogers "offered to pay the CFL [C]$350,000 a year, but the league is looking for an amount closer to [C]$750,000 a year." The CFL and Rogers denied that the failure to reach a deal "had anything to do with the tension created" by Rogers' involvement in the Bills Toronto Series. However, the CFL is "believed to have been irked by recent comments from [Rogers Communications Vice Chair] Phil Lind, who called Southern Ontario 'NFL territory' and suggested Toronto should jump at the chance to land an NFL team of its own." Rogers also recently announced that the Bills Toronto Series will serve as the title sponsor to Ontario high school football championship games, "scooping the property from under the CFL's nose" (GLOBE & MAIL, 6/24).