CFL leaders want to put a focus on being more user-friendly with the league's fan baseGETTY IMAGES
CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie said the league should be "thinking big" and hopes to be more "fan-centric," according to Terry Jones of the EDMONTON SUN. Ambrosie said the "biggest thing and hardest thing to change in anything is culture." Ambrosie's main focus at the league's winter meetings in January was to "convince the teams to examine their approaches to the business of the game and to allow him to attempt to lead the league into an era of managing their businesses more efficiently, being more transparent and user-friendly to both the fans and by extension the media." He said he is "seeing a significant change" on teams' approaches. Ambrosie: "The off the field co-operation has been remarkable. The team presidents meetings have been really energized about how we can do more together." He noted the league "brought in the head of the NBA team services group to our governors meetings and talked out getting past that compete-on-the-field against each other thing when it comes to business of the field." Ambrosie said, "We’ve started that in a great way. I think we’re getting there. I couldn’t have asked for more out of these last five months.” He said that one example was "thinking collectively and going to Apple Music and booking nine different bands to appear at all nine stadiums for halftime concerts during the year." Ambrosie: “It’s evolving. We’re just in the early days of a complete rebuilding of our business model” (EDMONTON SUN, 5/31).
LOCAL FLAVOR: In Montreal, Herb Zurkowsky noted Alouettes President & CEO Patrick Boivin and GM & VP/Football Operations Kavis Reed are "working diligently to change the culture and identity" of the team, which will "unveil its marketing and strategic strategy on June 11." Fans "between the ages of 18 and 35 -- the demographic advertisers cater to -- comprise no more" than 10% of the fan base. That is the "group a franchise must attract for its long-term solvency." The team’s advertising campaign "will be increased this year" and there will be "more of an effort to expose the players, especially those from Quebec." From lower beer prices, "reducing the price of tickets for students, having local bands perform to increased tailgating -- both inside the stadium and after the game -- Boivin wants the venue to become a happening place while believing, if the games are entertaining and the team competitive, the football can get them to return." Boivin said, “Fundamentally, it’s a cultural change. We want people to want to be associated with our brand, to the Montreal Alouettes, but not solely on the basis of us winning games" (MONTREALGAZETTE.com, 5/31).
