Ambrosie said the CFL has to think big and part of that is reaching out to the international communitygetty images
CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie is "approaching his first-year anniversary on the job and while others have wilted" from the league's challenges, he "sees only opportunity," according to Ed Willes of the Vancouver PROVINCE. What he does with those opportunities "remains to be seen but, in the here and now, one thing is clear: Ambrosie brings a new energy and a reformer’s zeal to a league that needed both." As long as anyone can remember, the CFL has "operated as nine, sometimes eight, separate fiefdoms under a weak, ineffectual king." The league office, such as it was, "existed largely to maintain a presence in Toronto’s corporate community but failed to create a central authority for the league." Ambrosie is "trying to change that." He said, "The NBA found 80 per cent of their business plan applied to every market, then they customized the last 20 per cent. We had nine plans and then there was the league plan. I said, no, there has to be one business plan." Willes notes to that end, the league is now "formulating a model that identifies the best business practices and metrics for measuring their success." Meanwhile, Ambrosie said of expanding league recognition, "There are (over) 100 million fans in Mexico. We have to stop thinking small. I think that’s part of what’s happened to us. We’ve been small and we have to think big. Part of that is reaching out to the international community." The CFL will also be "more active in the Grey Cup presentation." It has has "done well by its TV deal with TSN," extended through '21. But it "hasn’t expanded its audience or revenue streams since that deal was first signed" in '13 (Vancouver PROVINCE, 6/15).
TIME TO GROW? Ambrosie said that there has been "slow but steady progress on the bid to bring an expansion team to Halifax." Ambrosie: "It’s a process, so the conversations between ourselves and the Maritime Football group continue. We’re doing work on their business plan, giving them feedback." In Winnipeg, Mike Sawatzky notes crucial to the whole enterprise is the "feasibility of building a suitable stadium in Halifax." There have been suggestions that Moncton, New Brunswick, could "host the team while a Halifax stadium is under construction." Ambrosie would "not admit to a timeline for getting a Halifax team on the field" (WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, 6/15).
