laxtreme56 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 16, 2021 11:13 pm
PolarBear wrote: ↑Tue Mar 16, 2021 10:35 pm
FootballYoda wrote: ↑Tue Mar 16, 2021 10:26 pm
CFL is not dead, and anyone that thinks this just doesn’t know the league. It might die in Vancouver, Montreal or Toronto, but it will always live strong in Ottawa, Winnipeg, Regina, Calgary and Edmonton.
The BC Lions co-GM blasted people yesterday regarding Lions popularity. I agree wit him as I know the market well. The MLS team is dying after a few yrs ago viewed as the biggest surprise in popularity. blah blah blah. They didn't realize how the fans were getting tickets and why they went to the game. Basically every single soccer fan was going to the game. Soccer is just not popular in Canada.
Hockey popular in Canada? hmmmm. Well why the Canucks struggling at the gate? same reason why the Lions have been. When the wealthiest man in BC wants to own the Lions then you need to know something is brewing to be a success for that organization.
Montreal loves the CFL. its actually my favorite CFL town to visit. Molson Stadium is legit. But the fans are similar to HABS fans. VERY SMART. If team sucks they dont go. NO PARTY! 2 yrs ago the Als started the season as a laughing stock until the team started to win 1 month into the season and it became PARTY CENTRAL.
Toronto is the up/down market but its more to do with the economics and how Toronto is formed as a city with all their social issues. The Maple Leafs and Blue Jays are not successful because of the GTA fans. It's because of the national brand/fans.
The CFL needs new revenue streams. Facts are ratings, attendance, and sponsorships are down. These aren't based on opinion or feelings. Ambrose's CFL 2.0 has been a waste of time and money. The semi pro leagues he's partnering up with in Europe are all playing 4 down football. How many people from Norway are really going to turn on a CFL game (if they can even watch it in their home country) to watch their national player ride the bench as a 4th string receiver.
You're more than wrong. Ambrose's CFL 2.0 isn't just about revenue. He sees the CFL's responsibility towards football as bigger than Canada. He knows ways he can diversify the game.
Yes no one is going to turn on a game because the fourth string DE playing special teams is from Austria but how are you going to get good Austrian players if they keep playing in poor stadiums with poor coaching staff in Austria? You need to understand that it's a low risk high reward model that Ambrose is setting up and it's a long game. You're going to be trying to cultivate this fanbase and youth talent in these countries for generations before you can truly tap into it, but you got there first before the NFL did and you may sign the first big Austrian player that makes news in Austria and gets more CFL fans and that's all because you put the effort in. That is what they're seeking, and people do watch and this strategy does work.
Basketball is a good example. Football will never have the olympics like Basketball did. The argument about that is for another day but football has to grow organically. The NBA knew that basketball had international potential (and the olympics proved that, CFL is going in blind). They set up training camps in countries that had no previous affinity for the sport like France, they played games in London and they played against local teams that had sprouted and despite getting destroyed, the players learnt from the NBA players. The NBA now is an international sport and it took 70 years for it to finally be competitive and it is good. I am a fan of the San Antonio Spurs and whenever Jakob Poeltl plays, the games will broadcast in Austria. That is all because he is Austrian and is starting.
The CFL knows what they're doing. The idea that it was a failure like it was instantly supposed to yield results is foolish. No one expected Norway to watch CFL in a year, no one expected Norwegian football players to be good.