Canadian Football League (CFL) Commissioner Randy Ambrosie has heard the rumors too. But he assures that the Montreal Alouettes are not for sale.
“We haven’t talked about the possibility of selling the team at all,” Ambrosie said of his discussion with the representative of the club’s majority shareholder. The owners of the Alouettes have not changed in fact: they are the same people as a week or two ago. Their priority is to continue in the same direction, to win games and to bond with the fans. »
Earlier this week, the Montreal club’s minority shareholder, Gary Stern, who owns 25% of the team, announced that he was stepping down as governor of the Alouettes and that he would cease his day-to-day activities with the team. . The majority shareholder, the estate of Sid Spiegel — Stern’s father-in-law, who died a few months ago — who owns the remaining 75%, wanted to regain control of his investment, which led to several speculations about his desire to keep his participation in the team.
“I’m very encouraged by what I’ve heard,” Ambrosie said. They [les membres de la succession] told us that things would continue as they are now. They met Mario Cecchini, who in my opinion is an exceptional person, with a good plan, a good team. But I’m mostly encouraged by the fact that they told me they want to win games and put on a good show for their fans. »
“To be honest, all of our conversations were about the immediate, about their desire to put a good team on the field, to win and to put fans in the stands. They have a good management team with Mario and Danny Maciocia. I think they are focusing on the right elements and the Alouettes have a bright future ahead of them. »
These remarks echo those of Cecchini made earlier this week. The president of the Alouettes had indicated that the desire of the majority shareholder was for business to continue smoothly – ” business as usual “, he repeated.
It’s unclear, however, who Cecchini spoke to within Spiegel’s estate. The commissioner also remained discreet about the identity of this person, but he is convinced that we will soon know the new governor of the Alouettes.
Support
The commissioner is equally optimistic about attendance in the league, even if the figures are not very good overall and are rather worrying in the three biggest markets of the league, namely Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.
“I think we have to take a step back and look at what is happening in the fields of sport and entertainment. We hear from everywhere that crowds have not returned to pre-pandemic levels in almost all cases. Up to a certain point, this should have been foreseen. Not the pandemic, but that after two years of a pandemic, some would not return to large gatherings as quickly, and we have to respect that. […] Our teams in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver are working hard to grow their fan base. »
Ambrosie admits that possible solutions for less “popular” markets will be explored at the next meeting of governors this month. But the commissioner assures that after two difficult years, including a canceled season in 2020, the CFL is doing well.
“I think we have accomplished a lot since the canceled season. Our governors helped us put together a revenue sharing program that we haven’t had in the league for almost 40 years. This plan will ensure that all teams will be stronger, in better economic health, while the partnership with Genius Sports will open up marketing possibilities for us that we did not have access to before. »
“Although the last two years have been difficult, they have allowed us to put the league on a better foundation for the future. Even on the field, the rule changes we’ve put in place this season, I don’t want to say they’re responsible for everything we see, but the games are very exciting across the league: nearly two third of our meetings were decided in the last three minutes. »
Another way, he says, to ensure the health of the CFL in the longer term is through the arrival of a tenth franchise. Ambrosie assures that the expansion project in the Maritimes, greatly slowed down by the pandemic, is not relegated to oblivion.
“The expansion project is still on the table. We have also set up an expansion committee and hired an investment bank to find potential partners and help us with our strategy. The Atlantic Touchdown game was a great success. I know I’m sometimes accused of hyperbole, but I guarantee everyone within 1,000 miles of Wolfville and Halifax could see how huge this game was and had a huge hit. »
“It revived discussions about our future in the Atlantic. We resumed discussions with Moncton, because it is a large market. We are continuing discussions with Halifax. We will establish with our governors the strategy to adopt moving forward. »
Ambrosie is also convinced that adding a tenth team would help the CFL tighten its schedule and end the season earlier, which is desired by many fans.
“It would allow us in particular to shorten our season by two weeks: instead of 18 games in 21 weeks, we would play 18 games in 19 weeks. […] The expansion could provide us with the solution we are all looking for: with 10 teams, the Gray Cup would be played on the first weekend of November instead of the third. »