A CFL UPDATE FROM THE COMMISSIONER

CFL Fans:
The 2014 CFL season must be on its way: the CFL Combine takes place this weekend in Toronto. The surest sign of Spring for our fans, the Combine gives the top Canadian football prospects from the CIS and NCAA an opportunity to strut their stuff for our teams. It’s a fascinating event. Players undergo extensive interviews with our teams and are tested for their strength, explosiveness, speed and football skills. And you’re invited to attend Sunday, March 23 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the field at the University of Toronto’s Varsity Stadium.

The field is under a bubble and temperature controlled at this time of year. You’ll be able to see the 40 yard dash and the players perform one-on-one drills for our scouts, general managers and several coaches. The stadium is located at 299 Bloor St. West at Devonshire Place in Toronto. You can reach the entrance to the bubble by walking south from Bloor past Varsity Arena or by entering off Devonshire a short distance south of Bloor. I hope to see you there so we can watch, together, the next generation of CFL stars.

Dates to Remember
The Combine, of course, is important for teams evaluating talent in anticipation of the CFL Canadian Draft. It takes place this year on May 13. Rookie Camps open May 28. And veterans report to camp on the 31st , and most teams are scheduled to start their full training camps on June 1st. The pre-season schedule kicks off June 9th. And the regular schedule begins June 26 when the Argos visit Winnipeg, followed on June 28 by Montreal at Calgary and Edmonton at BC. On June 29, there’s a rematch of the 101st Grey Cup on June 29 when the Tiger-Cats visit Saskatchewan. Looking forward as Commissioner, of course, I never play favourites.

But I’m like other fans in that I’m intrigued by story lines. I can’t wait to see the Ottawa REDBLACKS play their first game, July 3 in Winnipeg. The owners there have done a great job of putting together a first rate organization and what I know will be a first rate experience for fans. Construction continues on the REDBLACKS’ new home, TD Place. One side of the stadium will be brand new while the other side is being completely refurbished. I’m equally excited about the Tiger-Cats’ new home, Tim Horton’s Field. It’s going to be a fantastic place to enjoy our game.

And, of course, I’m looking forward to the 102nd Grey Cup in Vancouver. BC Place really launched this era of beautiful new CFL stadiums, and it’s a great venue and city for Grey Cup.

Tenth Team
We want to assess whether we might responsibly and successfully turn a dream into a reality by taking the CFL to ten teams someday. We’ve had a great experience in Moncton with Touchdown Atlantic in recent years. And along with CFL President and Chief Operating Office Michael Copeland, I have been spending some time in Halifax, meeting with Mayor Mike Savage, local councillors and several other community and business leaders. There is a long way to go and a lot of work to do. But I can tell you there is some interesting momentum out East.

TSN and RDS
We got together with some of the top executives from TSN, RDS and Bell Media recently and talked about the future of our partnership, and how we can make the CFL even stronger. I think you would have been heartened to see the passion our biggest partners have for our league. They do a tremendous job and TSN was recently recognized with five prestigious Canadian Screen Awards for its coverage and storytelling around the 100th Grey Cup. Congrats to the entire team. This will be the first year of our new agreement with TSN and RDS and we’re looking forward to working with them to make our game broadcasts even better.

U.S. Television
I know some of our most ardent fans live in the U.S. Each year at this time, they’re looking for news on our broadcast schedule down south. We’re working on deals to bring more coverage to these fans, and will make an announcement before the season.

CBA
Our collective bargaining agreement with our players expires May 30. And we have been in talks with the Canadian Football League Players Association. Out of respect for this important process, and for our players, I never discuss negotiations in the media or in public. We are committed to working towards a fair and reasonable agreement with our players. We want to be fair to them and keep our league on the path to being strong as well as stable.

I hope this note has given you a sense of what I’ve been up to, and our league has been working on, over the Winter, as well as some of the great things we’re looking forward to this season. We can’t wait to see you again, in our stadiums, come June. I plan to do these updates on a fairly regular basis this season. You can always let me know what you’d like to hear about by reaching out to me at commish@cfl.ca or by sending me a tweet: @canadiancommish.