ALOUETTES NAME PRESIDENT, BUT NOT COACH

MONTREAL – After leaving the president’s office vacant for 18 months, the Montreal Alouettes opted to hire from within.

The Canadian Football League club announced Tuesday that Mark Weightman, the former Chief Operating Officer, will be the new president and CEO.

Weightman, 41, had been filling the president’s duties anyway since Ray Lalonde stepped down in May 2012 after only 14 months on the job.

“We asked Mark to lead our franchise,” said Andrew Wetenhall, the son of owner Bob Wetenhall who was unable to attend the announcement due to a flu. “He’s proven himself time and again.”

Weightman has been with the franchise since 1995 when he worked for the defunct Baltimore Stallions. The native of St. Andre d’Argenteuil, Que., moved with them to Montreal the following year and stayed on when Wetenhall bought the team from Jim Spiros in 1997.

His first priority will be to fill Percival Molson Stadium, which has had empty seats since it was expanded from 20,202 seats to 25,012 in 2010. The Alouettes used to sell out the smaller stadium every game, but have generally drawn about 23,000 since the expansion.

“It’s a pretty high priority,” said Wetenhall, a New York investment banker who is a CFL governor. “It’s a marker of our commercial success and our on-field and community success to secure that support.”

The Alouettes went 8-10 this season and lost the East Division semifinal to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. They have not won a playoff game since winning back to back Grey Cups in 2009 and 2010.

The empty seats suggest the Alouettes’ popularity is waning, but Weightman said the future looks bright. The season ticket base has remained at about 17,000, but they hope to increase sales through partial season tickets, family packs and other offers.

“We’re still going through a transition where we have a bigger stadium and people think we’re not doing as well because the stadium’s not full,” said Weightman. “We had 23,000 where we had 20,000 for 10 years.

“If you look at TV ratings and how much we’re followed on social media, you’ll see our fan base is as strong and healthy as ever. But we need to do a better job of reaching out to all our fans.”

A large media contingent turned out to the news conference expecting an announcement on whether general manager Jim Popp will remain as head coach after taking over from the fired Dan Hawkins five games into the season, or on whether 41-year-old quarterback Anthony Calvillo will retire.

Instead, it was a day for the men in suits.

Weightman said there is no timeline for a decision on the coach, although they would prefer to make one soon so that preparations can start for the 2014 season.

The future of veterans like Calvillo, who suffered a season-ending concussion in August, all-star guard Scott Flory or defensive end Anwar Stewart are not expected to be decided until after the CFL expansion draft on Dec. 16.

Andrew Wetenhall said his family’s commitment to the Alouettes and the CFL is as strong as ever.

“I certainly am,” he said. “We make decisions like this one in a family format. We’re very committed to this league and it’s success. We’ve invested 20 years almost in Montreal and we’re hopeful there will be another 20 or 50 to come.”

© Canadian Press