CFL AND XFL BREAK UP
The CFL says partnership talks with the XFL have been jointly halted.
In March, the CFL and XFL announced they were poised to begin serious talks about a potential partnership.
Neither side said who initiated talks first, only that they’d agreed to collaborating on ways to grow football.
“Our talks with the XFL, exploring the potential for collaboration and innovation, have been positive and constructive,” CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie said in a statement Wednesday. “While we remain open to finding new ways to work together in the future, we and our XFL counterparts have jointly decided to not pursue any formal arrangements at this time.
“We at the CFL are now squarely focused on preparing for August 5th and the start of our 2021 regular season, which will culminate Dec. 12 with the playing of the 108th Grey Cup in Hamilton. We are looking forward to this year and a bright future for our league.”
The CFL didn’t play in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s scheduled to begin a 14-game campaign Aug. 5.
Training camps are slated to open Saturday.
There was no immediate comment from the XFL.
The CFL’s announcement, though, was welcomed by the Edmonton Elks.
“The Edmonton Elks Football Club is pleased by Wednesday’s announcement by the CFL that discussions with the XFL have ended,” the team said in a statement. “The Elks remain fully committed to the CFL and our treasured brand of Canadian Football.”
(Canadian Press)
who in their right mind would partner with the losers of the XFL. That league is a joke, no matter who owns or runs it. Good thing Ambrosie gave his head a shake and realized it.
2021 will be a stand alone league and the CFL just needs to get onto the field. The 2019 CFL season had a season average of 22,916 which is completely skewed as Toronto, Montreal, and BC are anchors around the neck. The Commissioner reports to a Board. While individual fiefdoms such as Saskatchewan, Edmonton and Winnipeg love the status quo – there are 6 other businesses in this league either sinking or beholden to that Toronto franchise. The question is, “what’s your growth plan?” – building affiliations with Shangra La, Oz, or mystical foreign countries is not helping this league.… Read more »
XFL/CFL merger talk – In the end it was all a deceiving ruse to keep CFL fans on their toes by the CFL head office to gauge fans reaction. After a season canceled nothing has changed to correct all that is wrong with a deficit losing venture that hangs by a thread to exist.
This is the right decision.
Quelle surprise. XFL 2001 closed shortly after the title game. XFL 2020 made it through 5 weeks & the potential “merger” ended 20 months before a potential union. Is the Rock & all his contacts going to give it a go in 2023? Is the USFL a go next year? It looks like some teams never bought into this from the start – I don’t think the Elks are the only ones. The fact they so publicly stated it might mean we may finally get the scoop on what went on behind closed doors. It may be very difficult to… Read more »
CFL, innovate and grow the game they said, well nothing’s changed. If the CFL truly wants to survive it needs equal across the board revenue sharing. More deficits unto to each franchise once the 2021 season expires. Next year about this time teams will report their losses into the millions unable to recover from their bad business decisions, watch and see.