FRIDAY COMMENTARY: YOU CAN’T AFFORD NOT TO

(Listen daily for the Rod Pedersen Commentary on Cat Country 98 & Rock 98.5 FM)

This concept might be hard for some to get their minds around, but we’re gonna try.

Shoot, even I’ve taken a couple of days to absorb it.

With NHL All Star Festivities well underway here in South Florida, I’m hearing it more and more; “It’s about the marketing, not the game.”

I just have a tough time not comparing it to the CFL and frankly, all of our favourite leagues.

There is a lot of grumbling about the All Star Game format, and the lack of intensity on the ice. But that’s the case with almost all All Star Games in every league.

But again, it’s about the marketing not the game.

When I see the wildly popular Alumni game, the media day on the beach, the interactive exhibits set up in three different cities (Sunrise, Coral Springs & Fort Lauderdale), culminating with the Skills Competition and All Star Game on the weekend, I can’t help but wonder how that could be translated to the CFL.

I was no fan of former Commissioner Jeffrey Orridge but his CFL Week initiative was one of the best things the league has ever done.

The CFL held two, and I attended them both in Winnipeg and Regina.

The stars were there, the fans got together, the Combine was held, and it really wasn’t lacking anything.

Then Covid happened, and CFL Week went kaput. It’s not dissimilar from the WHL All Star Game and it’s offspring, the Subway Summit Series. Kaput.

Will we ever see them again?

The bosses in the big corner offices say, “These things cost money.”

I say, “You can’t afford not to.”

And if I had my druthers and could wave a wand, I’d love to see a CFL All Star Flag Football Game staged in the league’s biggest markets all rolled in with CFL Week, whenever it comes back. Introducing the league to fans who maybe have never watched a game before.

You can’t afford not to.

That’s today’s Rod Pedersen Commentary

(The Rod Pedersen Show airs daily at 12 pm ET on Game+ TV, YouTube Live and WQEE Radio)