JON RYAN KNOWS BOTH SIDES OF PRO SPORTS OWNERSHIP

By: Allan Ly
RP Show Intern

Saskatchewan Roughriders punter and Super Bowl XLVIII champion Jon Ryan has a unique experience as both a current player for the CFL and an owner of a pro baseball team called the Portland Pickles.

For example, as the CFL is yet to play due to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, Ryan understands both sides of the coin for the owners and as a player himself.

“I do see both sides,” Ryan offered on Monday’s Rod Pedersen Show. “I mean, I’m obviously frustrated because I want to play football. At the same time, I do see the other side. I know how expensive some of these hurdles are to get over everything from testing to even just putting up, you know, whatever it is 900 guys in quarantine for a week at a hotel.”

To put in perspective how expensive it is to house a pro sports league in a bubble, the NBA, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN, said that the NBA put $150-million to make the Bubble work in Orlando last year.

The CFL, as reported by Farhan Lalji of TSN, is scheduled to open 2021 training camps on July 10 and Ryan is excited by this news.

“I hope that’s gonna happen,” said the Regina product. “I guess time will tell but I feel pretty good that we’re gonna have a season. A short one.”

Speaking from his home in Los Angeles, Ryan started to squirm when Rod asked him, as an owner, when did he realize players are simply employees? Jon admitted that there’s a propensity for players to be treated simply as numbers.

“So you want to kind of make sure the players don’t feel that way. You know, we try to care for them and make sure they’re well taken care of,” Ryan said sympathetically.

Some parts of being an owner are frustrating for Ryan as he needs to separate himself as a player and owner when it comes to winning.

“So that’s the hardest part for me because I always want to win; I’m a competitor,” said Ryan. “And on the ownership side, it is not always necessary. The players are the number one thing.”

There are more things to worry about for Ryan as the owner with different responsibilities. He described this about the experience he creates for his fans of the Portland Pickles: “Making a family fun experience for fans.”

In other news, Ryan also talked about XFL and how the merger probably is not happening because he spoke to some XFL people about what to expect.

“What I heard was a little bit more like a partnership,” said Ryan. “(The XFL people) kind of viewed it more that the XFL would share some of the marketing strategies that they use and the CFL would share more of their on-field content game day type stuff for viewership with them.”

(Follow Allan Ly on Twitter at @AllanTheIntern)