STACKHOUSE’S 10 WEEKEND THOUGHTS
1 – RIDERS CUTS – The Saskatchewan Roughriders have reduced staff and I haven’t seen official numbers but I’m hearing the cuts are extremely significant and alarming. The sports industry is under attack during these times and while I’ve been sounding alarm bells for months, I find it odd they haven’t advocated for themselves in a public way really at all. CFL teams appear resigned to just letting their league vanish into thin air.
2 – MONEY LOST – In the case of the Roughriders, think of things this way: you have 30,000 fans attend 9 games a year and each fan has one beer. Some will have a lot more than that, but some will have none at all so let’s go with one as the average. If you base each beer price at $8, then that’s close to $2.2-million in beer sales lost this season. Nobody went to games, so if tickets cost an average of $60 each (I think I’m on the low end of the spectrum here) then you are looking at a minimum loss of $20-million in ticket revenue. Nobody is buying swag, nobody is paying for parking, out-of-towners aren’t buying gas to travel, nobody is buying meals at restaurants before and after the game, nobody is shopping at Cornwall Centre if they arrive early, sponsorship contracts aren’t fulfilled, and on and on and on. Yet, not a peep. From anyone. I’m surprised the losses aren’t more than the $10-million shortfall they’ve announced. The economic spin-off losses are in the millions as well. Maybe there’s been some rallying behind the scenes to some degree but I find it astounding this hasn’t been more pronounced by those directly affected.
3 – 2021 SEASON NO SURE THING – I don’t proclaim to be on the inside with Canadian Football League people but I have talked to those who are and the second hand information I’m getting back is that 2021 is far from assured. The time for people directly involved to advocate is now; not next May. I think you can see from what’s going on in the United States with regards to the college ranks and now the NFL, there was an avenue to have a CFL season this year if people pushed hard enough. I don’t know the exact economics but I wonder if 10,000 fans in each stadium would have been enough to salvage the league and keep it cobbled together?
4 – OTHER CFL TEAMS – If the Roughriders are in the disastrous financial shape that they are appearing to be, just imagine what it’s like for everyone else in the CFL. Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group ‘terminated’ 40% of its work staff this week. They didn’t lay them off. They ‘terminated’ them. OSEG had tried to keep people employed through wage reductions and government programs, but it wasn’t enough. They also admit the forecast for 2021 is bleak. I recall seeing posts all over social media from fans that were in a hurry for sports leagues to just lock the doors for 2020 and ‘come back in 2021’. Guess what? The 2021 sports season is at risk of not happening. Would those same people like to speak up today and say ‘come back in 2022’?
5 – BASEBALL PITCHING – I haven’t felt the least bit bad for any of these Major League Baseball teams who babied their starting pitchers all season, pushed them harder at the end to prepare for the playoffs only to see them flame out (see-Hyun Jin Ryu, Toronto) in their postseason appearance. I know there are folks out there who love to cite the ‘science’ for pitching and that it’s smart to rest them where possible but I’m going to point to facts where there are just as many or more on the injured list with arm injuries despite doing all this. For me, I think instructors need to get back to teaching actual pitching (location, change of speed) instead of finding freakish athletes that can throw incredibly hard but only have so many bullets in the chamber.
6 – NHL OFFSEASON – The National Hockey League will go through the motions of the Entry Draft and they’ll conduct free agency and do some things that indicate a 2020-21 season is on the horizon but there is no date for a start and it’s becoming clearer and clearer they need to be able to have fans in order to conduct one. There are border issues with the United States and Canada that would need to be ironed out as well.
7 – ONTARIO HOCKEY LEAGUE – Major junior hockey in Ontario is hoping to get going with training camps in mid-November; but it’s going to look extremely different if their politicians have any say in the matter and since they have all of the say, you can bet it will look nothing like actual hockey. Provincial Sports Minister Lisa MacLeod says body checking is likely to be banned. This is nothing short of asinine. Sports are being played around the world and contact is happening and leagues aren’t becoming their own miniature versions of northern Italy. How are Ontario politicians getting away with even floating that trial balloon?
8 – KHL – Science is different in the KHL where hockey is up and running without issue. Fans are allowed in the buildings, not in great numbers, but it is happening and there are no reports of carnage with regards to the virus. Pavel Datsyuk is tied for the league scoring lead after 12 games (14 points). Games used to be on DAZN, but I don’t know if they are anymore. Two archived games are on my app but the latest is from mid-September.
9 – SPORTS TELEVISION – I wonder if sports media will wake up before it’s too late. The Stanley Cup finals got their worst rating since 2007. You’d think with nobody allowed to go, you’d get greater interest from fans in the markets of those directly involved (Dallas and Tampa Bay) but no. Game 1 of the NBA Finals was the lowest rated finals game ever. I’m going to write that again. It was the lowest rated Finals game ever. You have the Lakers involved, fans can’t attend, and you still can’t put an attractive product on for someone to watch? If you are a sponsor and you are aware of these television trends, are you in a hurry to fork over dough to TSN and Sportsnet? I don’t think you have to be an economics major to know the answer to that.
10 – NFL FANTASY ADVICE – If you were like me and dipped into the free agent pool and took a flier on Cincinnati TE Drew Sample or New Orleans WR TreQuan Smith, you were largely disappointed with the results. That won’t stop me from trying again this week as I’ve been decimated by injuries at the WR position (Courtland Sutton, Kenny Golladay, Allen Lazard) and after seeing Tim Patrick’s performance on Thursday night for Denver, I’m inclined to give him a shot and see what happens. Patrick had over 100 yards receiving and really has no competition for targets as even TE Noah Fant got hurt on Thursday. The issue is who will be throwing him the ball. The jury is out on Drew Lock, who’s currently injured. If Lock doesn’t play next week, it appears as though former Jacksonville first rounder Blake Bortles will get the call. Can Patrick still be successful with an anemic quarterback?
(Mike Stackhouse is a freelance writer/broadcaster. Follow him on Twitter at @Stack1975)
