The CFL confirmed it will return this summer, to the delight of fans and players alike..Monday, the CFL’s board of governors voted unanimously to proceed with a 14-game season kicking off August 5..“This is an exciting day for Canadian football and for Canada itself. This is great news for everyone who loves our game and our country,” CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie said in a press release..Players sidelined since November of 2019 are happy they can return to the game they love..“I’m excited to get back to work! LET’S GO!” tweeted Simoni Lawrence of the Tiger-Cats..Training camps will open July 10, but the chirping has started already..“I hope everyone picks us to finish dead last, I love playing with a chip on my shoulder,” Blue Bombers quarterback Matt Nichols told TSN..The season was made possible after the league and players association reached a new agreement on June 10. Players will see a drop in pay, given they will play four less games this year..Regardless, sports broadcaster and former voice of the ‘Riders, Rod Pedersen, remains upbeat..“It’s a positive day. The owners have voted to play; the players are excited to play. I prefer to move forward with that. The revenues are still going to be down, the players are taking it on the chin,” Pedersen told the Western Standard..How many fans will be allowed is an open question. The Lions hope B.C. Place will allow 5,000 fans for August games, but full attendance by September..Ontario’s seven pro franchises made a joint submission to the provincial government requesting that home stadiums and arenas be allowed 35% capacity at Stage 2 of re-opening and full capacity at Stage 3. July 2 is the earliest date for Stage 2 and July 23 the earliest date for Stage3. Minister of Sport Lisa McLeod wants to accomodate, but gave no guarantees..Pedersen said the long wait means available seats will be taken..“Let’s just have a look at what’s going on in America right now with NHL games, NFL games, Major League Baseball, those parks – stadiums are filled to whatever capacity they’re allowed. I think the same thing is going to happen in the Canadian Football League.”.After calling themselves the Eskimos since 1949, Edmonton players will take the field as the Elks. Edmonton resident Moshe Lander, a senior lecturer in economics at Concordia University, said the change will take some getting used to, but won’t keep fans out of the stands..“The CFL fan base is a hardcore fan base, and that’s committed one, so I don’t really think that they’re going to lose much from them. I think that they’ll race back, the rock-solid franchises with Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatchewan. The fan bases that have been a little more fickle in the past – Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto maybe BC to some extent, they were always a trick anyway to try and motivate them to come out,” Lander said in an interview with Western Standard..The short season will also run late. The 108th Grey Cup will be held December 12 in Hamilton. Ironically, the city also hosted the championship last December as the hometown Tiger-Cats beat the Roughriders 13-10 in 1972..Lander suggests the current make-up of CFL fans may be problematic..“The CFL’s problem is that it’s very difficult to get beyond its hard core group of fans. And that hardcore group is increasingly old, white, and male,” Lander said..“Their issue is not trying to shore up their existence. It’s trying to find an expansion of that fan base…and they don’t have a solution to that, pandemic or not.”.That said, many young female fans also love the game. In Calgary, Mount Royal University broadcasting student Makayla Berze was happy to hear the CFL was back..“I’m so excited that I’m probably going to go on a #CFL jersey shopping spree,” she tweeted..“I’d probably put a Hughes, Simpson or Raymond on a white Stamps jersey. Thurman for a current red? And then while we’re at it Tate for my sister (she doesn’t watch but she’s always loved him).”.Harding is a Western Standard correspondent based in Saskatchewan
