One of our country’s top sports pundits has drawn a line in the sand for CFL fans.
Tim Micallef had strong words on Wednesday regarding the CFL’s announcement that they had jointly decided not to pursue any formal arrangements with the XFL at this time.
“If you love Canadian football, if you enjoy football and respect the fact that there is a domestic league in this country, if you believe in supporting local in any way, shape or form, you also have to do that in sports,” said Micallef on Tim & Friends.
“For all those people that sat high on the chair and said, ‘Wait a second — we love our three-down football! You can’t take that! If you take the Canadian out of Canadian football, what are you left with?’ Now you need to put your money where your mouth is. Now you need to go and support that league because without you, it will die.”
The CFL lost $60-80 million amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the losses should continue in 2021 due to a shortened season with limited attendance. Some executives have denied the league’s conversations with the XFL had anything to do with the COVID-19 pandemic, but acknowledged they were hoping a potential collaboration would help grow the business as a whole.
“This is a harbinger of things to come for fans of football in Canada. If they don’t believe that the XFL is the way to save the CFL, what in fact will save the CFL? The biggest markets they have — B.C., Toronto, Montreal — they are struggling mightily,” said Micallef.
“The economic feasibility of this league can’t be supported by four or five franchises or three or four franchises. It needs all of them.”
The CFL’s three community-owned teams have been the league’s strongest markets over the past decade. Edmonton, Saskatchewan, and Winnipeg lost a combined $21.6 million in 2020 but did so without tapping into special reserve funds. The league hasn’t had a revenue sharing program in decades, which means struggling teams are left to fend for themselves when funds start to wane.
Micallef challenges Canadians who are fans of the NFL but dismiss the CFL as a second-rate league that’s not worth watching.
“If you love football, why don’t you just watch football? That’s the part of this I’ve never understood. I love NFL football, but I like CFL football, I like CIS/U Sports football, I just don’t get those who are like, ‘Ah, this is crap.’ There’s ‘crap leagues’ all over the world that aren’t the top of the game that people go and watch,” said Micallef.
“Australia has all of them. Now, they don’t have the opportunity to go across the border and watch a game, but Ligue 1 in France is not the best league in the world and people still go watch it. Why? Because it’s theirs. And there are very few things in this country that are ours and to not support it, to me, if you are a football fan, seems ridiculous.”
