If the Canadian Football League wants to hire a real difference-maker as commissioner, the compensation needs to be raised to match the league’s business numbers with improved job security to match.
According to sources, the CFL’s estimated revenues are between $200 and $300 million. Outgoing commissioner Randy Ambrosie earned around $750,000 annually, with bonuses giving him the chance to boost his compensation to approximately $1 million, per sources.
Ambrosie’s earnings represent much less than one percent of the three down league’s business. High-end executives point out that’s not commensurate compensation compared to other public or private companies. If the board of governors want an innovative leader, the minimum starting point could be $2 million.
There are other factors working against the CFL attracting the best and brightest, including job security and unilateral decision-making power.
Look at the five major North American sports leagues’ commissioners and their tenures. Gary Bettman assumed office with the NHL in February 1993, Don Garber with MLS in August 1999, Roger Goodell with the NFL in September 2006, Rob Manfred with MLB in September 2013 and Adam Silver with the NBA in February 2014.
Since 2014, five people, including interim executives, have been CFL commissioner. That’s led to qualified people viewing the role as one they’re hired to be fired from. The three-down league’s longest-tenured commissioner was Jake Gaudaur, who led the CFL for 16 years from 1968 to 1984. He’s the only person to hold office for 10 or more years in the league’s history.
The CFL commissioner’s role has been more about being a consensus-builder and not a decision-maker when navigating what the league’s nine franchises want. It can be hard to gain majority decisions at times; look no further than the delayed schedule release for the 2025 season.
CEO types are used to invoking unilateral decision-making power when needed. Kowtowing to nine different governors — let alone the other people who have sway within league circles — does not entice elite business leaders. That said, the CFL does boast arguably the best stable of owners in league history, rounded out most recently by Amar Doman, Pierre Karl Peladeau and Larry Thompson.
Doman is particularly bullish on the CFL’s future, believing that attracting new fans and increasing media rights — streaming, in particular — can boost the league’s business. Attendance was up 1.8 percent year-over-year in 2024, while television ratings were down 6.2 percent last season. It’s worth noting that TSN’s live-streaming audience for the 2024 Grey Cup increased 91 percent year-over-year.
The CFL’s exclusive broadcast deal with Bell Media runs through the 2026 season and is estimated to bring in $50 million annually for the three-down league. As Doman alluded, boosting the media rights contract could garner increased revenue. That’s one of the major items — if not the top — on the list for whoever takes over as the new commissioner.
Sources indicate the board of governors is taking its time seeking out and deciding on the CFL’s next leader. There’s no rush as league revenues are up around $18 million combined over the last couple of seasons, which triggered the second-largest salary cap increase in history. It would be hard for any new person to enter the commissioner’s role in 2025 and make a major impact this year as there’s lots to learn, understand and comprehend with regard to the CFL’s business.
There’s no doubt: the league needs a visionary and bonafide public speaker as its leader to capitalize on future potential. The CFL will get what they pay for.
