There’s often been hand-wringing in CFL circles regarding the financial stability of its privately-owned teams, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic. However, according to Montreal Alouettes senior vice-president of football operations and general manager Danny Maciocia, it doesn’t appear there’s cause for concern in La Belle Province.
“We are definitely closer (to profitability). We are extremely close to breaking even. The new structure is one that’s been in place (for) about a year. It seems to be working — we’re aligned, everybody’s got a role, everybody understands what their role is,” Maciocia told the media via videoconference on Wednesday.
“Am I also involved on the business side? Yes. Am I also involved on the corporate sponsorship side? Yes, I am. Do I go out and speak to groups and to people? I do so. This is more than just a general manager’s job for me due to the fact that it is my hometown. I understand what the expectations are, but that’s been well-defined when we made the moves we made about a year ago and it seems to be working.”
Last spring, Mark Weightman suddenly stepped down as the president and CEO of the Alouettes. The move was accompanied by an announcement that René Masson was taking over as senior vice-president, chief executive officer, and chief financial officer. Explicitly stated in Montreal’s press release was Masson being tasked with “growing the team’s revenues and returning it to profitability.”
Though he doesn’t speak for Masson, Maciocia indicated that owner Pierre Karl Péladeau, who purchased the team in 2023, has never given him an expectation or timeline for the Alouettes to get out of the red and into the black.
“He never mentioned that to me. The only thing he’s mentioned to me is that he loves his football team and it’ll remain in his family for the longest of time. It’s not going anywhere anytime soon,” he said. “I’m beyond confident (in Péladeau’s investment in the team).”
Not long after being hired as the CFL’s new commissioner last spring, Stewart Johnston said only two teams were profitable the previous year. Based on financial reports from the league’s two publicly-owned teams — the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers — the identities of these franchises is clear.
The league’s seven privately-owned clubs don’t disclose any financial information but it’s not hard to believe they’re unprofitable.
Since 2022, the Roughriders and Blue Bombers have led the CFL in attendance by a considerable margin. Game-day revenue is still the lifeblood of the league’s teams with gate receipts, concessions, and other such funds accounting for roughly half of total team revenue, according to reports from Saskatchewan and Winnipeg.
Randy Ambrosie, Johnston’s predecessor, often referred to the league’s private owners as “philanthropists.” This term is usually reserved for people who build hospitals or homeless shelters, but here it appeared to mean, “People who are willing to absorb losses in years that their CFL team doesn’t host the Grey Cup.”
In 2020, a time when the CFL had a strong incentive to paint itself in the most negative possible light as it sought financial assistance from the federal government, Ambrosie claimed the league’s teams collectively lose $10 to $20 million per year.
Around this time, Ambrosie also insinuated league revenues were roughly $250 million annually. It’s rough math — and, again, none of these numbers are official — but this would mean the league falling four to eight percent shy of breaking even across its nine franchises.
Revenue has grown in recent years, triggering significant increases to the salary cap. In January, the league trumpeted year-over-year revenue growth of over $10 million.
The league also introduced a revenue sharing model in 2022, though its formula remains unclear. One revenue stream that’s shared to at least some extent is Grey Cup. In the old days, the game would bring a massive boost to the host city’s team. Nowadays, each team gets at least a small cut of the revenue from the league’s championship game and festival.
The details here are few and far between but it seems positive that the Alouettes appear to have made financial strides. The team plays in one of the league’s smallest stadiums — which it doesn’t own — and it doesn’t own its practice facility, either. Compared to other setups around the league, Montreal’s is far from ideal.
If the Alouettes are encroaching on profitability, surely that’s possible for the CFL’s other privately-owned teams, too.
