August 17, 2020
Dear Season Seat Members:
I hope this letter finds you doing well and feeling healthy.
The last time I wrote to you, we did not know how long the COVID-19 pandemic would last. While a lot has changed since then, it is clear we are in this for longer than any of us would have liked.
If you are anything like me, this means you’ve been looking forward to some CFL football since last December, and you’ve been really missing it since June, when we would have normally kicked off our 2020 season.
So, it is very disappointing to tell you our great teams and exciting players won’t be returning to the field this Fall.
I want you to know we are absolutely committed to 2021. In the coming days, you will hear from your teams. They have some exciting ideas about how you can use the credit from your ticket deposits.
You’re going to hear from the CFL about everything from how we’re going to stay connected in the months ahead to the next Grey Cup, in Hamilton in 2021, which I’m predicting will be the biggest reunion in Canadian history.
I am especially excited about a new project that will allow you to express your pride in our storied history – and your support for our bright future. More on that is coming very soon. We really do have a lot to look forward to – 2021 is going to be a comeback season for the ages. In the meantime, we at the CFL will not be sitting and waiting. We will be working hard to reset our league for a full recovery and that bright future.
Still, I know this news of a cancelled season is tough for everyone, especially you and our players. I want you to know we certainly worked very hard to pull a shortened 2020 season together.
We have spent the Spring and most of the Summer working towards that possibility, pretty much around the clock, even though our biggest source of revenue, fans in the stands, would not be available.
Perhaps you’ve read about our safety plan, or the choice of Winnipeg as a “hub city”, where all of our games would be played and our players and coaches would live in a protected “bubble,” consisting of their hotels, practice fields and Investors Group Stadium.
Perhaps you’ve followed in the media while we worked towards a new CBA with our players – or as we talked with the federal government about the support needed to make a season this year possible despite that loss of ticket revenue.
We were close to finalizing a new CBA for 2020 with the Canadian Football League Players Association. Public health officials in Manitoba had signed off on our hub city plan.
Unfortunately, months of discussion with the federal government did not result in meaningful support for this season. That is disappointing but the time has come to focus on the future of the CFL and the government has signaled it will continue to work with us.
At the end of the day, not enough pieces were in place to make our governors certain a season this year would make the most sense, when it came to the best long- term interests of the CFL.
I want you to know that all along, the owners of our privately held teams and the chairs of community-based teams were willing to absorb substantial losses to bring you CFL football this year. They just didn’t feel it would be responsible to take on losses so large that would hinder our ability and recovery from this very unique and challenging year for Canada and the world.
That is why our league’s Governors recently voted to shift our focus from trying to get back on the field this year to 2021 and beyond.
I have saved my most important message here to the end: I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart, on behalf of the entire CFL.
You are stuck with us. You have been understanding. In fact, you have been incredible.
The thing fans have asked us me the most since the pandemic hit last March has been: “How can I help?”
We replied you could help by leaving your ticket deposits with us – and you continue to so. We said you could help by wearing your colours and celebrating our league with us online – and you did.
We asked you to stay patient and stay passionate at the same time – and you’ve been both and I know you will continue to be both.
As confident as I am in our future, and in our vision of a bigger, stronger, better CFL, I can admit there have been some tough days for us, just like there have been some tough days for families and businesses across this great country.
But it is not hard to keep the faith and keep moving forward when we work for amazing people like you. You are our foundation. And it’s one we will continue to build upon.
Thank you again.
We will be back in touch soon. And, when the time is right, we will be back on the field and back in our stadiums and, best of all, back with you and your fellow CFL fans.
Yours in football,
Randy Ambrosie, Commissioner Canadian Football League
