Hey, It’s Just an Opinion: In two minds about CFL 2.0

With the CFL Global Combines well underway, the plan of league commissioner Randy Ambrosie for a “global football league” seems to be coming together. I’m in two minds about CFL 2.0, and here I’ll discuss both sides of the coin to clear my head about this subject (and perhaps offer some clarity to those who are – like me – also sitting on the fence over this one).

A global league is perfect for Canadian football…

As Canadians, we’re renowned for the multiculturalism of our society, and what better way to reflect that than through our football? CFL 2.0 presents the league with the perfect way to break through its “all-Canadian” boundaries and gain some international appeal. A global league will boost viewership massively, and will really help the league grow outside of Canada. There’s a another thing that comes with a global league – a global talent pool. The Global Combines in Mexico, the UK and Japan – among other locations – are the perfect example of the incredible talent that exists around the world. With a global league, the CLF will be able to more closely cooperate with other gridiron football associations in foreign nations and draw in talent from around the world to play in the league.

…but the CFL is going about it the wrong way.

Sure, it’s great to diversify, by the CFL is forgetting that they have enough problems at home to deal with. Attendance has been consistently dropping throughout the league over the past few seasons, with the Montreal Alouettes even reducing their stadium capacity in the 2018-19 offseason due to low ticket sales that year. Additionally, ratio changes mean that teams are forced to have a minimum of two global players on their roster, which will likely increase as years to come. What this means is that many teams will be recruiting global players to meet the ratio requirements, not necessarily on a talent basis. This forced globalisation by the league is no good – teams need to be recruiting global players out of a genuine desire to make a global CFL work, not just to fulfil a league requirement.

The final word:

TSN’s Dave Naylor writes an excellent article on what the CFL needs to do to make a global league work – a must-read to understand this issue, and a great conclusion to this article.

What are your thoughts on CFL 2.0? Let me know in the comments below, or on Twitter at @TheEndZone_Blog