OTTAWA — American sports fans are fretting about when pro
sports will come back as they know them, but in Canada the worry is
whether some popular sports leagues will return at all.
The economic damage from Covid-19 is ravaging the sports
business on both sides of the border, but the pain promises to be
more for prominent, gate-dependent leagues based north of the
frontier — like the Canadian Football League.
The league has asked the Canadian government for financial help
of up to C$150 million and, since the start of the pandemic
lockdowns, it has moved swiftly to establish a lobbying presence in
Ottawa.
In the U.S., sports leagues aren’t asking for bailouts even as
some teams look for relief without fan or television revenue.
Madison Square Garden, home to hockey’s New York Rangers and
basketball’s New York Knicks, has
pushed for money from a federal aid package. And the Indiana
Pacers have hired two lobbying firms to work on coronavirus-related
issues, without specifying precisely what issues.
But the Canadian Football League, where National Football League
greats Warren Moon and Doug Flutie first became stars, may be a
canary in the coal mine for second-tier sports leagues driven by
ticket sales.
“We want the support we need to get through this crisis, and
not a dime more,” CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie told Canadian
Parliament lawmakers in testimony recently about the 62-year-old
league. “We support the decisions governments have made, but
their effect on our business is devastating.
“We just don’t want it to be fatal.”
The CFL, where American football players sometimes go to start,
finish or rehabilitate their careers, had been scheduled to start
its preseason this Sunday before postponing. On Tuesday, the
CFL
issued a statement saying it hopes to kick off its season in
September as long as governments ease restrictions on public
gatherings by then, though it acknowledged cancellation is still
possible.
Unlike the biggest North American sports leagues, the CFL’s
nine teams rely heavily on turnstile-generated revenues and far
less on broadcast deals. The National Football League and the
National Basketball Association, for instance, may be able to get
by for a while with empty venues — but the CFL cannot afford to
play games without fans in the seats. In the U.S., the fledgling
XFL professional football league filed for bankruptcy protection in
April.
In a span of a month, the Canadian lobbying registry shows CFL
representatives met with 10 different senior officials from the
offices of Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains and Heritage Minister
Steven Guilbeault. CFL lobbyists have also pressed their case with
Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna, Northern Affairs
Minister Dan Vandal and, just last week, Justice Minister David
Lametti.
But so far, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has yet
to provide direct support to the league. Ambrosie has also sought
help from the provinces. At least one government, Ontario,
has already taken a pass.
Theo Meyer contributed to this report.
