2021/22 - CFL Offseason - Non-Back-to-Back Grey Cup Champion Thread

[Noeller]

Bauming's reply to the tweet: 

 

[TrueBlue4ever]

7 minutes ago, Jesse said:

Nothing in there is shocking - the same problems we've been fighting for decades.

Some of these numbers are cherry picked to sound shocking but don't really mean anything.

But has the league been fighting this problem or ignoring it? 

[Jesse]

5 minutes ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

But has the league been fighting this problem or ignoring it? 

You can argue the effectivess of their solutions, but they're obviously trying.

Live music, diversity campaigns, investments in youth sports, players in the community.

[17to85]

Switching to be NFL-lite won't magically make younger people become fans. 

[Jesse]

4 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

Switching to be NFL-lite won't magically make younger people become fans. 

Of course not - that's why they cherry-picked one age group to share which included fans and non-fans. 

It's irrelevant information.

[TrueBlue4ever]

I wonder if looking at the Australian model would be of use. Aussie rules football is the most popular sport in the country, despite the fact that it is a unique game that sort of morphs out of rugby (which is much more popular worldwide and certainly has a foothold in Australia, especially in New South Wales and Queensland where rugby is more popular and where two of the three largest cities -Sydney and Brisbane - are). Attendance-wise and TV ratings-wise, Aussie rules is #1 when up against the more global game of rugby? Why does it not suffer like the CFL does in comparison to the more global NFL (theoretically - TV ratings info is inconsistent but it does not appear on every study like NFL viewership in Canada dwarfs CFL ratings - help me out if anyone has hard data)?

Is this becoming a Toronto-media driven perception? Does the CFL need to think smaller instead of bigger and get into smaller regional markets with drastically reduced costs? Is that even possible? What other marketing initiatives can be implemented?

[wbbfan]

50 minutes ago, Noeller said:

I can only imagine the chatter this is going to generate......

 

...and just to blow up that image a bit so it's easier to read: 

I started reading it and stopped. The sample size for a nation wide survey was far too small to be impactful.  Not to mention the conclusions are beyond un reliable. 4 down football would increase interest 10%? Assuming every single person who said their interest would raise with the switch to NFL rules would also come to pay as much money and watch as many games as the average fan does now is crazy. But even if it would, you dont whole sale change your product to gain 10% interest. Imagine if apple abandoned mac, iphone and all their products to sell windows Based pcs, samsung phones etc, for 10% more interest. 

The whole thing amounts to a great big nothingburger. Which in the off season I guess is maybe better than nothing for some.  But im hoping some good sense will eventually win out. Tsn finally showed some signs of life in terms of improving the game day production. Cfl media that's actually fan friendly is finally growing. The cfl had some tremendous tv rating weeks this year. The league needs continuous improvement. Not whole sale product change. 

 

I imagine a good few people on here are familiar with domestic car brands selling foreign made cars in the 70s and 80s. The 80s Chevy nova, was a toyota corolla with chevy emblems slapped on it. The chrysler lebarons with masserati design and italian build, geo storm, kia elan, izuzu impulse by lotus, even up to the diamler benz Chrysler products more recently.  Customers don't go to X to buy Y. They dont go to KFC to buy taco bell. They dont go to chevy to buy toyota. They dont come to the CFL to watch american football. The CFL IS canadian football. IF you take that away, they dont sell american football to canaidans. They sell nothing, to no one. 

North america has access to all the american football you could want. Forget the XFL, USFL, AFL, IFL, Spring league and every other start up. You have 130 FBS division 1 schools playing 12 regular season games a year. The NFL played 17 games  with 32 teams a year.  And the US has about 16,000 high school teams playing 10 games a year. 

No matter what level, or type of american football you like, more content exists than you can watch. The big colleges and every NFL team has coverage every single day of the year. The CFL trying to change markets after 100 years and going into business selling american football is the dumbest idea I've ever heard. No hyperbole. Imagine if tomorrow Westfield industries in rosenort manitoba tried to make civics and compete with honda. 

Edited January 14, 2022 by wbbfan

[Bubba Zanetti]

35 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

I started reading it and stopped. The sample size for a nation wide survey was far too small to be impactful.  Not to mention the conclusions are beyond un reliable. 4 down football would increase interest 10%? Assuming every single person who said their interest would raise with the switch to NFL rules would also come to pay as much money and watch as many games as the average fan does now is crazy. But even if it would, you dont whole sale change your product to gain 10% interest. Imagine if apple abandoned mac, iphone and all their products to sell windows Based pcs, samsung phones etc, for 10% more interest. 

The whole thing amounts to a great big nothingburger. Which in the off season I guess is maybe better than nothing for some.  But im hoping some good sense will eventually win out. Tsn finally showed some signs of life in terms of improving the game day production. Cfl media that's actually fan friendly is finally growing. The cfl had some tremendous tv rating weeks this year. The league needs continuous improvement. Not whole sale product change. 

 

I imagine a good few people on here are familiar with domestic car brands selling foreign made cars in the 70s and 80s. The 80s Chevy nova, was a toyota corolla with chevy emblems slapped on it. The chrysler lebarons with masserati design and italian build, geo storm, kia elan, izuzu impulse by lotus, even up to the diamler benz Chrysler products more recently.  Customers don't go to X to buy Y. They dont go to KFC to buy taco bell. They dont go to chevy to buy toyota. They dont come to the CFL to watch american football. The CFL IS canadian football. IF you take that away, they dont sell american football to canaidans. They sell nothing, to no one. 

North america has access to all the american football you could want. Forget the XFL, USFL, AFL, IFL, Spring league and every other start up. You have 130 FBS division 1 schools playing 12 regular season games a year. The NFL played 17 games  with 32 teams a year.  And the US has about 16,000 high school teams playing 10 games a year. 

No matter what level, or type of american football you like, more content exists than you can watch. The big colleges and every NFL team has coverage every single day of the year. The CFL trying to change markets after 100 years and going into business selling american football is the dumbest idea I've ever heard. No hyperbole. Imagine if tomorrow Westfield industries in rosenort manitoba tried to make civics and compete with honda. 

Speak for yourself!

Edited January 14, 2022 by Bubba Zanetti

[Bigblue204]

41 minutes ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

I wonder if looking at the Australian model would be of use. Aussie rules football is the most popular sport in the country, despite the fact that it is a unique game that sort of morphs out of rugby (which is much more popular worldwide and certainly has a foothold in Australia, especially in New South Wales and Queensland where rugby is more popular and where two of the three largest cities -Sydney and Brisbane - are). Attendance-wise and TV ratings-wise, Aussie rules is #1 when up against the more global game of rugby? Why does it not suffer like the CFL does in comparison to the more global NFL (theoretically - TV ratings info is inconsistent but it does not appear on every study like NFL viewership in Canada dwarfs CFL ratings - help me out if anyone has hard data)?

Is this becoming a Toronto-media driven perception? Does the CFL need to think smaller instead of bigger and get into smaller regional markets with drastically reduced costs? Is that even possible? What other marketing initiatives can be implemented?

I've actually thought about this exact thing for a while now. The AFL does well because they know who they are and who they AREN'T! They're not rugby and they sure as hell aren't the NFL. They have their identity and they use it. There are so many small teams/leagues that feed the AFL. When the CFL was cancelled I started watching the AFL (Only because one night after I got home from my buddies after a few too many TSN was showing a game and one of the teams playing were called the Bombers.) and I was impressed with the presentation as well as how it's set up. And it starts from the very bottom, young kids, teens, then to semi-pro etc all feeding the major league. While also holding on to what makes it unique (the rules, the players etc). They aren't trying to be the NFL, which is something I think the CFL suffers from. Basically everything the CFL does, is a shittier version of what the NFL does especially when it comes to the broadcasts/marketing etc.

Smaller markets, youth, semi pro etc are all things the CFL should immediately start developing and not only developing but with DIRECT ties to local teams.

[TrueBlue4ever]

Is it a problem getting youth players to play the current 3 down game? My brother’s youngest in in high school football in Toronto, and he says 3 down football hurts their development because the one less down mean much more punting and they don’t get the reps to learn. Not sure if there is any validity to that, but has BC not moved to a 4 down game at all levels outside of CIS and the CFL? Do we need kids playing the 3 down version in grade school to make them CFL fans as they get older? Thoughts?

[Brandon]

I don't see why they don't use Ottawa as an example of marketing it right for the younger crowd.    The gameday experience itself is the draw for the younger crowd.

 

Also why don't they post the numbers of how much the NFL fan is aging out and how the NBA is capturing a lot of the younger sports fans.   Going 4 downs would do nothing. 

[Super Duper Negatron]

Take me, a complete non-fan of the NFL. Put a survey in front of me that asks if changing to CFL rules would increase my interest. I would likely answer yes, check out a couple of games and then continue to ignore it forever.

I suspect the same is true in reverse. The rules are not the reason people aren't watching. Changing them drastically will be the reason a lot of people that ARE watching, stop.

[Bubba Zanetti]

8 minutes ago, Brandon said:

I don't see why they don't use Ottawa as an example of marketing it right for the younger crowd.    The gameday experience itself is the draw for the younger crowd.

 

Also why don't they post the numbers of how much the NFL fan is aging out and how the NBA is capturing a lot of the younger sports fans.   Going 4 downs would do nothing. 

Under Wade the Bombers have done a great job marketing towards the late teen-early 20's crowd. Cheap standing room tickets so they can hang out at the Rum Hut and drink their faces off was a great idea. Very much a social like feel over there. Winning cups doesnt hurt either!!

[BigBlueFanatic]

Delete 

Edited January 14, 2022 by BigBlueFanatic

[Brandon]

4 minutes ago, Bubba Zanetti said:

Under Wade the Bombers have done a great job marketing towards the late teen-early 20's crowd. Cheap standing room tickets so they can hang out at the Rum Hut and drink their faces off was a great idea. Very much a social like feel over there. Winning cups doesnt hurt either!!

I was mostly referring to the league copying that model.  Winnipeg has done a good job catering to each age demographic.    They have something for families with children,  older fans,  and the 18 - 35 demo for the game day experience.      

My only suggestion is not copying the Ottawa Renegades ideas of giving out beads for girls to flash mardi gras style... that was a bad idea lol. 

[Goalie]

Young ppl are less interested because young people don't play sports unless it's on their phone or iPad. 

4 downs is dumb. Making the CFL less Canadian isn't the answer or solution tho. 

Not sure why our media wants us to be like that divided broken soon to be destroyed cesspool racist backwards inbred country to the south. 

 

[Bigblue204]

18 minutes ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

Is it a problem getting youth players to play the current 3 down game? My brother’s youngest in in high school football in Toronto, and he says 3 down football hurts their development because the one less down mean much more punting and they don’t get the reps to learn. Not sure if there is any validity to that, but has BC not moved to a 4 down game at all levels outside of CIS and the CFL? Do we need kids playing the 3 down version in grade school to make them CFL fans as they get older? Thoughts?

I think people need to understand that the kicking game is actually a part of the game of football. It's not some side project etc. It's important. I'd encourage him to get involved in that side of the game. The more versatile you are, the farther you will go.

[Goalie]

Canada 3 downs 

USA 4 downs 

2 different countries. Pretty straight forward. 

NFL is actually quite boring. CFL known for exciting finishes 

What's next? Can run out the clock with 3 minutes left by just kneeling? 

Edited January 14, 2022 by Goalie

[Tracker]

Don't know if this has been posted elsewhere here, but Bombers have re-signed Chris Kolankowski.

 

[camper_2]

8 minutes ago, Goalie said:

Canada 3 downs 

USA 4 downs 

2 different countries. Pretty straight forward. 

NFL is actually quite boring. CFL known for exciting finishes 

What's next? Can run out the clock with 3 minutes left by just kneeling? 

Nope, watch the football sail over your head into the end zone or stands and have the ball spotted on the 20 yard line after a kickoff. Or better yet, raise your hand and catch a punted ball...  now that's excitement!!!!

[Brandon]

23 minutes ago, Goalie said:

Not sure why our media wants us to be like that divided broken soon to be destroyed cesspool racist backwards inbred country to the south. 

Have you been to Winkler/Morris or Quebec lol....

 

 

 

[17to85]

44 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

I think people need to understand that the kicking game is actually a part of the game of football. It's not some side project etc. It's important. I'd encourage him to get involved in that side of the game. The more versatile you are, the farther you will go.

Interesting isn't it how teams with special teams coordinators as head coaches have had success in the win column lately right? Riders offense and defense are over rated as all hell but they do have good special teams.

And we all know the value walters and oshea put on special teams.

[Goalie]

37 minutes ago, Brandon said:

Have you been to Winkler/Morris or Quebec lol....

 

 

 

No

[Jesse]

1 hour ago, Goalie said:

Canada 3 downs 

USA 4 downs 

2 different countries. Pretty straight forward. 

NFL is actually quite boring. CFL known for exciting finishes 

What's next? Can run out the clock with 3 minutes left by just kneeling? 

I feel like this argument is an outdated one from someone who doesn't watch NFL.

This isn't the 90's where they just feed the ball to the RB anymore. It is a passing league that absolutely has exciting 4th quarters.

There was a new renaissance just this past season that saw teams going for 2 after TDs as well as making increased gambles on 4th down. 

There are absolutely things that we could take from that league that would benefit us (4 downs not being one of them).

[17to85]

8 minutes ago, Jesse said:

I feel like this argument is an outdated one from someone who doesn't watch NFL.

This isn't the 90's where they just feed the ball to the RB anymore. It is a passing league that absolutely has exciting 4th quarters.

There was a new renaissance just this past season that saw teams going for 2 after TDs as well as making increased gambles on 4th down. 

There are absolutely things that we could take from that league that would benefit us (4 downs not being one of them).

That doesn't make their play clock rules any less boring. Way too much standing around between plays in the NFL