2024/2025 CFL (non-Bomber) Off-Season Thread

[Super Duper Negatron]

5 hours ago, wbbfan said:

https://3downnation.com/2025/04/20/tim-white-compares-plays-he-makes-in-cfl-to-nfl-superstars-jerry-rice-randy-moss/

 

I get that he is saying we have stars up here, and that he is in the top tier of wrs here. We do, and he's an excellent wr. He went 40 or more yards twice all of last year. If he played on a better team he would probably be considered more frequently to be among the top tier of wrs in the cfl. But if he did, he would not get 125-150 targets a year. 75 out of 125 - 95-150 aren't great catch rates up here. 

I like what he is saying. Guys sticking up for the league, even while pumping themselves, is never a bad thing.

[wbbfan]

2 hours ago, Super Duper Negatron said:

I like what he is saying. Guys sticking up for the league, even while pumping themselves, is never a bad thing.

Yeah I don’t disagree with that part. Though it sounds like the cfl is big because he’s a star here. 
 The selection of stars in other sports that he’s calling the super star of the league and comparing him self to is kind of crazy. Ja morant is a huge screw up and not a top talent. Reece isn’t on top of the wnba or in the age range. Jefferson is atleast the best wr though in the nfl.  
 Whole thing is a mess that smacks of self promotion. 
 

I also don’t agree that teams and franchises build or make superstars. If that was the case it’d be happening a lot more in every sport on more teams. Superstars happen. It’s a rare combination of talent, growth mindset, luck and hard work from all kinds of people.  

[SpeedFlex27]

On 2025-04-20 at 12:34 PM, wbbfan said:

https://3downnation.com/2025/04/20/tim-white-compares-plays-he-makes-in-cfl-to-nfl-superstars-jerry-rice-randy-moss/

 

I get that he is saying we have stars up here, and that he is in the top tier of wrs here. We do, and he's an excellent wr. He went 40 or more yards twice all of last year. If he played on a better team he would probably be considered more frequently to be among the top tier of wrs in the cfl. But if he did, he would not get 125-150 targets a year. 75 out of 125 - 95-150 aren't great catch rates up here. 

We do have stars but the CFL does absolutely nothing to promote its stars. Under Scarf Boy, there was more concern about cutbacks to coaching staffs & scouts than actually growing the league & with the new Commisioner that has to change. The CFL expects fans to buy tickets to go to the games yet does nothing to raise the profile & appeal of the players to fans.

[wbbfan]

3 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

We do have stars but the CFL does absolutely nothing to promote its stars. Under Scarf Boy, there was more concern about cutbacks to coaching staffs & scouts than actually growing the league & with the new Commisioner that has to change. The CFL expects fans to buy tickets to go to the games yet does nothing to raise the profile & appeal of the players to fans.

Sports stars are weird now. I feel like most leagues don’t build stars any more. Success gives guys a chance at a platform and it’s up to them to capitalize. Social media has really changed and quantified stars at various levels. 
 

 Would I like the league to do better with marketing stars? Yes. How should they go about it? Idk. 
 I think the skills challenge / qb challenge would be a good start. Maybe a Netflix show, better game day production would be big. 

[SpeedFlex27]

9 hours ago, wbbfan said:

Sports stars are weird now. I feel like most leagues don’t build stars any more. Success gives guys a chance at a platform and it’s up to them to capitalize. Social media has really changed and quantified stars at various levels. 
 

 Would I like the league to do better with marketing stars? Yes. How should they go about it? Idk. 
 I think the skills challenge / qb challenge would be a good start. Maybe a Netflix show, better game day production would be big. 

i think number 1 is the league has to start working on a ntional level with Canadian companies to make our stars more visible. they have to get aggressive getting even ONE player on a national advertising campaign. If we see a Raptor player Scotty Barnes doing Subway commercials (Raptor players are virtually unknown across Canada), I find it hard to believe that a high profile CFL player can't do ads as well. It jut doesn't happen by itself. The league has to work with teams as well to do the same in every CFL city advertising for local car dealerships, restaurants, retailers etc. that's just a start. 

[Bigblue204]

1 hour ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

i think number 1 is the league has to start working on a ntional level with Canadian companies to make our stars more visible. they have to get aggressive getting even ONE player on a national advertising campaign. If we see a Raptor player Scotty Barnes doing Subway commercials (Raptor players are virtually unknown across Canada), I find it hard to believe that a high profile CFL player can't do ads as well. It jut doesn't happen by itself. The league has to work with teams as well to do the same in every CFL city advertising for local car dealerships, restaurants, retailers etc. that's just a start. 

I hear Willie loves booster juice!

Edited yesterday at 02:01 PM by Bigblue204

[wbbfan]

1 hour ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

i think number 1 is the league has to start working on a ntional level with Canadian companies to make our stars more visible. they have to get aggressive getting even ONE player on a national advertising campaign. If we see a Raptor player Scotty Barnes doing Subway commercials (Raptor players are virtually unknown across Canada), I find it hard to believe that a high profile CFL player can't do ads as well. It jut doesn't happen by itself. The league has to work with teams as well to do the same in every CFL city advertising for local car dealerships, restaurants, retailers etc. that's just a start. 

That would be a good idea, but you have to sell a company on that. And the raptors are huge across the country. Brandon Ingram, RJ Barrett, and Scotty Barnes are each drastically more recognizable nationwide than the top guys in each respective market are locally.   

[SpeedFlex27]

8 hours ago, wbbfan said:

That would be a good idea, but you have to sell a company on that. And the raptors are huge across the country. Brandon Ingram, RJ Barrett, and Scotty Barnes are each drastically more recognizable nationwide than the top guys in each respective market are locally.   

I don't believe the Raptors are huge across the country. Basketball is popular but the Raptor are more of a regional Southern Ontario team. No one, unless they're super basketball fans care about them. Very few get excited about them here in Calgary. None of their games are on radio like the Blue Jays are on Sportsnet radio. Canada got on the bandwagon when they won their NBA title in 2018 but once they fell back to their losing ways, the lethargy returned.  

That's why they need a marketing person & staff at CFL HQ. To begin to convince corporate Toronto that there are marketable stars in the CFL. It won't be easy but that's why they'd be hired. 

Edited 23 hours ago by SpeedFlex27

[Bigblue204]

59 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

I don't believe the Raptors are huge across the country. Basketball is popular but the Raptor are more of a regional Southern Ontario team. No one, unless they're super basketball fans care about them. Very few get excited about them here in Calgary. None of their games are on radio like the Blue Jays are on Sportsnet radio. Canada got on the bandwagon when they won their NBA title in 2018 but once they fell back to their losing ways, the lethargy returned.  

That's why they need a marketing person & staff at CFL HQ. To begin to convince corporate Toronto that there are marketable stars in the CFL. It won't be easy but that's why they'd be hired. 

They're definitely big across the country. Certainly not as big as when they won it all though. Games being on the radio isn't the measuring stick you think it is. I'm not sure my son even knows how to operate a radio.

[SpeedFlex27]

4 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

They're definitely big across the country. Certainly not as big as when they won it all though. Games being on the radio isn't the measuring stick you think it is. I'm not sure my son even knows how to operate a radio.

It is a measuring stick when you can listen to all 162 Jays & playoff games if they qualify on The Fan 960 here. You can also listen online. That is how you build a national fanbase. 

[Brandon]

11 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

i think number 1 is the league has to start working on a ntional level with Canadian companies to make our stars more visible. they have to get aggressive getting even ONE player on a national advertising campaign. If we see a Raptor player Scotty Barnes doing Subway commercials (Raptor players are virtually unknown across Canada), I find it hard to believe that a high profile CFL player can't do ads as well. It jut doesn't happen by itself. The league has to work with teams as well to do the same in every CFL city advertising for local car dealerships, restaurants, retailers etc. that's just a start. 

Have you not watched the last ten years of TSN?  They cycle through the same 3 commercials over and over and over and over again.   The options are limited with the amount of sponsors for the CFL.      The CFL is so niche outside of the prairies that I can't imagine a big company like Wendys or Subway attaching themselves with an expensive ad campaign featuring an unknown person like Dru Brown.  The Wendys kick to win was a successful novelty long time ago,  nowdays I don't think would even notice.  Other campaigns like the ones with save on really only draw attention from the old timers.   

TV advertising is wasted money these days,  if they are trying to attract a younger demographic then the only place they could get eyes is with social media for which the CFL and the clubs already do heavy advertising.  Honestly the best thing the CFL could do is push teams to follow the Ottawa/Winnipeg game day experiences.  

[wbbfan]

2 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

I don't believe the Raptors are huge across the country. Basketball is popular but the Raptor are more of a regional Southern Ontario team. No one, unless they're super basketball fans care about them. Very few get excited about them here in Calgary. None of their games are on radio like the Blue Jays are on Sportsnet radio. Canada got on the bandwagon when they won their NBA title in 2018 but once they fell back to their losing ways, the lethargy returned.  

That's why they need a marketing person & staff at CFL HQ. To begin to convince corporate Toronto that there are marketable stars in the CFL. It won't be easy but that's why they'd be hired. 

They aren’t. Even pre championship the raptors were huge out to the west coast. It was Canada’s team before and only much more so since. I think you’re just out of the target demographic. The cfl couldn’t dream of the national reach the raptors have. 
 I mean it’s radio. Tsn isn’t even on the radio any more. 
 

A great marketing type would be fantastic. The type of growth the cfl needs requires many things. That’s one and honestly idk what all else. But it’s not doing great getting those people due to its small niche market. 
 If any thing, the cfl is a small regional niche market. How much of league attendance comes from Winnipeg, ssk and then bc buying butts in seats with gimmicks and cheap tickets? 60% or more? 
 If the bombers and riders market slouched back to what it was in our dark ages pre 01, the league might collapse. 

[Bigblue204]

12 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

It is a measuring stick when you can listen to all 162 Jays & playoff games if they qualify on The Fan 960 here. You can also listen online. That is how you build a national fanbase. 

Not in the 21st century it's not.

[SpeedFlex27]

20 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

Not in the 21st century it's not.

No, of course not. Why would Rogers Sportsnet in the 21st Century spend tens of millions on a sports radio network across Canada to build a national audience for the Blue Jays? Why would the Bombers & Jets have radio networks paying for the rights if it meant nothing? We know how much the 3 telecommunications companies love laying off staff. Anyway, it's always easy to be a Statler or Waldorf. At least wbbfan & I are knocking ideas back & forth to raise ideas for discussion about how the CFL can raise its profile across the country. What's yours? 

11 hours ago, wbbfan said:

They aren’t. Even pre championship the raptors were huge out to the west coast. It was Canada’s team before and only much more so since. I think you’re just out of the target demographic. The cfl couldn’t dream of the national reach the raptors have. 
 I mean it’s radio. Tsn isn’t even on the radio any more. 
 

A great marketing type would be fantastic. The type of growth the cfl needs requires many things. That’s one and honestly idk what all else. But it’s not doing great getting those people due to its small niche market. 
 If any thing, the cfl is a small regional niche market. How much of league attendance comes from Winnipeg, ssk and then bc buying butts in seats with gimmicks and cheap tickets? 60% or more? 
 If the bombers and riders market slouched back to what it was in our dark ages pre 01, the league might collapse. 

That may happen if we have another Commissioner as bad as Randy Ambrosie was. The league has to do something about the Stamps. From a city twenty years ago that averaged 30,000 fans a game & a dominant CFL team to the shell of what they are today. It's incredible how ownership just continues to thumb its nose at the City. 

Edited 9 hours ago by SpeedFlex27

[wbbfan]

26 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

No, of course not. Why would Rogers Sportsnet in the 21st Century spend tens of millions on a sports radio network across Canada to build a national audience for the Blue Jays? Why would the Bombers & Jets have radio networks paying for the rights if it meant nothing? We know how much the 3 telecommunications companies love laying off staff. Anyway, it's always easy to be a Statler or Waldorf. At least wbbfan & I are knocking ideas back & forth to raise ideas for discussion about how the CFL can raise its profile across the country. What's yours? 

That may happen if we have another Commissioner as bad as Randy Ambrosie was. The league has to do something about the Stamps. From a city twenty years ago that averaged 30,000 fans a game & a dominant CFL team to the shell of what they are today. It's incredible how ownership just continues to thumb its nose at the City. 

They've been spending it because it was built in when the current powers that be took over; they've also been gutting those programs left, right, and centre. 

There are very few instances where radio is still desired across Canada. Most are finite niches like the bombers on Cjob, and most are for people far older than the target demo. 

The money that goes into radio from those channels today would be better spent on a podcast series hosted on a streaming service and YouTube. 

 

I think the big hope with this new commish is that he has the media chops to push our product. Randy talked big about the US TV deal and growing outside the Canadian market, but didn't accomplish much. 

The big thing with the CFL is we need to get the younger demos to games. Places like here and Ott have succeeded by growing our game day experience and branding in the younger generation with an inclusive, amazing experience. The best way I know to do that is to engage that demo in mediums they care about. I think fun events with players like the QB challenge is a great way to personalize and humanize the players. Whereas the leagues 1 one-year contracts can kind of dehumanize guys and relegate them to a number on a jersey, doing a job. 

 The WWE is doing some stuff these days to bring fans closer to their product. Shows like Next Gen, LFG, and the forthcoming Unreal. Formula 1 did this very successfully, and the UFC originally grew a lot out of the TUF show. We've seen some shows that go behind the scenes with 1 team for a season, which have been very well regarded. But that has a limited, regional impact.

I'd like to see a show/webseries, etc that follows, say, 4 teams. 1 team at the bottom that has a decent chance to grow, maybe the off-season champion, Edmonton type, 2 contenders, and 1 other playoff team. If teams fall off, they get relegated, and you swap in another. 

A show that follows all the teams at some of the US tryouts and into the pre-season would be great too. 

The new generation's target demographic wants more than bodies wearing a number.  They don't as much watch for the patch on the front of the jersey vs the name on the back; they want to be immersed in a deep story. They want more reasons to care than regional rivalry and pride. 

[bigg jay]

1 hour ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

No, of course not. Why would Rogers Sportsnet in the 21st Century spend tens of millions on a sports radio network across Canada to build a national audience for the Blue Jays? Why would the Bombers & Jets have radio networks paying for the rights if it meant nothing? We know how much the 3 telecommunications companies love laying off staff. Anyway, it's always easy to be a Statler or Waldorf. At least wbbfan & I are knocking ideas back & forth to raise ideas for discussion about how the CFL can raise its profile across the country. What's yours? 

You may want to go look at that "national" network - Sportsnet Radio consists of a grand total of 3 cities (Vancouver, Calgary & Montreal).  Even the Blue Jays Radio Network is more regional than national with most of the stations being in Ontario.  In Calgary, you have both but we have neither in MB so how are they building an audience here (or the many other places that don't have their radio service)?

[Bigblue204]

2 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

No, of course not. Why would Rogers Sportsnet in the 21st Century spend tens of millions on a sports radio network across Canada to build a national audience for the Blue Jays? Why would the Bombers & Jets have radio networks paying for the rights if it meant nothing? We know how much the 3 telecommunications companies love laying off staff. Anyway, it's always easy to be a Statler or Waldorf. At least wbbfan & I are knocking ideas back & forth to raise ideas for discussion about how the CFL can raise its profile across the country. What's yours? 

My idea is to not use media no one under 20 years of age uses.

[wbbfan]

1 hour ago, Bigblue204 said:

My idea is to not use media no one under 20 years of age uses.

Thats it then, time for a cfl Tik Tok campaign. 😂

[TBURGESS]

8 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Thats it then, time for a cfl Tik Tok campaign. 😂

Actually, a Tik Tok campaign is more likely to reach the intended audience than a radio campaign. 

[Noeller]

24 minutes ago, TBURGESS said:

Actually, a Tik Tok campaign is more likely to reach the intended audience than a radio campaign. 

It's true... Radio is reaching the market that already exists. It's the same philosophy for booking half time shows... You're not appealing to the market you already have. You need to bring in the audience that isn't there... TikTok for marketing, and some hot young pop star that nobody over 40 has heard of for your half time show...

[GCn20]

Tik Tok is so 2022.....us old guys trying to keep up with our teenagers just learn an app like Tik Tok to find out they've all moved on from that now.

[Stickem]

38 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

Tik Tok is so 2022.....us old guys trying to keep up with our teenagers just learn an app like Tik Tok to find out they've all moved on from that now.

Especially tough....when you're from a generation when radio was the entertainment and no television.....This technical world spins so fast now-a days, it makes ol guys like me, wonder where the hell it's all going

Edited 4 hours ago by Stickem

[Noeller]

Adapt or die, baby.... Adapt or die. 

[rebusrankin]

Radio? That's fine for you young whippersnappers. I will take my horse and buggy to the game and then read about the team each day in the newspaper that is delivered to my mailbox.

[17to85]

23 minutes ago, Noeller said:

Adapt or die, baby.... Adapt or die. 

One death please...