There will be 2021 schedule

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This article was published 16/11/2020 (1786 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Randy Ambrosie was asked many things on Monday by fans and members of the media, but the CFL commissioner likely left most people with more questions than answers.  

Ambrosie gave an update on the state of the CFL Monday afternoon in an online interview with TSN’s Sara Orlesky, followed by a Q & A session with fans to kick off Grey Cup Unite — a week-long virtual event run by the league.

While Ambrosie shared optimism that a 2021 season will happen, he didn’t dive into the specifics on what the league has accomplished these past few months to ensure it will. The Free Press had a one-on-one phone call with the commissioner later in the day and the details continued to remain vague, but Ambrosie stated he’s proud of what the league has accomplished during its time away from the gridiron in 2020.

“I won’t be as specific as you want me to (be), but I think we’ve found millions of dollars in cost efficiencies,” Ambrosie told the Free Press.

“I think that’s going to make our league better. That was a chance for us to really look at ‘How do we work better together?’ We have found, during the efforts of our efficiency committee, we have literally found millions of dollars worth of things we can do together differently that’ll make the league better going forward. So, that’s a specific example of something that’s happened. We’re looking at everything. When we get back to planning for the season, which we are now moving towards, it’s going to make us stronger.”

In Ambrosie’s “state of the CFL” address, as well as his one-on-one interview, he mentioned several times that there’s been some encouraging news on COVID vaccines. Moderna, an American biotech company, announced Monday they have a vaccine that appears to be 94.5 per cent effective, according to preliminary data. Last week, Pfizer Inc., an American pharmaceutical corporation, made a similar announcement.

“On the strength of what’s happened in the medical world in these past few weeks and certainly today’s announcement, I think it’s going to allow us to be a little more specific with our planning moving forward,” Ambrosie said. “I don’t know if I’m giving you everything you want, but I feel very good about the work the league has done and I think we are going to have a better business model going forward and one that will allow us to reach our full potential.”

While the vaccine updates are promising, the CFL can’t put all its eggs into that basket. Even if the vaccines are as effective as claimed it’s a very long way to having them distributed to the general populace.

Ambrosie was asked if he’s confident they can still play football if a vaccine isn’t ready in time.

“You have to look at all the things that can contribute to a scenario that gets us back on the field in 2021. We’re going to be planning accordingly. We’re going to be looking at a lot of ways to get fans into the stadiums, to get them into the stadiums safely, so we can play in front of our fans, which is of course what everyone wants. It’s not an all-in bet on one thing,” Ambrosie said.

“It’s planning for a lot of things, being fairly conservative in our assumptions, and allowing us, with some optimism, that there’s light at the end of the tunnel.”

Despite all the uncertainty, the league will be unveiling a 2021 game schedule shortly. While Ambrosie said things such as playing games in a “bubble” are still on the table, for the time being, the schedule will look no different than any other year, with teams playing an 18-game season in all nine CFL stadiums across the country.

“We’re going to publish a normal CFL schedule and that’s us putting our best foot forward and yes, an optimistic foot forward to be sure. Look, we don’t have all the answers. We know there are things we don’t know today, but that’s the way you start a process. You talk to public health officials, you embrace the good news that’s happened, you hope for more good news going forward, and then you let this unfold,” Ambrosie said. 

“But again, your scenarios that you plan for, don’t necessarily have to be optimal. It’s not like we have to have 100 per cent of what we want to get back on the field. We’re just looking at a combination of factors that will allow us to return to play in 2021 and get this league heading in a great direction. We’ll put out a schedule. It’s a good confirmation to all of our fans that our intentions are to play and that we’re optimistic and that we’ll adjust accordingly.”

Ambrosie was supposed to be at Mosaic Stadium in Regina on Sunday to hand out the Grey Cup to the league’s 2020 champs. But once Sunday hits, Ambrosie said he won’t be thinking about where he was supposed to be. Instead, he’s focused on the 2021 championship game that’s scheduled for Hamilton.

“I’m going to be thinking about Hamilton in 2021 because I think Hamilton is going to deliver a Grey Cup for all Canadians… It’s going to be a chance for us to have a national celebration, a coming out from underneath this virus and acknowledging that we’re going to be heading in the right direction. That’s what I’m going to think about.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31