CFL’s New Broadcasting Deal

With the Riders on their first of back-to-back bye weeks, I was really wondering what I was going to write about today. And like a gift from above, Stewart Johnton came along a dropped a bombshell on the CFL world. A massive new broadcasting deal with TSN, DAZN and YouTube with major dollars attached. I (perhaps naively) thought this would be viewed as universally good news (because it is). But like pretty much everything Johnston touches it has divided fans. It has brought out all kinds of opinions ranging from right, to disagree but understandable, to so wrong I’m thought for a minute I accidentally ended up on truth social.

And when bad takes abound that means its time for another edition of Addressing Uninformed Opinions aka Everyone Is Stupid But Me.

Now I should say that not everyone is stupid. Many, many people had good takes on the broadcasting deal. Most correctly see the massive influx of cash as good for the stability of the league and for the players. But some people really hate change in any kind. They also really hate the idea of streaming, paying money for anything and probably think Ouelette should cut his hair like Johnny Unitas. 

Point #1 – I, like most people, don’t like change but I understand that it is a necessity. The idea that the League could change absolutely nothing and somehow more money would just magically appear is ridiculous . The league has been doing that for decades and look where it got them (remember when Ambrose asked the federal government for money). Its literally been this:

 

If we want the League to grow and prosper they need to do new things. We keep crying for new things but then hating the things they do try. Global initiative, hated it. Rules changes, hated it. Playoff changes, hated it. If I can explain things using another Simpsons meme, this is essentially what CFL fans want when it comes to change:

 

Change is good, like getting on streaming. This may sound harsh but from a purely business perspective, most of those refusing to watch CFL on streaming will not be alive long enough to be a revenue source for the league much longer. We need new fans. 

Point #2 -  “But I Have To Pay More Money” Look I am empathetic to those with limited discretionary spending, it will impact them for sure. But the unfortunate reality is that for the League to make more money it means people need to spend more money. There is no magic money fairy out there that will create wealth out of thin air. For the CFL to make more money they either need current fans to spend more or they need to attract new fans. That’s it. I just saved you thousands of dollars on an intro to business class. I believe Johnston is going to make the league very financially successful but the money they bring in comes from somewhere and that somewhere is fans and advertisers/sponsors. And spoiler alert, advertisers and sponsors only advertise and sponsor because they believe it will lead to them getting more money from people. DAZN will be great for exposing CFL to a wider audience but they ain’t a charity. They are investing big time because they think it will grow their revenue. Again, not from the money fairy but from fans spending more money. 

Point #3 – “Too much change” I am admittedly a traditionalist and love the CFL the way it was. But understand the need to change in order to grow. I have not agreed with all of Johnston’s moves but I assure you he has been deliberately building to this moment since taking the job. I would prefer if 8 teams didn’t make the playoffs but Johnston deliberately added more playoff games to make the CFL TV rights more profitable. More content, more $. Without all the other changes this deal is worth a ton less money.   

So hate Johnston all you want. He was hired to make the owners more money and he is delivering. This is great news for the League as a whole. Besides if you don’t want to pay for DAZN you just do what everyone else does and mooch off a buddies account.