It’s official there will be no CFL season in 2020, making this year the first since 1919 that the Grey Cup will not be awarded.
The league confirmed what many had been assuming late Monday morning, saying “our league governors decided today it is in the best long-term interests of the CFL to concentrate on the future,” that from Commissioner Randy Ambrosie.
Reflecting back on his conversations with the federal government, Ambrosie said he doesn’t know why they couldn’t make a deal with the federal government.
“I don’t believe the problem was a lack of transparency,” shared the commissioner. “It seemed in the end that they couldn’t get done what we thought they would and what we hoped they would.”
Season ticket holders can expect to hear soon from their clubs with news on how they can apply their deposits to next season or other offers.
The #CFL announces that there will not be a shortened season played this fall.
FULL STATEMENT | https://t.co/iq4JNXU20p pic.twitter.com/OE4R4AHZdQ
— CFL (@CFL) August 17, 2020
Sunday night news broke that Ottawa had denied a $30-million interest free loan request from the league that would’ve been used to stage a shortened 2020 campaign.
With COVID-19 making it impossible to have fans in the seats for games the league decided it was to difficult financially to run a season.A
Ambrosie mentioned on Monday that he believes there will be no changes to who’s playing in the league moving forward.
“We obviously have some challenges to overcome, but I am confident that we will have nine teams take the field in 2021.”
He added that without financial support, losses would be so large that they would really hamper the league’s ability to bounce back strongly next year and beyond.
Ambrosie reiterated that the future of the league is the greatest concern at this point in time.
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