This week it was announced that the Canadian Football League was asking the federal government for $150 million in financial aid to try and make it through the COVID-19 pandemic.
CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie went in front of the House of Commons finance committee to plead the league’s case to the government.
Ambrosie was met with tough questions, resulting in the Commissioner taking, what seemed to be, a defensive stance.
Kevin Waugh, MP for Saskatoon-Grasswood, who was a part of the panel on arts, culture, sports, and charitable organizations, has been criticized for his tough stance during the hearing with Ambrosie.
Waugh joined the Sports Cage with Derek Taylor on Friday to discuss what happened, and he started by proclaiming his love for the CFL.
“We all do, its an institution, we live and breathe it,” said Waugh. “This isn’t about like or dislike, this is about the procedure that the Canadian Football League has gone through to ask taxpayers of Canada for up to $30 million this year, and maybe an additional $120 million.”
Waugh said that, as a former sports broadcaster, he naturally migrated towards asking questions about the CFL.
He adds that one of the main questions he was trying to get an answer to was, is the CFL asking for a bailout or a loan, to which he says Ambrosie was ill-prepared.
“If it’s a loan, that means some of that, or all of that, would be paid back at some time, if it’s a bailout, that’s fine, what’s involved?” said Waugh. “I think that’s where Randy (Ambrosie) wasn’t prepared because that was the first question, is it a bailout or a loan, and he skirted around that.”
Waugh said that $5 million out of the $30 million that the league is asking for would go towards the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy.
He added that while, obviously, the league would take a massive hit if no football is played in 2020, the real question is how will fans respond when, and if, the CFL does return?
“Will people come back to the stadiums in droves like they were before the pandemic, will they come back when all of this is done?” asked Waugh. “Or are we going to see a limited number of fans because of the issue with the virus?”
Waugh says that some solutions that we could see include a partnership between the government and the CFL, which could include government ads in stadiums, and players possibly doing public service announcements. Another one could be some of the independent owners in the league providing funding until play can resume.
