Too bad that article is wrong and that there was more like 40,000 there. By the end of the game there was 20,000, but it was all downhill once the starters were taken off.
The article is correct. There is no chance in hell 40K were there, and one guy I know who went even thought there were
fewer than 20,000. But the bigger issue is that Bob McCown said only 12,000 tickets were actually sold. That's the real bottom line.
Larry Tanebaum will be the face of ownership.
Can you feel the excitement? Anyone?? Bueller???
I bet he's absolutely terrified to front an NFL team after this fiasco, and just imagine the impact a second Toronto NHL team would have on the spending habits of Toronto sports fans.
As for a Toronto NFL team, I don't see it happening anytime soon if ever. The NFL benefits from a strong CFL because a strong CFL means a lot of football fans in Canada who also pay attention to the NFL. That's why they lent the CFL money in the 90s and why they started NFL Europe - the more football fans and leagues around the world, the more money the NFL makes. While the CFL is doing really well right now, it wasn't long ago that it was almost bankrupt and it's not that farfetched that NFL expansion would sink the whole ship. If that happened there'd be a lot fewer football fans and the NFL would make a lot less money here. The CFL is essentially giving the NFL millions of fans for free.
One reason the NFL wants the CFL healthy is that in any potential anti-trust situation, the NFL can argue that the NFL is not a monopoly since the CFL is a competing league that has been around for decades.
To the CFL's credit they did fine in 70's and (early) 80's. It was US expansion and the Ottawa crap that did them in.
It really all started when Jake Gaudaur stepped down as commissioner, and there wasn't a strong leader around after the league's last good TV contract ran out in 1986. The next decade was filled with crisis after crisis. U.S. expansion didn't work in terms of football, but it actually provided the CFL with some much needed money, though it took loans from the NFL in the late 90's to finally stabilize the CFL.
10 years ago the CFL was about to die. 20 years ago the CFL was doing well like today. The severe turn over rate turns me off. Also the fact 2/3 of the league makes the playoffs in a 8 team league. Expansion has also taken way too long.
But this is about the bills.
As for the article, do you think we need new stadiums for the Jays and 80,000 seat general stadium now?
More like 30 years ago the CFL was doing well. Ironically, the Argos had mostly mediocre teams from 72-81 but were probably the league's most profitable team.
What severe turnover rate? Players? It's hardly much different in the NFL. The average pro football career is somewhere around four years, so there's always a bunch of new players on any team.
I'm okay with so many teams making the playoffs. Reminds of the NHL in the 80s when 16 of 21 made the playoffs (which is more than 2/3). That was the last golden era of the NHL, before it turned into the corporate blob it is today.
The Leafs managed to finance the ACC, so when the Jays want a new stadium (and they will one day), they're on their own. If Rogers (a much bigger entity than MLSE) cries poor and tries to suck up to or blackmail the government, the answer had better be an emphatic no! They deserve nothing.