Beware of Redbird Capital – Just Watch the Super League Soccer Fiasco

It will also likely see Mosaic stadium sectioned off to avoid people wandering the stadium and access to concessions may be interesting to consider. For those season tickets unable to get into games, it appears the Riders may credit those games for next season.

If the vaccination rates continue to rise, then the barriers to fans in the stands goes down. I am not sure if fans will asked to wear masks at the games, the current research suggests getting Covid 19 out of doors is relatively rare as opposed to getting it indoors.

The interesting thing will be whether the Riders will insist on fans showing vaccination cards prior to gaining admittance. While those opposed to masks and vaccines will scream about their rights being violated, the Riders are within their rights about who can attend their games and safeguarding the health of players, staff and fans.

The interesting thing that would be of interest is a scenario where if teams in Ontario and Quebec are unable to host games because of public health restrictions, those teams may come out west until their home provinces are in better shape.

That may be an economic windfall for the Regina Exhibition Association who would have two teams playing out of Mosaic. Fans who are unable to attend Rider games may decide to hit games involving eastern teams because honestly, it has been over a year for any Canadian football and the novelty may bring people out.

So on Thursday is another step toward the season with the start of the NFL draft. This will feature a number of Canadians and the CFL draft differs from the American version because the higher the Canadian is drafted in the NFL, the lower they go in the CFL draft.

Everything about the NFL and CFL drafts suggests this one will be difficult to sort out due to the number of players who opted out of play last season in the NCAA, and with the cancellation of U Sport football and Junior football in Canada, combined with the cancellation of the draft combine where players can be interviewed and checked out live, where people go will be interesting.

The CFL draft is taking a new format, with teams drawing for position and the draft running in a snake format with all nine teams reversing their draft positions every other round. The Riders are drafting second and where they will go depends on their evaluation of their roster and if they feel having another Canadian DB or linebacker is a priority at the moment.

So while the machinery of the draft continues, the other news is the XFL-CFL merger talks and this past week gave people fresh food for thought.

Red Bird Capital, who along with Dwayne Johnson bought the bankrupt XFL last year, was involved in an effort to set up a new Super League in soccer. This was an effort to bring together the biggest names in European soccer in one league to rival the Union of European Football Associations Champions League.

This was nothing more than a money grab, brought along by owners of major clubs in Madrid and Barcelona who are facing a cash crunch due to their own overspending, and English clubs with a couple headed up by Americans who see fans as customers and under estimate the passionate attachment fans have towards their teams.

While the XFL CFL talks revolve around potential rule changes, the Super League story shows what happens when owners with no idea of a league or its history, or willing to do the work to ensure its financial viability, get involved for no other reason than to juice up the franchise value and in the case of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, an entrée into the NFL.

Consider how Redbird Capital was willing to go along with a plan to up end a 100-year soccer tradition in England, what stops them from trying the same thing with the CFL?

The Super League move also raises serious questions about the judgment and motivations of Redbird Capital in pursing the move. If the Super League folded within hours of it being announced and denounced by fans around the world, what would Redbird do with the CFL?

While the major Canadian cities have problems with attracting fans, it is basically due to the same thing – teams have not done their homework in looking after their season ticket holders and doing the hard work necessary to reach out to new fans.

So if say, MLSE decides it does not want to play this year, likely because it is really interesting in landing an NFL franchise instead of operating a CFL team, the most appropriate response would be to let the Argos sit out the year while the rest of the league competes.

What happens depends on finances. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats came out and said the pandemic will cost the team at least $15 million and other CFL teams are likely in the same boat.

This was on top of the rest of the CFL bailing out Montreal two years ago to the tune of $1 million apiece, more or less. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers said they lost nearly $7 million in 2020 and they had won a Grey Cup in 2019.

While the Riders have not yet released their financial statement, expect them to be in the same neighbourhood and Rider president Craig Reynolds said it will take a couple of years to grow out of debt and treat fans right to ensure their return.

The CFL went to the feds again, looking for cash, and were probably directed to whatever programs would be best for them. While the CFL has been beating the drums in trying to sound positive, bear in mind of a couple of things.

CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie has done a bit of a PR offensive, even urging members of Rider Nation to buy season tickets for whatever team is closest to where they live. That statement, made several times by Ambrosie indicates his lack of understanding of how Rider fans operate.

Outside of Saskatchewan, Rider fans usually show up for Rider games because those served as a way to reunite with fellow ex-Saskatchewan people. It’s a more social thing that is hard to replicate when you ask those people to buy season tickets for say, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Each CFL franchise has their own unique challenges, but the bottom line is CFL teams have to work to invest in current fans and cultivating future fans. The cuts to football administration may throw teams a bit of a curve, but it does not absolve them from going out and servicing their fans.

Ambrosie brought in the CFL 2.0 concept a couple of years ago to massive yawns, and the 2021 global draft had the Riders picking Christopher Ezeala (RB Germany) in the first round, fifth overall; Kaare Vedvik (P Norway) second round 14^th overall, John Henry Neil (K South Africa) 23^rd overall and Sebastien Sagne (WR Finland, fourth round 32 overall.

Apparently Vedvik, who played south of the border, was told he would be groomed to take over from Jon Ryan, the Riders punter who re-signed for another year and depending on how it goes, may stay for one more.

The regular CFL draft is next week and with teams doing virtual combine testing, this draft will be a major coin flip for teams looking who to see who will able to contribute and who isn’t. One thing to consider is there will be two rookie classes in camp at the same time, those players drafted in 2020 and those this year.

How the CFL handles this will be interesting, but I suspect there will be expanded practice rosters to handle the double co-hort and allow two years of draft choices the opportunity to mature.

The Riders will be looking to fill in gaps in their defense and offensive line. One of the latest CFL mock drafts has Logan Bandy, an offensive line from Calgary as the Riders first pick, but other mock drafts have the Riders looking at linebacker Nelson Lokombo, the U Sport defensive player of the year in 2019 whose natural position is free safety.

Both picks make sense, but a lot depends on how well the Riders scout and eliminate players with discipline problems. In the meantime, the Riders have Paul Jones, their American scout put people like QB Cody Kessler on the negotiation list and signing players who may be able to make a major contribution to the team.

How this all fits together may have to wait until July, but in the meantime, it would behoove the CFL to avoid the temptation of a quick fix from Redbird Capital and ponder the reaction of fans in Europe to the Super League and how fast teams pulled out that idea.

Randy Ambrosie may sound positive and upbeat, but for the most part, the CFL has not been particularly up front about things like a merger and the reasons why the XFL will be third time lucky. So far the results have not been encouraging.

by Greg Urbanoski

Beware of Redbird Capital – Just Watch the Super League Soccer Fiasco

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