THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO — Mark Cohon believes the NFL coming to Toronto is a very real threat to his league and the CFL commissioner is prepared to tackle it head on.
Cohon made the frank admission at the commissioner’s annual Grey Cup news conference Friday, marking the first time the league has publicly taken such a definitive stance on the issue.
Should the NFL head north of the border on a permanent basis, Cohon would look to establish a partnership between the two leagues to preserve the CFL’s future.
"All of the tea leaves are indicating that it’s shifting," Cohon said. "You have guys like Ted Rogers and Larry Tanenbaum and Phil Lind, very powerful Canadians who are interested, you have an owner in Ralph Wilson in Buffalo who has said, `When I die, my estate will sell the franchise,’ you have the Bills interested in marking Toronto as part of their territory, which I believe is indication that, `Hey this our territory, we don’t want another NFL team coming here.’
"So I think there’s all these things lining up as an indication that it could happen. So, I’m not sticking my head in the sand, that would be the worst thing for the CFL commissioner to do. So I think there’s a real potential."
Last month, Wilson unveiled a plan at an NFL owners meeting for the Bills to play eight games (three exhibition, five regular season) over five years at the Rogers Centre, starting next season. Earlier in the summer, the 89-year-old Wilson announced he wouldn’t sell the Buffalo franchise in his lifetime but that it would be sold the highest bidder upon his death.
Talk of the NFL coming to Toronto has existed since the 1970s. But the combination of Wilson’s statement, the Bills’ playing regular-season games at Rogers Centre, the strength of the Canadian dollar and deep pockets of the Toronto NFL group headed up by Rogers and Tanenbaum has many believing the NFL’s arrival here is inevitable.
Toronto Argonauts owners David Cynamon and Howard Sokolowski obviously think so, too. They’ve spoken to Cohon and the other league owners about buying an NFL franchise for Toronto to ensure the Argos’ long-term survival in the city.
The overwhelming belief is that if the NFL does come to Toronto, it will not only spell the end of the Argos and Hamilton Tiger-Cats, but ultimately the CFL. But Cohon said he’s speaking with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and his top priority is protecting the CFL’s eight member franchises.
"Clearly, if our franchises in southern Ontario are hurt in any way, it has a profound impact on our league," he said. "Our television deal gets re-arranged, our corporate interests get hurt.
"I’m not going to preside over a league that has a Grey Cup just out west. That’s not what I was hired to do. Any type of relationship that we have has to make sure that the eight existing franchises are strong, growing and healthy. I think southern Ontario is critical to this league and I’ll make sure I protect it and grow it.".
In the 1970s when the Toronto Northmen of the now-defunct World Football League was formed, the federal government threatened to pass legislation banning the league from operating in Canada to protect the CFL. The WFL team never played a down in Canada, instead moving to Memphis.
However, Cohon says the CFL doesn’t need the government’s assistance just yet.
"At some point, the question is when do I want to have that discussion?" he said. "For (the NFL) to work here, they know they want to help us.
"My first approach is let’s figure out what we can do and if that doesn’t work we’ll have a different discussion.".
The NFL talk overshadowed what was otherwise a decent season for the CFL. For example:
— The Grey Cup is a sellout in its first return to Toronto since 1992, with 53,000 tickets sold.
— Attendance league-wide is up. The league’s average attendance this year was 29,167, its highest number since 1983, and this is the sixth straight year CFL attendance exceeded two million spectators.
— There were 12 per cent more touchdowns scored this year compared to last. As well, there were nine special-teams TDs scored, compared to just three in 2006.
— CFL games averaged 49 total points scored, an increase of four per cent from last year.
— Bombers slotback Milt Stegall broke the CFL’s career touchdowns record while Montreal quarterback Anthony Calvillo became just the fourth player in league history to surpass 50,000 career passing yards..
But there were problems.
The league continued to have issues with officiating and was left red-faced when two players it suspended were both allowed to play due to drawn-out appeals.
Cohon said the CFL will increase its budget for the recruitment and training of officials as well as the equipment they use while also meeting with the CFL Players’ Association to discuss possibly amending the appeals process.
Cohon didn’t announce an agreement in principle for the CFL to return to Ottawa. The league remains in talks with a local group headed up by Ottawa 67’s owner Jeff Hunt but a team might not be able to begin play there until 2010 due to a re-development plan for Lansdowne Park, where Frank Clair Stadium is located.
Ideally, Cohon would like the CFL to expand to 10 teams, with either Quebec City or Halifax being prime candidates if they can get a stadium.
"The plan for Ottawa is complicated," Cohon said. "But because the league is strong now we don’t need to rush into a situation and fall down.
"I think it would be better to go from eight (teams) to 10, if we could do it but that would be predicated on building stadiums. I don’t anticipate that’s going to happen in a short period of time but I think it’s logical and a step forward is by building stadiums in those locations."
