Thursday’s game between the Edmonton Elks and Winnipeg Blue Bombers will see the two football teams battle for a win on the field, but a different kind of battle is happening off the field as well.
On Wednesday, CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston said the league needs to find ways to drive revenue.
“Seven of nine teams did not make money last year. That’s not a sustainable business model,” said Johnston.
The only two profitable teams in the 2024-25 season were the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Saskatchewan Roughriders. That means last year, the Edmonton Elks lost money during the season.
Johnston says, fortunately, things like TV ratings, attendance and revenues are all up across the league compared to the last few years.
“We’ve had an increase in television ratings in each of the last couple of years. From my old role I can tell you almost every league would be incredibly envious to see a growth in television ratings,” said Johnston.
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Retired CFL defensive tackle Eddie Steele says the state of the CFL is painful to hear.
Steele wants to see the league he once played in bounce back, but he says it will take more profitable business decisions.
“The CFL has traditionally been run by TSN, and I think if you can open that up and maybe have some competitiveness with other TV networks competing to try and get some rights and some viewership, there will be more dollars there,” said Steele.
For the Double EE, he says, just win.
“At the end of the day, it may sound very overly simple, but you win football games and people will come,” said Steele.
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