I Guess The CFL Just Doesn't Need More Fans

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There are professional sports on the calendar 361 days of the year.

Basketball & hockey take Christmas Eve off so we can sip eggnog and sing carols.

MLB stops for 4 days in the summer to allow for the All-Star break and pitchers arms to heal.

Every other day in the year has a mixture of football, golf, baseball, basketball, soccer, and hockey. On Wednesday and Thursday this week there are a grand total of zero games scheduled in the major professional sports.
Nadda.
Nil.
Monday is the homerun derby. Tuesday is an exhibition game of AllStars. The week is clear.

I’m not sure if the CFL knows this, but sports fans like to watch sports. If said fans are faced with a choice between Chad Ochocinco catching passes in Montreal or a home run derby without PED’s on a Monday evening, they just might choose CFL Football.  At the very least, when there is a totally clear sports calendar on Wednesday and Thursday this week the CFL has a chance to grab a few extra eyeballs and advertising dollars with a full slate of games.

But alas, year after year this is a league that refuses to recognize this opportunity and doesn’t have a game scheduled until Friday. Friday night I could watch the Argos… or the Jays (as well as 29 other MLB teams) not to mention TFC and the British Open.

The CFL is a unique league with a loyal fan base, which I guess means it doesn’t feel the need to make changes due to the schedules of other leagues. Maybe the best expected return is a few more fans for one week a year. MLB goes to out of country every year to kick off the season and they only pick up a few hundred extra Australian or Japanese fans. The NFL goes to England and plays a game at 1:00 EST for they can have more eyeballs on 2 games a year. If these two leagues think it’s worth it, why not give it a chance for Canadian football.

The most ridiculous thing is that there are multiple weeks with Thursday games scheduled. The Argos play on a Tuesday in Week 8. Why on earth is there no game scheduled Tues-Thursday this week? Was Mosaic Field all booked up mid-week? I know Regina is a hopping place on a Wednesday evening in July. Ottawa and Hamilton have brand new stadiums. Are we saying that they wouldn’t want to showcase their new digs to all of North America this week? I guess the Drake and the ESPY’s might just be too big a show to take on when they air on Wednesday.

Good call CFL. You don’t need this week. You probably wouldn’t get the viewership anyway right?

Or maybe take a chance on a gift-wrapped gap in the sports world and demonstrate to a few more people what a great game we have going on up here.