CFL Commissioner: No 2020 Season "Most Likely Scenario"
While the prospect of adjusting the 2020 NFL and college football schedules is very much in play, the status of the upcoming Canadian Football League season appears more grim. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie said that the most likely scenario is that the 2020 season will be canceled completely, according to The Sports Network's David William Naylor.
"Our best-case scenario for this year is a drastically truncated season," Ambrosie said, per Postmedia's Dan Barnes. "And our most likely scenario is no season at all."
The CFL held its player draft on April 30. Previously, the league announced the suspension of its season on April 7. Two weeks later, on April 21, Ambrosie expressed optimism that there would be a season in 2020, according to Taylor Shire of Global News.
“We’re all playing for Team Canada right now,” Ambrosie said. “This is our No. 1 job, is to get this country healed and get through the crisis. And we will be back as a league.”
At the time, Ambrosie called the potential cancellation of games "devastating" for the league. Were the CFL to cancel its 2020 season, it would require $150 million to position itself to be prepared for the 2021 season, according to Taylor. During normal operations, the commissioner said that teams lose between $10 million to $20 million per season, according to Devin Heroux of CBC News.
Whenever the CFL can return to playing, Ambrosie hopes the league can serve the country as a means to help heal from the coronavirus pandemic, as people strive for a return to normalcy.
"Whenever it comes, we want our next Grey Cup, Canada’s 108th, to be the place where we can all celebrate that we did get through this," Ambrosie said, per Heroux. "And that Canada is back."