The CFL has sent over a new collective bargaining agreement to the CFL Players’ Association. Dan Barnes of the Postmedia quotes CFL Commission Randy Ambrose as saying if the CFLPA does not accept the offer by Thursday night, training camps will shut down.
“#CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie said if #CFLPA rejects new proposal, training camps will shut down. League will no longer house and feed players, as they had been doing during four-day work stoppage.”
TSN’s Dave Naylor has more on this situation.
“My sense from my conversation with @RandyAmbrosie is that this process is going to take a sharp turn if we get to Friday with no deal. That’s when it would get chaotic and the start of the season could come into play.#CFL #CFLPA”
The deadline for the CFLPA to accept the new proposal is midnight Eastern time on Thursday. If not, preseason games scheduled for Friday and Saturday could be canceled. The league can not afford to lose any game revenue at this time.
The sticking point to all of this drama? American football players playing in the Canadian Football League.
“One thing I’m hearing is that a lot of the players did not love the move from 6:1 ratio model to the 49 per cent model. They don’t see that as an improvement. Perhaps things move back to 6:1. Which would be a victory for simplicity.#CFL #CFLPA”
TSN Insider Farhan Lalji goes more in the the issue between American and Canadian players.
Naylor also talked about the changes to the original deal that was submitted today.
“Just spoke to commissioner @RandyAmbrosie and got details on @CFL’s new offer to players: — league provides $1 million ratification bonus to players. But removes $450k from 2022 cap and $675 in guarantees in ’28. The ’28 cap may not be affected if revenue sharing kicks-in #CFL”
The fear from Canadian players is the slippery slope, where the voting power from the players could eventually come from mostly American players. Which they fear would ultimately cost Canadian Football Players jobs in the Canadian Football League.
A lack of a ratification bonus and revenue sharing were two other issues mentioned a sticking points with players.
Late last week the CFL board of directions and CFLPA approved the agreement which was then sent to players for review. It was rejected on Monday.
CFL teams are currently still practicing. Not sure how this will all play out end the end for American and Canadian players in the locker room. We are hearing that some CFL teams’ CFLPA player reps are not popular people in the locker room at this time.
Follow CFL News Hub for the latest on this situation.
David Tress
May 25, 2022 at 12:03 pm
The entire CBA drama is the fault of the CFL head office and the owners. Imposing a $5 million salary cap for 10 years cements minor league status upon the CFL. The salary cap should be increased $1million to $2 million per team at least. Low end NFL players make more then $5 million per year. There should also be a marquee player exemption for each team to allow better off teams to sign high profile players that lure fans to the stands.