CFL Commissioner Gives ‘Very Positive’ Update on Discussions With XFL

The commissioner of the CFL has given an update on the league’s discussions with the XFL, which he says have been “very positive.” Randy Ambrosie spoke with the Canadian Football League’s website and discussed the formal talks that were first announced back in March.

“Our discussions with the XFL have been very positive,” Ambrosie said. “What we’re focused on is really understanding what this opportunity might look like. If I back up from there, one of the things that I shared with an alumni group that I spoke with at their annual general meeting last night was what has become increasingly obvious to me is that the business of our league has never been as good as the players who play our game and the game itself.”

He continued, “What we’re looking at and what we’ve been working on on our own is improving our business model. We’ve made a lot of adjustments in the past number of months to make sure that we’ve got the best business model possible. The discussions with the XFL are really focused on that. How would working together help to improve the business model? When you get that answer, you have nearly an infinite list of possibilities on how you would make it work. What our fans really deserve and what our amateur football partners really deserve is a business that’s as good as our game. That’s what we’re working to deliver here.

“We don’t have those answers today but we do know that we are working with world class people. Every time you are on a call with them, you are struck by how genuine, authentic, how sincere they are in trying to determine if there is an opportunity to do better, do better together in some form. That’s been the spirit of our discussion so far.”

The interview came as the CFL announced on Thursday that their 2021 season will kick off on August 5th, a delay due to COVID-19.