Paige Ellis

Reporter

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Two decades after getting bailed out by Tim Hortons, the Canadian Football League is no longer lurching from one financial crisis to the next, according to the league’s commissioner.

“We’re in the most stable position that we’ve ever been in,” Jeffrey Orridge told BNN in an interview ahead of the 104th Grey Cup on Sunday. “We’re actually on a launching pad for better growth and development.”

Former CFL commissioner John Tory, on the other hand, inherited a league in dire straits.

Now the mayor of Toronto, Tory recently revealed the CFL required a bailout from Tim Hortons in 1996 so the players’ Grey Cup bonus cheques wouldn’t bounce.

Now, Orridge says the CFL boasts a “stable partnership with TSN.” The TV deal, worth $40 million a year, runs until 2021.

Still, total attendance at CFL regular-season has declined each of the past three seasons; that’s a big problem for a league whose revenue, in Orridge’s words, is “gate driven.”

While some markets remain robust, notably Edmonton and Regina with average crowds for home games this year averaging more than 30,000; other franchises are struggling to attract fans.

Most notably, four out of every 10 seats were empty, on average, at Toronto Argonauts home games this season.

After recent ownership and venue changes, plus being selected as host of this year’s championship game, this was supposed to be the Argos’ turnaround year.

“If you look at where Toronto has come from, this was a year of transition,” said Orridge, noting season ticket sales doubled in 2016.

“Maybe the expectations may have been a little bit too high in retrospect, but all of the building blocks are there.”