‘We want to share the love:’ Ambrosie talks CFL in Atlantic Canada

The CFL is once again looking to have a good time in the Maritimes.

Touchdown Atlantic is set for Saturday in Halifax, where the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Toronto Argonauts are to collide. Those teams also played in the annual game last season, when it was held in Wolfville, N.S.

“Everywhere you go, there’s a buzz and of course it’s all for us,” CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie told The Green Zone’s Jamie Nye from Halifax on Thursday. “We are sowing some seeds, we want to share the love and we want to share our game with this great region.”

The league wants to share more than that with Nova Scotia this weekend. That province is still reeling after recent flooding, and the CFL is looking to help out in any way it can.

Purolator, one of the league’s partners, is running a Tackle Hunger program at Saturday’s game. Ambrosie said all of the donations are to go to Feed Nova Scotia.

As well, the hope is that events surrounding the game — from a Riderville party to pre-game tailgating to the energy of fans travelling to Halifax — will provide a welcome distraction for residents.

“The Riders, the Argos and the league have been in discussion with the Red Cross here and looking for ways to use the game as a platform to help support the community …,” Ambrosie said. “We want to do what the CFL is so good at and that is being good community partners.”

Of course, the league currently isn’t in any communities in the Maritimes, and that’s something it has been looking to change.

Ambrosie has long been a champion of putting a franchise in Atlantic Canada to give the league 10 teams from coast to coast. Nothing has come to fruition, but Ambrosie said talks are continuing.

“We have had a lot of discussions with a group of community leaders who have frankly volunteered to help guide us,” he said. “Those meetings and discussions have been ongoing for months now.

“They’ve really helped us. They’ve really helped us to understand the community, they’ve connected us with some influential decision-makers and that has been exceptionally positive.”

But after saying the league has identified some potential owners for a team in the Maritimes, Ambrosie noted the clock is ticking on possible expansion to that region.

“At some point, you have to know whether or not the current version of the Atlantic expansion dream is possible,” he said. “You can’t let it go on in perpetuity. This area has got a history with fishing, so let’s use ‘fish or cut bait’ as a frame of reference.

“At some point, you do have to say, ‘Can it happen?’ And if it can, you move forward and if it can’t, you are not mad, you’re not angry, you’re perhaps a bit disappointed, but you always leave the door open for the future. But there is a time at which you just have to say, ‘You know what? We’re going to turn our attention elsewhere.’ ”

The commissioner volunteered that Quebec City could be a possibility, given its history of quality football and passion for the game. The Laval Rouge et Or have been a U Sports powerhouse for the past two decades.

But it’s all pie in the sky at the moment.

“We’re here (in Halifax) and we’re excited and we would love to be here,” Ambrosie said, “and we are going to open the doors for conversations in places like Quebec City as well so that we keep all of our options open.”

The numbers game

The CFL has had trouble all season with its statistics – as in there haven’t been any on the league’s website.

Fans have been frustrated with the absence of the numbers, as has the commissioner.

“To everyone who has been disappointed with the stats so far, I’ll apologize to them in a large group and I’ll apologize to each one of them in person when I get the chance because I’ve been disappointed too,” Ambrosie said. “I know we’ve let them down, but the good news is that there’s better days ahead.”

The league partnered with Genius Sports to produce its stats, but the company’s programs were designed for four-down American football, not the three-down Canadian game.

That led to more than a few hiccups early on as stats crews tried to plug numbers into a program that wasn’t compatible.

“I’m not going to suggest where any of the fault would lie,” Ambrosie said when asked if Genius had underestimated the difference between the two games. “Look, this is CFL stats, it’s a CFL system and ultimately it was on us to get the platform up and running.”

Ambrosie said the system was beset by “crazy, bad luck” and some glitches in the early days. He now believes everything has been worked out, although historical stats likely will be delayed until late August or early September.

“It has been harder to make this conversion than we expected …,” Ambrosie said. “But I also know that what’s coming down the road and the opportunity that will come with this new platform is going to open a lot of doors to enhancing our fans’ experience on stats and opening opportunities to attract new fans with a more dynamic platform.”