Even if the pandemic continues to wreak havoc in Quebec, the Alouettes leaders are already preparing for the next season of their training. However, many questions remain unanswered at this time.
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General Manager Danny Maciocia continues to shop for a competitive team in the field. On Wednesday, Alouette announced seven deals with Canadian players, including Quebec Jean Samuel Blanc and Felix Faubier-Lucier.
Football operations go almost as usual. Despite the small team, the same situation prevails on the second floor with President Mario Cecini.
Next month, he is scheduled to meet the coach in charge of the amateur experience at Percival Molson during the matches. With him, Seskene will discuss half-time offers, but also stadium organization.
“Our goal is to play our matches with the spectators,” Cicini assured Montreal Magazine. Before considering this path, we will follow the evolution of the epidemic in the coming months. “
Outdoor playground
For now, he has yet to do any scenarios with 25, 50, 75 or even 100% of the seating capacity at Percival-Molson Stadium. Last spring, it was reported that Alois would have welcomed between 6,500 and 7,000 in their home while respecting social distancing.
“The key in our file, which will be handed over to public health, is our outdoor playground,” said Cechini. Moreover, this is the case of eight teams of nine in our circuit.
Several things could happen in the coming months. We’ll also see the percentage of the population that will be vaccinated here and in the rest of Canada. “
The president specifies that communication is open with public health in Quebec and government authorities.
“We have a good line of communication with them. We are willing to share information with other organizations like CF Montreal. On the other hand, I don’t think we need to join forces with them in order for us to be heard in public health.”
In the coming weeks, Cecchini will work on a return to protocol to play to please Horacio Arruda and his team. The other CFL teams will do the same for their respective provinces.
It is not excluded that Commissioner Randy Ambrose should also submit a detailed protocol to Health Canada. In short, there is still a lot of work to do before the start of the 2021 season scheduled for June 10.
Decisive spectator
Cecchini’s plan is not far from reality. Away from this. While Major League Baseball, the NFL, and the NBA are able to play games behind closed doors, the Canadian Football League does not live in the same economic reality.
The amount of her TV rights is very far from that of the four major professional leagues. They have lost hundreds of millions in the past year despite their generous television contracts. For CFL, the option to play behind closed doors is not realistic unless you wish to jeopardize the league’s sustainability.
Moreover, according to our information, this is the last option that CFL owners are considering. They are well aware that they will be headed for bigger losses than they were in 2020. They don’t want to live the same nightmare again.
To ensure a certain profitability for their operations, they need revenue from tickets and their in-stadium perks. They are crucial to their budgets.
The epidemiological situation will continue to be an important component of decision-making by leaders. Are we witnessing another postponement of the training camps and the regular season? not impossible.
For now, Mario Siskinho is not considering pessimistic scenarios. Instead, he’s focusing his efforts on building his case to convince public health in the coming weeks.