COVID-19 : How it could impact Lions/CFL

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Belize City Lion
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I don't understand why everyone assumes that a hub city scenario means the teams pick up the costs for food and housing for the season. When a player from Anywhere USA gets signed by the BC Lions he has to find and pay for his own housing in Vancouver because that's where his job is based. So if everyone knows that their job for 2020 will be based in Regina or Winnipeg, then why shouldn't they have to take care of their own living expenses in those cities? If a player gets traded mid-season neither team picks up the tab for a hotel and meals for that player, it's just the nature of the business. The upside to a hub city scenario is if you get traded you won't have to move.

How would it be any different if the BC Lions relocated to Halifax just prior to the season? They wouldn't be putting the team up at the Halifax Sheraton for the season, right?

Now there will be a few veteran players who own homes in the city where their team is located and they may need special consideration. But there is no reason why any team should have to pay for hotels and meals for the entire roster.
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BC 1988
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KnowItAll wrote:
Sat Jun 27, 2020 10:39 pm
JohnnyMusso wrote:
Sat Jun 27, 2020 4:37 pm
I know the premier of Alberta was on board with waiving the 14 day Quarantine period, unlike BC. But in my view, no way Edmonton will be selected a Hub City. The NHL is not going to play their major tournament in a small Canadian city. If any Canadian city is selected it will be Toronto. As for the CFL, it is looking more and more likely there will be no season and maybe no CFL again, if David Braley's assessment is correct, that the league cannot survive a cancelled season.
what has the size of the city got to do with anything as long as they have the needed facilities?
Toronto had been the Canadian NHL favorite (due to existing league infrastructure has always been there) but the COVID numbers worked against that. Then this happened:
https://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/1979145
Resubmitted bid makes them a front-runner, and canceled out Vancouver. (As Blake Price said Friday, Vancouver wouldn't/couldn't guarantee that "the show must go on" would prevail in the face of cases in the bubble.)

NHLPA has still not voted in favor of the bubbles yet (and the league is late in making their final 2 hub selections--probably Mon-Tues now). With surging numbers in the US (including Las Vegas), there is talk that EDM/TOR could be an all-Canadian hosting.

That would make the most sense if they want to have the best chance of success.
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Unless I'm missing something the whole concept of the hub city idea Belize is that the entire organization will be sequestered into the same "bubble" facility for both sleeping and eating. It pretty much defeats the purpose of the hub city concept if players can simply find any rental accommodations they choose and be totally free to cavort around town for food and other things in their spare time. They can do that at home. Seems like you're saying instead of players renting a living space in say Surrey it will be the same difference to them as paying whatever rates the chosen bubble hotel in the chosen bubble city is demanding. Obviously new signings are unlikely to have already established themselves in Vancouver but we do know of several players who haven't exactly established themselves continued to live in the lower mainland through the offseason. Guys like Peter Godber, Phillip Norman and Claudell Louis are just a few who currently call Vancouver home.

There are also a whole bunch of other things the CFL would have to negotiate out of the CBA. Trades? Per the CBA teams have obligations to cover moving expenses for players traded regardless of in-season or out-of-season. They won't get off the hook for that if they happen to trade a player sequestered in a hub city. Depending on the player and his situation he may still have to permanently relocate at some point as a result of the trade especially if the player is under contract beyond this season or chooses to extend with the acquiring team. Even under normal circumstances a player who maintains a residence in the location of his former team is unlikely to relocate mid-season if traded. They would deal with that after the season is over. A Lions player could be eligible for anywhere from the lesser of actual costs or $3000 to relocate to Calgary or Edmonton on up to the lesser of actual costs or $7000 to relocate to any of the 4 East Div clubs. Those would be the maximums and are based on the player actually relocating. Same rules apply in the instance of a team actually relocating. In the hypothetical of the Lions relocating to Halifax any players permanently relocating would be eligible for restitution under the same sort of guidelines as a player who has been traded. Only difference would be that presumably they'd be eligible for even more compensation than the $7000 max they'd get to move to the current eastern outpost of Montreal. All of these circumstances are covered in the CBA.
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https://www.tsn.ca/radio/vancouver-1040 ... -1.1490871
Farhan on with Donnie & the Moj today. Winnipeg as the single hub city location is still the preferred option they had been most seriously considering, but they are also dreaming about Hamilton-Burlington (using empty U Sports facilities) now. He says it's possibly due to wanting to have a West and East hub. The leaving the hub later dream is also persisting (gambling on provincial health authorities coming through later in the year).

He concluded that still not deciding on one option as of this date is the biggest concern--too much remains to be worked out.
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B.C.FAN
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BC 1988 wrote:
Tue Jun 30, 2020 12:40 pm
https://www.tsn.ca/radio/vancouver-1040 ... -1.1490871
Farhan on with Donnie & the Moj today. Winnipeg as the single hub city location is still the preferred option they had been most seriously considering, but they are also dreaming about Hamilton-Burlington (using empty U Sports facilities) now. He says it's possibly due to wanting to have a West and East hub. The leaving the hub later dream is also persisting (gambling on provincial health authorities coming through later in the year).

He concluded that still not deciding on one option as of this date is the biggest concern--too much remains to be worked out.
Hamilton and Ottawa would both be good choices for an eastern hub if the CFL adopts that model. Both cities have relatively low COVID case counts. Here are the latest public-health figures on active COVID cases by CFL city or local health region:

WEST
257 - Edmonton
239 - Calgary
58 - Vancouver (VCH) 150 total Lower Mainland including Fraser Health
12 - Winnipeg
0 - Regina

EAST
?? - Montreal (25,157 across Quebec)
795 - Toronto
61 - Hamilton
40 - Ottawa
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Hambone
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Somebody on Esksfans posted a similar conversation between Lalji and somebody on TSN1260. An advantage for something like Hamilton-Burlington vs Winnipeg might be availability of multiple facilities for teams to conduct their normal practice and meeting routines during the week. Juggling games in one stadium is easy compared to having to juggle 9 teams practicing all on the same day. That's impossible to do in one facility. Probably need at least 3 facilities to serve as practice/meeting venues.
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Murdoch
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Almost seems like there could be a reluctance in some areas of reporting deaths as covid related. Quite casual about it in my area of NW Ontario it seems.

Watch History channel long enough and there will be a show on lost civilizations. Each one sure that they were the master race. Lather, rinse, and repeat.
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Gridiron Ernie
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According to this report Winnipeg will be the hub city, if there's games in 2020. https://3downnation.com/2020/07/02/winn ... 20-report/
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B.C.FAN
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Gridiron Ernie wrote:
Thu Jul 02, 2020 5:33 pm
According to this report Winnipeg will be the hub city, if there's games in 2020. https://3downnation.com/2020/07/02/winn ... 20-report/
If that happens, it will be over the objection of the Lions.
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DanoT
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If players catch the virus during the HUB Season, then what happens?
The HUB Season is a risky venture that will likely break even financially for teams, at best.
I'm guessing the CFL goes with no season in 2020.
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Gridiron Ernie
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Was just reading through the list of prerequisites in this CFL/CFLPA communique regards there being any kind of "hub city" play in 2020, and I continue to find it unlikely there will be a football season this year. Some of the CFL-proposed timing seems unreasonable (as pointed out by the CFLPA) and a potential stone wall looms re some of the basic expectations (e.g. federal government financial support, not to mention Health Authorities OK). That said, I'll personally continue to hope for something becoming possible in 2021, and not likley before. https://3downnation.com/2020/07/04/cfl- ... -from-cfl/
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David
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Now Farhan is reporting that the league is looking toward a 6 (six!) game season with an 8 team playoff. Are you kidding me? I think Pop Warner season is longer than 6 games. It's only 2 games longer than the old preseason schedule in the 70's and 80's.

Is this all really worth it for such a short season?


DH :cool:
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TheLionKing
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It's becoming a total joke. Cancel the season and be done with it.
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BC 1988
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I don't have a problem with a 6 game season and an 8 team playoff. It's all about trying to placate the owners who want to keep financial losses low. Less games, less $$$ losses. At least they should have a better chance of accomplishing something if they do it properly.
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BC 1988 wrote:
Sun Jul 05, 2020 9:58 am
I don't have a problem with a 6 game season and an 8 team playoff. It's all about trying to placate the owners who want to keep financial losses low. Less games, less $$$ losses. At least they should have a better chance of accomplishing something if they do it properly.
Agreed. The 6-game proposal is based on hope that teams will be able to host playoff games in their home stadiums, with some fans in attendance where allowed. That might be a compromise that would receive David Braley’s support.
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