It’s no secret CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie is looking to improve fan experience, and he says the league could consider bringing in a U.S. import in the form of Johnny Manziel.

“I’m going to spend a lot of time thinking about attracting fans to our game because that is the lifeblood of what makes this work as a league,” said Ambrosie in an interview on Sportsnet 650 Wednesday. “I want to get fathers bringing their children to the game and mothers bringing their children to the game and feeling welcome.”

Speaking with Andrew Walker and Scott Rintoul, Ambrosie said Manziel, a controversial but Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback and Cleveland Browns‘ draft bust, could find a home in the CFL. In fact, Ambrosie would be “rooting” for it.

The Program Randy Ambrosie on growing CFL fandom: 'Something to learn from all the leagues' December 20 2017 Your browser does not support the audio element.



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“We are not going to short-circuit any steps in this,” he said. “We want to do right by Johnny. He’s a phenomenal athlete […] but with some of the things that have happened in his life, we would want to bring him in if he was ready for us and we’d obviously want to say to any market he happened to be hanging his hat in, we’d want to people in that community to know that […] if he joins us, he’s ready to not only be a great pro football player but a great contributor to the community.

“If and when our experts advise us he’s ready, obviously we’d be excited to make that announcement.”