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Ambrosie admits it’s a concern that there is no CBA currently and there’s talk of a potential disruption to training camps and the start of the season, but he’s confident a deal can be worked out.

“I want our teams to be at their absolute best when they go to training camp and start the season and anything that stands in the way of them doing that is a concern to me,” Ambrosie said.

“Ultimately I have lots of confidence that what the players want and what we want at the league are basically the same thing. We want a big, strong Canadian Football League, we want to grow the league.”

ATTENDANCE WOES

Attendance was terrible in Toronto last season and it wasn’t a whole lot better in Montreal and Vancouver. It was down across the board and has been declining for years. The league is not blind to the problem.

“We’re gonna talk about it,” Ambrosie said. “We want to involve our coaches and GMs in the discussion about how we grow the game. How do we get more fans to experience just how great our game is, how do we create a better fan experience. Absolutely, that’s gonna be front and centre because it has to be talked about. Frankly, CFL 2.0 is part of that.”

HALIFAX UPDATE

While the Atlantic Schooners — a conditional expansion franchise — won’t be represented at the meetings, Ambrosie plans to provide an update on their progress in selling tickets and working toward building a stadium in Halifax.

“I will be meeting with them once I get back from Mexico,” Ambrosie said. “I want to do as much as I possibly can to make sure (the owners) are fully aware of what’s going on at the league. At a minimum, I’ll do an update just to give everyone a current lay of the land. Without a doubt it’s going to be a topic of discussion and it’s also something we’ll talk to the players about because if we’re bringing another team online, it’s going to create opportunities for more players.”