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Greenberg said the league’s formula will change in 2018 “and I’ll be pressing to do a little bit more.”

Bizarrely, if the Redblacks had lost the Eastern Conference final against the Edmonton Eskimos, OSEG would have been $1 million ahead.

Bernie Ashe, CEO of OSEG, explained how the costs pile up for successful playoff teams in the CFL.

“Every player has a built-in bonus the further they advance in the playoffs and for the Grey Cup. Similarly, our coaches and all of our football staff have bonuses to win a Grey Cup. That’s the major element of the additional compensation that’s incurred,” Ashe said.

“In terms of travel costs, we’re responsible as the host of the Eastern final to cover the visiting team’s travel costs.”

That meant paying for Edmonton players and staff to stay in Ottawa for several days.

OSEG then had to pay the Redblacks’ travel costs for the Grey Cup in Toronto.

“These are traditional models that were built decades ago that constitute how people are compensated, paid and the amount you get to reclaim from the league, and the net (cost) is working out to about $1 million,” Ashe said. “Previous winners of Grey Cups have posted exactly those kinds of numbers.”

Merchandise sales go up, but those sales have been coming in 2017, Ashe said. Winning a championship has also improved ticket sales for the 2017 Redblacks season and for the Grey Cup game that will be hosted at TD Place in November, he added.

As for the larger Lansdowne Park operation and the 30-year partnership with the City of Ottawa, OSEG says it’s still in a startup phase.