Is anybody else worried about the CFL?

Specifically, attendance is suffering. People aren’t going; through seven games, the average crowd is about 22,000. And that number might be off because the CFL seems reluctant to reveal crowd sizes, not even including attendance in its boxscores.

The Toronto Argonauts played their rivals, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and honoured retired quarterback Ricky Ray. There appeared to be more people on the sidelines than in the stands while the home team lost by 50 points.

Opening-game crowds were low in Calgary, Vancouver and Edmonton. The Montreal Alouettes lost so much money that their venerable owner, Bob Wetenhall, handed them to the league. It’s still a great game to watch, but on-field craziness and off-field labour unrest, plus the league’s inability to market its players’ personalities, haven’t helped engage prospective ticket buyers.

The CFL used to depend heavily on gate receipts. A hefty TV contract with TSN now covers most of the bills, but how valuable will that next deal be if teams can’t draw bigger crowds?