Canadian Football League Commissioner Randy Ambrosie told TSN 690’s Joey Alfieri at the CFL Meetings Tuesday the league’s upcoming combine and draft in Mexico is part of a plan where the league is thinking big.

“It’s about growing our game,” Ambrosie told TSN 690. “It’s about the potential for international TV contracts. It’s about attracting a new generation of fans who might not have come before but now will see a young player from Mexico playing on their team … and might come and play.”

I liked this quote from @RandyAmbrosie on growing CFL internationally: "It was estimated that Yao Ming has had a billion-dollar impact on the NBA. We don't know where our Yao Ming is, but there's a CFL Yao Ming out there. Let's go get him." — Joey Alfieri (@joeyalfieri) January 9, 2019

The CFL and Mexico's Liga de Futbol Americano Professional (LFA) will host a combine Jan. 13 for pros and university seniors hoping to play in Canada, with a draft to follow the next day.

Ambrosie mentioned two other sports leagues that experienced success when they started thinking internationally.

“The NBA, the big story of their success is that they’ve gone to an international approach,” Ambrosie told Alfieri. “The Premier League went to an international formula.”

The commissioner also said making inroads in Mexico could help grow and strengthen the league.

“The best thing we can possibly do in respect to (the Alliance of American Football and XFL) coming is to have the best and strongest Canadian Football League possible. And that’s why we have to work on our own strategy. We have to focus on growing our game.”