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CFL shutdown affects a trio of former Utah stars

When the Canadian Football League announced that it was cancelling the entire season on August 17, it meant that three former Utes would be sitting out the upcoming football season

When the Pac-12 and Big Ten announced that it would be foregoing the fall college football season, in a way it set a precedent for other college conferences and professional leagues that big-time sports can postpone the fall sports season.

It appears the Canadian Football League is following that precedent when it announced on Monday, August 17 that it was cancelling the 2020 fall season.

“Our league governors decided today it is in the best long-term interests of the CFL to concentrate on the future,” CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie said in a statement from the league. “We are absolutely committed to 2021, to the future of our league and the pursuit of our vision of a bigger, stronger, more global CFL.”

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One of the main reasons for the cancelation, apart from the COVID-19 pandemic, was that the league's No. 1 resource came from ticket sales. And due to the coronavirus, that resource was essentially gone and would've made it extremely difficult to turn a profit this season.

“Even with additional support, our owners and community-held teams would have had to endure significant financial losses to play in 2020,” Ambrosie said. “Without it, the losses would be so large that they would really hamper our ability to bounce back strongly next year and beyond. The most important thing is the future of our league.”

According to Ambrosie, the league and the Canadian Football League Players’ Association had spent the past few weeks trying to work out every possible plan to have a season. But the negatives of COVID-19 far outweighed the positives of playing.

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The plan the league came up with was that the season was to be played in a bubble in Winnipeg, with the players living in a "protected" bubble that consisted of the the stadiums, practice fields and hotel.

But even if that was to happen, "the plan would require some meaningful federal government support, sign-off from public health authorities, and a new collective bargaining agreement with the Canadian Football League Players’ Association."

Canceling the season also means that former Utes John White IV (Running back, BC Lions), Troy Williams (Quarterback, Edmonton) and Dres Anderson (Wide receiver, Toronto).

“We know people have been longing for certainty. But we felt we owed it to our fans and our players to do everything we could to find a way to play this year if we could so safely and in a way that was responsible and feasible, as well as, prudent and safe," Ambrosie said. "Now the time has come to shift our focus to 2021 and beyond. We will be back. And we will use this time to ensure the CFL comes back stronger than ever.”

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