And so the deal was made.
After one of the most intense days for the Canadian Football League in a while, the league has a new collective agreement and the 2022 CFL season is underway.
In what was the equivalent of a two-minute infraction in the boardroom, the CFL and its player association reached a provisional agreement Thursday on a new CBA for the second time in eight days. Only this time, instead of the agreement taking days to be put to a vote by the players, the matter was approved in a matter of hours.
The CFL Players Association ratified the seven-year interim agreement with the league on Thursday night, just two days after CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie presented the players with their “final offer”.
All it took was a little money and a little more guaranteed game time for Canadian players to put the CFL’s most unpleasant labor struggle in decades into the history books.
It has long been recognized that the CFLPA has a very difficult job in its hands, as its players work in a league that loses money and the brevity of football careers can make seeing the biggest cause hard to see. to many. Add to this the fact that the interests of Canadian and American players do not always align, and you understand why players have often had to accept what is being offered to them, in many cases.
But despite a chaotic process that on Monday saw members vote against an interim deal that the players had recommended, the union managed to go where none had gone in 38 years and save the season to boot.
In the end, pushing the league to the limit gave players a little more immediate money in the form of a ratification bonus. And a little more guaranteed playing time for their Canadians than what had been on the table for the past 12 days.
The CFL offered a $ 1 million ratification bonus this week, which rose to $ 1.25 million on Thursday. For some of the roughly 500 players who voted, that translates to $ 2,500 each, which was probably enough to influence many without deep convictions one way or another.
On the ultra-sensitive issue of the proportion of the CFL for Canadian players, the sides came to what could be called the final compromise.
Until now, all CFL teams had to start at least seven Canadians, a line that has been heavily guarded by the players ’association over the years.
The league had proposed moving it to six, which is where the union dug its heels.
The compromise came when players agreed that up to two of the Canadian starters per team could be replaced by veteran Americans for up to 49 per cent of their snaps. That number rises to three players in 2024, if the league so desires.
In addition to being difficult to process, no matter tabular, it is as if the two parties dissected the proportion into smaller pieces when they could not agree to reduce it.
The end result will be less guaranteed playing time for Canadian players, which will not be good for many. But the league was determined to let the coaches have more control over who plays and when, and to a small extent this has been achieved.
The union can save face by saying it has preserved all seven Canadian tenured roles, albeit in a small way.
Otherwise, this deal changes a number of things in the direction of the players, some of which they had never been able to achieve before. These include the right to negotiate partial guarantees when a player re-signs with their current team, an income-sharing formula, post-career health benefits, and increases in both the minimum wage and the wage cap.
These were modest gains by the standards of major professional sports. But compared to the latest deals, they are considered improvements, which is important for the league to treat its players fairly is an important ingredient for a successful business model for any league.
Three years have passed and a very long and winding road since the CFL has had nothing that seemed normal.
And now, with the CBA in bed and after a low season of self-examination like no other, it’s finally time for football.
Four preseason games are scheduled for Friday and Saturday, beginning with the Ottawa Redblacks hosting the Toronto Argonauts at 7:30 p.m./16:30 p.m. Friday on TSN.