Cohon’s legacy is clear
Courtesy Globe and Mail:
Last October, Mark Cohon learned that his role as the CFL commissioner would be unlike that of anyone who had preceded him in league’s highest office.
While past commissioners had dealt with all sorts of challenges, from rebellious crackpot owners to teams going broke in midseason, never in the long history of the CFL had anyone had to deal with the NFL at the doorstep, unannounced, wanting to bring its game across the great undefended border.
There are many things on Cohon’s agenda as he begins his second year in office, from the continued upgrading of officiating to helping clubs with plans to rebuild stadiums to driving revenues that can improve the league’s business model. But just one year into his five-year term, it’s already clear his legacy will be determined by how he deals with an issue that raises complicated questions that have no simple answers.
Such as how does a commissioner defend against the threat of the NFL’s moving into Toronto without bringing too much attention to it? How does he prepare for co-existence without inviting it? And how can he make the folks who run North America’s most powerful sports league understand the cultural significance the CFL has for Canadians from east to west?
Leave a Reply