THE CANADIAN PRESS
EDMONTON — CFL commissioner Mark Cohon is presiding over his fourth Grey Cup and both the Montreal Alouettes and Saskatchewan Roughriders have figured prominently in that.
The two teams will meet Sunday (TSN, 6 p.m., ET) in a rematch of last year’s final, which Montreal won 28-27.
The Alouettes and Riders have taken part in all four Grey Cups played under Cohon’s tenure as CFL commissioner. Saskatchewan also won the ’07 CFL title while Montreal lost to Calgary in the ’08 final.
“Those are two amazing franchises and it’s an ideal rematch,” Cohon said. “This is exciting to see both the Als and Riders pair up.”
Cohon said the CFL benefits when Saskatchewan is in the Grey Cup game because Riders fans are so rabid in their support of their team.
“As far as a specific impact for the league, where it helps us on specific financials has to do with our licensing business,” Cohon said. “When they’re in the Grey Cup, more and more people buy things that are green and that helps our business.
“When we think about the future, when we think about our future TV contracts when the Riders are in the numbers are big. It just sets us up and it helps us.
AMERICAN OFFICIALS?
The CFL has American owners, American players, American coaches and director of officials Tom Higgins is also American.
However, the league is absent of American-born officials. With the general acceptance that there’s a lack of depth regarding Canadian CFL officials, the question remains why the league doesn’t recruit U.S. officials to work games here, much like it did when it had American-based teams in the 1990s.
CFL commissioner Mark Cohon says there’s a good reason for that.
“I think our game is a different game,” he said Friday during his annual state of the league address. “I think you really have to come up in our game and understand the difference in our game, the motion, the size of the field.
“It’s a different game than officiating a four-down game on an American field and I think that’s probably why you have to cultivate it. You have to come up through the CIS system to really understand our game and to perform at the level our officials perform at.”
CFL EXPANSION
CFL commissioner Mark Cohon once again said expansion to the Maritimes remains a possibility but the league will take a cautious approach in its quest to add a team there.
Cohon said while the CFL’s Toucdown Atlantic contest in September between the Toronto Argonauts and Edmonton Eskimos was a huge success, the league will look to continue holding games there to gauge potential interest on future expansion.
“It (Touchdown Atlantic) was truly one of the highlights of my time here,” Cohon said. “What we’re focusing on there is a multi-year commitment to that region to continue to test the market.
“Is it (CFL expanding to Maritimes) a possibility? It is a possibility and this allows us time to really think what it would mean to bring a 10th team into this league.”
FINAL GATHERING
Win or lose, the Saskatchewan Roughriders will have one last gathering with their fans.
The CFL club announced Friday it will return to Regina on Monday, the day after the Riders square off against the Montreal Alouettes in the Grey Cup. The team will head to Mosaic Stadium, where fans can gather to greet the players and coaches.
Fans will be admitted free and the program will consist of player and coach speeches.