Halford & Brough in the Morning - New CFL Commissioner Stewart Johnston

Episode Date: April 25, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports (3:00) including a huge Whitecaps victory over Messi's Inter Miami at a sold-out BC Place (6:00), plus they chat with newly appointed CFL Commissioner Stewart Johnston (27:58) about his plans for the league going forward. This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da- Good morning, Vancouver 601 on a Friday. Happy Friday, everybody. Sweet, sweet Friday. It is Halford and his brough, it is Sportsnet 650, and we are coming to you live from the Kintec studios in beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Hey, dog, good morning to you.

Good morning. And, Lydie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and Brough for the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest. Visit them online at sans-trustee.com. We are in hour one of the program.

Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio, Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. What a night in sports last night, what a morning we're having right now. A little bleary-eyed this morning, both Jason and I were among the 53,000 in

attendance at BC Place yesterday for a massive win for the Vancouver Whitecaps. Man, what a scene that was. It was great. I felt like I was, I was a kid again 3,000 in attendance at BC Place yesterday for a massive win for the Vancouver Whitecaps. Man, what a scene that was. It was great. I felt like I was a kid again, honestly, in a sold out BC Place stadium. I was sitting way up. Way up. In the upper bowl. You sent me a picture.

Yeah, it was a terrific night for the Whitecaps. I cannot imagine it going any better because the Whitecaps won the game two nil and Messi and the other stars played the entire game because they had to, they had to, they had to score and they didn't and we still saw and I think we still saw some flashes for Messi. So it was kind of like, you know, no, he didn't score, but I feel like I got the Messi experience as well. So the only downfall, the only negative to being at the game and taking

all that in last night was that everything else happened in the world of sports and we were busy getting caught up because we were so focused on the task at hand. We will try and cover everything that we missed last night. We'll work together with you, the listener. Guest list today begins at 6.30. How about this? Newly minted CFL commissioner, Stuart Johnson, is gonna join the program. He did his introductory media presser yesterday, dubbed by Three Down Nation, a great CFL site,

as the anti-ambrosia, Jason. The anti-ambrosia, which I'm sure you picked up on that. Well, I've been liking what I've been hearing from Stuart Johnson, so I'm looking forward to chatting with him. We're going to talk to him at 6.30 about his plans to grow the league and what success looks like under his commissionership for the CFL.

Seven o'clock AJ. He's like, we're thinking of expanding to Mexico. And Broke's like, no. Damn it. Get me on that. Flight to Tahiti. Seven o'clock AJ from AJ's Pizza is going to join the program. A reminder, it is Ask Us! Get me on that. Flight to Tahiti. Seven o'clock, AJ from AJ's Pizza is gonna join the program.

A reminder, it is Ask Us Anything Friday on the program. Best AUA, hashtag it AUA, to the Dunbar Lumbertex line at 650. 650 gets a $100 gift card to AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. After AJ at 705, Paul Tenorio, senior soccer reporter for the athletic, is gonna join the program. He has a new article out, what Timing This Is, For Sale and Smooth Sailing, How the Vancouver Whitecaps

Have Improbably Thrived. So we'll talk to him after a massive night for the caps last night as they take a 2-0 lead in the first leg of their CONCACAF Cup semi-final against Inter Miami. 730 The Moge is going to join us. Bob the Moge Marjanovic. We can ask him what he thought of the CFL commissioner. Stewart Johnson and his introductory presser yesterday. Fitting because we're gonna have the CFL commissioner on the show today. We're also gonna talk,

Canucks we can recap the NFL draft. Oh yeah, that happened yesterday too with the Moge. Eight o'clock Rick Dollywall. Shadura Sanders is probably glad he didn't attend. He could have gone to the game last night with us. He sat with you in the bleachers, would have missed nothing. Bleachers in the second row.

Sorry. Eight o'clock Dollywall is going to join the program. I don't know what we're talking about. I'll turn this over to noted Dolly handler, Jason Brough. Rick Taukett is subject number one for the Canucks today. Will he sign or won't he sign? It's the end of the week and this is kind of the deadline or the expectation that Canucks management set out.

So we're obviously gonna talk a lot with Rick Dolly while about Rick talking. So we'll squeeze in some Canucks talk into an otherwise, again, two days in a row, a very eclectic sports show here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Not even gonna run through the guest list in reverse. You know who's on the show today. So laddie, let's tell everybody what happened.

Hey, did you guys see the game last night? What happened is brought to you by the BC construction safety alliance making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools Resources and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. Brian White and Sebastian Bearhalter. I know that we're not supposed to be promoting American products, but Brian White and Sebastian Bearhalter, two Americans scored yesterday for the Vancouver Whitecaps as they beat Lionel Messi and Inter Miami 2-0 on Thursday night.

And as I mentioned, the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions Cup semi-final at a sold-out BC place. Both Jason and I were in attendance. I don't want to overstate the importance and the significance, but that will go down as one of the more iconic soccer and dare I say sporting moments of the last few decades in the city. I think it's the biggest moment for this current iteration of the Vancouver Whitecaps. Without question.

Yeah, they've won some playoff games. They've had reasonable size moments, but you know, I think when context is considered, especially the fact that this wasn't supposed to be the first time Messi came to Vancouver and the first time he was supposed to come to Vancouver he didn't and it left a lot of disappointed fans and the Whitecaps admitted that they probably didn't play it right by jacking up ticket prices to the game and leaving a lot of unhappy and frankly angry fans.

They did it the right way this time. The tickets were affordable to get in. A lot of people went. The Whitecaps won. They deserved to win. Messi played the whole game as did a bunch of other stars for Inter Miami. And it was just a really fun night.

I took the boy and he said, that's the biggest crowd I've ever been in. And he was like, and we were both talking about how awesome it is to be in a stadium when a goal is scored and the roar of the crowd. And you know, like it was just, it was a spectacle. It was a spectacle. And that is one of the things that BC Place does provide when it's full and it actually brought me back to my childhood a little bit because when I first

started going to BC Place, the stadium was often full for BC Lions games and you know, it wasn't the biggest crowd in Whitecaps history because back in the day they played in front of crowds of 60,000, but that was the NASL team. It was, I want to read this early, what we learned from, I think it's from Greg and Pitmeadows. And I think this perfectly encapsulates it. The white caps finally did it. They got the big result in front of a big crowd.

What a night. Hope they won over some new fans, folks get out and support this team. It's a blast to watch. The story of the white caps in Vancouver, a big part of the story is that they've often had these chances, these moments, these games to go out and really make their mark on the city.

And a lot of the times, most of the times, all of the times they've come up short. Yep. Go back, take your pick. Go back to last year when, despite the fact that Messi didn't show up, they still had a crowd of close to 50,000 to watch him play against Inter Miami and they were not good and they were flat and they did not take advantage of whatever opportunity was left. Go back to the numerous playoff matches, including the infamous one that you always talk about, where we openly encourage people to go and check out the whitecaps. This might be the best team

ever. And it was a goalless draw in front of close to 30,000 people in the playoffs. And it was almost like intentionally that way. It was managed that way. And I think the whitecaps later, maybe not publicly, but certainly privately acknowledged, like we screwed that one up. The tactics were not good.

It was, yesterday was the culmination of 14 years of building and a lot of failures and a lot of missteps along the way and almost made last night a little bit sweeter, probably for a lot of the current stakeholders, including a guy like Axel Schuster, who had to inherit a lot. And I mean a lot of problems and a club that was just getting battered

from all different angles, on pitch, off pitch, everything. Now we're not crowning, there's no coronation yet. There's still very little in their season. There's still a lot of football left to be played. But the fact that they were able to do that last night, and I want to throw to you some audio from the One Soccer broadcast. This is Christian Jack who is pitch side, took the entire thing in and does a remarkable job of encapsulating

everything that happened as well. I love this audio, so I wanna play it now. This is Christian Jack, pitch side, after Vancouver's two-nil victory over Lionel Messi in Inter Miami at BC Place on Thursday night. Yeah, we talked about the belief in the pregame show and playing the game rather than the occasion,

and of course, the night will be remembered for what was a marvelous atmosphere with over 50,000 in here and a record attendance for MLS and the Whitecaps modern day era. And many people came here to see the people who travel from Miami, but they go away with one team at the forefront of their mind, and that's the Vancouver Whitecaps. And I said it to Sebastian Bruegelter in the interview and I'll say it again I think Vancouver and the crowd deserve all the credit tonight for making a truly Whitecaps experience you know I've had the blessing and privilege to cover

Lionel Messi in Copa Americas, World Cups back to Germany when he had the debuts in the stadium back in Qatar when he was there for many games and So many fans and so many times the crowd are in awe of the number 10 There's no orness tonight In fact, as you mentioned it they were booing him and they intimidated him as a little bit and you know You would say okay Messi's not gonna get intimidated by a crowd But there was no fear factor from this time for the Whitecaps and the crowd It was all about the Vancouver Whitecaps.

It was a professional performance, the way they played in midfield. They didn't care about what the name said on the back of a Miami shirt. They played the opposition the way they played a lot of opposition this year. And they dominated the game and they deserved the lead by two goals. So I've maintained for a long, long time that Vancouver is one of the best soccer cities in North America. And that we just, with this version of the Whitecaps, we just haven't been given much to support.

And the stadium, although it was perfect last night, I think it's far from ideal for regular season, just everyday matches. It's a summer league for now. And I think regardless of whether or not it was summer league, ideally, the Whitecaps would be in an outdoor stadium. Yeah, with a roof, but an outdoor stadium, maybe 30,000 seats, grass pitch. And that's why there was so much excitement that they are looking at a new facility, maybe at the P&E. I still think there's a long way to go with that.

And maybe what comes out of all of this is a better deal with BC Place. I was thinking about all the food and beverage that was sold last night. The concession lineups were so long, I didn't even get anything because we went out at half time. I'm like, I'm not waiting in that lineup. Like it was crazy. And I was sitting there going like, white caps don't get any of that. And there was a lot. They don't get. A lot of tequila sodas being sold last night.

Let me tell you. In your section especially. But I just think that Vancouver is a great soccer city. And if I'm an investor that is looking to buy the white caps, I look at last night and I go, man, there is some untapped potential here. The question is, does it make it worthwhile to invest what's going to be hundreds and hundreds of millions in not only buying the team, but also

getting that stadium built? Yeah. Like the new, this current ownership is going to be hundreds and hundreds of millions in not only buying the team, but also getting that stadium built. Yep. Like the new, this current ownership group will not be building the stadium. They will not be building the stadium, but what they are hoping to do is get it to the point where

there is realistic momentum, perhaps the city of Vancouver is fully on board with building a new stadium at the racetrack. And, and I hate to say it to all the horse racing fans out there, but we had the CEO of the P and E on yesterday and she suggested that the lease for the, the, the, the, the horse people, the race course is up in 2026.

So, you know, maybe that's the end of horse racing at the P&E, but regardless, you know, like I just think there's a lot of work to go. But if I was an investor going like, I wonder if this really is a soccer market. Like I wonder if we can really sell MLS here and, and if it's going to be worthwhile to buy the team and keep the team here. Last night, you got to be looking at that and going, yeah, I'm going to sell MLS here and if it's going to be worthwhile to buy the team and keep the team here,

last night, you got to be looking at that and going, yeah, I think this is a soccer stadium. Yeah. Okay. Soccer city. So as for the match itself, um, what a performance from the whitecaps, uh, a very professional performance as they like to say it in

football where, um, yeah, they conceded some chances and some possession to an inter Miami team that, yeah, they conceded some chances and some possession to an Inter Miami team that wasn't great on the night. And I don't think anyone from Inter Miami would suggest otherwise, but they did messy and the rest of the crew, including Busquets and Suarez and Jordi Alba, they did show their flashes for sure last night.

They have flashes of where they could play some very quick, very transitional stuff, which was fun to watch. But the Whitecaps keep doing the things that make them successful. And the craziest, craziest part of all of this is you could have made the argument at the beginning of this year, their two best players were Ryan Gould and Sam Adekube. And neither of them took part in last night's match at all. Gould was signing out autographs on the concourse because his knee injury is still bothersome and Atacube dressed, but didn't get in the lineup. The fact that they were able to beat Inter Miami

with Messi, Suarez, Bousquets and Alba without their two best players is a wild thing. And they looked confident doing it. They defended very well. There are a couple of moments. Of course there's going to be some moments, but they defended very well. And when they got out on the counterattack,

they looked dangerous. I mean, it was. They looked fast and young. That's what they look like, right? And they are. I mean, yeah. Because Jesper Sorensen was able to go to his bench in the second half and bring on like Sabi and

Nelson and just bring more pace onto the field. And that's what you want to do against a team that's got a bunch of guys in their mid to late thirties. Don't you think. They prefer to play a more possession, slower pace. Don't you think- They prefer to play a more possession slower pace. Don't you think it looked like at times Miami was struggling with the turf as well? Oh yeah. Oh yeah.

I was like, I'm going to make a golf joke here, but the turf was running at a 14-stip meter last night. There were a couple of times where it just looked like it was too fast for them. There was a few penet uh, like penetrating, penetrating through balls that Messi hit that just skipped and carry. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They didn't like his grass has some pull to it. Like you can use your touch and you can almost

make it die on the grass and you can't do that on the turf. The interesting thing is that the white caps have figured out how to play when they play side to side, they actually use the slickness of the turf to their advantage cause it makes those swing passes go quicker. You watch like they've done it so many times, like Blackman and Veselninovich especially, they can really swing the ball. It's because they played on the turf a lot and they

know the speed that it travels. So it was a great night. It was a lot of fun. 17 uninterrupted minutes of soccer talk to start the show. I don't think we have one complaint yet. Sorry, so what's next for the Whitecaps? They will go, and I've got it here somewhere. I think it's next Wednesday, right? Yeah, so they go back to Miami. The final is on June 1st, next week is the second leg. Away goals matter, which is why the 2-0 victory was huge. We talked after they went up 2-0, we're like, do not concede.

Yeah, do not concede. And you could tell, you can, I mean, that's why, that's why all those guys stayed on there. There was like, we needed a wagle here. Yeah. So. They didn't get it though. So the second goal for the Caps was huge, not conceding was huge. And finally, as I put a,

a punctuation and a bow, uh, Christian Jack mentioned in the clip, it warmed my heart to see that the, the long and sometimes disturbed memories of Vancouver sports fans Was alive and well yesterday and the Leonel Messi got booed whenever he touched the ball and my kid turned around He was like they're booing Messi and I'm like, yeah a lot of people paid a lot of money last time You can be the greatest footballer of all time But if you cost him a thousand dollars people don't forget and he was like the greatest footballer of all time, but if you cost them $1,000, people don't forget. And he was like, really?

I'm like, that's it. Vancouver's, sport? That doesn't happen elsewhere, right? Regardless of sport. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It could be the Canucks, it could be any, Vancouver sports fans, and I will give us credit, got long, petty memories when it comes

to getting screwed over. Yeah, Duncan Keith was watching that, I was like, I got that. Yeah, he's like, it's fine. So anyway, shout out to everyone. He's like, you might say I'm the Messi of the NHL. Okay, let's move, speaking of Duncan Keith and the National Hockey League,

let's move on to some of the scores from last night in the Stanley Cup playoffs. We gotta start with the Battle of Ontario. This either is a very, very dangerous foreshadowing to how dominant the Leafs are gonna be or the first chapter ins are gonna be or the first chapter and what's gonna be the most hilarious collapse of all time the Leafs took a three nothing stranglehold on the Battle of Ontario

last night with another overtime goal from another unlikely OT hero this time Simone Benoit with the winner. Unbelievable. Here's what it sounded like courtesy of our guy Joe Bowen on the call on the radio. Benoit, overtime, a slap shot, Greg, a slap shot. Slap shot winner. 1.19 of overtime, Leafs win three-two. Here's what it sounded like. Oh!

Oh! Now it is, and the Leafs win the draw. A shot by Benoit, scores! Benoit! Holy mackerel of all people! He sets up the winner in game two! He wins game three! Oh Of all people that was a good clock you score the biggest goal your life in your team's announcer says of all people He knows what he is. I really don't like how good the Leafs look it's very

Worrying that's why I couldn't handle a Leafs Cup when I did the senators They've won two games in overtime. I know I just still I don't I don't like this I don't like okay, so I know you want to jump in good luck against, Florida Um yeah, I'm with I'm with a dog in that. I don't like where it's trending It could be trending for the greatest collapse in Still on the table however like where it's trending. It could be trending for the greatest collapse in Maple Leaf's history. Oh, that would be amazing. Which would be amazing. That would be incredible. It's still on the table. However, the Leafs are getting, all these things that are happening for them right now

are very un-Leaf-like. And honestly, kind of the things that people have been saying, we need more of this in the postseason. For example, we need to stop relying so much on Matthews, Marner, Nylander and Tavares to do all the scoring. Well, who scored the two overtime goals? Max Domi and Simon Benoit.

We need better goaltending. Well, Anthony Stollers has been better than Lena Solmark. We need clutch moments. Well, they've won two of the two, I don't like this. I do not like this. Like it's almost like the Craig Barubei blues

effect has taken over a little bit. Craig Barubei, he's a good coach, man. I just don't like this. I do not like this. Like it's almost like the Craig Barube blues effect has taken over a little bit. Craig Barube, he's a good coach, man. I just don't like it. He's a good coach and he knows how to coach in the playoffs. The job that he did with the blues in that playoff run was one of the best coaching jobs I've ever seen. And I think he's really good

at keeping his composure. And when he keeps things, when the head coach keeps his composure, the team keeps things, when you, when the head coach keeps his composure, the team keeps their composure. And I think the Leafs are doing a really good job of that now they're up three, nothing in the series. So it's a lot easier to keep your composure in that, in that situation.

And you're against an Ottawa senators team that has some inexperience in the playoffs. And I, and I think. We can't have anyone freak out out there. Okay. We've got to keep our composure. That've got too far! There's too much to lose if not this! Keep our composure! That was Brube in the pregame speech. Yeah. You know, the funny part is that he was losing his composure. That's what's funny about it. That is hilarious. I know that sounded like Will Ferrell, but it was. It was, it was, that was Chief.

Yeah. Before, hold on, before we, we've got a late breaking, not breaking news, but news from the Battle of Ontario. Per Darren Draeger on Twitter, get this, a twist, this is his words, not mine, quote, a twist in the Battle of Ontario with allegations of pregame shenanigans last night. Hey, Farva,

what's that place you like to go to with all the kooky crap on the walls? Moe's family feedback? Sources say the NHL is looking at an incident in warmup prior to game three between the Leafs and the Senators. It's undetermined whether league discipline will follow. Now here's the thing, Drager didn't mention- Brady Kichuck threw a bunch of fireworks into the locker room. Did the league use the word shenanigans? Shenanigans. No, Drager, Drager didn't though.

But Drager also didn't explain what the shenanigans were. Yes, please expand on this. I'm gonna pistol whip the next day and say shenanigans. Guaranteed it has something to do with Brady Kichuck. Not to be the downer on all this, but we had the Battle of Alberta, that one sucked. We have, we now have the battle of Ontario that everyone's been looking forward to and it looks

like it could be a leaf sweep. You know, the battle of Alberta, I was really disappointed in that. And if you recall that one, the flames won a wild one in game one, but then the Oilers rattled off four straight and it was kind of like, well, I guess the battle of our butter is over. Yeah.

Uh, and then Kachak was like, yeah, I'm out of here. Um, the battle of Ontario, we were hoping for. It's been disappointing. Yeah, we were just hoping, we were just hoping for more. Yeah, there's been, there's been some fisticuffs and some emotion for sure, but when you have a three,nothing lead, you want to see these things get to at least game six or game seven. You want each team

to feel uh-oh, you know? So- And you want to have some stakes as the series progresses, and this one looks like it's going to go out with a whimper. Speaking of that uh-oh feeling, do the Winnipeg Jets have that uh-oh feeling after last night? No, Laddie says. I don't think so. I don't think so.

Seven to two loss in game three. The Winnipeg Jets suffered in St. Louis to the Blues. Bucznaiewicz, three goals and an assist. Cam Fowler, a goal and four assists. Just an onslaught from the Blues last night. They chase Connor Hellebuck from the game. Now, Laddie, I didn't get to watch this one, so I deferred to you. And you said you couldn't pin it all on Hellebuck, but he did have one sort of egregious error.

There was one goal where you just straight up gave the puck away while trying to play it behind the net. But a lot of the goals were, I wouldn't say soft, but they just weren't Hellebuck style goals that you're used to seeing him give up. But the whole team, like I said, was very questionable. Hellebuck gave up six goals on 25 shots before being pulled midway through the third period. Eric Comer came in in relief. So that one now, two-one Jets going in the game for

maybe the most surprising development of the first round right now. Last night, the Minnesota Wild, a team that barely squeaked into the playoffs, stunned the Vegas Golden Knights, yet again, 5-2 to take a 2-1 series lead that I don't think many people expected. And I will say this, sometimes my hot takes are too hot. They fly too close to the sun and they melt. I did not anticipate that the return of Kirill Caprizov was going to make this team do a total 180. A total 180. He has been unstoppable. So too has Matt Boldy

in this series. He's been great as well. Four goals for each of them, right? They both share the NHL playoff lead with four goals each and they've combined for 13 points. They have been fantastic. I am kind of surprised that Vegas is in this position because I think they're a much better team, especially on paper, but that's why they play the games, folks. Also, final game that we need to get to. I don't know where playoff scoring sensation

Nate Schmidt came from, but Nate Schmidt scored his third goal of the Battle of Florida, three goals in two games. Bovarovsky made 19 saves. The Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning two nothing on Thursday night. Yeah. They get two nothing lead in that series, which has been an absolute dud so far.

Yeah. Well, I'm, I'm waiting for all the scoring sensations on the Tampa Bay Lightning to wake up. Two games, two goals for the Lightning. Then they lost the first one, six to two, and both those games were in Tampa. So the Lightning are in big trouble. Uh, the new CFL commissioner, Stuart Johnston is going to join us next on the Halford Tampa. So the lightning are in big trouble.

The new CFL commissioner, Stuart Johnston is going to join us next on the Halford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. It's Canucks Central with Dan Riccio and Satya Arshaw, your destination for everything Canucks. Exclusive interviews, inside info, and even the post game show. Listen four to six PM weekdays and on demand through your favorite podcast app. 633 on a Friday. Yes, the Friday here on the Haliford and brush show on sports net 650. By the way, quick programming note. I don't know how much we're going to be able to dive

into Internet meme Friday, something we brought up yesterday. There's so much administrative nonsense on the show sometimes. Sometimes we we put a little bit too much into the show. Lydie and I have prepared things. Okay I'll tell you what we'll do it in what we learned. More administrative nonsense on the show. You are listening to the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest. Visit them online at sands-trustee.com. Newly minted CFL commissioner Stuart Johnson will be joining us in just a second here. The highlight of hour one. Hour one of this program is brought

to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, youcler pays the highest prices on scrap metal Northstar metal recycling they recycle you get paid visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver to the phone lines We go very excited to have our next guest on the program CFL Commissioner Stuart Johnston here on the health of the breath show on sportsnet 650. Good morning Stuart. How are you? Good morning guys. I'm doing great. How are you doing? We are well Thank you for taking the time to do this and congrats on the new gig. Tell us what the first few days of your commissionership, which is a word, have been like.

Well, thank you for introducing me to that word. Maybe it can become a verb as well. It's been just a mix of incredible activities and emotions, to be honest. Obviously, a ton of excitement and anticipation leading up to day one yesterday. That began with a quiet moment before a press conference where the team here at the CFO offices handed me a game ball with my signature on it. Wow. handed me a game ball with my signature on it. And that was a surreal moment and incredibly exciting. And then, and then it's been a ton of meetings, ton of, of, of networking and obviously a big press

conference, media, media, availability, getting to know you folks and, and looking forward to really getting going at the job at hand. Do you have a cool signature? You know, I don't, I don't really. It's a signature I've had probably since I was a 12 years old. So it is, I had the debate, do I do a real

signature, my own signature? No one will be able to read or, or fake one that when it's something you can actually read what it says, I went, you know what, I'm going with my real one. Nice. Yeah. You got to stay true to yourself. Is this your first, is this your first really

public facing job? Well, uh, with absolutely, um, you know, as, as, as president of TSN and then a senior executive across a number of different platforms at Bell Media, the biggest media company in the country, you know, lots of panels and interviews. So, some element of public facing, but nothing compared to what this role delivers. I got a real taste of that on about three weeks ago, when my announcement became official, even well before I started. And by the end of that first day, I realized,

nope, this is a very different beast. And I'm looking forward to digging into that. Well, tell us about your vision for the CFL and just for the record, just for the record, you don't have to comment on this. I very much disagreed with the last guy's vision for the CFL and we would have a lot of conversations on the show about what the CFL was

doing and what the CFL was focused on. And a lot of the times I was shaking my head and so far I've really liked what I've heard from you. Wow. Well, thank you. I'm sure liked what I've heard from you. Wow. Well, thank you. I'm sure you and I will, we'll get into it as well. And, and, and as I mentioned yesterday, I'm on a

listening tour. So, so let it begin today. Um, but, but really my focus is, you know, on three key areas. It's, it's how we grow the game of Canadian football. Um, how do, how do we deliver an outstanding entertainment product? And please, please know that we are starting

at a high level of entertainment product, but I wanna make sure that myself and our team here at the league office, as well as across the country with all our clubs and everyone associated with the CFL really does make decisions thinking about entertainment. And I want to ensure that we've got nine healthy teams. As I look through a bit of a mid or long term vision of my term here,

if I can come out of that where we've got nine healthy teams, so many other good things will come from that. And so that probably encapsulates my key areas of focus as I sit here on day two. Will your focus on the Canadian football league be on Canada? Do you know what that means? I'm inferring, but why don't you explain exactly what you mean? US expansion, global expansion.

Is it going to be more of a, I hate to use this phrase because it has political, but is it a Canada first focus for you? It is, it, it is a Canada first focus for me because I am focused on the nine existing clubs in Canada. Expansion of any kind is not a global focus. a Canada first focus for me because I am focused on the nine existing clubs in Canada. Expansion of any kind is not at the top of my priority list. Would I want a 10th team?

Yes, 100%. I would love a 10th team and eventually an 11th and 12th. Uh, but, but that is not a priority for me because I think that comes after you, you, you, you get your nine teams and your entire league in a really great position. And we're starting from, from a good foundation. Um, so I'm not thinking a 10th team in Canada. I'm not thinking a 10th team in the U S or anywhere else. And from a global vision, um, you know, we have, we have our, our CBA, which has some global elements to it. It's a long-term CBA.

I want the best players possible on the field. Uh, and, and we're going to work forward with, with the CBA as we've got it today. But I guess my, my short answer off that long, off the long-winded answer is I'm focused on Canada. How have you gauged the health of the league and the nine current teams coming into the role? Well, you look at a number of key metrics. Fan engagement, ticket sales, season ticket sales, commercial success with partners, TV ratings. A lot of those metrics are actually showing growth and showing some strength, which is

wonderful. And so that's one element of how I looked at the health of the teams. And then you've got to look at financial performance. And profitability is important in any business. We need to measure ourselves against profitability as a league and as each of our member clubs. And so that's an area where I'm going to be looking at, uh, um, to, you know, to continue to improve. I, I think I come from a business and any

business will tell you the best, most exciting way to increase bottom line profitability is to drive top line revenue growth. And, and that's certainly going to be a key focus for me as, as we head into this year and the next. Where do you see the opportunities for revenue growth?

Two key areas. Commercial partnerships with great Canadian companies who want to align themselves with all the outstanding values and deliverables that come from the CFL. And of course we have our next media deal, which is going to come up in, at the end of 26, beginning in 27, those would be two key planks from a revenue perspective that I'll be focused on.

So I'm sure you've heard from, or at least heard or heard it around like, oh, the guy's coming from TSN, so of course, TSN is going to get the rights. Are you going to, what would you say to that? Because it's almost like, well, of course he's going to, he's going to go to the place where he's coming from. Um, at, are you going to look to other

platforms as well? Well, let me start by saying I've got, my goal and our goal with the next media rights deal is one of optimization. And I think a lot of folks, when they think about it, it's like, oh, you've just got to get the biggest check. And of course, maximizing the revenue against a

media deal is incredibly important for any major sports league. So when I think of optimization, it is three components. That's one, maximize revenue. The next is maximize reach. And the third is develop. How can we be helped and partner with someone who can help us develop underserved audiences and grow underserved audiences?

And all three of those levers will be in our thought processes as we have those discussions. So that's, you know, just to lay it out there, that's what we would be looking for. What are your underserved audiences? Well, younger, younger to begin with. We've got to figure out how to lower the average age of our fan base. That is certainly making sure we retain our current incredible fans. with, um, we've got to figure out how to lower the average age of our fan base.

That is, that is certainly making sure we retain our current incredible fans, but we've got to introduce our game to younger fans who may not, may just not see it, may not touch it, may not play it, may not throw a ball together. And I think how we expand our digital presence with the younger audience is a short-term key focus for us on the platforms that they are using. And then the second long-term vision is just get them playing. And I think flag is going to be a critical component to get younger people with footballs in their hand, beginning their love affair with the game that I know will happen if we can get them to play.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's been the NFL that has been driving a lot of the flag football in Canada, right? Well, NFL has done a great job with flag. But as is the CFL, CFL supports amateur football of all kinds, tackle flag men, women, boys, girls in a significant way. And some of it you may not see from a branding perspective. And that's something that we can look at.

You know, I've been asked, you know, about NFL's focus on developing flag and the CFLs and is that competitive? I don't see it as competitive at all. And frankly, my number one priority is to get footballs in the hands of young people. And if it's, however, that if that's, I'd love for that to be branded CFL. I'd love for every team to be wearing a CFL club related jersey and name. But it's, that's not the most important.

The most important is get people to love football. And I think we start there and the branding and the success and that pipeline of fandom and the pipeline of even talent, the pipeline of officiating can come from that. Um, so first fire is just develop flag. Branding can come second. Why do you think it has been that the CFL has

lost a bit of the young audience? Because it's funny, Mike and I were both at BC Place last night, sold out to watch the White Caps and Messi was in town. So that was a bit of a draw, but you know, a few things struck me while I was at the game. Number one, the amount of kids there with messy jerseys on or just soccer jerseys in general.

They're just like kids today compared to when we were kids are so into soccer because they can see it. Like when we were growing up, there wasn't, we weren't exposed to much soccer, it wasn't on TV. And obviously there was no internet. And it also brought me back to being a kid at a sold out BC place. When I first started going in the eighties,

it was packed. It was the place to be. It was cool to be a Lions fan. It was almost cooler to be a Lions fan than a Canucks fan. Um, so what, what happened to that in your mind? Where, where, where did the, where did the CFL lose some of its younger audience?

I actually don't think an aging fan base is a specific issue to the CFL. If you look at almost any major mainstream sport, some of them fluctuate, but many of them are aging. So I think it's that, that's an effect that's happening with a disrupted world in terms of media coverage, in terms of a plethora of content availability and attention grabbing distractions that make it difficult to hold on to that attention. We live in a different world. We live in a different world than when you and I grew up and everything that you said was,

I certainly appreciated and went through as well myself. So I think that someone like Messi marketed incredibly well, global superstar, that's very specific. We'll see what happens in the next game when Messi's not playing. But I love what they've done. I love that that type of fandom has been brought about in the Vancouver community for the game of soccer. And I think that's a great thing. I think we I just want more kids actually playing sports. And so we, you know, have a group, I'll come back to your original question about TSN, because I didn't quite get to the to maybe

the question you asked. First off, I've got a long standing business belief over over a couple decades working in in business with a lot of different partners, that if you have a great long-term incumbent partner, they always should have first conversation. Sure. Absolutely. And whether that's media deal or commercial partner, sponsor, whatever it may be. So I'm looking forward to those conversations. But I'll come back to what my priorities are for the next media deal. And you might say, well, yeah, you know, getting younger audiences, you know, is a linear media company,

you know, the way to go. Well, every linear media company in the world is transitioning to become a digital company. And one really interesting trend in the world of media is that partnerships with third party platforms have become more and more commonplace. So the company itself, whether it's Bell or really just name any other media company, they're all developing their own streaming capabilities,

their own short form digital capabilities, but they're also partnering with the likes of YouTube and Tik TOK and snap and Metta and what, where, wherever they can get their content into the hands of the ultimate consumer. So I'm interested in those types of developments really in partnership with Bell over the next couple of years. I love, love the transition that's happening there but that's kind of in my you know in the back of my head is a great

opportunity moving forward in the short term and long term to get our content on the platforms where young people are watching. We're speaking to CFL Commissioner Stuart Johnston here on the Halford and Bruff Show on Sportsnet 650. The initiatives that you have for the younger audience, it's interesting because one of them is like, we will cater to the youths by having different digital streams and different ways of packaging our product to them, but also,

let's try and get them off their screens and have them play football. And that's really interesting because we had Andrew Ferenc on from the NHLPA last year and their initiative was street hockey. And the idea behind it was, like you were kind of saying, get kids instead of a football in their hands, like a stick in their hands, and just get them to play.

And what it does is it gets their love of the sport, but it also breaks down, it makes it more accessible because you know, football and hockey have that in common. It can be expensive to play. There's a ton of equipment that's involved. I know like running high school programs costs a ton of money. And to be able, that's the great thing about Flag

is that it makes it a lot more accessible. Is that part of this as well, is that you've got that ability to get a football into kids' hands without having it be super expensive so that they can play and grow the game without the sort of financial obligation? Oh, well, a hundred percent. I agree with everything that you just said.

It is an inexpensive way to get kids playing the game. It's a, uh, it's, it's an ease of entry into the game as well. If you're, you know, if you've got, if you're just unsure of yourself as it relates to the game and, and, and how it looks and all those pads look intimidating, uh, and so forth, it's just an easier way to get yourself comfortable in the game. Start learning tactics, start learning the rules of the game. Uh, and then just enjoying it. Um, you know, my,

my 14 year old daughter, Vivian, she joined flight football in grade nine this past fall. Uh, she plays a ton of sport and, um, I've never seen her come back from any sport that she plays with a bigger smile than her first time being exposed to flight football and, and she didn't, she knows some of the rules. Not many, most of the teams team did not know the rules of the game and they couldn't have had more fun and that is that's super inspiring to me and if kids are playing street hockey I love it as well yeah get kids out playing sport that can only be good

for all of us Stuart this was great I really appreciate you taking the time to do this this morning. Really great talking to you about all these different initiatives, and we wish you the best of luck moving forward on the listening tour, which I believe is gonna last approximately 100 days. So best of luck with that too. I appreciate it.

Thanks, I look forward to seeing you in person. Yeah, same, thank you. That's Stewart Johnson, CFL commissioner here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Impressive. Yeah, well you know what? He's still gotta do it. He's gotta go out and put the work in, but it sounds like he's gonna do it.

Um, and it didn't sound like I was getting sold something. You know? It sounded like something, someone was gonna just... I don't know, now I gotta join TikTok. But aside from that... So someone texted in, um, and I wanna read this from Jimmy North Van, the amount of work Mar Doleman and the Lions are doing locally and have been for a while, I find it insulting that you would suggest the NFL does more for flag football

for our community. All I know is that I've talked to my buddies in Saskatchewan and their kids play flag football and it's the NFL that sponsors it. The NFL's okay. And I was like, really in Saskatchewan? I don't know if Jimmy needs to throw the word insulting around. No, no, no. It feels like a lot.

The CFL has been a major driver of flag football. The CFL or so the NFL has been a major driver of flag football. That's probably one of the big reasons why flag football will be in the Summer Olympics in twenty twenty eight in Los Angeles, because the NFL has really propped it up. And look, if you want to strip it down, the NFL saw an opportunity, much like I was mentioning Andrew Ferentz and the NHL and NHLPA. How do we get kids involved with this sport that is becoming more and more expensive and less and less readily available?

Because I mean, God, look what happened here. SFU shuttered its entire university program because of the costs involved in it. In part, there were a lot of other layers to it, but football is an expensive sport to play. It's also at times a dangerous sport to play. Yeah. So the idea was how do we make it accessible and less dangerous? And the answer is flag. Now, for hockey, street is a totally viable alternative, especially in places where there's not ice rinks, and ice time is readily available, and kids can't afford all the equipment and we've talked about the skyrocketing price of youth hockey, right?

At its core, it's get kids off video games and off screens, out playing, running, and existing with other kids, not via like Snapchat or whatever else. I know I sound super old right now. The screens are so much cheaper than any of these sports though, that's the problem. But I do think-

Yeah, that's why they're trying to make a cheap alternative and a viable alternative too. But getting it back to the CFL and growing the CFL, I think if you have kids playing flag football in Canada, I would like to see them getting a lion's, a lion's t-shirt or something, or, you know, maybe the teams are all the lions and the rough riders and the stamps, you know. Try and figure out how you can get a rouge

in flag football. Yeah, I get it. You know what I mean? You want to make it Canadian. You want to make it Canadian and lean into it being Canadian and have some pride in the CFL brand. And, you know, this is going to be easier said

than done, a lot easier said than done. The NFL is an absolute marketing giant and they dominate everything, whether it's mainstream media or internet, it's just, it's really tough. And I think the main issue a lot of these leagues have had is that there's just so much more for kids to pay attention to now. And I just keep bringing it back to when we were kids,

there was like, you know, there's like 12 channels on the TV and everyone watched the same thing. Yep. You know, and that's, that's going to be the challenge for Stuart Johnson. But I think, I think Ammar Doman has done a terrific job and if I'm on a listening tour, I'm booking two days with him because he has done a terrific

job because he has a vision and he's willing to put the work in. It is grassroots, get out there and talk to people, get kids playing football and it won't happen overnight, but eventually you'll see some results. By the way, if you ever wanted the best example of what a behemoth the NFL is, it was on display last night at the NFL draft, which is now just an an it's almost a sport in an industry unto itself. I know we haven't

talked about it at all and I know it was a big deal and I know all you Titans fans out there and all you Jaguar fans out there in the lower mainland are very excited. We will try and get to it a little bit later because we do have some thoughts especially what Shader Sanders falling out of the first round but we got a loaded show today and we're moving along in the seven o'clock hour. AJ from AJ's Pizza is going to join us and we're giving away a $100 gift card to AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. After that, Paul Tenorio is going to join us for more Whitecaps talk, more MLS talk. He's got an article up at the athletic now where he

actually got a quote from co-owner Jeff Mallett of the Vancouver Whitecaps about where the sale process is at. So there's a lot to get into coming up. Don't go anywhere. You're listening to the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650.