Courtesy: CFL

CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston has communicated with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) and its majority owner, Rogers, about their ongoing commitment to the Toronto Argonauts.

“I’ve had great conversations with Keith Pelley and Phil King at MLSE — they are huge supporters of the league, both of them have a long history with the league. I’ve really leaned on them as we’ve tried to push these changes through, very supportive of that,” Johnston told 3DownNation.

“I’ve had communication with the leadership at Rogers. I can tell you for sure they’re excited about the changes that we’re bringing to bear. I’m looking forward to having more conversations with them moving forward, but MLSE, they’re showing me nothing but support for the Argos.”

Many CFL fans have long believed MLSE lacks support for the Argonauts and prioritized the Maple Leafs, the Raptors, and Toronto FC in that order. Then came the supposed one-of-a-kind partnership with the Buffalo Bills and MLSE, which happened two weeks less one day prior to the CFL’s announcement about significant changes to its game.

“It has absolutely nothing to do with that. We started our work on this almost the day I began, so five months less two days ago. That’s when we really ramped it up over the course of the summer. Clearly, it had nothing to do, we didn’t even know the Bills thing was happening until after we’d already begun this work, so totally unrelated,” Johnston said.

In December 2017, MLSE struck a deal to buy the Argonauts. At that time, there was some cross-ownership as the Double Blue were purchased by Bell and Larry Tanenbaum from David Braley in May 2015. Rogers agreed to buy Bell’s 37.5 percent MLSE ownership stake for a reported $4.7 billion in September 2024 and closed that deal in July to increase its ownership share to 75 percent. Tanenbaum continues to own 25 percent in MLSE under his holding company Kilmer Sports Inc.

MLSE has proven its ability to give great entertainment value and drive revenue to new heights. That’s exactly what the CFL hopes to do by implementing game changes and, in Johnston’s words, trade field goals for touchdowns. He truly believes the CFL can reach a new level for fan enjoyment while attracting new three-down league enthusiasts.

“Can I draw a line directly from that to revenue-making? I think if more people think this is a fun game, they’re going to buy tickets. If more people think it’s super fun to watch at home, then our media discussions with the media rights partners are probably going to be improved,” Johnston said.

“I do believe there is a correlation. We didn’t go into it thinking, ‘What’s the exact line that I’m going to draw between entertainment value and rising revenues?’ However, I think instinctively, we understand that’s going to happen.”

According to sources, the CFL’s estimated revenues are between $200 and $300 million. League revenues are up around $18 million combined over the last couple years, which triggered the second-largest salary cap increase in history leading into the 2025 season. Johnston wants to keep growing revenue from coast-to-cost-to-coast in his tenure and feels these significant game changes can accomplish that goal.