CFL因財務考量，取消今年賽季 - 美式足球

CFL cancels 2020 season, citing financial losses
https://tinyurl.com/y2qbtbwy

原文作者:Kevin Seifert, ESPN Staff Writer

The CFL canceled its 2020 season Monday, citing what commissioner Randy
Ambrosie said would have been "significant financial losses" if the league
had played during the coronavirus pandemic.

加拿大美式足球聯盟(以下簡稱CFL)，在美國時間本周一宣布取消今年賽季；該聯盟
的主席Randy Ambrosie並坦言，其關鍵原因在於—假如聯盟在新冠肺炎(AKA武漢肺
炎)疫情下進行比賽，將會承受重大的經濟損失。

The league pledged to return in 2021. At the heart of the issue were a series
of Canadian government regulations that effectively eliminated the CFL's
primary source of revenue -- ticket sales -- and also would have made it a
challenge for United States-based players to travel to Canada.

CFL對球迷承諾會在2021恢復比賽。不過要注意的是︰加拿大政府的管制措施，
可以說是壓死CFL開打希望的最後一根稻草—一來立即讓聯盟最主要的營收來源
，也就是門票收入；二來也對原先打算到加國打球的美國籍球員，造成相當的
挑戰。

The league developed preliminary plans for a shortened season based in
Winnipeg, in a bubble environment. But the Canadian government rejected the
CFL's request for a $30 million loan to help fund it.

其實CFL本身也曾想要參考NBA目前的集中營(Bubble)模式，在加中的Winnipeg舉辦
縮水賽程；但是加國政府又拒絕了聯盟3千萬美金的紓困申請。

"Even with additional support," Ambrosie said in a statement, "our owners and
community-held teams would have had to endure significant financial losses to
play in 2020. Without it, the losses would be so large that they would really
hamper our ability to bounce back strongly next year and beyond. The most
important thing is the future of our league."

Ambrosie在聲明中另外補充︰「即使有了外部的財務資助，我們旗下球隊的老闆
們與需要社區支持的球隊，也可能要在忍受龐大財務損失的壓力下，跑完這個賽
季，這反而會對我們聯賽在明年甚至以後的成長造成阻礙，畢竟未來的發展，
才是對我們聯盟最重要的事。」

The CFL joins the XFL and two major American college conferences -- the Big
Ten and the Pac-12 -- in canceling their 2020 seasons because of the
pandemic. The XFL was sold earlier this month in bankruptcy proceedings and
could return as early as 2021.

CFL加入了XFL與另外兩個美國大學的重要分區—也就是Big10與Pac-12，成為因為
疫情取消而今年賽程的重要美足賽事。在這裡比較好的消息是︰XFL已經藉由月初
出售的股權，擺脫了原先的破產危機，有可能明年就能恢復比賽。

The NFL, whose revenues are based largely on television contracts, has begun
its third week of training camp and is on track for an on-time start to its
2020 season next month.

至於NFL，由於已經藉由電視轉播合約獲得絕大多數的收入，因此依然按表操課地
繼續進行第三周的季前訓練營，並且朝向準時在9月開打的目標邁進。

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心得︰今年加拿大很多與運動相關的產業(包括運動餐廳、交通系統..)，
應該會感到很悶吧，因為他們原本的職棒與籃球隊，現在都不能在加國本土出賽，
即使勉強靠在加國舉辦的NHL季後賽能支撐一些收入，
但現在各大運動都不開放買票觀眾進場，
盛況跟原先可以靠冰球迷，乃至於加式美足迷的買票入場後額外消費相比
應該還是有不小的落差吧！

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