In November, Canadian Football League Commissioner Randy Ambrosie will present the Grey Cup for the final time
Ambrosie surprisingly announced Saturday that he will retire in 2025. The 61-year-old Winnipeg native will step down once a successor has been found.
“I feel like I’m leaving the league at a time when I helped move it to a much better place,” Ambrosie told The Canadian Press. “I’m leaving the league at a time when the foundation is infinitely stronger than it was.”
“Now I can pass the baton to someone else and wish them all the best. I’ll be the biggest fan of the CFL, which I always have been, and I’ll continue to be for many years to come. I just felt like the time was right for the league and for me to make this change.”
Ambrosie, who played nine seasons (1985-93) as an offensive lineman with Calgary, Toronto and Edmonton, was named CFL commissioner on July 5, 2017, succeeding Jeffrey Orridge.
He is the second longest-serving CFL commissioner, after the late Jake Gaudaur (1968-1984).
The timing of Ambrosie’s decision is surprising. Last year, in his annual Grey Cup speech, Ambrosie indicated he had no immediate plans to resign.
Conventional thinking suggested Ambrosie would stay on at least through the end of the 2026 season, when the league’s broadcast contracts expire.
“I’ve been working seven days a week for almost seven and a half years, and sometimes it feels like 24 hours a day,” Ambrosie said.
By retiring in 2025, Ambrosie said he would give his successor time to acclimate to the job and prepare for negotiations over new television broadcast contracts.
Once the new broadcast contracts are signed, the league’s collective bargaining agreement with the CFL Players’ Association can be reopened, although it still has two years left before it expires.
But there have been signs of discontent. In September, Winnipeg Blue Bombers president Wade Miller criticized both Ambrosie and the CFL after Blue Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros was forced to leave the Blue Bombers’ 35-33 Labour Day game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders with what appeared to be a head injury.
According to a league source, the CFL board recently voted on Ambrosie’s management. While it’s unclear whether the vote was to extend Ambrosie’s contract or terminate him, the source added that it was a sign of discontent with the league’s dwindling funding.
The source spoke on condition of anonymity because the CFL has not publicly announced the board’s vote. When asked if there was a vote, Ambrosie declined to comment.
CFL chairman Scott Banda said the search for Ambrosie’s successor will begin soon, but the league has time to put the proper process in place to find the best candidate.
“The beauty of what Randy has given the league is the opportunity to stay in the role until a replacement is found,” he said. “I think that (hiring a new commissioner) will happen at the most opportune time.
“The strength we have here is Randy’s willingness to remain as commissioner and continue business as usual, which takes all the pressure off the board.”
Ambrosie became the league’s first Canadian-born commissioner since Tom Wright (2002-06) and the first former player to hold the position since Hall of Famer Larry Smith (1992-97), who is currently a member of the Canadian Senate.
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