By Canadian Press

Former Argos president Cooper feels Johnston brings many tangibles to CFL’s head job

Apr 3, 2025 | 1:03 PM

Former Toronto Argonauts president Brian Cooper has no doubt the Canadian Football League got it right hiring longtime television executive Stewart Johnston as its new commissioner.

The CFL announced Johnston’s appointment Wednesday. The president of TSN assumes his new role April 24.

“Stewart is a great leader, a very good businessman, he’s prudent, he’s smart, he has great experience but he knows a lot more than just broadcasting,” said Cooper, former Argos president and chair of MKTG Canada, a global sports marketing agency. “He knows the sponsorship side and merchandising.

“They’ve hired a subject-matter expert. He’ll be a trusted partner to anyone they negotiate a deal with because Stewart can look them in the eye and say, ‘I’m going to deliver on this,’ because he has been there. Relationships mean a lot and he is someone that will enhance and elevate the CFL’s opportunities within the broadcast structure.”

Broadcast structure is crucial for a league that’s so heavily dependent upon television revenue. The CFL reportedly receives $50 million annually from TSN in a deal that expires following the 2026 season.

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In Stewart, the CFL will have a commissioner who is not only well known to TV executives but also has intimate knowledge of the broadcast landscape as he looks to solidify the league’s future with its next media deal.

This is crucial for a league whose franchise values have stagnated for decades.

“It is one of the few leagues in the world where the franchise value hasn’t appreciated compared to so many others that have been around for one-tenth of the time the CFL has,” Cooper said. “I don’t have the answer (why).

“I think maybe it’s because of the uncertainty of the revenues going forward. It (importance of broadcast structure) is everything.”

Cooper knows this firsthand. He was president/COO of the Toronto Argonauts when the franchise was owned by Bruce McNall, hockey icon Wayne Gretzky and actor John Candy and won the ’91 Grey Cup with superstar Raghib (Rocket) Ismail in tow.

He’s also a former vice-president of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Argos, NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, NBA’s Toronto Raptors and Major League Soccer’s Toronto FC.

Cooper said Johnston also knows how to build brands, citing how TSN has invested into and grown both the CFL and world junior hockey championship tournament.

“In those opportunities, they have to understand the sponsorship and merchandising ends of it as well,” Cooper said. “That’s because that is the long tail for the advertisers they’re selling to as well.

“No advertisers are going to start putting their name in the turf or paying a large dollar for that exposure if there is no exposure.”

A long-standing CFL goal has been to attract a younger demographic, as a significant portion of its fanbase has traditionally been 55 and older

The Argonauts’ experience in the early 1990s illustrates both the potential and the challenges in capturing and holding onto a younger audience. In 1991, attendance surged from 30,500 to 37,120 with the arrival of Ismail, but that increase in fan engagement and attendance faded quickly after his departure in 1992. The Argos missed the CFL playoffs the next two years

In December 1993, McNall pleaded guilty to five counts of conspiracy and fraud and was sentenced to 70 months in prison. Then, on May 5, 1994, the Argos were sold to TSN Enterprises, a division of Labatt Breweries, just months after Candy’s stunning death at age 43.

“I had the king of hockey (Gretzky) and the king of comedy (Candy) coming to games, McNall bringing celebrities like (actor) Dan Aykroyd,” Cooper said. “We had halftime acts, we got rid of cheerleaders and made a dance team out of it, we had great halftime promotions.

“We had two, three years of gaining a new generation of fans but it dropped off. And you know what I think it is? In Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver … there’s too many other options that make a Gen Z think this is a second-tier entertainment opportunity.”

But Cooper has definite thoughts on how to change that.

“I think it’s, one, getting their content, whether it’s on TikTok or other forms of social media that are targeting those kids,” he said. “Secondly, it’s getting sponsors that are also targeting that audience as well on board as sponsors of the CFL.

“And, three, I think it’s somehow getting them engaged in the fan experience at stadiums. I think we (Argos) had a dating section and I remember being at a board of governors meeting and they were going, ‘What, Brian?’ But you really need to start thinking outside the box and being disruptive in targeting those sponsors that are targeting the same shared audience.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 3, 2025.

Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press