Stewart Johnston, who spent the past 28 years at TSN, developed a friendship with outgoing CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie over their years as business partners. His initial reaction to news Ambrosie was leaving his post following the 2024 season focused on supporting a friend.
Possibly becoming Ambrosie’s successor wasn’t even on his mind, particularly as he’d recently taken on a significant new portfolio at Bell Media. Johnston was first approached about applying for the commissioner position during Grey Cup week in Vancouver, though he hadn’t thought about it much.
“I did have a more formal but unofficial reach out from some folks that are within the league community about whether I’d consider putting my hat in the ring,” Johnston told 3DownNation.
“I understood at that time that they were running a process, that they did have some candidates they were interested in and they wanted me to be included as part of that list. That’s when I took a breath and I said: ‘Wait a second, this is the commissioner of the CFL role. What am I doing? Let’s actually put some real thought into this.’”
Johnston’s wife supported him pursuing the role, so he put together a new resume for the first time in almost three decades. The Toronto native, who was raised primarily in Ottawa, met with a small search committee and eventually the full board of governors. He’s unaware who the other candidates were for the job as that short list was kept strictly confidential.
Though some have described this position as Johnston’s dream job, it’s not something he thought much about pursuing. Now that he’s in the role, he’s as giddy as a schoolboy.
“I never dreamed of actually becoming commissioner, actually seeing a football with my signature on it,” Johnston said. “In Winnipeg, handing the Grey Cup to the winning team — I’m 54 years old, I feel like I was eight.”
Johnston, the league’s 15th commissioner, declined to reveal specifics about his new contract, though he told 3DownNation it’s a long-term agreement and negotiations went relatively quickly.
“[The contract] gives me enough years to really feel like I can deliver against the vision that I want to. That was a pretty straightforward process in my discussions with the league.”
In 2020, Ambrosie claimed CFL teams collectively lose $10 to $20 million each year. The financial records for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers, both post relatively consistent profits, are open because the teams are community owned. The league’s other seven franchises are privately owned and do not share financials publicly.
Johnston believes it’s realistic for all nine franchises to become profitable during his tenure as commissioner.
“When I think of health… you might think: ‘Oh, does that mean nine profitable teams?’ I certainly hope that is what it means, but it doesn’t necessarily have to mean that because there are other metrics that can define health and one of them would be franchise value. There are many, many teams in major pro sports leagues across North America and the world that either have no profitability or little profitability, but their franchise values are increasing — that’s an indicator of health,” Johnston said.
“There’s something good going on and there’s a future that folks are excited about, so that is another metric. What is the in-stadium? Are people filling those seats? Are more people watching at home? All of these factors go into what I would think of as a healthy franchise and a healthy league. I’d want to look at the broad spectrum of that definition of health, but profitability is absolutely important.”
Johnston wants to leave his commissioner tenure with “no question” about the three-down league’s sustainability. He believes the CFL is on a growth trajectory and can accomplish his goals. Key metrics such as television audiences, ticket sales, game day experience and digital engagement make him bullish on the league’s future.
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The post How Stewart Johnston became the CFL’s 15th commissioner appeared first on 3DownNation.
