The 色色啦 Argonauts have been a pretty lousy football team so far this season. To say they鈥檝e been a shadow of their Grey Cup champion selves would be an insult to shadows.
Even worse, it would appear people are noticing. And not in a good way.
To those who believe nothing that happens in the Canadian Football League before Labour Day really matters, this doesn鈥檛 mean the Argos season can be declared a disaster at 2-7, dead last in the East Division. That said, the state of the defence and special teams, particularly on kick coverage, would suggest this is a team with major roster problems.
The Argos led the Ottawa Redblacks 22-1 early on Saturday, but lost 46-42, suggesting the continuing injury absence of star quarterback Chad Kelly isn鈥檛 the team鈥檚 biggest concern right now.
鈥淚 think we have some pretenders in the building who like聽to talk a big game and don’t show up on game day,鈥 frustrated head coach Ryan Dinwiddie said afterward.
Ouch. It was reminiscent of Auston Matthews saying 鈥渨e had too many passengers鈥 at the end of the Maple Leafs season. Except the Argos season isn鈥檛 over.
What Dinwiddie鈥檚 comments mean to the Argos is unclear. The days of the late-summer airlift of NFL castoffs are long gone. The coach wasn鈥檛 specific, leaving observers to guess which players he was aiming at.
Kelly hasn鈥檛 played a down since breaking his leg in the East final game last November, and it鈥檚 unclear when and if he will return. Grey Cup most valuable player Nick Arbuckle has been better than expected behind a leaky offensive line, without much of a running game to count on.
Defensively, the Argos have really struggled, and were ripped apart Saturday by Ottawa quarterback Dru Brown and his receiving corps. Suddenly, Friday鈥檚 road game against 2-6 Edmonton, last in the West, is a critical contest.
That鈥檚 what鈥檚 going on down on the field. In聽the stands, it鈥檚 just as ugly.
Indeed, based on Saturday’s audience on a spectacular August afternoon at BMO Field, there should once again be serious concern about the viability of this team.
The announced attendance was 13,297, bringing the season average to 13,838. Last year, they averaged 15,127 at home. So attendance, already well below the league standard, is off by more than eight per cent per game after five home dates.
Is this a reaction to their play? Is there even a relationship between the two? That鈥檚 never been clear. The Argos have had strong teams that haven鈥檛 drawn flies, and weak teams that drew about the same. The league hasn鈥檛 had a strong crowd presence in Canada鈥檚 largest city for years despite having won three Grey Cups since 2017.
The Argos continue to be owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, now controlled by Rogers Communications. Rogers鈥 national network, Sportsnet, does not air CFL games or cover league news extensively.
MLSE has owned the Argos for a decade now, with little or no improvement in the team鈥檚 profile in the city or attendance. Just three months after Keith Pelley took over as chief executive officer of MLSE last year, he fired Bill Manning, who was serving as president of the Argos and 色色啦 FC. In what has become a familiar pattern, Manning was not replaced in either capacity.
The Argos did surprise by winning the Grey Cup last year, but are now in the doldrums and suffering at the gate. 色色啦 FC (5-13-7) is as bad as the Argos, but at least the Major League Soccer club, which plays at the same venue, draws more fans at about 20,200 per game.
Last November,聽then CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie said Rogers executive chair Edward Rogers was 鈥渃ommitted鈥 to the Argos. But Ambrosie surprisingly stepped down this year after a relatively short seven-year run and was replaced by former TSN executive Stewart Johnston. Now the Argos are turning into a bonfire that Johnston will have to deal with.
Of course, we鈥檝e heard much of this before. The Argos, whether they win or lose, have seemingly been in trouble for a generation and must have lost millions of dollars over the years. That said, Canadians are feeling very protective of their national institutions these days, and Rogers probably wouldn鈥檛 want to be seen as abandoning the CFL at this time.
By now, MLSE has to understand the Argos will never return to anything close to the popularity they once enjoyed. Not only do they have the Maple Leafs, Raptors, Blue Jays and TFC to compete with, but also women鈥檚 professional teams such as the PWHL’s Sceptres, WNBA’s Tempo and NSL’s AFC 色色啦 are making the market even more crowded.
Winning the Grey Cup regularly in recent times hasn鈥檛 changed the equation in a positive way for the Argos. Losing like they鈥檙e losing can only make things worse.
Correction — Aug. 14, 2025
This article has been updated. A previous version incorrectly stated that Argos quarterback Chad Kelly聽hasn鈥檛 played a down since breaking his leg in the Grey Cup game last November. The injury happened in the East final.
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