It's not third and long yet, but Canadian Football League owners have joined the push to bring the 2015 Pan Am Games to Hamilton.

That was one message CFL commissioner Mark Cohon brought to the editorial board of The Hamilton Spectator yesterday.

Cohon said while the 30,000-seat stadium Hamilton is eyeing for the event would be a key to continued prosperity for the Tiger-Cats, the games are about much more than that.

"It's more than just about a football team," he said. "It's an important step to creating a centre for sports excellence. That would be great for future Olympians."

The stadium would be Hamilton's major contribution to a Golden Horseshoe Games, and host track and field events and soccer.

The Ontario government has led the 2015 push, asking the federal government to join it and southern Ontario municipalities in the bid.

The federal secretary of state for sport says due diligence is needed to review the preliminary $1.77-billion games budget and a request for the government to pick up 30 per cent of the costs. Bid backers say the delay could hamper opportunities at the Beijing Olympics next month to campaign on behalf of the Golden Horseshoe initiative.

David Braley and Bob Young, the owners of the British Columbia Lions and the Tiger-Cats, respectively, are prime movers in the campaign to bring the Pan Ams to southern Ontario. But they aren't the only CFL owners getting the word out that the Pan Ams would be good for the league, Cohon said.

He said stadium development in Hamilton could also be an opportunity to use a new Ticat home as the centrepiece for related development in health-related businesses, a favourite theme with Braley.

"Can that be a bigger vision for Hamilton? Can you tie into sports medicine and sports and health research?

"You can't just think about a stadium, you have to think about a greater context for the city, as well."

Cohon pointed to a proposed $400-million development in Winnipeg that would link a new stadium with retail and office development. The Point Douglas proposal would centre on an undeveloped parcel of land on the Red River and foster waterfront development, as well.

Several other CFL organizations, including the dormant Ottawa franchise, are looking at new or improved stadiums.

Cohon welcomed the chance to put positive spin on a league seen lately as struggling under the shadow of the National Football League, with the Buffalo Bills playing two games in Toronto this year.

"One or two games won't kill 100 years of football history in Canada," Cohon said.

He added that he was "buoyant" and "excited" by rising TV ratings and steady attendance, and reassured by strong owners such as Braley and Young who are in for the long haul.

While Cohon admitted some teams are losing money, he said he senses a surge in young people's interest in Canadian football that is linked to nationalism.

He said the CFL is stressing grassroots football, whether touch, flag or "just throwing the ball around the back yard."

Asked about the controversial goal-line call that ended the Ticats' game against Saskatchewan Saturday, he noted the officials got it right.

But he said the league is looking at ways to make sure the media and public understand the hows and whys of officials making highly-scrutinized rulings.

jkernaghan@thespec.com

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