Mike Morreale has been appointed president of the Ottawa Redblacks, the Canadian Football League franchise announced Wednesday. The move comes as the team prepares for its final regular-season game on Saturday against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, with Ottawa holding a 1-16 record this season.
Morreale, 55, brings extensive experience both as a former CFL player and as an executive in Canadian professional sports. He spent 12 seasons as a wide receiver in the CFL with the Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger-Cats, capturing two Grey Cup titles in 1996 and 1999. During his playing career, Morreale earned the league’s top Canadian award in 1998 and was honored with the Tom Pate Memorial Award in 2000 for his contributions on and off the field.
Following his playing days, Morreale transitioned into leadership roles, notably co-founding the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) in 2017. He served as the league’s commissioner until October 2025, a period he credits with developing his skills as an executive. “Eight years of running the league have just made me a better, different executive person,” Morreale said. He likened the Redblacks position to a startup environment where building trust and assembling the right team are critical to success.
Ottawa’s recent performance has been challenging. Since reaching the 2018 Grey Cup, the Redblacks have made the playoffs only once, in 2024, and posted a combined total of 28 regular-season wins over that span. This season’s 16 consecutive losses to open the campaign set a new CFL record for the most consecutive losses at the start of a season.
The Redblacks are also under the leadership of head coach and general manager Ryan Dinwiddie, who is completing his first season with the club. Dinwiddie joined Ottawa after five seasons with the Toronto Argonauts, where he led the team to two Grey Cup championships in 2022 and 2024 and earned CFL Coach of the Year honors in 2023.
Morreale acknowledged the difficulties ahead but emphasized his focus on overseeing football operations to implement necessary changes. “My job is to oversee the football operations department, make the decisions to change how we act, how we look, how we play,” he said. He expressed confidence in the potential for success with dedicated effort and leadership.
During his CFL career, Morreale caught 509 passes for 6,649 yards and 24 touchdowns across 216 regular-season games. Post-retirement, he also served as marketing director and president of the CFL Players’ Association.
Morreale indicated that while he will be actively involved in shaping the organization’s future in the near term, he intends to delegate operational responsibilities once his leadership team is established. “I’m not going to bring someone on and not give them the trust to do their job,” he said. “My stamp will be way earlier, it will be when I’m setting all of this up in the next month, month and a half.”