The cover of the 2008 Hamilton Tiger-Cats media guide features the faces of three players: Zeke Moreno, Casey Printers and Jesse Lumsden.
Moreno, a linebacker, was traded part way through last season. Running back Jesse Lumsden signed with the Edmonton Eskimos Tuesday. Printers' future as the club's marquee quarterback remains a question mark as the team looks to younger, cheaper and, hopefully, better options.
So how does a team without a big name to peddle market itself to the community -- particularly one whose patience is growing thin after years of losing?
Bob Stellick, president of Stellick Marketing Communications of Toronto, has more than 20 years in the sports marketing business, including 12 years with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
He says without Lumsden -- a local boy at a high-profile position -- the team has few options to sell itself.
"The challenge for the Ticats is the double-whammy of losing a key guy, and not having had success on the field," Stellick says.
That dismal record over the past four seasons -- the Ticats have recorded 15 wins against 57 losses in that span -- is the toughest challenge.
"The rising tide raises all ships, and that's particularly true in marketing. Everybody's a marketing genius on a winning team," Stellick says.
One option for the Ticats would be to take a page from the Leafs' current marketing playbook by reminding fans of the franchise's strong tradition.
"You see the Leafs with a poor team right now, reaching back to Doug Gilmour and Wendel Clark.
"You can't drag Angelo Mosca out every weekend, but you have to take fans back to happier times, to the tradition of supporting the team win or lose."
Lumsden's appeal was multi-faceted, according to Stellick. The running back was a good-looking, local kid who played a high-profile position.
"How many Canadians touch the ball on a regular basis in the CFL? The assumption is the quarterbacks and the running backs are going to be American.
"Having Jesse allows you to buck that trend. Part of his market- ability is that he is a handsome Canadian guy," Stellick said.
Without Lumsden, Tiger-Cat president Scott Mitchell says the team will focus on the team and the brand, focusing on the logo and the Tiger Town theme.
"The Tiger-Cat logo is incredibly powerful," Mitchell said.
While reaction to Lumsden's departure among the faithful that populate the team's online fan forums has been mixed, Mitchell says there wasn't a stream of angry phone calls or season-ticket cancellations.
"It's always hard when you lose someone as popular as Jesse was in the community, but I think our fans had their own dilemma as to where Jesse fit into the scheme of things," Mitchell said.
The team is ahead of schedule in its season-ticket renewals, and expects to be right around last year's 16,000 mark, Mitchell said.
Other players will be given the opportunity to be higher profile -- or at least get recognition for their efforts.
"Jesse got the profile but he probably wasn't in the top five on our team in individual community appearances," Mitchell said.
He cited Canadian defensive back Sandy Beveridge, veteran offensive lineman Marwan Hage and all-star kicker Nick Setta as players who could get a bit more of the limelight following Lumsden's departure.
"There are a ton of guys who are doing a ton of exceptional things in the community."
Setta said yesterday that he's willing to play a larger role in marketing the team if he's asked to, but that he doesn't believe that any one player can make a significant difference at this point.
"Any way I can help, I will. If my face is on the side of a bus, or on a program cover, sure it's fantastic, but those things aren't going to help win over our fan base. This team has to win to do that," Setta said.
The Notre Dame product has been active in the community since coming to the team before the 2007 season. Last year, he organized Nick's Kicks for Kids that saw Carmen's Banquet Centre donate $100 for every field-goal yard over 40 yards -- a 42-yarder would be worth $200, for example.
At the end of the year, the Carmen's donation of $3,100, plus contributions from the team and the player himself, was used to take approximately 100 under- privileged kids to the RBK outlet store where they were able to pick out any pair of shoes they wanted.
He plans to run the program again this year, and hopes to incorporate some of his teammates into his community events.
"I've gotten some ink, people know who I am, but I want to get the other players that maybe aren't as well known involved," he said.
But for all his community efforts, can a guy like Nick Setta help sell tickets? Stellick doesn't think so.
"You have to have a more significant impact guy," he said. "I don't think the Ticats have anyone to hang their hat on."
Stellick says he doubts anything but a more successful season will help the team's fortunes at this stage.
"The Hamilton Tiger-Cat fans really bought back into the program a few years ago and haven't been rewarded," he says.
At the very least, the team has solved the problem of who to put on the cover of the media guide: there won't be one. The team is doing away with the traditional printed guide and preparing a digital-only version instead.
"It'll feature the team and the brand, and not an individual player," Mitchell said.
"I think 99 per cent of fans would tell you, they're not overly concerned with who's on the field, they just want a winning team."