CFL teams in Ottawa and Halifax?

Question

I was talking to some friends of mine about CFL expansions and one of them told me that there was going to a CFL team in Ottawa in 2009. My other friend told me that there were going to be 2 teams, one in Ottawa and one in Halifax, which meant that Winnipeg was going to move back to the West division. He also said that the CFL was looking to get teams in Quebec City and Abbotsford BC within the next 10 years. Before this I didn't think that the CFL had any firm expansion plans. Who is right?

Answer 1

The CFL has awarded a franchise to an ownership group in Ottawa "on the condition they can secure an agreement with the city of Ottawa that will provide the team with access to a suitable stadium.”

The team may not see action until 2010.  The south side stands at Frank Clair Stadium have been condemned and will need to be demolished and replaced, or a completely new stadium will have to be built.

I'm sure there are plenty of people in Quebec City and Halifax that would like to have a local CFL team, but I don't think that there's any real discussion going on.  Halifax dropped out of the bidding for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.  The Games would have required construction or a new 20,000 plus seat stadium, which would have provided a new football stadium after the games.  (It worked for Edmonton!)

Windsor has made overtures.

I don't know if the BC Lions would be willing to share their fan base with a team in Abbottsford.  The Lions would probably block a franchise.

On the positive side for existing franchises and for "wanna-be's", the CFL now realizes that the real money comes from "bums in seats" vs TV and so there is a push to build new stadiums (i.e. Winnipeg) or renovate existing ones (i.e. Montreal).  This attitude could also help for further expansion.

Answer 2

I know that Ottawa was getting their former team back, the Ottawa Renegades. But I haven't heard anything about Halifax getting a team...

Answer 3

yes there should be cfl football in halifax?

Answer 4

The Canadian Football League will test the waters for possible expansion into the Maritimes when the defending Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts face the Hamilton Tiger Cats Saturday in a special exhibition game in Halifax.

The Argos and Ticats will play at Huskies Stadium, home of the Saint Mary's University Huskies football team, in game that has been dubbed "Touchdown Atlantic". 2005

The stadium seats 4,000, but an extra 7,000 temporary seats have been added for the pre-season game, making the CFL's first-ever contest in the Nova Scotia capital the talk of the entire province.

The Atlantic Schooners was a conditional Canadian Football League expansion team in 1984, to play out of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Schooners folded before they played a single game because the owners of the team (led by J.I. Albrecht) couldn't secure the financing for a new stadium for the team. Since there was (and still is) no CFL caliber stadium in Halifax the team had no choice but to fold. Since then there have been endless rumours of a stadium being built in the area and with it, a CFL team.

Nevertheless, a Schooners delegation took part in the festivities at the 2007 Grey Cup. Also in the Atlantic region of Canada, Moncton, New Brunswick (a city that is arguably more centrally located in the region and is roughly 250 km from Halifax, slightly longer than the distance between Ottawa and Montreal), is building a CFL-capacity stadium in hopes of luring a CFL team

Answer 5

The only one of those cities that's likely to receive a CFL franchise is Ottawa, and like other people have said, 2010, not 2009, would be the earliest they'd start play.

From what I remember, Halifax's university football stadium seats less than 2,000 people, so they have a long way to go before the CFL would look into expanding there.  So would Quebec City, although I believe that they have a 10,000 seat stadium for Laval games.

Oh, and you're the first person that I've heard mention Abbotsford BC as a possible expansion city.  Where did your friend get that from?

Answer 6

Ottawa seems to be a done deal. Halifax's Commonwealth Games bid flopped so no new stadium-there is absolutely no room for expansion at Saint Mary's. Moncton will definitely get a new stadium so we shall see.

Answer 7

Well, the CFL like any league is always looking for possibilities.  Stadium issues are a concern though although I think ownership would be there since owning a CFL team isn't that expensive compared with the big-time leagues.  Moncton is getting a stadium for the world university games I think it is that could be expanded to around 25,000, CFL size.  Ottawa in 2009 or 10 will be great and the ownership group there is local which is super.  Again though, some stadium issues are in Ottawa which need to be resolved.

Answer 8

Well, ottawa exsists still, they have just temporarily vacated the league,

halifax was approved a team in 1984, the atlantic schooners, they couldn't come up with a stadium, then in the 1998 playoffs they we talking about a grey cup in the next 10 years in halifax and the schooners being started up again, and 10 years has passed and nothing,   don't get your hopes up hali

Answer 9

There is no team for Halifax at the present time.  The Ottawa team will begin play when they are ready, and Winnipeg is staying in the East.  There are no firm expansion plans.

Answer 10

These other cities don't have stadiums, and that's a costly undertaking if you don't have a tenant lined up --- ot's the chicken and egg scenario.

A university stadium of 10,000 people isn't the answer, not easy to expand or add boxes, because they're usually in the middle of campus with little or no room to add another 20,000 seats or an upper deck.

London talked about a CFL franchise in the 70s, even had land identified near Highway 401, but it went nowhere. The stadium at University of Western Ontario is a great place to watch an autumn game, but it's not suitable for expansion.