To all you Canadian CFL fans...?

Question

I'm curious how you felt back in the early 90s when the CFL expanded (albeit briefly) into the United States? I live in the Sacramento, California area and we had the Gold Miners team here. I really loved the team and the game. But do you feel it should have remained a Canadian only sport or did you favor expansion?

Answer 1

I liked the expansion, it is just unfortunate there were not enough fans to make it work, except in Baltimore.  Las Vegas, in particular, was a bad set-up, with the stadium so far off the beaten track.  It will not be repeated.

Answer 2

Anchorage, Alaska should have a team.

The population is closing in on 300,000  and it would be a big deal to them because they have no other sports teams worth mentioning.

They are used to Canadian weather, the city/state has a ton of money to waste and they have a major airport.

Answer 3

I felt it was a really poor decision right from the start.   The CFL is a Canadian institution and should remain as such.  I would like to see expansion.  Possibly a team in the maritimes (Halifax) and it would be nice to see the citizens of Ottawa get their act together and support a CFL franchise again!!!!

Answer 4

I think they shoulda stayed in Canada.  Nothing was gained outta expanding to the states, and having the Baltimore Stallions win the Grey Cup was a disgrace to Canadian football history.

Answer 5

I was for it.  The league is too small at 8 or 9 teams.  Nice to see different matchups.

Answer 6

I did not mind expansion because it is still known as the CFL. So it is still the Canadian game no matter where it is played.

Answer 7

i liked expansion. i think we have a great game here and espansion to the Us was a good way to show it

Answer 8

I was in favour of it, but they went too fast with it. In my opinion they should have gone to markets closer to the Canada-US border though. There was lots of speculation about Portland getting a team, especially after the CFL played an exhibition game there in early 1992. I didn't mind the fact Sacramento got the first team, I actually have an authentic Gold Miners jersey and a hat that I still wear during the Grey Cup game every year (except if Calgary or Winnipeg are participating).

They just went for the quick buck, too many teams too fast that were too far away, like Shreveport and Memphis....

Answer 9

Hello from  Saskatchewan...population 1M, and the current holders of the 2007 Grey Cup. It is -20. I attended the only Grey Cup game to be won by a non Canadian team here

in Regina.  Baltimore beat Calgary. Now ,if my memory serves me well, Jeff Garcia was Qb'ing Calgary.My view is this... If the Buffalo owner wants to sell his team to a Toronto individual or group...fine.I doubt all the cities in the US of A, that would love to have a team, would stand for it...All the best...Ken

Answer 10

I favor expansion but not to the United States. That was a total failure and one of the stupidest decisions in sports history. Eight or nine teams is way too small for the premier football league of Canada. I hope the Renegades are able to comeback and I also think the CFL should add another team to the Eastern Division to even out the two divisions at five teams apiece. I say put an expansion team in either Quebec City or Halifax.

Answer 11

I thought it was a poor decision. It's nothing anti-US, I'm quite the opposite. The import quota thing was the killer. The CFL exists in part to give good Canadian college and junior football players a team to step up to. However you can't tell Americans they can't play on a team in their own country because they are American, but without import quotas almost all the players would be American. It's the balance between the home grown talent and great US talent that makes the CFL worthwhile.

Answer 12

I thought it was ill advised.  Not sure why they thought this would work when every other league to come up against the NFL juggernaut died a horrible death.

It would have made more sense to try some other Canadian markets first.

I'm sure there are quite a few people who became fans of the game in the US only to have their franchise snatched away after a brief appearance.  

It's really hard for the league to justify their expansion into the US but, still be all up in arms over the NFL moving into Canada.  After all, did they not open Pandora's Box first?