Why do people still think that the CFL should go to the States?

Question

I think that we shold start to worry more about our own teams in the Canada and stop thinking that it would work in the states. You don't see the NFL coming up to Canada any time soon. What do you think?

Answer 1

Good question.  Short memories would be my first thought.  It did not work last time and it won't in the future.  It is to small and cannot attract the kind of money that would give it a chance to succeed.  There has to be a possibility of return on the dollar or what is the point.  The NFL has a huge upside.  If I had that knd on dough, I would wait for an opportunity there rather than pump it into a league that has already failed in that market once.

Answer 2

Never say "never" about the NFL coming to Canada.

Think about it, the Buffalo Bills draw in an equal amount of fans from Southern Ontario as well as Western NY.  The Detroit Lions has its share of Southwestern Ontario fans too.  The Seattle Seahakws have a good draw from British Columbia.

The CFL has been around for a long time, but should they fold for some reason.....you can easily see the NFL place teams keep the Argos and B.C. Lions (though that name will have to change so as not to confuse it with Detroit)

Answer 3

CFL is way different from the American style of play. If the CFL teams were placed in large markets that had no NFL clubs (i.e. Milwaukee, Columbus, Los Angeles), then it may work.

When the Montreal Alouettes were in Baltimore, it was a success, but due the Ravens coming into town, they moved out, so it all depends on location.

Answer 4

Yes. Halifax should have a team, Ottawa shouldn't, and Hamilton needs to get their c**p together. And yes, expansion into the US is key and necessary.

Now that home attendance is up, and ratings going strong, the CFL must look into expansion if it wants the company to grow and stay strong.

If you look and learn at the mistakes of previouse pro football leagues in the USA, you will see that there is a market for what is know as "year round football" or "off season football" but is very tricky market. NFL fans are willing to watch and support another football league when the NFL isn't on TV. Hence the NFL's push for NFL Europe to be broadcasted in North America.

Is NFL europe better then the CFL?

The main reason most of these "summer" leagues fail is because of 1) lack of credibility (XFL), and 2) too much too fast (USFL, CFL, WFLA) 3) poor city selection 4) going head to head with the NFL with schedules.

The CFL needs to go after "border city" markets and creep its way into the US market, not 10 teams all at once. It needs to pick NFL starved cities, ones that have been abondoned by NFL elites (L.A., hartford), and ones that have been long time loser cities with frustrated fans (Detroit). Also it should stay away from cities like Las Vegas, were NO proffesional sports team exist.

Don't critisize the CFL for US expansion, nobody complained when theams like Detroit and Chicago joined the NHL.

The CFL doesn't need to ride backseat to the NFL, and yes the NFL does have an eye for Canada. If the NFL really wants to, it can buy the CFL, and axe all the teams if it wants. In fact it almost did, in the form of NFL guranteed loans to the CFL borrowed in the past. Lucky for us, we paid the loans back with cash, not assets.

Answer 5

It was attempted about 10 years ago and failed miserably.  Problems were that teams were placed in cities with very small markets (the Shreveport Pirates?).  Plus the fact that it was probably difficult to lure fans to the games who are so used to the American style of football.