Why hockey is so much more popular when CFL has much more time to develop and grow?

Question

Both are our "national" sports. However, even though Grey Cup is indeed the one that brings the country together, it never gets the attention it deserves - should the school, the media, or "whoever" put more effort into promoting it? Most of us agree that it's a better game than NFL; even my friends from Baltimore come back year after year for the Grey Cup say that CFL is the game they love! So what has gone wrong with our football league?

Answer 1

First of all the national sport of "our" nation is lacrosse.

The problem is no matter the hype the CFL spews out about uniting our nation, let's get this outof the way...after the Lions won (and I'm in Vancouver and a Lions fan), we switched to the NFL Sunday Night Game. No charging into the streets and going nuts. this is not 1954 when the team arrived and it was the only game in town and the CFL competed with the NFL on an equal footing. Times change.

Promotion of the CFL is bad. Try even getting a decal to slap on your computer, notebook or car...they don't exist anymore in BC. It's also frankly hokey. That's sort of the appeal, isn't it? It's not  corporate and cold.

Nothing has gone wrong with the CFL. It's a fun enjoyable minor sport and will always be so. Even for a "minor" sport it gets good TV ratings now and big crowds. I certain;ly enjoy the CFL and am fine with the way it is. Could use more real grass fields though.

Then again the sports media is in love with the Tarrana Make Belefs so until you get the Centre of the Unoiverse to recognize we all HATE the Laffs outside southern Ontario, the CFL will always get short shrifted.

Answer 2

People growing up now only follow the NFL over the CFL because it's promoted more, because the NFL spends as much on advertising as the CFL does to run the league.

As for our national sport, well it is Lacrosse, so why not promote the NLL?

Answer 3

The NFL doesn't overlook good QBs for trivial reasons anymore, so it's tough for the CFL to get first-rate QBs. Guys like Moon and Flutie would go straight to the NFL nowadays.

Answer 4

I agree with T B

Answer 5

It is all about marketing and you can't ignore the fact that the NFL's market is ten times bigger, and that US media has saturated Canada for as long as radio and TV has been around.

North American perception is that bigger automatically equals better.  Even Canadians believe that.

So most people in Canada prefer the NFL without really thinking for themselves.

If there was an NHL in the US and a CHL in Canada, the same thing would happen as between the NFL and the CFL.  All the money and the best players (even Canadian) would be in the US.

Answer 6

Switch countries! I wonder why football is so popular over here while everyone hates hockey!