Teams to choose from
Baltimore Stallions
Birmingham Barracudas
Las Vegas Posse
Memphis Maddogs
Sacramento Goldminers
San Antonio Texans
Shreveport Pirates
I for one do miss the old American teams yes i admit U.S. expansion didn't go very well but it wasn't as bad as most people said it was.
You have to remember that the CFL was all but dead when it expanded into the states and the money that the league got from the American owners helped keep the league afloat which gave some of the Canadian teams a couple of extra years to get their house in order.
Just admit that your favourite Grey Cup moment was when the B.C. Lions beat the Baltimore Stallions for the Grey Cup.
And i am an Eskimo fan the number 1 Eskimo fan and CFL fan.
Who was your favourite American team and why?
Mine was probably the Sacramento Goldminers because they were the first one in the league.
I also think if you gave them more time it would have worked because it takes more than 2 or 3 years to build a fan base and they also should have tried cities closer to Canada.
Buy the way to all of you NFL fans NFL sucks so if you want to talk NFL do it on the NFL website.
Myself. I never had much spare time to watch cfl at this time in my life. It seems like such a long time ago - how did u remember all the teams? i didn't mind the expansion either and would support another. i agree - need to be close to canada. i think maine, upper NY, and montana would be good markets.
Don't need American expansion, we need to expand into Canada more. Get 12-14 teams in Canada and that's all we need.
If there ever is going to be American teams in the CFL, which I hope never happens, they should be in a seperate Conference (just like the last time, they would have different rules, ie no import/non-imprt ratio0 and just play each other and then have the Canadian Conference champion play the American Conference champ.
Most of the American team were crap other than the Stallions, who got experinced players and coaches and didn't try to play US football with 3 downs and 12 men (like the other US francises).
What the hell are you talking about?!! Attendance south of the border was horrible (at best) .. and interest was even lower.
All too often it was attendances of 5,289 and 6,317 (Ottawa vs) Shreveport. (being ran by of all people ... the Gliebermans) .. I remember 4 of the 6 expansion teams having the lowest attendance records in CFL history.
Memphis: Average 14,550
Birmingham: 16,843
Las Vegas: 8,953
Shreveport: 17,871 / 14,359 (horribly fudged)
Baltimore: 37,347 / 30,112)
Sacremento: 16,979 / 14,226
San Antonio: 15,855
I think its also worth mentioning that a good percentage of these games claimed seats sold - however TSN wouldn't dare pan the crowd due to the sea of empty seats and disinterested fans. Generally i'd say these crowds were made up of corporate seats, cheap family entertainment and transplanted canucks looking to quench a CFL fix ... Hardly a fan base to build around.
I think your memory fails you ... US expansion was a disaster through and through ... The most we can take from it; is to learn from our previous mistakes ... Clearly some of us never learn.
StatiK76
GO BOMBERS!!!
If the Gliebermans get the Renegades, we may see a US city, namely Detroit, in the CFL sooner than we think.
My guess is the father-son team will run the Renegades into the ground, like they did (or helped to do) with the Rough Riders, and then tell the league they're moving the team to their home town, or else they'll be forced to fold them. Without viable owners to step in and take over the franchise, the Board of Governors may have no choice but to accept their proposal.
If legal questions arise around the cross-border move, they may instead relocate to Windsor, just across the river from Detroit.
May not happen, but it is something I'm concerned about.
was never around in the time of american CFL teams, glad i wasnt.
Silly
Stupid
Idiotic
It's our only truly Canadian game that we have left...leave it alone.
Agree with 2scoops, the concept of American expansion was great, but the excecution by en large was poor. Baltimore and Sacremento were great additions while the other cities would have been good additions if they had more years to develop. Overall there were more CFL teams and that was also a positive. The two Grey Cups turned out to be a Canadian vs USA and from the quality of both games and the suspense factor of us vs them mentality was unbeleivable. Down the road I still want 10-12 Canadian based teams and maybe 2-4 US teams and those from the northern based states. Portland comes to mind with their excebition game and maybe Rochester/Syracuse or Maine based possibility. It would have to be done right with owners having deep pockets with lets say posting a bond overe 5 years together with requirements of minimum 20,000 season ticket base.
I had fun going to the Posse game in Vegas, wow was that hot the fire trucks hosed us down ha ha ha ha
I have a feeling Baltimore would still have a CFL team if the (original) Cleveland Browns hadn't moved there.
I'm willing to bet Baltimore would still support a CFL team had they stuck around.. Baltimore is an awesome football town.
I'd say I have more of a "morbid fascination" with the American teams then missing them. There is lots of articles about the old teams on the internet. After reading them, you realize how embarassing the whole experiment was. Reading the article about the exhibition game played in Miami when they wanted to move (the Texans I think) to start the Miami Manatees. The article went on about how discraceful it was have this bigger field and 3 downs on thier hallowed stadium.
I collect US team stuff and I've even created all the American teams on my Madden 2005. But I only do it because it is a part of out history. I don't think it should ever be attempted again.
I do however, still love the logos. Which leads me to this post. We all seem to love ranking things on this forum...so, rank all the American team logos from best to worst:
Mine looks like this,
Maddogs
'Cudas
Stallions
Pirates
'Miners
Posse
Texans
I disagree, I think the CFL should consider seriously expanding to the US with one team, possibly 2 max, in states bordering Canada, that are good markets and have good owners. This would expose the CFL more in the States and possibly make the TV deals in Canada better. The OHL and WHL have team in the States, why not the CFL?
But it has to be done right and not overnight, but, as any business, the CFL must think about expanding the product and expanding just into Canada doesn't make total sense without bigger TV contracts. The CFL needs bigger TV contracts, period.
Minimum 20,000 season ticket base?? You can axe half of the Canadian teams right now then ... You people are forgetting that Americans don't take well to changing the rules of their beloved NFL ... The XFL is an excellent example of this, and the original CFL expansion proves this as well ...
Yes - the original expansion was probably not handled properly (only in retrospect) .. However - I'd be really curious on what the hell makes people think that if this were to happen again, why the results would be any different? Bottom line - the interest was not there. The XFL's attendance was dismal as well - and they DID have a national TV contract, and it was ULTRA promoted in the south, AND it didn't conflict with the NFL schedule .. and still the results were the same. Total failure.
Seriously now - Imagine some hack American Hockey league changed the rules of hockey as you know and love - then set up shop/a team in your town ... How well do you think that would be accepted? We're talking about the same thing here ...
Talk of another US expansion is completely ignorent.
StatiK76
GO BOMBERS!!!
You forgot to mention that the CFL is/was more respected than the XFL among Americans, they know, at least some anyway, the history and tradition of the CFL. You can't compare the 2 leagues. Yes, they thought the 3 downs was a bit strange but I think they accepted it more coming from Canada.
The CFL can work in one or two selected American markets, IMO, in states that border on Canada. And this is what the CFL should consider, not now but in the future.
Not only that, but the XFL was run like a wrasling show aswell
For those who say they Americans don't like football with different rules, could you please explain the popularity of arena football?
I can't believe i'm on a CFL forum in 2005, and there is an argument for US expansion .. this is assinine.
Last season was one of the most exciting and successfull seasons I can remember .. (including the books, attendance, TV viewership, everything) .. And all of a sudden there are a bunch of people that would like to screw with last seasons recipe for success ...
Go ahead .. expand to the states .. it won't have my support - or the americans. Some people have to learn the hard way ... over and over again, and again, and again.
StatiK76
I would much prefer Canadian expansion. Portland and Windsor looks attractive, but one thing bothers me. US labour laws. The Americans wouldn't have to keep the Canadian content. Over time I think that would put the Canadian teams at a disadvanrage. I know it wasn't an issue in the 90's when we had US expansion, but I think if a team remained in a US city, with stable coaches, we could possibly see different results.
Lets keep it in Canada.... Our little secret!
I became a big fan of the CFL when the Stallions came to Baltimore. I became a season ticket holder and went to one away game to see the Tiger-Cat's (what a blast !!!). Like someone else stated, I believe they will still be in Baltimore if the Ravens would not have come to town. I'm now a Ravens season ticket holder, but still love watching the CFL. Finally last year there were a lot shown on DIRECTV, so I could really follow the season. I just hope they continue to show games in the States.
As for expansion, I think it would be great no matter what city (a team in an American city would be nice). More teams = more games to watch.