Buffalo and others maybe in the CFL Make it ten merged

From bleacherreport.com:

Buffalo Could End Up In The CFL

by Steve Thompson (Scribe)

"Ladies, and gentleman, I would like to present the winner of the Grey Cup, this year... Buffalo!"

Although the idea of a CFL commissioner making such a statement in the future seems far fetched, if not impossible to imagine, the ground work is now being laid for such a thing to actually happen. Here's the scenario that could lead to such an event.

Currently, Los Angeles (if it survives the court challenges) wants to build an ultra-luxurious 75,000 seat stadium like the new Yankee Stadium or the one opening in Dallas.

The builders have publicly stated they don't want an expansion franchise but want to steal an established team.

Many potential franchises have already been targeted: Jacksonville, San Diego, Minnesota, San Francisco, Oakland, and...Buffalo.

The NFL has been dying to get back into Los Angeles ever since it was ignominiously sent packing fifteen years ago; the league would prefer two teams, like all the other "big four" American sports.

There has been no talk of expansion and many readers on Bleacher Report have pointed out that the NFL would prefer to keep its symmetrical quota of 32 teams.

(I think it will move inevitably to another symmetrical point of 40.)

Assuming that the NFL doesn't want to expand and wants to get back into Los Angeles at almost any cost, it is prepared to let one of its franchises move from its existing city, preferably the least glamorous one.

Which franchise is that? You got it, the Buffalo Bills.

The NFL has already shown that they don't care much for Buffalo by allowing its owner, Ralph Wilson to play games in Toronto.

"But," say the mindless, NFL-worshiping, Toronto fans, "That means that it is only a matter of time before the Bills come here!"

Sorry, chumps. The NFL won't be coming any time in the near future, certainly not the Bills.

The NFL has consistently shown how it regards foreigners everywhere it plays outside the United States:

Price gouging (particularly in the current Toronto deal), minor league status (NFL Europe), and unglamorous games (San Francisco vs Arizona in Mexico when both teams were bad, the previously cellar dwelling Miami Dolphins last year in Toronto, and the New York Jets this year instead of Indianapolis).

The NFL despises foreigners. It considers it a "privilege" for them to watch NFL games in their own cities.

All the NFL wants in Toronto is to play exhibitions and one or two regular season games with monopolistic ticket prices, and to peddle merchandise.

The last thing the NFL wants is another Blue Jays, a "foreign" team whose TV audience can't be counted by American networks in the ratings and who are the worst draw in baseball because they are not an American city.

On the other hand, if the NFL is prepared to allow Los Angeles to "steal" one of its existing franchises, Buffalo is that city.

If I was betting on who would be the first to offer themselves to Los Angeles, once all the hurdles to building that new stadium are cleared, I'd bet on either Ralph Wilson or Al Davis.

Unlike Houston and Cleveland, whose public tears persuaded the NFL to grant a consoling expansion franchise, Buffalo and Oakland are likely to be treated like St. Louis and Baltimore—who got nothing when the Cardinals and Colts left. The NFL won't shed any tears for Buffalo and Oakland's fans.

Let's assume the worst happens and Buffalo is left without a franchise. That leaves the entire north of New York State without a team.

Enter the CFL. There has already been talk by ex-NFL players about returning to the United States now that NFL Europe is no more. Rochester and Detroit were specifically mentioned.

But a better scenario is for the CFL to start a northern New York State division. Buffalo and Rochester have populations of over one million. The Syracuse area has over 700,000 and the Albany area has 850,000.

Unlike the CFL's previous American invasion, all these cities are close to the Canadian border, which makes travel easy to do and being close to the border; thus, they have more natural ties to Canada.

They would also be natural rivals for each other and draw fans on that basis. These four cities, plus potential expansion into New England in Hartford and Providence, could be a possible future path for the CFL.

The NFL doesn't want such unglamourous cities. The CFL might as well have them.

No more US talk, keep the CFL Canadian its nice to have our own league

glad the board of governors think with their brains

Very interesting.
I would not rule out anything right now, especially to increase from the current "stale" 8 teams.

I wouldn’t mind the increase in teams, and after Ottawa, if that means 2 -3 northern U.S. based teams, so be it :thup:

I agree, if done right a few US teams could really work. That being said, I don’t agree argotom the word “stale” applies to the current CFL, 8 is fine and Grey Cups are judged are the number per decade, you should win more than in a 30 team league. So I don’t see how stale applies. No city in the CFL should be regarded as stale in any event.

Interesting proposal, but please correct me if I am wrong but there are no stadia ready in those specific markets let alone North New York statethat are available to take a CFL sized field. Don't get me wrong I'm all for expansion and I know expansion is coming in the CFL in the sorrt term and long term, but stadiums are the stumbling block. I know that the league is looking to move to a 3 game pre-season sched, the third game will be neutral site games in the possible expansion cities. The third game will be negotiated in the next CBA along with drug testing. The cities that are being eyed have been previously disscussed here and other boards, most are long term and 2 are short term, Ottawa & Quebec are the short term. The rest of the list that will see the preseason games definitly are and in no particular order, Halifax, Moncton, London, Saskatoon (Which already has an ownership group wanting a team), Kelowna and Victoria. As some of you may have heard that the Lions may and I repeat may play at the old Empire site. Well this is wanted for at least one game by both the team and the league. The team wants it to create interest and it'll be a retro-game. The league wants it to test out the temp stadia design that has been proposed. It is a 30,000 seat temp horseshoe design stadium that can last for 10 years with a teflon roof only covering the stands and a teflon exterior. Yes it does include washrooms and concessions. The cost is in between 15 - 20 million with out the land and or parking ammenities. This would allow for a team to get operational faster and not deminish the game day experience.

Stadium specifics aren't that important to me. I like baseball with different stadium outfields and foul ball territory and hockey I loved when the rinks were a bit different, the old Boston Garden remember that tiny ice surface? The CFL to me is the same, I'd love to see CFL games played on a smaller field, opens up a different dimension just like in baseball and hockey with "home field" advantage sort of thing. I will admit though I'm not a pure purist.

Yeah, but when has that ever stopped anyone from calling for expansion to Halifax, Quebec City, etc?

We had funny-shaped stadia in the last US expansion experiment. We’re not talking about cute little idiosyncratic jigs and jags in an outfield wall here. We’re talking 9 yard endzones, and sidelines so tight they make Ivor Wynne feel like the African veldt.

It was a travesty.

.

I don't read anything from Bleacher Report. None of it is credible, it's all crap.

I agree bleacher report is fun reading stuff, nothing more, nothing less.

Of course, no CFL team per say is “stale”.
My beef is only the lack of scheduling when you only have seven other teams to play.
I don’t mind playing the rest of the league home and away.
What get’s a bit much is playing the same team three times in the regular season, plus once in the pre season and again in the playoffs. So you could see the same team five times per year. How meaningful is the Labour Day game is the Hammer, Regina and Calgary when you don’t see the same team before or after?
Variety as they say is the spice of life.
Give me 10-12 Canadian based teams and if we can 2-4 US based northern teams that have no other Major league sport. These cities must have at least a 35,000 seat stadium with a season ticket base of 25,000 guaranteed for three years and while we are it, the expansion fee has to be $20M US with another $10M in the bank as a bond.
So in this example Buffalo would be out. Rochester, Syracuse, Maine or in the Dakotas.

I understand that because america has 10 times the population of Canada, 'expansion to the u.s.' talk cannot ever be avoided. Having said that, i believe that the BOG's as a whole are seriously thinking about this in the back of their minds. Why? because they are money driven people and want the biggest bang for their buck. As do rich Canadians who have the money to start teams. If expanding inside Canada is such a priority, then the simple question reamins...why are we still dreaming about it?

Would buffalo/rotchester/niagra support a CFL team?

Your “criteria” would rule out expansion to Ottawa, not to mention the fact that Regina, Winnipeg, Hamilton and Montreal don’t measure up either.

why do we have to expand south of the boarder? the nhl goes further south of the boarder, and the league it self keeps going further south... down the toilet. no expansion unless the canadian ratio rule is followed. i have no deisre to see buffalo new york play in calgary.its a league that is full of tradition, and yes i agree it always needs to be moving forwerd, but not south. myself and i am sure many canadians agree, the league doesnt need to be so big that some games dont matter. once we start bringing in the south teams, how far away are we from becomming a No Fun League? the americans dont like victory dances, they screw up the national anthem, but we need there numbers, so let it go... The last american expansion was an embarament to to the cfl, and a time many of wish we could forget. I dont want the cfl to be dragged through the mud again.

Personally I think that the Stadiums exist in most major US Universities. There are many 30k + stadia at US schools that could also accommodate a CFL franchise during the NCAA off season. Syracuse has the Carrier dome a 50k domed stadium, Ithaca NY has Schoellkopf field a 26k seat facility, as well there are many in close proximity to major population centres.

There are facilities but the College football fans may not come for a C.F.L. team as well as their NCAA one.

My “criteria” is based only for US expansion.
If done, it must be right to include rich owners, great stadiums with soldout crowds and franchise fees that will guarantee long term success.
While we are at it not a bad idea for new Canadian teams either, all of the conditions would be the same except the franchise fee would be $10M plus a bond of $5M.

The problems is not that stadia don’t exist, it is that those that exist are too small to accomodate a CFL field.

One thing to consider is the potential for US tourism. I know the Blue Jays really benefit from this. Why not the CFL if it makes sense to go to a northern US state city? I think a city like Quebec City or Halifax might be interested in having some US teams for that very reason so it actually might help to spur stadium development in this country when you think of it.