CFL Europe?

Maybe those Euro's would prefer the big field 3 down version of our game.

I think they would r4 but really the NFL will market itself way before the CFL does, they have the resources to do so unlike the CFL, so the world standard of gridiron football will be NFL rules football, except in Canada of course but even then, with the young people today getting raised on a much higher NFL profile with TV compared when I was young when the NFL looked on TV not much different than the CFL (NFL teams were playing out of baseball stadiums usually or college stadiums), well, I am not optimistic about Canadian rules lasting. Young people can be manipulated more easily by flashy TV and hype compared with substance, compared with older people, sad but true.

I had a thought that the Canadian game would be hit in GB, if it were done right. The Brits would (I think)appreciate our game at about the same level that they appreciate hockey. Small, semi-pro niche sport. Nice to place to train some new kickers.

I do not share your gloomy cynicism Earl.

Why not? What's your argument agains't my cynicism?

The CFL has lasted this long and it's as strong as ever.

2 more teams in the league will help as well.

Also, the NFL wants to keep the league alive.

Unless you're suggesting that the CFL will one day adopt NFL rules.

Yes, that's all I'm saying. The CFL will survive, thankfully, but I think a lot of fans of the CFL now are older and we will die off. I'm not so sure there is enough younger fans to take our place to fill the stadiums and these younger fans today are being raised with the glitzy NFL TV we have now. Not saying all younger fans are really influenced by the "American way", but more than when I was young I think. And many of the young people today will become the teachers and get into positions of power to make change, and the changes they make will be along the American ways of doing things in all ways of life I think.

I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think so. You watch, next year when the NFL plays the game in China, when you see clips of China after this I'm sure you will see more and more Chinese kids wearing NFL caps and t-shirst. Americans are fantastic promoters of business, they know how to sell and market and have the resources to do so. Most societies will probably fall to their marketing schemes although we are seeing a fundamentalist Muslim backlash to American presence which does counter what I'm saying to some extent.

If Canada ever hosts the summer olympics again, they should introduce Canadian rules football as a demonstration sport.

I agree for sure. Just like if Quebec wants to keep the french language alive, they must do whatever they can to do so, make new laws, media exposure etc. Nothing happens in life, usually anyways, without a lot of effort, there is a lot of competition out there and if you want your idea and products and services to suceed, you have to be aggresive and go out and do it.

Dont forget AUSTRALIAN rules football, that stuff is NUTZ! :rockin:

Ya, the Americans may stay away from Australia, I've heard they go nuts there for their football. But you know eye, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if sometime the NFL does in fact look at Australia as a potential market as well, who knows.

Enough of the NFL hero worship. The NFL has failed miserably with their NFL Europe. I read it is on the virge of being scrapped.

The only reason the NFL is so successful is because it is popular in a country of 300 million people. But don't confuse popularity in the USA with popularity world wide, as many NFL dufusses up here do.

Becuase if Canada had a population even half of the USA, based on the relative popularity of the sports in Canada, the NHL would be the number one league in North America. And the CFL would be challenging baseball and basketball and maybe the NFL for second place.

And I think the CFl would do better in Europe, because it is a faster game closer to rugby. Europeans find the American game boring because there is too much time between plays where nothing happens. Sort of like baseball.

CFL Europe would never work out. First of all, the CFL couldnt even sustain itself in the US, not even in all of Canada for that matter. By that I mean Ottawa folding as well as the Riders almost folding, Toronto a few years back, and Hamilton not doing so well until Bob Young bought it. Straight up it wouldnt work out. The CFL as a whole would lose a tremendous amount of money as far as I'm concerned. I know a lot of people are gonna be not so happy with me for saying that, but I believe it is the truth.

The only reason NFL Europe is "working out" is because the NFL is absorbing the losses the league is taking.

The only way it would work business-wise is if the Europeans like the game so much that they are willing to pay for the tickets.

Europe would be an interesting testing ground to judge the true popularity of the sport vs. the NFL.

However, in reality no one has the money to try such a venture.

The NFL owes Canada big time for the popularity of football in Germany. It was Canadians playing organized ball at many of the military bases in Germany after world war 2 that introduced the game to the Germans. I think there were fun leagues and semi pro teams there right up to 20 years ago or so when we closed our last bases there.

their gonna have to watch it online then, which BTW, they do, likly more than the NFL or NFLE.