I thought it might be interesting to run searches of all the CFL teams on Facebook to see how many people have joined the fan groups.
I think it's valuable because Facebook is used predominantly by young people, and Cohon has made it clear that young people are going to play a significant role in the health of the league in years to come.
There were some pretty surprising results:
Hamilton:
Search: "Hamilton Tiger Cats" , "Hamilton Ti-cats"
Number of fan groups: 5
Total membership: 1469
Saskatchewan:
Search: "Saskatchewan Roughriders" , "Saskatchewan Riders"
Number of fan groups: 2
Total membership: 1260
Toronto:
Search: "Toronto Argonauts" , "Toronto Argos"
Number of fan groups: 10
Total membership: 825
Edmonton:
Search: "Edmonton Eskimos" , "Edmonton Esks"
Number of fan groups: 2
Total membership: 357
Calgary:
Search: "Calgary Stampeders" , "Calgary Stamps"
Number of fan groups: 6
Total membership: 332
B.C.:
Search: "BC Lions"
Number of fan groups: 3
Total membership: 276
Winnipeg:
Search: "Winnipeg Blue Bombers" , "Winnipeg Bombers"
Number of fan groups: 1
Total membership: 270
Ottawa:
Search: "Ottawa Renegades" , "Ottawa Rough Riders"
Number of fan groups: 1
Total membership: 128
Montreal:
Search: "Montreal Alouettes" , "Montreal Als"
Number of fan groups: 1
Total membership: 79
Toronto and Hamilton were higher than i though, since they were the ones with financial troubles recently. Winnipeg and Montreal were lower than I thought.
Given these results, it makes you wonder to what degree the success of teams like the alouettes and the bombers is built on young fans.
Unfortunately, here's some scale:
Toronto Raptors:
groups 12+, membership: 11,620+
Seems like the raptors have done an excellent job of ensuring that a fan base exists for years to come.