In light of recent news regarding the prospect of the NFL in Canada I want to discuss two main points:
#1... just to crack the inferiority complex:
Firstly, the CFL never was, is not and will never be a feeder league. The long-standing agreement between the NFL and CFL makes it such that contracts from both leagues are honoured for their durations with the exception of the CFL option year. The difference in rules and rosters makes it such that in many cases, money aside, it takes different types of players to find success in either league. So long as the import ratio and quaint Canadian rules are part of the CFL, the league will never be a farm system.
Anyone who thinks that vying to become a feeder league would be beneficial is out to lunch. This league has the success it has not because of money or stardom or the spectre of seeing future NFL stars but because of its uniqueness and cultural significance.
Now here comes the speculation: #2... The NFL in Canada will not kill the CFL and will only detract from it marginally.
The largest detraction will be in the Toronto dominated media. The CFL will fall further toward the back pages. This will last for a few years before narrow-casting and new media completely supplants the major sports news churners in the big smoke.
Season ticket numbers will change slightly, if not un-noticeably then recover. The CFL season ticket holder, even in Toronto, is not a casual observer. If 13,000 in Toronto and 17,000 in Hamilton have committed their time and money to take in 10+ CFL games per year with the option of the Bills down the road, a team in Toronto isn't going to magically make a significant number of them drop their $500 investment in the CFL and make a $2000 investment in the NFL. Walk-ups might hurt, but not forever.
In the event the NFL outfit is a CFL managed organization, there will simply be more money headed towards CFL. There won't be the issue of corporate Canada swinging their sponsorship dollars away from the CFL. The CFL will be able to dip into the NFL's revenue sharing pool reinvigorating Canadian football across the country. Imagine if even 30% or 40% of this team's profits were invested in Canadian football. It would equate to several times the value of the upcoming TV deal with TSN.
This of course might work against the CFL's prospects (if they exist) of securing and NFL team from the point of view of the NFL. If NFL revenues were being streamed into the CFL, subsequently inflated CFL salaries might produce unwanted competition for players.
Given an NFL team in Toronto is Rogers-MLSE run, then we might be in trouble.