Ahh expansion. We’ve spoken of this so many times and nothing has happened. I am going to throw a suggestion out to you and would appreciate if I don’t get skewered for doing so.
Merge with the XFL. I watched a few games on YT and they were excellent. Seriously, they were very entertaining and far superior to the USFL. The Rock has influence and most of the teams drew well. Ensure that every team has 10 Canadian players (approx.) and forge ahead.
Ambrosio isn’t doing anything. We’ve been waiting a decade for Halifax or QC but nothing has happened, and it has become too frustrating to hope that something will develop. It’s maddening. Consider the XFL and before you put on the “hater’s cap”, watch a few XFL games. thanks
well i am not going to skewer you because i have heartily endorsed such a CXFL expansion many times. i’m also a proponent of the CFL moving to 4 downs but that’s another discussion lol.
you might like this topic
I don’t see a CXFL expansion only because of the conflict in seasons, I can’t see any interest in the US when a league overlaps with the NFL/NCAA
But I do believe that 4 downs is worth looking at.
Every year we host a Grey Cup party at our home in Florida. Every person down there that has watched a CFL game has the same thing “three downs? seriously” “what - kicking again” “you need 4 downs”
They are playing 4 down American football in Europe, far east, Mexico, no one is playing with 3 downs.
Would it increase interest in the CFL, especially among young people? don’t know
I won’t skewer you. I would prefer that the CFL not merge with the XFL but fear that may be inevitable.
If they do merge I’m not sure how they will resolve the length of the season thing as the XFL will not want to compete head to head with the NFL and play past August.
I do agree that the XFL is better than the USFL but consider both to be far below CFL quality.
If they do merge we will surely see 4 downs and no ratio, unless they want to handicap the Canadian teams only.
My preference remains that the CFL retain the essence of it’s game and rules (aside from some rules I would love to see changed ie. No shankapotamaus point) and expand into the Northern US. The ratio should go yesterday as it is hurting the quality of the game and is largely bogus and rife with fake Canadians to begin with. The season should end with the Grey Cup on Canadian thanksgiving so that football can be played in fall weather as it was meant to be. It’s not a winter sport.
If the CFL does nothing then they are whistling past the graveyard and risking demise. I wouldn’t love to see a merger with the XFL but am thinking that would probably be better than folding.
i probably should have prefaced my previous post similarly because this is essentially my view as well. i would much rather see CFL expansion to northern states before an XFL merger. i just think the latter is more feasible any time in the near future.
expansion aside, for me the ratio is #1 on list to go. i hate that rule. well that and division re-alignment lol. *shutting up
Agreed and I say what I say because I consider Canadian expansion to be a pipe dream without stadiums available or in the works. I would prefer Canadian expansion but that is far less likely or doable than US expansion.
With expansion to the US we could still retain the essence of the game, ie. 3 downs, larger field and Canadian rules. A merger with the XFL would mean 4 downs, an NFL sized field, goalposts at the back of the end zone that would be 15 yards deep max, probably no rouge, probably no pre snap motion and the season starting far earlier and ending in August. The ratio doesn’t belong in any scenario and couldn’t survive any merger or expansion and continues to cripple the product on the field even at present and skewers the salary cap.
Even if you don’t like either of the scenarios I paint would it not be preferable to retain CFL rules and a CFL field with the league running from early May to October rather than the alternative? For those who insist in whistling past the graveyard your only hope in my opinion is that the USFL and XFL both fold, which doesn’t appear likely.
This is more due to the economies of scale
In an alternate universe where the NFL was 3 down and CFL was 4 down assuming all other factors (size, school, tv contracts) are equal the world would be playing 3 downs
I don’t think they could or should “merge”, not do I think that was ever under discussion. But I do think they should make a working agreement to share talent and cross promote. It’d be great to see the XFL adopt some CFL rules, too: 3 downs, wider field, waggle, rouge, etc.
President of Football Canada
Heh, if the CFL were to switch its season so that it ends in early September, it might not be long before USports and CJFL get all the Canadian football spotlight year-round.
I could see a late October finish perhaps helping both the CFL and the amateur levels, but early September would be a tough sell for the CFL.
Depends on what time frame we are looking at… now yes… 20 years from now maybe not. Young people don’t see things the same way as older people.
But guys who are young now will get older, and change when they get older, just as we changed over the years.
But I’d be happy to see the league start doing a better job at promoting its May and June games. It feels like a perfect time for CFL ball to me. If they can start attracting more fans–young and old–to those early season games, then all the better.
I agree with you but I can’t predict the way the young people will change. We all change in different ways.
Second that. I have to stay away from moonlight after midnight.
But there not
This also lines up when the amount of money bet on sports is the very lowest. There is literally nothing to bet on between the middle of April and end of August. The amount of money bet on sports doubles from August to September. A CXFL that wraps up on Labour Day weekend would rule the summer months, as the CXFL would be going against the WNBA, MLB and MLS. For the CXFL to be a successful enterprise they need to have it wrapped up by the end of September.
~~Read between the lines on this one
According to RedBird and the NFL, while its first offering will be Sunday Ticket, it “intends to grow its content offering beyond NFL Sunday Ticket, providing businesses a broader premium live sports and entertainment service both in the US and globally.”
How long is it going to take before the XFL is on Everpass media streaming into every bar and restaurant in the USA? A CXFL would fit nicely into the North American Sports desert that stretches from April to start of September.
There are a lot of things being lined up for sure. The troublesome thing for the CFL is the deal with Genius Sports and their ties with gambling plus the NFL itself. This plus the NFL invasion into Canada will have an affect down the road.
And that’s the major reason why the discussion about a merger two years ago was called off. The CFL will never agree to play from April to the beginning of September.
And the XFL will not play games during the typical CFL season of August to November, fans in the US, even in non-NFL cities are not interested in another league at the same time as the NCAA and NFL seasons.