Opinions: Why U.S. Expansion Died

From a success point of view, Baltimore proved how a US team could work, and also Sacremento to a point and even though they had a temporary stadium.
They had a great owner who tried unsuccessfully to build a new stadium for the CFL and MLB expansion team.
Had this worked, it's very likely that there would still be a team there.
Having said that, under the right situation and in my opinion US teams in northern most states and being the only pro franchise around like Regina, would work.

Why are we assuming that teams in northern states would be any more successful?
Do we really believe that states like Washington, Montana and North Dakota are more of a football hotbed than states like Alabama, Tennessee and Texas?

I don't think CFL USA failure had anything to do with the location of the teams aside from the fact they were in the USA. It starts and ends there. The CFL would have never worked in the USA. It was just a cash grab for a desperate league, who knows if the CFL would still be here if not for it. Nonetheless, it still a black eye on league hostory and a black mark on our sport.

I don't know about it being a black eye on the CFL.
The NBA and baseball have tried making it up here.
The Grizzlies folded. The Expos folded.
The Blue jays and Raptors only survive becasue of their wealthy owners.
But both are struggling to draw fans.
Both sports have been failures up here as far as any national interest.
So it goes both ways.
HOckey also hasn't worked too well down there.
Maybe we just shouldn't try to force our sports on each other.

spot on.

A potential market should be given 5 years to develop, no more. (unless deep pockets are willing to absorb more losses which is foolish)
If you can’t find demand during that time period, it is time to cut losses and hike out of town.

The NHL should adopt these simple principles as they have stayed in multiple abysmal markets for far far too long.

It’s not a black eye because the teams failed. It’s a black eye because the league failed to do it without embarrassing itself at every other turn. They accepted any owner who walked up and bounced a check for 100k. The Shreveport training camp stories were appalling, players sleeping in a barn full of elephant poop. Two different sets of roster rules proved that the league valued cash over integrity. Vegas hiring a guy who didn’t know how to sing O Canada in front of 5000 people, then going into receivership with 3 games to go.

It’s a black eye because CFL brand image took a big nose dive (and it was already pretty low). MLB and NBA brands barely flinched when the Expos and Grizz left town. BIG difference.

I don't know.
NBA and baseball barely flinched because 90% of Americans could care less about these Canadian teams.
I don't think many poeple in Canada were too upset that the CFL's US experiment failed.
And the league has seemed to recover quite nicely from the US failure

I personnally know people who were completely turned off the CFL because of the US expansion farce.

In Canada, it did a lot more harm to the CFL brand image than any good at all.

No steak big enough for that black, black eye. We had to sport that shiner for nearly a decade.

well those people are simple minded assinine morons. and probably liars as well. of all the pathetic reasons to cite for not being cfl fans. pure rubbish.

Rubbish?

If it were only true diehards like you and me, there would be less than 10k at every game and no TV contract. Canadian football would be like lacrosse.

Everybody wants expansion, more teams, more TV money. You can’t have that without those ‘rubbish’ fans.

David Braley would be out of business without those ‘rubbish’ fans.

You want to grow the league? You have to appeal to the masses. You have to earn your legitimacy. The US expansion damn near KILLED the league’s legitimacy.

That’s my point.

We are talking about the same people who will line up for months for a chance to give their a$$, first born and God’s right arm to Gary Bettman for an official jersey and a 10 game pack.

The reason that the CFLs TV numbers rival the NHL now is because the league has busted its backside for fifteen years recovering their brand image, reproving their legitimacy to win back some of your ‘rubbish’ and make new diehards out of some of their children.

Every year we get a half dozen threads expecting the league’s TV revenue to grow with every contract. That’s not a snap of the fingers. That won’t happen without winning over the skepticals and the fairweathers. Not just a few. More like a few hundred thousand.

We are talking about the same people who will line up for months for a chance to give their a$$, first born and God's right arm to Gary Bettman for an official jersey and a 10 game pack.

I don't know how people can get into hockey so much, the sport just doesn't cut for me to pay big bucks. OHL, CHL, no problem for a $15.00 ticket once in a while but NHL for the money for tickets for that league? No thank you, I don't get it but to each his own. Just not enough intensity with all the games they play and much of it looks like shinny hockey to me. :?

I like hockey but not for the price point for going to NHL games.

Q- Why U.S. Expansion Died?

A-Because it was a bad idea.

As an American, I am glad that the CFL expanded to the USA, ill-fated though it was. It introduced the great game of Canadian Football to a lot of Americans, many of whom, myself included, have gone on to become fans. We've even adopted individual teams as our own. That has to account for something, doesn't it?

It certainly does count for something NYCF!

As more get to know and like the CFL its brand will grow. This will help recruit players and coaches, and maybe even help sell merchandise outside of Canada and encourage fans to travel to a game or two. More fans, where ever you are, is a Good Thing.

I know it has certainly helped me see games here in the Bay Area. It's because of the clamouring of fans that Comcast now subscribes to ESPN3 and I can walk to my local watering hole and watch a CFL game, proudly displayed front and centre over the bar, in full HD glory.

Agree rpaege. The beauty about exposing the Canadian game in the US is that to the real football fan, and I obviously don't include the Paul Godfrey's and Phil Lind's and their types with such respect, is that it shows the historical roots of gridiron from the adoption of the Canadian rugby game played way back when the US, Ivy League schools, were playing what was basically soccer and what, from I was reading, not cutting it for them, they found the soccer game just not to their liking - which of course I totally understand. :wink: And why Harvard was anxious to play McGill to see what this rugby thing was about.

To answer the question directly; Art Modell and his decision was the main reason US expansion died. Also, it is important to note that the league before US expansion was bankrupt and was essentially forced to take money from anyone who was willing to cut a check. (and fast too). Therefore they didn't have time to do proper due dillegence or get prospective ownership groups together. In at least 2 cases, they granted franchises to cities that had no confirmed owners or stadium leases.

I always get to put forth my great idea for US expansion on these threads. lol

Portland, Oregon with the team there using Oregon players as their non-imports. Most of the Oregon players in the NCAA are O- and D-Linemen just like the majority of Canadians. A few DB's, WR's and LB's thrown in. No big unliminted import advantage.
All they need of course is a Stadium and an Owner, (Where have we heard that before) lol and maybe get Don Mathews to help start up. He lives out there somewhere.

Probably make it easier for the CFL to obtain a modest US TV contract as well.

But most of the other places I don't think would work down there or draw up here. How exciting would the Billing's Montana's or the Butte Idaho's sound coming into Toronto or Montreal. At least Portland has some big league recognition from the NBA.

NI status by REGION. Now there’s a great idea. It’s a start anyway. If the league had REALLY done ‘due diligence’ they could have thought of something like that.

Let's keep it in the CFL!

remember Brian Williams vs larry smith? Brian was so against american expansion. Because he knew the way the League was going about it would cause it to fail. Some Due Dilligence should have been done. It was interesting int he interview they had on the pre game show about a month ago. It was like you could feel brian wanting to say "I told you so dumb___"
Smith still claims without the expansion money the league would have folded... To me its still a dark spot on the league. But maybe some people feel that way about the blue jays playing in the american league...

the expansion fee is fairly high now. What makes it funny, is in the 80's halifax only had to pay a portion of what the usa teams did in the early nineties. but couldnt come up with the cash.

the expansion fee is fairly high now.
What is the current expansion fee?