If the CFL owners are serious about wanting to keep the NFL out of Canada, how difficult would it be to purchase the territorial rights for all of Canada from the NFL.
There are probably a lot of NFL owners that would agree to sell these rights, probably at a low price simply because many of them don't want to expand to Canada for the many reasons that we have all discussed time and time again.
what rights are u talkin about???
LOL, hey I'll sell you the rights to my backyard so they can't put a staduim there.
Territorial rights.
The only problem with that theory is that the NFL and CFL are two different leagues, whereas the Leafs were successful only because they claimed territorial rights for their own league. If another pro hockey league started up, they would have no say where teams are located, even if its in Hamilton or Toronto itself.
he bought the NHL rights to ontario from the NHL....
the CFL has no such territorial bearing on the NFL.
Not now.
Not until they purchase the territorial rights, if the NFL will sell them.
The NHL had to agree to the arrangement.
ok..u dont get it, so im done wasting my time here.
He bought the rights for the NHL only, r4, they would have no legal claim in another pro league located a team in Hamilton or Toronto. Remember the CFL expanded to the US and the NFL could not do anything to stop it, just as the CFL could not stop the NFL from expanding in Canada.
I think some of you are missing the point....
While being two different leagues, if the two leagues came to a contractual agreement not to infringe upon the territory of the other, then it would have considerable legal weight.
However, the problem isn't likely to come from the NFL itself, but rather if an ownership group either bought an NFL team, or a current ownership group decided to move their existing team, it would be uncertain if such an arrangement would hold up in court.
In the past, the NFL has been unable to legally prevent its franchises from moving.
What such an arrangement would likely do, is guarantee the NFL would never expand to TO or Vancouver, but as that threat is very low anyway, it might not change much...
But it is an interesting concept, and it might be worthwhile to at least examine the legality of such a deal as neither league wants an NFL team in Canada at this time.
The NFL can't stop teams from relocating in the U.S. because of the U.S. justice system.
Since any group trying to move a team to Canada would be sued in a Canadian court by the CFL (assuming they held the rights), then the deal only has to hold up in Canada.
There are considerable legal hurdles that would need to be addressed, but it does sound like an idea that might grow legs.
One problem I forsee, is that one of the reasons the NFL likes the CFL, is having another pro-league helps them fight any charges based on American anti-trust laws and an arrangement like this might look suspiciously like collusion.
Something like NAFTA might also come into play.
But, like I said, the league has lawyers at its disposal, and it might be worth a look...
I guess the question is, does the NFL sell territorial rights in the same way that the NHL did with the Leafs?
If so, it doesn't necessarily have to be the CFL that officially purchases them.
It could be the B.O.G. under a different name.
But you are right, legal hurdles.
If the owner of the Toronto Argonauts were to purchase the Buffalo Bills, as an example, would he then be able to purchase the territorial rights for Ontario, at the very least.
Then he could sell the Bills but keep the rights.
Canadian paliment would stop the NFL from coming to Canada, so I don’t see an issue here.
Kanga came up with a brilliant idea! Yes he did! What the Canadian government can do is not stop a franchise in Canada but set the rules so that an NFL team would need to employ the same number of Canadians that are in the CFL. This would not sit well with an NFL franchise owner and the the league. Good work Kanga!
Harold Ballard didn't purchase any territorial rights for Ontario. He had territorial rights for Hamilton by virtue of its close proximity - it fell within the territorial radius (75 miles?) of Toronto.
Normally I don't call threads or the people who create them stupid. So I won't this time either.
Aren't you confusing the territorial rights for team with the territorial rights for first round draft picks?
There was a time when teams had first pick of any player that lived within a 50 mile radius of the NHL city.
Lets get back to the heart of the debate-- the CFL cannot stop the NFL from locating in Canada, peroid. Parliament may be able to legislate that the majority of players be Canadian-- but there is absolutely nothing the CFL can do to stop the NFL from locating in Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal or any other Canadian city that it thinks could support a NFL franchise.
Not unless the NFL and CFL signed an agreement of some sort, or the NFL sold territorial rights to the CFL that the NFL agreed to.