Not my idea to move the Argos out of town.
But quite a few people seem to believe the CFL can survive without the 3 major Canadian markets.
Think of Toronto as an untapped market.
Growing then one fan at a time.
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Everyone always says a winning product will cure the market but that has proven not to be true.
Toronto as someone pointed out played host to both the greatest player to every play the game, and one of the greatest teams to every take the field yet they drew flies. That same player (now older) played in the NFL and people were tripping over themselves getting to Buffalo to see him play. Its an image problem. Winning a championship in a perceived minor league for a minor league team is not a big deal for people. That needs to change.
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Well put. a very good post. Two things I’d like to add, Baseball always was, always will be and is today all about promotion. Do whatever it takes to put a butt in a seat. Bill Veack was the master of this. Highly recomend the book Veack as in Wreak. 2nd, I personally would not mind seeing the CFL add 8 - 10 more teams all Playing in 10 to 15,000 seat stadiums. Get the whole country and many cities involved. We don’t need 60,ooo seat empty buildings. So we become a feeder league for the NFL. That won’t bother me. It’s our 3 down wide field football that matters.
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You’ve envisioned a 16 to 20 team CFL experience… did Moose Jaw get a team? If so I hope they named them the ‘Rough Riders’. 
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coupla thoughts.
going to a game at BMO is a first rate experience. truly top notch. so easy with the Go Train. great food (cheap hotdogs) and great views.
now, Toronto simply hates CFL. My beloved city is getting overrun by Torontonians. Hell, it might as well be called Hamilronto.
On any of our local social message boards (reddit, etc) where there are young people, all Torontonians moving to Hamilton, and they are shitting on the CFL and the tiger-cats. Now, it’s not stood for and they quickly get “advised” on expectations living in Hamilton.
But you see it almost daily. Folks from Toronto moving to Hamilton and shitting on the CFL and the Tiger-Cats. They are a plague.
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This is @GrideronGirl 's cue to create an AI stadium expansion at Tim Horton’s Field with ‘toilet seating’ for Toronto visitors to make them feel more at home.
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I would not mind having teams in smaller cities (smaller stadiums) provided we kept basic CFL rules - perhaps two 8 team conferences. However, it would probably dilute the quality of play due to lower salaries and not enough quality Canadian players for 16 teams. Even one more team would improve the situation.
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Is this a hipster thing (if that’s still a term)? Here in the states, a lot of hipsters move to places considered past their prime. I see a ton of them in Milwaukee, where my son lives.
Chicago is too upscale for them.
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essentially cost of living thing.
Toronto is the most unaffordable city in Canada so thousands have left the big smoke for The Hammer.
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Crime and the insane cost of living in more places than ever, in particular in areas that were filled with hipsters before the pandemic in the largest cities, are no joke.
However they spin it wherever they go, noticeably with different views now on some issues than they had in 2018 for example, that’s why they have moved away from the largest cities or to the suburbs, plus of course for some a new family.
None of this is new for any generation though. Very few are the about the same at age 20, 30, 40, 50 and so forth.
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Milwaukee is probably more cost of living than crime. MKE’s crime rate is higher than Chicago but it’s way more affordable. All these businesses are moving into Chicago and it’s getting wildly expensive.
My son’s apartment in Milwaukee is in a nice area and it’s affordable.
Probably the same thing with Toronto and Hamilton.
BTW, both my son and I have gone to more CFL games than NFL games.
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It didn’t do nothing. The attendance was slightly better last year. It just didn’t do enough to combat the damage Kelly did.
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Well, I suppose we can only hope that page is turned by around Labour Day, and Toronto simply moves on for the better in 2025 whatever comes out of 2024.
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Im not convinced the Kelly situation has anything to do with it.I know a lot of Argo ticket holders and they say the same thing
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If they are ticket holders then they are probably going to the game regardless of the situation. The Kelly situation hurt the public image of the team and if someone is sitting on the fence about whether to go to the game or not and they are offended by how the Argos handled the situation then they probably aren’t going.
Example of the hate
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You’re talking about minimal numbers. That’s not going to affect the bad attendance numbers. Like I’ve said before, this has been a slow drip for decades
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Yes but the improvement in attendance was also minimal.
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Exactly, The Grey Cup win did next to nothing.
It’s not only about doing one thing and seeing how it affects the franchise. It’s about doing several years of things.
It was one step forward with the Grey Cup win. 2 steps back with Chad Kelly. Kelly pooping the bed in the EF and then the scandal.
You need to have a situation where you are contending every year and not having off field issues. Also you have to keep marketing to immigrants, the generational Canadians, volunteer in the community and grow your relationship with local businesses.
Do one thing wrong and you fall off the wagon. Then you have to start over again.
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We agree to disagree. The Kelly situation plays no part on dwindling attendance
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