I know some people will say that the CFL will not consider expansion until either Ottawa returns or the league finds a second expansion site. I don't agree with this. If Halifax gets a stadium, it will get a team. The CFL didn't mind expanding to an odd number if teams before and shouldn't now. It is also even more important to develop markets in the eastern half of the country as the league is now left with only three.
I think it should mean both Halifax and Quebec City, if they can both get stadiums.
I don't know what to say I am extremely upset with what has happen. I am sad very sad. I GOT NO !#@!@ TEAM i was looking forward to Buying a ticket to see Touchdown Atlantic.
I already did. Time to get the refund.
It's a pain in the ass right now. On the bright side, Halifax has never been closer to getting a team than it is now. We have to be cosidered the favourite to win the Commonwealth Games bid. Everything will fall into place after that. It's all just a matter of time.
I think the team should just be moved to Hailfax.Period. Ottawa has had 2 kicks at the cat, enough is enough.
I’ll bet you’ll see Halifax in the league before Ottawa returns (if ever)
hey, let halifax take over the team for one year.... at laet they will have 10 000 peaple at the games
I agree and probably Quebec City as well.
Speaking of which, here is an article today which may answer some of these questions.
Renegades' suspension sober lesson for Maritimes hopefuls
Canadian Press
Halifax � Marketing experts say the suspension of the troubled Ottawa Renegades from the Canadian Football League provides a sobering lesson for Maritimers hoping for an East Coast expansion franchise.
Gordon Fullerton, an associate professor of business at Saint Mary's University, says the loss of Ottawa for this year is a reminder of how challenging it is to make a profit in Canadian football.
The longtime football fan says Ottawa's losing record and frequent management changes demonstrate it's unwise to "go cheap with spending on player talent and management."
Fullerton, who specializes in marketing in Atlantic Canada, says owners of a local franchise will need to be willing to spend millions of dollars to ensure the team's long-term success, without expecting a quick return on their investment.
There's interest in both Moncton, N.B., and Halifax in hosting a regional team.
In Montreal, Alouettes president Larry Smith also said that one of the big lessons from Ottawa is that any expansion team would need big up-front dollars, as well as a highly competitive team.
"You can't be under financed. If you're an owner coming into the CFL, you have to be able to write cheques, and you have to understand the economics of the game," said Smith, who has also been in the publishing and moving business.
Tony Martin, the organizer of a cancelled exhibition game between Ottawa and the Toronto Argonauts, sees the loss of this year's match as a setback to the league in the Maritimes.
He calls it a lost chance to build awareness of football.
The Touchdown Atlantic exhibition football game was a major success last year, filling an expanded Saint Mary's University stadium with 11,000 fans.
Martin suggests the league's big priority will now shift to dealing with the fallout of Ottawa dropping out of the league, rather than expansion opportunities.
"This is a setback from the point of view of the interest in the CFL," he said. "There's disappointment, no question."
Tickets were being refunded on Monday.
Martin said building a football franchise in the region is hooked now to Halifax winning the Commonwealth Games, and building a stadium with seating for over 25,000 people.
Fullerton and Smith agree that's the prerequisite, but add that expansion teams also need to learn from other's failures.
"Ottawa's experience doesn't mean the death knell, but it means that you have to have a competitive product and having an ownership group committed long-term to making it work," said Fullerton.
"You can't have some yahoos who will show up and say we're going to make a bit of money for a few years."
Toronto Argonauts president Keith Pelley says he doesn't think Ottawa's problems signals much for Atlantic Canada.
He argues that once a big stadium is built in the region, the CFL will remain interested in expansion in Halifax, Moncton, Quebec City and several Ontario cities.
The Renegades reportedly lost about $4 million dollars last year and was projected to lose between $5 and $6 million in 2006.
League governors will now work at finding a new owner in time to re-launch the team for the 2007 season.
I guess it embrassing to be a fan now.
this is also a wake up call to the CFL to not just hire the first person with a fat checkbook they have to do their homework in teh long run
i hate this new schedule we lost our last week bye week!!!!! and we play montreal 6 TIMES!!!!!! whoever made this dumb schedule you can go to the nfl
2 of the games are in the pre-season, relax
Well, I'm pretty choked that they cancelled touchdown atlantic. I was really looking forward to watching that game on TV, and can't even imagine how I'd feel if I'd bought tickets for the game. I want to know why Winnipeg couldn't go out there to play Montreal ... but I bet it probably has to do with giving up their home exhibition game. Why can't these owners for once think about something other than themselves?!?
I think one of the worst parts about losing Ottawa (for at least this season) is how much it hurts expansion possibilities. Wright has always said he wouldn't expand until all 9 teams were on solid ground, but you have to believe that Ottawa not playing for a year sets the agenda back by a LOT. I think you can now forget about a 10th team before the end of the decade, whereas had good ownership been found for the Renegades for this season (and many more after that), we could have seen a 10th team by 2010, IMO.
Bottom line, with a franchise being suspended, and in danger of dying, expansion is going on the backburner, and it will take a lot longer 
I don't think Otawa has any real effect on Halifax, but I'd like a team there before Halifax if possible, and it should be.