Where should the CFL put expansion teams ???

Question

Halifax,Nova Scotia
Ottawa,Ontario
Quebec City, Quebec
London,Ontario
Saskatoon,Saskatchewan
Lethbridge, Alberta

Answer 1

Here are the populations of those cities:
Ottawa - 1,130,761 (4th largest city in Canada - bigger than Edmonton and Calgary)
Quebec - 715,515 (7th largest - bigger than Winnipeg and Hamilton)
London - 457,720 (10th largest - bigger than Regina and Saskatoon combined)
Halifax - 372,858 (13th)
Saskatoon - 233,923 (17th)
Lethbridge - 95,196 (36th!!!! )

Of the cities mentioned, here's the size of their largest football friendly stadium:
Ottawa - 30,927 (Frank Clair)
Quebec City - 18,500 (PEPS)
Halifax - 9,000 (Huskies stadium, expandable to 11,000)
London - 5,000 (TD Waterhouse, expandable to 16,000)
Saskatoon - 4,997 (Griffiths Stadium)
Lethbridge - ???? (your guess is as good as mine)

Ottawa has the population base and has a suitable sized stadium. The only thing missing is an ownership group.

Quebec is a distant second.

I think you need 500,000 people in the nearby vicinity to have a healthy population base to draw from. So you might put London on the map - especially if it can draw from elsewhere in Southwestern Ontario. I don't think you can include Halifax, because - well there aren't enough large cities within driving distance.

The other city I've heard mentioned is Saint John. While Saint John is small (122,389, 32nd), it isn't too far from Moncton (126,424, 29th) and Fredericton (85,688, 42nd). It also has the Canada Games stadium (capacity: 5,000, but certainly expandable to a larger size). I'd have to consider it a l-o-n-g shot.

And I have to ask: Lethbridge? Why Lethbridge?

Answer 2

Ottawa-I'm from Halifax but I don't think it would work there. SMU is lucky to get a few thousand fans for their regular season games, but Laval gets 15000+ on a regular basis so QC deserves it more than HFX. Saskatoon would make sense, no other distractions? London folks can drive to Toronto if they are interested enough-the Argos need all the fans they can get. Lethbridge might work given Alberta's prosperity-but that prosperity is an up and down thing. I think the CFL should focus on having a stable team in the capital for now. Putting a team in Halifax just to have a team on the east coast makes no sense-Haligonians just aren't the "rah rah" types who will turn out to support a losing team in crap weather.

Answer 3

Halifax

Answer 4

London,Ontario
Quebec City,Quebec
Halifax,Nova Scotia
Ottawa,Ontario

Answer 5

I think of your list, the only city that would survive would be Halifax. There simply isnt a large enough population in the other cities.
Another possibility would be Victoria, British Columbia.
And maybe Windsor, Ontario would be good because its so close to the US border... that may attract some American fans.

Answer 6

Quebec City, Quebec

The CFL expanded to the US back in the 90's if was as successful as the XFL, although Baltimore did win a Grey Cup before moving to Montreal.

Answer 7

droid327, the CFL has a team in San Antonio in the 1990's. It was one of several teams in the US, and US expansion was an experiment that failed miserably. If they are to expand in the US again, they should be smart about it and have teams in cities close to the Canadian border.

Answer 8

Well, I don't know much about Canadian cities, but I moved to Memphis, TN during the only CFL season here in Memphis (I think they were the Mad Dogs) and felt it was silly for them to move so far south. Some guy up a few answers stated that San Antonio would love a CFL team, but didn't they have one?

I wish the CFL was more successful down here in the U.S. because it has to be more exciting than baseball, WNBA, NASCAR, any wrestling, NHL, arena league, etc. I would welcome more football!

Answer 9

It will happen in Ottawa again without a doubt. For true expansion, put it where it will work, Saskatoon, SK. A football crazy city with 250, 000 football fans, many of whom support perennial CIS finalists U of S Huskies and almost annual CFJL Champs, the Saskatoon Hilltops. It would succeed ther.

Answer 10

Halifax or Ottawa
Lethbridge would also be great since its close to me