Quote:
Originally Posted by MonctonRad
Personally, I feel that the CFL needs to grow to remain relevant to the country and to ensure it's long term viability. There should be a "local" CFL team within a couple of hours drive of 90% of Canadians. If this were to happen, then all Canadians would have a "home team" to root for. This would really help to build the popularity of the league and the sport of Canadian football.
An eight team CFL is not enough. I would like to see a 16 team CFL, in four regionally based divisions.
I firmly believe that growing the CFL so that it becomes a truly national league is key to it's survival. The CHL is a national league now. One day I hope the NBL (Canada) will be a truly national league by adding teams in the west. The CFL needs to be a national league too.
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I think you are right in the long term (maybe not 16 teams, but 12 should be a doable goal), however the league has to be very careful how they expand. With such a small league a couple of weak franchises could be huge trouble. Ottawa may have been slow to get a team back, but they will have a new stadium and what appears to be an excellent ownership group. Everything is in place to succeed in Ottawa. If you look at the last Ottawa ownership group is was a disaster and fairly embarrassing.
I think growth of football at the grass routes is also very key. More interest and players in 3 down football is the way to go. The CIS seems to be making some progress, especially in Quebec. Hopefully this translates into more CFL interest.
And I agree - it's not necessarily a Halifax or Moncton situation. Each market should be judged on it's own merits. As a Haligonian I wouldn't feel much connection to a Moncton team no matter what they were named, and I assume Monctonians would say the same thing about a Halifax team.