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Thunderball · 02-09-2009, 11:11 AM

The CFL is already a farm league for the NFL. If anything, adding smart US franchises would improve the quality of football.

The first US expansion was a colossal failure because of the choice of markets (Shreveport? San Antonio? really?), with one exception, Baltimore (which also happened to be the closest city to the Canadian border out of all the expansion teams). Baltimore was a huge success for both the CFL and the city itself. Baltimore got an NFL team out of the deal, and Baltimore built a strong enough team to endure itself to the fickle Montreal market, and grew a strong fan base there.

Markets like Spokane, Fargo, Rochester, Albany or Portland would be a decent start. I'd be happy to see more Canadian teams too, but the markets are pretty poor, unreliable or tapped out.

But then again, I find the CFL to be thoroughly bush, and unexciting as a 8 team league, its the easiest "pro" league to qualify for the playoffs in. 6 out of 8, are you kidding? Of course, if they are looking to expand the fan base, die-hard CFL fans aren't who they're trying to woo, they assume you'll come regardless.

02-09-2009, 11:11 AM	#16
Thunderball Franchise Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Calgary, AB Exp:	The CFL is already a farm league for the NFL. If anything, adding smart US franchises would improve the quality of football. The first US expansion was a colossal failure because of the choice of markets (Shreveport? San Antonio? really?), with one exception, Baltimore (which also happened to be the closest city to the Canadian border out of all the expansion teams). Baltimore was a huge success for both the CFL and the city itself. Baltimore got an NFL team out of the deal, and Baltimore built a strong enough team to endure itself to the fickle Montreal market, and grew a strong fan base there. Markets like Spokane, Fargo, Rochester, Albany or Portland would be a decent start. I'd be happy to see more Canadian teams too, but the markets are pretty poor, unreliable or tapped out. But then again, I find the CFL to be thoroughly bush, and unexciting as a 8 team league, its the easiest "pro" league to qualify for the playoffs in. 6 out of 8, are you kidding? Of course, if they are looking to expand the fan base, die-hard CFL fans aren't who they're trying to woo, they assume you'll come regardless. Last edited by Thunderball; 02-09-2009 at 11:15 AM.