In this weekend’s buffet of sporting events, it was clear that the 39th edition of the Vanier Cup was not the main course. This year’s national championship football game between Laval and Saint Mary’s was not only a battle between two great football teams, but a battle to capture the interest of Canadian sports fans.

Due to a cruel twist of fate, the second half of this year’s game coincided with the Heritage Classic hockey match between the Montreal Canadiens and the Edmonton Oilers, leaving the finale of the football championship as option number two for most Canadian sports fans. But the fact that university football took a back seat to hockey this weekend merely underscores the larger problem of dwindling attendance at Vanier.

Since the first Vanier Cup in 1965, all games have been played in Toronto, moving from Varsity Stadium to CNE Stadium back to Varsity Stadium. Then in 1989 the game moved to its current home of SkyDome, boosting attendance from 13,000 to 33,000. Attendance remained strong until around 1995, but over the last few years, as Ontario teams have been absent from the game, so have the fans.

It’s no coincidence that the last capacity crowd to watch the Vanier Cup, in 1995 when Western played Calgary, was also the last time an Ontario team, aside from Ottawa, played in the game. And even though I wasn’t there, I’m sure that the stands were filled with Western fans.

The fact that attendance depends on the teams playing is blatantly obvious even to those who don’t follow university sport. It doesn’t take a genius to know that current and former students from the competing schools account for the majority of ticket sales to Vanier. So why not move the game to a venue where loyal student fans can actually go to the game without paying an arm and a leg to get there, and without eating up their precious study time-especially so close to finals?

But the CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sport)’s decision to keep Vanier in Toronto may not be the only reason for the lower attendance numbers and conspicuous lack of Ontario finalists. With a playoff system that awards the four divisional champions with a national semi-final berth, Ontario schools are at a distinct disadvantage. With ten teams in the OUA (Ontario University Athletics), Ontario teams don’t even have a chance to play all the teams within their own division, while other teams may play the same opponent twice in a season.

Moreover, teams from Atlantic Canada and Quebec get to play interdivisional games, an opportunity that teams like McMaster would love to have. So while McMaster, Queen’s and Western beat each other up during the regular season for a shot to make it to Vanier, team’s like Saint Mary’s have a relative cake walk to the finals.

The bottom line is that if the CIS insists on keeping Vanier in Toronto, attendance will only get better if an OUA team makes it to the finals. But in order for an OUA team to get there, the CIS has to revisit the structure of the regular season. Perhaps by introducing inter-division play or actually realigning the divisions of the OUA. Or maybe the CIS should move Vanier out of Toronto altogether, and rotate the game across Canada, much like the Grey Cup.

At the bare minimum, the CIS should make sure Vanier isn’t scheduled the same day as a hockey game that includes both Wayne Gretzky and Guy Lafleur.