Few Canadian institutions have had a rockier past several years than the CFL. A failed franchise in Ottawa, an ownership crisis in Toronto that have led to both the BC Lions and Toronto Argos falling under the same owner, and a municipal election in Hamilton that, pending the outcome, could force the Tiger-Cats to move thanks to stadium woes.
A sun-kissed afternoon in Moncton, New Brunswick this past Sunday offered a strong ray of sunshine though. The Toronto Argonauts and Edmonton Eskimos came to town to play a much-anticipated regular season game — technically an Argo home game promoting the CFL on the east coast.
Though the on-field product was not pretty, it was established well before the opening kick-off that nothing could have dampened the day. Tickets sold out just 36 hours after they went on sale and there was region-wide hype for the game.
Everything about the event, of course, begged the question of whether or not a permanent CFL franchise could someday find itself in eastern Canada. TSN did a good job of tailoring the question to an affirmative answer, airing features about the local high school football culture — which could be mistaken for the southern United States on any given game night. The mayor of Moncton was interviewed and did nothing to discourage the notion.
Yet the suggestion of a franchise in the east presents a reasonable and fair question. The combined population of the four eastern Atlantic provinces is rather insignificant, compared to many other CFL markets. The business community is not as big as in cities such as Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary, so finding the capital to bring in a team could pose a challenge.
Interestingly, CFL case studies suggest that small market teams can actually thrive where local conditions are appropriate.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders attract by far the most passionate following of any team in the league, despite the fact that their city has a population of 180,000 people.
The key has been regionalizing the team’s appeal. Fans come from far and wide to support the Roughriders in Regina. Eastern Canada, like Saskatchewan, lacks professional sports teams and there is every indication from the Argos-Eskimos game that the CFL could make a splash.
There is now talk of returning Ottawa to the league in coming years, and adding an eastern team to the mix would give the league ten teams and a truly national, coast-to-coast character.
Recent years have been tough, but better days could well be ahead for the CFL.
