The CFL Needs To Consider Present and Future Expansion

Tired of the same old CFL? The same eight or nine teams? The CFL has had the same grouping since the 1960s, except for the brief period of ill-fated US expansion.

There has been talk about adding another team for the past decade. Past commissioner Tom Wright was committed to adding a 10th team before the end of this decade, but that dream ended with his dismissal over the the CFL contraction in Ottawa.

Ottawa has already been ear-marked for a returning team, supposedly in 2010, but that only means a return to the same quota as before. What about some really new Canadian teams?

I thought the prospect of adding three more teams was entirely feasible until this new recession took place, which puts all future expansion in jeopardy. Assuming that there is a quick recovery, where should the CFL expand to? 

In considering this, I made two assumptions: 1) there is good ownership and 2) there is a proper facility in which to play. I also made three timeline divisions, consisting of short-term, long-term, and very long-term.

In the short term (one to five years), I think the CFL can take a chance on three markets. There are two criterion in this time frame: established large cities and up-and-coming smaller ones. After Ottawa, there is only one large established city left in Canada without a CFL franchise, and that is Quebec.  

It is now the seventh largest city in Canada, with a population over 700,000, a growth rate comparable to Hamilton, and a much greater rate than Winnipeg. Interest in football has grown with more French Canadian players in the CFL than ever before and a successful football program at Laval University. If the ownership and facility conditions are met, a successful franchise can be established.

There are only two up-and-coming cities in population and growth, and they are London and Kitchener. Both have populations of over 450,000 and both have grown faster than Quebec and Winnipeg in the past 25 years. Both also have successful university teams, in Western and Laurier. 

They are now ranked as the 10th and 11th-largest cities in Canada, respectively. It is a bit risky going into cities that small, but remember that Regina, a very small city, (around 200,000) has been able to field a team successfully for over 50 years.

In the long run (five-? years), my guess is that four more cities have a chance to get a franchise: Windsor, Oshawa, Halifax, and Victoria, bringing the total to 16 teams.

And in the very long run (should we live long enough), we might see football played in Saskatoon, Sherbrooke, St. Catharines, Barrie, St. John's, Kelona, Abbottsford, and Moncton. Of course, any city bid that shows good ownership and is able to build the proper facility immediately leaps to the head of the list, regardless of the time-frame.

For now, CFL, take three bold steps and bring your membership up to 12. Let's see Quebec, London, and Kitchener playing for the Grey Cup. It will stimulate interest in Canada and make for a more interesting league.