Stimulus To CFL Expansion #7: Expand The Moncton Format

The CFL is doing a first this year. It is playing a regular season game in another city with Moncton playing host to the Toronto Argonauts and an unnamed opponent.

As I've written in another article, I think it is the wrong city to play because Moncton, with only 126,000 residents, is the 29th largest city in Canada and has the growth rate of the 21st city.

But I like the idea. It's what the CFL should be doing more often every year to increase its popularity and expand the league.

So I hope I'm proved wrong and that this regular season game is the starting point that gets Moncton a permanent CFL franchise ahead of schedule.

But as I mentioned in that previous article, the CFL should be playing exhibition/regular season games in larger cities that promise better odds for permanent survival.

For the sake of those readers who haven't read my numerous CFL expansion articles, the order is: Quebec; then London and Kitchener; then Halifax, Oshawa, Victoria and Windsor.

The last article I wrote about CFL expansion was about the unmeasurable factor of fan support. 

Playing more exhibition/regular season games in non-CFL Canadian cities is so important for two reasons. First, it gives the CFL a clearer picture if a city is ready for expansion.

Dark horse Moncton is a good example because getting a sold out, enthusiastic crowd for this year's game, and any future games there would go a long way to hastening the day when Moncton can call a CFL team its own.

Equally important, if there is less than a warm welcome, it ought to (but probably won't) wake up the CFL to take other steps (I've listed several in this Stimulus to CFL expansion series) to increase its popularity at the grassroots level.

Second, favorable results attract investors, and in the CFL's case, they are the people who really need to be impressed the most. They are the ones who will have to pay the $7 million expansion fee, organize and market the team, and most importantly, build the stadiums for CFL play.

Sold out, enthusiastic exhibition/regular season games will attract the Balsillies, Westons, Bronfmans, Thomsons and corporations like Quebecor.

Take the current situation in Quebec, where Quebecor is fronting a bid to get the Nordiques back in the NHL and also supporting plans which finally may solve the arena problem which led to the team's demise.

After failing to buy the Montreal Canadiens, Quebecor turned its eyes to Quebec.

There had been a petition, signed by 80,000 Quebec fans to get the Nordiques back.

More importantly, Quebecor remembered the support the Nordiques had when they were in the NHL. All that was lacking was a proper arena.

The important thing for the CFL to remember is that Quebecor doesn't have to guess about it's market. They know it is there.

Playing exhibition/regular season games in non-CFL cities is the best way for investors to find out if there are other markets for football.  If an investor thinks he/she sees a "sure thing", they'll put up their money for franchises and stadiums.

If I were the CFL, I'd also play up Quebec's successful staging of the Vanier Cup, which attracted a soldout crowd of 18,000.

One other idea that could be implemented would be to add an exhibition game to the existing two and make it mandatory to play it in a non-CFL city. That would ensure four exhibition games in possible expansion sites each year.

And it's equally important to match up the right team in the right city. Play a Montreal game in Quebec and Halifax, a BC game in Victoria. Hamilton could play in London, Kitchener, and Windsor. Send the Argonauts to Oshawa. And of course, the "Rider Nation" wants a Roughrider game against Winnipeg in Saskatoon.

For the more ambitious who want to see the CFL back in the United States, why stop at the Canadian border? 

Get even with the NFL and Ralph Wilson by playing an Argonaut game in Rochester. 

Play a BC game in Spokane or a Montreal game in Hartford and Providence. (Two of my American CFL colleagues want a game in Syracuse, New York and Denton, Texas. If they get their petitions in and drum up some local support, the CFL might consider it.)

So let's hope that this year's Moncton game has fans stuck outside the stadium gate because there aren't enough tickets for them.

Expand this concept and the CFL might expand too.