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The headline is all NHL... But look at the CFL number (32% say they follow the CFL, 22% with women too). That is more than I would've thought.

NHL is 58%
NFL is 37%
MLB is 34%
NBA is 29%

Capturing only 5% less followers than the NFL when it is the marketing juggernaut it is is very impressive. Not to mention only 2% less than the Blue Jays that get shoved down our throat by Rogers.

www.tsn.ca

Canada’s game? Survey says yes, NHL outpaces all other pro leagues | TSN

More than three-quarters of Canadians consider themselves sports fans, and the NHL remains the most popular pro sports league.
www.tsn.ca www.tsn.ca
 
CalgaryTiger said:
The headline is all NHL... But look at the CFL number (32% say they follow the CFL, 22% with women too). That is more than I would've thought.

NHL is 58%
NFL is 37%
MLB is 34%
NBA is 29%

Capturing only 5% less followers than the NFL when it is the marketing juggernaut it is is very impressive. Not to mention only 2% less than the Blue Jays that get shoved down our throat by Rogers.

www.tsn.ca

Canada’s game? Survey says yes, NHL outpaces all other pro leagues | TSN

More than three-quarters of Canadians consider themselves sports fans, and the NHL remains the most popular pro sports league.
www.tsn.ca www.tsn.ca
Click to expand...
And more than the Raptors who also get shoved down our throats.

I am a bit disappointed that the wave of patriotism sweeping the country hasn't translated into more enthusiasm for the CFL. Most teams are apparently losing money, and the Stamps' attendance is down. I think it's a great product and find it much more entertaining than the NFL (thumbs down to 4 downs), and is still an affordable, attainable product. And it's bizarre that our biggest city has the worst attendance in the league.
 
The CFL will either die a slow death, or officially become the NFL's minor league at some point. I don't see the league surviving long term.
 
The last couple of games for the Stamps had good attendance. The Riders games usually do well thanks to a boatload of Rider fans. The labour day game was well attendance as well. Not many Edmonton fans, mostly all Stamps fans.

I have to admit, I'm concerned for the long term future of the CFL. I don't think the CFL will fold or anything, but I can't help wonder if it becomes more of a farm league for the NFL. Maybe we need a couple of smaller city teams - London, Halifax, QC for example. The CFL in the three large metros is a struggle.

There are a couple of issues facing the CFL.
1 - Canada's changing demographics. Most newcomers or even second generation Canadians don't follow the CFL, or even the NFL. Soccer is their sport and I expect that soccer will become more popular over time, and at some point will be the main outdoor sport for Canada. A lot of newcomers and second generation Canadians do seem to follow hockey though.
2 - To a lesser degree the NFL. Most of the damage from the NFL has been done, and we probably won't see too much more, but the marketing machine of the NFL won't stop.
 
The CFL has been pretty consistently written off. For good reason at times, it has tried to do some pretty odd things to try and or grow itself: US Expansion and its more recent attempt at trying to go global.

I have faith, as a 35-year-old lifetime fan, that it will sustain. It won't be as a traditional feeder to the NFL, it does that anyways, without the formality. As @Albertasaurus says it is a great game, both on TV and in-person. The powers that be at the league need to stop trying to gimmicks in attempts to grow the league outside of its current base. You'll grow the game if you stick to what has made it a sustained success. A small but plucky league that has teams in cities the big leagues ignore.

Expansion within Canada is possible and that in itself would improve the business side of the league. Halifax has long been a downtown parking lot with great development potential to make a development metaphor. I also think Kelowna and Vernon with a combined population of around 290,000 could sustain a team. Those cities are only going to grow too. Granted that would unbalance the league again. Which has made scheduling an issue... There are a few cities in southern Ontario that could support a team.

On the stamps themselves, winning cures all, attendance at games this season is up, a lot. Well over 25,000 for the last few games. I do think tickets could be a little lower but there's still some value you can find.
 
I enjoy the CFL game still, 3 down football is much more entertaining than the 4 down version. The CFL should be able to survive, they just need to expand to the Maritimes, and then another team or two in BC, Ontario and Quebec. I just hope they stick with TSN as the broadcaster, no need to start letting streaming services show games, makes it too difficult to watch.
 
CalgaryTiger said:
Expansion within Canada is possible and that in itself would improve the business side of the league. Halifax has long been a downtown parking lot with great development potential to make a development metaphor. I also think Kelowna and Vernon with a combined population of around 290,000 could sustain a team. Those cities are only going to grow too. Granted that would unbalance the league again. Which has made scheduling an issue... There are a few cities in southern Ontario that could support a team.
Click to expand...
I think Vernon-Kelowna-Penticton is around 400K iirc. Definitely a possibility they could do a team. Halifax seems the most likely if doing one new team, but I think they should look at doing 3. Okanagan, London (or KW) and, Halifax. It would be a nice balance of 6 per conference.
If possible, maybe Victoria and QC, to make it 7 per conference.

At some point the league really needs to expand and do smaller cities. IMO, the big three metros aren't going to be very beneficial to the league going forward. The teams can survive in the big three metros with the expectation that the attendance and coverage will be similar to other smaller cities. The big cities don't need to provide big city attendance, etc..
 
The issue with any expansion is stadiums... It has been the issue in Halifax for decades and continues to be. I mean the stadium is an issue here too. This is a comment on all sports facilities but we need to be better at building simpler, cheaper sports infrastructure. Every facility shouldn't be built to be the best of the best. Sometimes good enough is good enough.
 
In some smaller cities a stadium could be looked at as an investment since it would potentially attract big concerts and festivals as well as other sporting events. Hard to justify 8-9 figure construction costs for taxpayers though, especially with bigger issues to address.
 
The CFL needs to improve existing stadiums first before worrying about expanding into markets that don't currently have a stadium. Calgary and Montreal both have outdated venues that need replacing, and maybe BC can move into the Whitecaps new stadium if that gets built. BC Place is too big for them, and I cant imagine its the cheapest venue to play out of.
 
I don't think the outdated venues are costing the CFL any money though, are they? I'd love to see a new stadium here, but am not holding my breath, McMahon will just get another major renovation.
 
Well, the CFL has just announced some serious changes to the field layout and rules
Starting in 2026 the rouge will only be rewarded if a punt, field goal or kickoff settles in the end zone, and the returner fails to take it out or takes a knee.
And biggest of all, in 2027 the field dimensions will be changed. No longer will the field be 110 yards with 20 yard end zones. Starting in 2027 the field dimensions will be 100 yards with 15 yard end zones. And the goalposts are being moved to the end of the end zones. The Americanization of our game has begun.
www.cfl.ca

Tradition Meets Innovation: CFL announces major changes to the game - CFL.ca

The CFL is making a bold move to evolve the game with a set of changes centered upon entertainment and innovation.
www.cfl.ca www.cfl.ca
 
Last edited:
Roaring Flames said:
The Americanization of our game has begun.
Click to expand...
I don't think this is Americanization. It is Torontoization of our game. Saying that, I actually like the changes.

You could say they the changes alienate people both people who don't watch the CFL but watch the NFL because it is different from the American game and CFL fans who will need to adjust to the changes. Except the changes actually should benefit the viewer. An American football fan will see a similar looking field, and a CFL fan should get to see more touchdowns and not have games end on simply being able to kick the ball through the end zone.

Specifically looking at McMahon, CSEC is probably not thrilled that they just redid the turf, as they'll need to redo parts of it, I think the latest iteration of the turf doesn't have the lines sewn into the turf but I could be wrong. For CSEC this is an opportunity to activate the endzones with either some endzone seating or suites beyond the patio they currently have. The new endzone boundary will be five yards into the current endzone which opens up 15 yards of space in either endzone. Assuming U-Sports adopts the same dimensions, I wonder if they actually just remove the turf. A negative at McMahon is the changes move the field that much further from the last sections of seats.

1758568475600.png


If you're wondering what I mean by Torontoization, and a deeper meaning on why this happened? Just look at BMO field in Toronto. Shortening the field means the whole field at BMO is now on grass. MLSE (one of the worst attended teams) swung their big you know what around here.

1758568938716.png


There are a couple big negatives... The biggest one being the change to the field makes it very difficult and expensive, so in a way impossible, for amateur Canadian football fields to adapt to the changes. It worked out pretty well the uprights were at the same place a soccer goal would be. Now any High School or any other football/soccer/rugby field will need to make some choices, keep the uprights where they are but shrink the football field, putting the uprights five yards deeper into the endzone. One compromise they could make at those fields is just have 10-yard endzones. That at least allows them to not move the uprights. What isn't great is the City of Calgary operates turf field throughout the City that do have the football lines sewn into the turf. As for what U-Sports does that only really affects those teams in Montreal (McGill), Winnipeg, Regina, and Calgary.

The other big negative has to do with Winnipeg and Regina, they both have made large investments in their stadiums and now their endzone seating is 15 yards further from the field. Guess that means opportunity for more seating but still that isn't ideal.
 
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