Football in a Hockey Crazy Country

Football in Canada

Unless you've been living under a rock, you will have definitely heard how Toronto sports fans are going crazy after the Argonauts beat the Calgary Stampeders 35-22 in the 100th edition of the Grey Cup, which was held in Toronto. If you dig a little deeper, you will have heard that the Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton is being demolished and rebuilt, causing the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to temporarily relocate to Guelph.

So what does all this mean for football in Canada? Well, a lot. Football, more specifically the Grey Cup, is 100 years old, while football wasn't in much demand… until recent years, that is. The game at the Rogers Centre drew over 53,000 fans for game night. An average audience of 5.5 million viewers saw the game on TSN, making it the most-watched CFL championship game ever recorded on English-language television. And that is exactly what football in Canada needs.

Two-time Grey Cup champion Blake Marshall, who played for the Edmonton Eskimos, said he believes that "once people watch Canadian football, they'll be drawn towards it more than the NFL." And he's got a valid point. "I've played with American players, as we're the same calibre. People just think that everything American is better, but when they watch the Canadian game, they'll realize that it's more exciting," added the former Western Mustang running back.

It's safe to say that Marshall may be a bit biased towards the Canadian game, but you really can't blame him all that much. Not that I'm saying that the NFL is not a good league. The NFL is by far the more popular league and will be for the foreseeable future. It's also home to 32 teams, four times more than its Canadian counterpart. But that doesn't mean the CFL can't improve. And they appear to be improving slowly.

There's a new team starting in Ottawa, the third attempt at starting a team in the capital. Future expansions are being planned and considered for a number of cities, most notably Halifax, Moncton, Quebec City, London and Windsor. Mark Cohon, the CFL commissioner, has his eye set on expanding the league to Atlantic Canada, owing to the obvious football craze that exists in the region. The main challenge for proponents of a CFL franchise in the Atlantic provinces is corporate support. Financial instability was the main reason the Ottawa Renegades were dissolved after just four seasons of play in 2006.

Marshall is among other football fans in London who believe that the city would be able to support a CFL franchise. And who is to say the city won't be able to? Look at the fan following the London Knights get at every home game. The London Lightning team is seeing attendance slowly rise. The Western Mustangs are a footballing powerhouse in the region and the TD Waterhouse Stadium is almost CFL ready, save for a few renovations and more seating space for fans.

London may not be the first choice for a CFL expansion just yet, and football-crazy Atlantic Canada needs a few franchises first that would expand 'Canada's League.' Scenes in Toronto prior to the Grey Cup in 2012 are enough proof that the league and the sport are not going anywhere. Football may have lost about a generation of fans, but if recent trends are to go by, all that could soon change.

After all, as the league's motto goes 'Notre Ligue. Notre Football' or, translated into English: 'This Is Our League.'

Originally Written for the Interrobang: http://www.fsu.ca/interrobang_article.php?storyID=9130&sectionID=4&issueID=218
Image Credit: http://cfl.uploads.mrx.ca/league/images/en/inside/2011/10/en_1280x748_CFL_MapCities4743.jpg
Video Credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laeOn5DKnmA