Ah, CFL expansion. The Great White North’s seemingly never-ending search for that elusive 10th professional gridiron franchise.
Expanding into the U.S in 1993 seemed like a cool idea, at the time, but it quickly became a disaster — both financially and artistically — and three years later the CFL was back to its cozy nine-team alignment. It’s been there ever since.
Sure, Halifax gets kicked around in the conversation all the time. Heck, there’s even a nickname out there — the Atlantic Schooners — and some kind of fan club that gets together to party during Grey Cup weekend. All that’s missing is an owner and a stadium.
More recently, Quebec City has entered the discussion. College football is huge in Quebec where Laval has been a Canadian university powerhouse for the last several years, attracting large crowds to home games and capturing the Vanier Cup a dozen times since 1999.
Windsor, with its close proximity to Detroit, and London, where the University of Western Ontario Mustangs are well-supported and successful, are other sites that at one time or another have been suggested as possible landing spots for a 10th CFL franchise.
Like Halifax, however, what is consistently missing in all of this speculation is somebody stepping forward as an owner — or owners. A person or group with deep pockets, corporate connections, political support and concrete plans to construct a stadium.
CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston has a stock answer when he is periodically asked about CFL expansion. It goes something like this: ‘Not a top priority, but it remains an objective.’
Okay.
Meanwhile, the B.C. Lions will play a couple of home games in Kelowna in the upcoming CFL season when the Leos are kicked out of BC Place while Vancouver hosts a handful of World Cup soccer matches. To accommodate the CFLers, Kelowna’s Apple Bowl stadium will be temporarily expanded to seat 17,500 spectators.
According to the Kelowna Courier, on Feb. 26 when grandstand seats went on sale for the city’s June 27 game (B.C. versus Calgary), they sold out the same day. Plus, all available tickets for the Party Zone — for both games — were snapped up five hours after going on sale.
Could Kelowna emerge as a potential CFL expansion city some day?
As one of Canada’s fastest growing metropolitan areas, Kelowna is already on the radar of the CPL, the nation’s top professional domestic soccer league, which has announced intentions to expand. Last year, Kelowna hosted the Montana’s Brier national men’s curling championship and drew almost 90,000 spectators over the course of the 10-day tournament.
The WHL Kelowna Rockets consistently average better than 4,000 fans per home game at 5,500-seat Prospera Place, which will host this year’s Memorial Cup. And, Kelowna is already a gridiron hotbed, home to a thriving club in the Canadian Junior Football League.
The Okanagan Sun are considered one of the most successful organizations in CJFL history with 25 consecutive winning seasons. The Sun have claimed 14 B.C. Conference pennants and three Canadian Bowl national championships.
However, despite its rapid growth, Kelowna’s current population is around the 173,000 mark which would instantly make it the smallest market in the CFL behind Regina (263,500) which as home to the Saskatchewan Roughriders, draws rabid support from an entire province. Halifax and Quebec City, respectively, boast populations of 522,000 and 605,000.
Even Windsor (275,000) and London (509,000) — fringe CFL candidates at best — offer larger markets than Kelowna.
Bottom line for any prospective future CFL club whether it be in Halifax, Quebec City — or even Kelowna — is the same as it has always been, with the same important questions remaining unanswered. Is there a market for a team, where’s the owner, is there corporate and government support, and who coughs up the cash to build a suitable stadium?
Unfortunately for the CFL, right now, there’s nobody lining up. Anywhere.
“BIG HARVE” REMEMBERED
Anyone who joined the Belleville Bulldogs Rugby Football Club in the late 1970s or early ’80s will certainly remember “Big Harve.” That would be Harvey Gottfried, veteran second-rower who towered over most of us and helped newcomers to the game learn the sport from the ground up.
Harve played the game hard, but fair, and he derived equal enjoyment at the pub after the game, swapping stories, clinking glasses and offering up an old rugby song or two.
Harvey died on March 18. He was 84.
To Harve’s family, deepest condolences. He was a stellar teammate and tremendous man.
SENTINEL CUP FINALS
The Tweed Oil Kings and Manotick Mariners split the first two meetings of the best-of-five NPHL Sentinel Cup championship series with Games 3 and 4 this weekend.
Game 3 is Saturday at Manotick while the Oil Kings host Game 4 Sunday at 2:30 p.m. In Tweed.
In the Metropolitan segment of the NPHL, Western Ontario finalists have been decided for the Apex Cup championship series. The Six Nations Ironmen and Alvinston Killer Bees will meet in that final set.
