Canadian Football League

The Canadian Football League (CFL; French: Ligue canadienne de football) is a professional league located entirely in Canada that plays Canadian football. It is considered to be the highest level of play in Canadian football. The league's top trophy, the Grey Cup, was donated by Governor General Earl Grey in 1909 to the team winning the Senior Amateur Football Championship of Canada. Both the trophy and the championship game have become known as the Grey Cup. Since 1954, when the Ontario Rugby Football Union stopped challenging for the Grey Cup, the trophy has been awarded only to professional teams with the championship generally being an East vs. West competition. This is also the year the British Columbia Lions started play as the ninth professional team, so although the CFL was not technically founded until the late 1950's, 1954 is often referred to as the start of the "modern era" of Canadian professional football. It is also considered to be the year the CFL was founded in substance if not in name. The game is very similar to American football but there are several major rule differences.

American expansion

In 1993 the league admitted its first U.S. franchise, adding the Sacramento Gold Miners in an attempt to broaden Canadian football's popular appeal and boost league revenues. Spearheading the efforts were two former World League of American Football owners, Fred Anderson and Larry J. Benson, who would each receive a franchise. While Benson's team, the San Antonio Texans, would not play a single down, the Gold Miners would see action, finishing a respectable 6-12 (but remaining at the bottom of the West Division).

Related Topics:
1993 - Sacramento Gold Miners - World League of American Football - Fred Anderson - Larry J. Benson - San Antonio Texans

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The following year saw three more American CFL teams as part of a plan that would see the CFL expand to 20 teams, ten in Canada and ten in the United States. The Baltimore CFL Colts, a name that tried to evoke the spirit of a National Football League team that had since moved to Indianapolis (and were forced to change their name to the Stallions after a long legal battle) were the most successful of any American CFL team, having finished second in the East and making it to the Grey Cup Finals (becoming the first American team to play for the Grey Cup). On the other side of the equation were the Las Vegas Posse, who were so unsuccessful due to fan apathy that their final home game had to be moved to Edmonton. The Shreveport Pirates were the other new team.

Related Topics:
Baltimore CFL Colts - National Football League - Indianapolis - Las Vegas Posse - Edmonton - Shreveport Pirates

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The 1995 season saw the loss of the Posse and the move of the Gold Miners to San Antonio, while the Birmingham Barracudas and Memphis Mad Dogs were added. However, fan interest in Canadian football, with the possible exception of the Stallions (largely because the Stallions were a top team), was sparse at best, with fans being driven away to see American college football or the NFL late in the season. At the end of the year, which saw the Stallions become the first American team to win the Grey Cup, all but the Stallions and the San Antonio Texans folded due to financial difficulties. The Stallions would later move to Montreal when the NFL announced that a new team was to be added in Baltimore, and owner Jim Speros could not see the Stallions remaining there for long. The Texans would later fold with a similar explanation. Curiously, fan interest in the CFL has remained fairly strong in Baltimore despite the presence of their NFL team, with a noticeable minority preferring to watch Canadian football from Montreal rather than seeing their local NFL team.

Related Topics:
Birmingham Barracudas - Memphis Mad Dogs - San Antonio Texans - A new team - Jim Speros

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After three seasons of American teams, the CFL returned to an all-Canadian format in 1996 with nine teams; however, the Ottawa Rough Riders folded following the season. In 2002 the league expanded back to nine teams with the Ottawa Renegades.

Related Topics:
1996 - Ottawa Rough Riders - 2002 - Ottawa Renegades

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