The Canadian National Newspaper: Should the CFL Expand to Halifax? Divergent Perspectives

The talk of a CFL expansion team coming to the Maritimes has been heating up, since the Argonauts and Tiger-Cats exhibition game in early summer 2005. It's not exactly a secret that the CFL has been thinking about putting a team out east, making the league a truly coast-to-coast Canadian game, but there's a few things that need to be shored up, I think, before we move to a 10-team league.

First up, the city is going to have to come up with some big bucks for a stadium. The exhibition game will take place at St Mary's Stadium, home to a fine University team. However, the stadium will be refurbished in order to accommodate more fans. Now, while this is all well and good, especially if the additions to the stadium stay thereby benefiting the school, it leads one to wonder if a future Halifax team will be staying there. True, the Alouettes benefited from moving to a smaller venue, but the capacity at St. Mary's wouldn't be enough to be financially feasible for a new team.

Secondly, there's the issue of the salary cap. Already, there's been talk that the cap in place is nothing more than a guideline.a soft cap. Yes, CFL players don't make near the kind of money NHL or NFL players make, but for a brand new team looking to make an impact, they'll have to compete with the financial backing of Toronto and Montreal, the two powerhouses in the East. A Halifax team would have to shell out huge amounts of money to get big name players if they hope to succeed. Otherwise, they'll be relegated to the bottom tier of the division, along with the likes of Ottawa and Hamilton hoping to scrape together enough wins to earn the a playoff spot.

Finally, there's the simple problem of logistics. The cost of sending a team from one coast to another is expensive. Considering the size of a CFL football team, it's a lot more costly than it would be for a hockey team. Even games against division rivals would mean having to fly. It's the same reason why the Maple Leafs are moving their AHL team to Toronto.less travel costs equals more money for payroll. Considering what I said about shelling out money for players in a soft cap system, the mere necessity of travel would quickly put any Maritime team in fiscal peril.

Now, don't get me wrong.I think that the exhibition game will do very well. I also think that the Maritimes have been long overlooked as far as the CFL goes. Nevertheless, as much as I want to see cities like Halifax get their due, I think that now is not the time to start thinking about expansion. That is, of course, unless someone out there has millions of dollars in expendable cash and the urge to prove me wrong.

It's true that there are a number of things that need to be fixed for any expansion to take place, but let's face it: the CFL is in its best shape in years. Television ratings are up, as is revenue. They've just reached a massive deal with Reebok for them to redesign the uniforms of all nine teams for this season. On top of that, the two troubled teams heading into 2004 are on the way to better days. The Tiger-Cats just came off a huge turn-around season in a renovated Ivor Wynne Stadium - and on top of that may end up with Doug Flutie. The Argos won the Grey Cup in 2005, with greatly renewed interests by Toronto fans. The only problem franchise now is Ottawa, whose front office is threatening to make the Glibermans look good.

So with all that fixed, now is as great a time as ever to talk about expansion. I know expansion to a new untested market is something that hasn't been done since the U.S.-expansion debacle. However, it can't be ignored that the east coast is a growing sports market in the country. Halifax is the annual host for the CIS basketball championships and sells well every year. Right now the closest thing they have to a professional football franchise is Ottawa or Montreal, at least in location.

On top of that, Halifax is a totally untapped market when it comes to the big leagues. After years of having to watch football from afar, I think that city deserves a chance at their own team. Sure they'll have to build a stadium, but that's the same process undergone by the Argos and they're seeing it as an investment.

There's also the fact that having an even 10 teams will make scheduling much easier. Right now, every team has that crazy scheduling glitch of a Thursday game followed by a quick turnaround to a Monday or Tuesday, then 10 days off. Not only does it wear out the players, but it also makes it impossible for fans to figure out when their team is player. With 10 teams, they could conceivably do an NFL-style schedule, with games on Friday or Saturday every week through the year.

For once, Jay's right about one thing: that exhibition game in Halifax will be a huge success. After that, we better get used to hearing about expansion because it will happen eventually.