Should the Argos move to Halifax if they can’t make it in Toronto?

It’s difficult to understand why the CFL would want to make such significant changes to a game that is possibly having its best year ever.

This year the CFL is more competitive than ever. Scoring is way up, the games are close, and the overall competitiveness of every team is considerably greater than in years past. There have been a number of last-minute comebacks and very exciting games. Attendance is good across the league. So, then why the changes?

First, it’s important to understand that TSN and the CFL, because TSN holds their TV contract, are heavily invested in the success of the Toronto Argonauts. TSN really only cares about the GTA audience, so the success of the Toronto Argonauts is imperative for their CFL investment to pay-off. The Toronto Argonauts recent decision to allow the Buffalo Bills of the NFL to sell and promote their merchandise at CFL games in Toronto, is a pretty clear indication the CFL doesn’t mind integrating the two brands,

Normally however, a smaller league like the CFL, would not want any competition in its jurisdiction from the largest league in the world if it could avoid it. Why then would the CFL allow this to happen?

I can’t say I’ve seen the numbers, but as a former marketer, sports enthusiast, and online sports media producer, I don’t believe the CFL is struggling the way the league and promoters of the new rule changes, claim.

If the CFL has reached a ceiling cap in Canada, it’s not the League’s fault. It’s not because the CFL is not the NFL. It’s not because Canadians don’t like football, and it’s not because Canadians don’t support their CFL  teams. Canada is 1/10 the population of the United States. We don’t have the sheer number of people America does, nor do our people have the same amount of disposable income, and football is not the number one sport in Canada, like it is in the United States.

But, it is most likely because of an increase in competition across-the-board in all categories for the CFL. It could also be because Canada‘s population is aging. Contact sports are less important to seniors than their health. Fixed incomes limit disposable income.. Why do you think the Trudeau government went on an immigration hiring binge right after Covid? It’s because baby boomers are retiring and have retired en-masse since Covid.

All this leads to is a smaller potential, total audience for the CFL’s product. But it’s not just the CFL that is affected by these changes in Canada. It’s every professional sports league. And then add in the new women’s professional basketball and hockey leagues, and all of a sudden the competition is considerably steeper, at a time when many Canadians are struggling financially.

The timing couldn’t be worse from a business perspective. Making the game more American, right now, when America is becoming more authoritarian than it ever has before, when Canadians are less and less welcome south of the border, and when the new President of the United States has launched a trade war against our nation, this is absolutely the wrong time, if there ever was a right time, to make the CFL more American.

It seems like a really idiotic and unpatriotic thing to do at this exact moment in time.

But, then again, I haven’t invested millions into a team that probably can’t succeed and a league that can’t grow. Not because it’s not a good team nor because the CFL is not a good product, but because there is just too much sports and entertainment competition in Toronto for the CFL to excel. The CFL, like college football in the United States, has more success in smaller market cities, like Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Calgary and Hamilton, than it does in the larger markets of Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver because the teams have less local competition. It’s easier for them to build loyalty with their fan base.

It’s been this way for most of my life. So why then is this fact never part of the League’s decision-making? Could it be that the money interests in the CFL just won’t accept this fact?

The biggest reason why these new changes won’t work is because they go to the core of what makes the Canadian game great. If you want to get rid of the one point rouge for a missed punt, OK. But not for a missed field goal. That’s a step too far. Why? Because it’s a key scoring element of the Canadian game. And if you get rid of it, then you are tearing at the very fabric of what makes the Canadian game great.

This is also true for the size of the field. The size of the field is the size it is because this is the size that works best for a three down game. Make it smaller and three downs won’t work. Why? Because it will be much more difficult to get a first down. Constant punting will drive fans crazy, as I expect the CFL anticipates, and will lead to a demand for four downs.

One also has to wonder what the new sports gambling rules in Canada have to do with the changes. Does the CFL think getting rid of the ‘rouge’ will increase the amount of money people spend betting on CFL games? Do they think it will attract more American betters? Do they want the average game score to go down and for the games to be more predictable to improve the betting experience or House odds?

Of course, none of these things have anything to do with the nature of the Canadian game and what makes for a great Canadian football game.

Do Canadians really think the NFL game is better than the CFL game? They require different types of athletes. CFL football players are much faster and in better shape than NFL players, overall. This is because of the size of the field and the requirement of having to run, run, run everywhere.

How many Canadians have actually been to an NFL game? I have. I have been to both and I found the CFL to be more fun because the CFL game moves a lot more quickly. On the field, the NFL game is slow. The time between plays is much longer. The players are heavier (fatter) and slower moving. It’s fun to go to NFL games because of all the things going on at the game and all the people. It’s exciting for us because we’re not normally used to being around 80,000 people at any kind of an event. But, it’s less about the game than the show.  So yes, the Americans are good at creating a circus and the environment to have fun in, but the NFL game itself is best when there is lots of passing and the game is played at a quick pace. Just like the CFL game.

At a time when Canada needs to find its own identity and direction, this is exactly the wrong thing for corporate Canada to do. If the big money people in Toronto are insistent on destroying Canadian football, they will find an unwilling audience outside of Toronto. Teams in Ottawa and Montreal will suffer immediately when fans start to tune out. I don’t have to watch and attend CFL games but I do because it’s uniquely Canadian and I enjoy Canadian culture. 

I suggest MLSE sell the Argos so they can move to Halifax where they are more likely to be supported by the entire city and the province of Nova Scotia, and where they can grow a real fan base.