A few years ago, I wrote an article detailing why the league should start playing some games abroad bringing games to Europe after the success of the NFL series in London. This may soon become reality for CFL fans, although not in Europe, after rumours about plans to play two games next year in Mexico. The belief is that these games could attract up to 50,000 which would be fantastic news for the CFL in broadening their brand on the international stage as well as benefitting their teams, specifically the ones who will take part in this experiment. One team that has been mooted is the Toronto Argonauts which does seem like a sensible suggestion given their struggles to attract a crowd to their home games in what is a sport-mad city. This move would help grow their popularity with international fans and if this proves to be a success may attract a bigger audience back in Toronto.
If these games in Mexico prove to be a resounding success, then I would love to see the CFL bring games to the UK after the NFL has been a huge success here. Alternatively, the CFL could reach out to Germany or the Netherlands, for example, given the popularity of the NFL and the history they had with the now defunct NFL Europe franchises. Of course, one factor that needs to be considered is the size of pitch which tends to be bigger than a lot of European Football (Soccer) stadiums. However, CFL would be able to fit into stadiums that accommodate rugby, meaning there are numerous possibilities in Europe to host CFL games which would allow the CFL to break down barriers and enter a new market. Think about it. Imagine if the new franchise in Halifax (in this instance, the Atlantic Schooners) play at Murrayfield in Scotland which is their rugby stadium. It is a great venue and it makes sense giving that the team is from the Nova Scotia area, which of course translates as New Scotland, so it does have history. Also, it is worth pointing out that Murrayfield has previously hosted NFL with ex-NFL Europe team Scottish Claymores playing a number of seasons in the city of Edinburgh, (So Scotland’s capital city welcoming CFL would not be an issue.) This would act as an alternative to London hosting the NFL, giving people an opportunity to see a different sport in another part of the UK. Another option for a host city in the UK to have a CFL game would be Milton Keynes as the stadium within the city has hosted rugby games in the past, including a number of games from the 2015 Rugby World Cup, so the city has the infrastructure to handle major sporting events. If the CFL is to reach out further and increase brand awareness, then games across various countries can only help rather than hinder. Also, I believe that if they manged to increase their fanbase in other countries, thus leading to increased sales in merchandise and over time more investment from numerous sources, might see wage increases for the CFL athletes. More money for the players within the league is paramount to increasing the reputation and attracting more players to have a sustained career in the CFL. Of course, these internationals will not rival the NFL but would be a great way to showcase their product and show people what they’re missing out on.
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I became interested in Canadian Football about 3 and a half years ago given the rise of popularity of the NFL, but to be slightly different I chose a different route (although I must note that I did see some games on TV about 12 years ago when Setanta Sports (remember them?) held the rights). Immediately after following the various relevant Twitter handles and liking the various Facebook pages I ordered various books which would help give me a greater insight and understanding into ‘Canada’s game’. These books were the ‘Grey Cup encyclopaedia’ which gave details of the most memorable Grey Cup games of the past such as; legendary player turned coach leading his beloved Argos to the 92nd Grey Cup triumph, funnily the last Grey Cup played in Ottawa till this year’s 105th, or how could any forget the 50th Grey Cup which became known as the ‘Fog Bowl’ of 1962, plus many others which I could list. The other one was ‘The Canadian Football League: The Phoenix of Professional Sports Leagues’ which documented the growth of Canadian Football as well as the struggles the league faced throughout various years. The point is after reading both books I began to appreciate further the rich heritage and culture attached to the Canadian Football and the CFL. In addition to this, I felt a passion and a connection to the sport which I have with the likes of football (soccer), rugby, tennis and field hockey, the latter which I used to play. I then started to look out for results of teams and see how good each of the 9 were, I researched the best players for the teams, taking an even deeper interest, finding players like Edmonton’s Mike Reilly, Bo Levi Mitchell and Jon Cornish of Calgary, Ottawa’s Henry Burris and Darian Durant of Saskatchewan as well as Toronto duo Ricky Ray and Chad Owens, the list could go on. The question you’re probably asking yourselves now is “well, go on, who do you support/follow?” or if you’ve seen the title “why the Argos?”. Well let me explain; In the back of my mind I did have a team in mind to begin with before delving in to the various bits of research and the team was Toronto Argonauts. So why the Boatmen? Firstly, I do have some relatives who live in Canada, Ontario to be more specific and the area where they’re from within that is closest to Toronto as opposed to Hamilton or Ottawa. So, this did give me some sort of connection which is what I want from any sports team rather than just picking the team which has the most silverware, however I wanted more than just this. Secondly, my dad once told me about a time when he went to a CFL (when he was visiting the relatives mentioned) back in 1985 (I think) at the old Exhibition Field in Toronto as the Argonauts played host to the BC Lions. The final point which made up my mind was not anything to do with outside influences, it was a decision based on my football team Notts County. Let me tell you why; Most of you who read this probably will not have a great deal of interest in football (or soccer as you call it), but Notts County is the oldest professional football team in the World, formed in 1862, so it made sense if my CFL team was the oldest too (formed in 1873) as I like history. Plus, I did take in to account which team I would most likely go and watch (logistics) if I am lucky enough to be able to visit the beautiful country sometime in the future, maybe even a Grey Cup? In Toronto or failing that one in Hamilton featuring the Argonauts, as they’re due a Grey Cup in their city? Right?
Having been a fan of CFL for roughly 3 years and given it is the build up to the Grey Cup I thought I would write an article aimed at trying to address how the league can reach out to fans beyond Canada and the United States. If you may recall I did write an article a couple of years back with a similar title which focussed on the league expanding, games abroad and a console, which some progress has been made on a number of these points. Earlier this week the CFL announced that it had held positive talks with investors from Halifax in Nova Scotia about becoming it’s tenth team, which in my view is what the league is and has been crying out for. The region does have a history of CFL football (sort of) having been awarded franchise in 1984 called the Atlantic Schooners, although it never came to fruition and to this day remain undefeated as the saying goes. Nevertheless a 10th team in the Atlantic region does seem a strong possibility and I believe it will have a positive impact both in Canada and globally. Why? Well the main reason is public interest would broaden with a team based in an area which does not and has technically not had any professional Canadian Football. Therefore, fellow CFL fans and non-fans would be intrigued to see how a new team does, much like the way they were taken in by the introduction of the new-born again Ottawa franchise. Regarding the impact abroad, I think there would be similar intrigue mainly due to the expansion meaning more teams, meaning an opportunity for more teams to win the Grey Cup, both resulting in increased competition. All this would be appealing to international fans like myself and something which each of the CFL franchises could exploit, a point which I will get on to shortly. The point of having an increased number of teams in the league means there’s likely to be an increased amount of revenue courtesy of the TV and media deals which would obviously be beneficial to both the CFL and its teams. My personal view is the expansion into Halifax and to take the league up to 10 should only be the start as I believe the league could have a maximum of 16 teams (although that would be a long way down the line if it were to happen), but 12 should be the desired target which the league should aim for. Now let me explain the point I made above how the CFL and its franchises can exploit international fans, such as myself. Firstly, the league could launch some sought of digital network (we’ll call it CFL network just to work with) which would be like the widely available NFL network, this allows international NFL fans to watch games and various other content for a yearly subscription fee. It is worth noting that for this season the CFL did introduce something similar in collaboration with one of their partners which gives fans an option to pay either for a single game, a season ticket for their team or for every game of the 20-week season. However, the limitations with this is that it is unavailable to people like myself who currently live in a country where a sports provider holds the CFL rights, so I’m able to watch it but unwilling to take out another sports subscription just for the game. Although I have seen a CFL game this year as I was able to watch Hamilton @ Toronto in week 1 due to living in the Netherlands at that point. The matter of fact is this should be available outside North America, regardless of right holders as more fans would have access to it with the likelihood of an increased viewership. For me personally, I would quite happily pay the $70 for the season pass (the cost of this season’s) or even $100 if necessary, which would result in extra revenue for the league. Another way which the CFL and Its teams could exploit fans globally is the wider availability of merchandise. Those of you who follow me on twitter know how I feel about this, but it perplexes me how different each of the team’s policies are regarding merchandise. Some teams like BC Lions ship worldwide and charge, while others including both Grey Cup 105 competitors Toronto Argonauts and Calgary Stampeders only ship within Canada and the US. By having a policy of shipping worldwide it’s an easy way to increase their global fanbase as followers of the CFL would find this attractive and a way to buy loyalty. The reason why I believe this is so important is that sport consumers and customers nowadays are basically walking billboards for teams with the customers (fans) displaying their team’s colours which equals free marketing. The cycle then continues as other people see a sports fan displaying a team’s customers and become curious, which then leads to them making a purchase and so the process continues. For example, if I was wearing some Toronto Argonauts gear it leads to others questioning it, much like what has happened in the NFL with the growth of various fanbases here in the UK which can be attributed partly due to the wider availability of merchandise. Also, I’m guessing some Canadians who live in the UK are followers of the CFL and specific teams, but this policy means that they are unable to get merchandise too. Recommendations From that I’ve come up with some recommendations for the CFL to possibly use in order to increase the popularity of the league globally and increase its brand awareness. Some I’ve mentioned already such as the need for the league to expand as this would help grow interest and a more lucrative TV deal as the league would be seen as stronger. The league expansion is more a long-term goal, so this is not something the CFL needs addressing immediately, apart from try and continue the work to secure a franchise for Halifax. Other recommendations include launching a CFL Network which would give fans worldwide exclusive content as well as the ability to watch every single game live throughout the season. If the CFL chose to do this, they could increase revenue streams and speaking myself I would quite happily pay a fee to give me this content as opposed to paying a subscription fee to a sports channel just specifically for CFL. I believe this would be possible outside North America as from speaking from a UK point of view I’m sure that no one subscribes to BT Sport specifically for CFL, meaning BT Sport would not lose out on anything should CFL make a network available within the UK. The other recommendation I would make in response to teams and the league making merchandise available to a wider market is if at all possible is for the CFL to launch a CFL Europe shop much like the NFL’s. If this was achievable it would give access of CFL merchandise to a much wider audience, thus expanding the brand. Although this would probably be somewhere down the line as the CFL would probably hold back (and I don’t blame them) till the CFL has a bigger presence in Europe. Nevertheless, the point I’m making is that there are many more fans out there who would like a slice of the CFL pie but are unable to get any.
This blog in a way is a follow up to my previous one about broadening the appeal of the Canadian Football League. In my view the CFL is vastly becoming an appealing product that with the right marketing can grow even bigger and have an appeal outside of Canada. One of the ways to do this would be to bring a game (to test the waters so to speak) across the pond to the UK and see the reception it receives. Clearly it will not be as popular as when the NFL comes to town but CFL offers a completely different experience, most notably with the various changes in rules from the NFL. The appeal of one game in the UK would in my opinion attract various types of fans, firstly the passionate ones who would travel from Canada to make a vacation of it or even a number of hard-core fans within the UK. Secondly there would be fans like myself who are quite new to CFL (taken an interest in the last couple of years) who would love to experience it, then finally UK fans of NFL who would be interested in attending to see how it compares to its American counterpart. But where? I suggest staging games at a smaller venue compared to Wembley with Stadium:MK being a potential venue given its history of hosting events that are not football (Soccer, which is the stadiums main use) related events. Also the city itself can put on a really good show to support the events which the stadium hosts. For example I was lucky enough to get tickets to the recent Rugby World Cup and one of the games I went to was in Milton Keynes where they put on a fanzone in a large park with rugby specific events and lots of volunteers dotted around Milton Keynes on hand to offer advice or give directions. My point from this is I can imagine the CFL doing something similar if they do decide the time is right to play in the UK, as the stadium (32,000) is suitable for the demand of a Canadian Football game, the city and its infrastructure is suitable enough to deal with masses of people in one place at a time. It is also worth noting that with Milton Keynes being a fairly new place (developed within the last 50 years) and regeneration happening over the few years there are lots of new modern restaurants to suite virtually anybody and make their time a pleasant one. Realistically will it happen? As much as I would love it to and I know I am not alone in saying that, I can’t see it on the horizon as the CFL seems pretty much content with its operations solely in Canada. However if they want an increase in revenue this should seriously be considered as the brand could only increase by making this happen due to it only being a one off to begin with so they are not going to lose money by making this happen. Considering everything the best time to do this so it does not conflict with NFL coming over would be right at the beginning of the CFL in June or July which may be the most appealing to fans alike as well. Who would the teams be? Well there is currently 9 teams in the CFL (4 in the East Division & 5 in the West Division) and virtually all of them would have some appeal one way or another. Being a follower of the Toronto Argonauts I would love to see them come across of course, but the reason for the appeal would be the history the team has and as we all know we all like a team with history here in the UK. Then there’s Saskatchewan Roughriders who seem to be the most well supported (and riches) team in Canada and a decent team too (Discounting this season though as they are 2-15). Other teams with varying appeal would be Calgary Stampeders who arguably are the best team currently, while Hamilton Tiger-Cats are the best in the East. Then there’s the newest franchise, Ottawa REDBLACKS which will be looking to drum up a fanbase and could potentially become the Jacksonville Jaguars of Canadian Football in terms of being a new franchise who plays games regularly abroad.
All in all I’m sure any observer of the CFL whether you’re a die-hard or new to the game would just be happy to see any 2 sides do battle in the UK. |
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