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.
2 Comments
Jayme
4/12/2017 09:17:56 pm
If demand keeps up for the Redblacks it would not shock me 5-7 years from now there is talk of a 2nd Ottawa's team.
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Tom
4/12/2017 10:50:30 pm
Very interesting thought Jayme, however it would probably be more likely for the Redblacks to expand the stadium rather than create another team in my view. I say this as I do not think Ottawa would be able to sustain two franchises should one or both have consecutive losing seasons. Halifax seems like it will be the 10th franchise with Windsor and London other possible locations. Personally I would like Moncton, although what some say this seems unlikely.
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