The most teams that have ever competed for the Grey Cup in one particular season is 13. Of course, the CFL had to go south of the border to find places to house teams.
There is a new study by the Conference Board of Canada that says there are six more markets in this country that have economic conditions suitable for a CFL team. Those would be Ottawa, Quebec City, London, Waterloo-Cambridge, Halifax and Moncton. The biggest issue in all cities is a facility.
“There is definitely room for more than eight teams in the Canadian Football League, based on our analysis of the population size, income levels and corporate headquarters of potential markets,” said Mario Lefebvre, Director, Centre for Municipal Studies. “Market conditions are fundamental to the viability of any professional sports franchise. However, when considering future CFL franchises, new or significantly upgraded playing facilities and dedicated ownership are also crucial factors in the potential growth of the league.”
The conference board identified four areas that need to be sufficient in order to have successful pro teams. They are population size, income, corporate presence and a level playing field. A more detailed account can be found here.
Ottawa is due to join the league in 2014, and Quebec City is the next logical choice as a 10th team. That would be plenty of growth over the next decade and as an even number of teams is an important part of the scheduling.
If those two teams join the league, it would make the divisions much more sensible. Winnipeg would go back to the West, where they belong, while Ottawa and Quebec City join Montreal, Toronto and Hamilton.
— Buz
If looking south of the border, Spokane and Fargo population might be possible locations. Fargo about as big as Regina and ND economy is going crazy. Spokane is about the pop. of Winnipeg. Plus both have a large influx of Canadians and they are close enough to the border.
I find it interesting that the Conference Board study would fail to look at the viability of a franchise in the Victoria area. There are some 600,000 people living in the Southern Vancouver Island region from Nanaimo/Parksville to Victoria. I would think of this as a viable western expansion territory well before looking at London or Kitchener. I could see Victoria, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg in the West and Hamilton, Toronto, Ottawa, montreal, Quebec, and Halifax or Moncton in the East.
On the other hand, the biggest restriction to the number of franchises that are viable will be the number of Canadian players available. Despite the growing number of high quality Canadian players, each added team adds another 20 or so positions. There may not be any problem finding 20 or 40 high quality Canadians to stock 1 or 2 more teams, but can we realistically expect to increase the number of teams by 50% without watering down the quality of the play?