The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa , Ontario, founded on September 19, 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine times. Their most dominant era was the 1960s and 1970s, in which they won five Grey Cups. The team's fortunes waned in the 1980s and 1990s, and they ultimately ceased operations following the 1996 season . Five years later, a new CFL team known as the Ottawa Renegades was founded, though they suspended operations in 2006. The Ottawa Redblacks , which own the Rough Riders and Renegades intellectual properties, joined the league in 2014.
185-534: The Canadian Football League (CFL), which features teams based in Canada, has made efforts to gain further audience in the United States, most directly through expansion into the country from the 1993 CFL season through the 1995 CFL season . The CFL plays Canadian football , a form of gridiron football which is somewhat different from the more common American football played in the United States and other parts of
370-596: A critical blow. On November 6, 1995—the week of the South Division Final— Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell announced he was moving his NFL franchise to Baltimore for the following season. A day after the game, the Stallions' owners called Commissioner Smith and requested a meeting in Toronto; Smith's summary of their position was "we'll pay our bills but we're done." The Stallions had been broadsided by
555-664: A decline after the championships. Again, another Ottawa team, the Ottawa Rangers, was developing talent and enjoying success, winning the Quebec title. The Riders absorbed the Rangers in 1933, getting Rangers stars Andy Tommy, Arnie Morrison and "Fat Quinn'. That same year the Riders added more talent, bringing in American imports "Windy" O'Neil and Lorne Johnson. In 1935, the Riders added Roy Berry who
740-528: A different city every year, selected two or more years in advance. The Toronto Argonauts have won the most Grey Cups with 19 wins total, most recently in 2024. In 2013, the Grey Cup was won at home for the third consecutive time (by the Saskatchewan Roughriders ), which had not been done since Toronto won at home from 1945 to 1947. In 2016, the Grey Cup was won on the natural grass turf of BMO Field by
925-431: A dorm above a milking barn). A woeful record did not help, as the team lost its first 14 games. The Pirates showed some promise at the end of the season, reeling off a 3–1 record in their final four games; attendance also jumped, and the home finale drew over 32,000 fans to 40,000-seat Independence Stadium , the highest for any U.S.-hosted CFL game outside Baltimore. The Gold Miners, after spending much of 1993 adjusting to
1110-527: A drop of 3,000 from the previous year. It marked the beginning of an historic trough in Canadian CFL attendance that would last for most of the 1990s. A massive league-wide season ticket drive was undertaken prior to 1995. Commissioner Larry Smith told the Rough Riders and Tiger-Cats that unless they sold more tickets, they would be forced to either fold or move. Ottawa owner Bruce Firestone went bankrupt after
1295-588: A greater emphasis on divisional play. Under the eighteen game format, each Eastern team played ten games within their division and eight games against Western opponents, thus playing two of the Western teams once (one at home and one on the road) and the other three Western teams twice, while playing two Eastern opponents three times and one division rival four times. Three of the Western teams played each division rival three times, two Eastern teams twice and two Eastern teams once. The remaining two Western teams played three of
1480-468: A half-million dollar Tucker automobile that Glieberman had donated to a local museum. Freshly relocated from Sacramento , the San Antonio Texans finally found success on the field in 1995 playing in the brand new Alamodome . The Alamodome offered two advantages over other U.S. facilities – it was a multi-purpose facility with retractable seating that could accommodate a full size CFL field, and it
1665-454: A league name change be considered. By 1995, Mad Dogs coach Pepper Rodgers was openly disparaging Canadian rules and teams. Officials of the new American teams found that the Canadian clubs were hesitant to accommodate the new American audience. The Canadian owners, for their part, refused to make any major changes to the rules, the schedule, or the name of the league; the only concession they made
1850-404: A lengthy bankruptcy process in ownership, the Riders were purchased by Chicago businessman and minor league sports entrepreneur Horn Chen , who did not attend a single Riders game. In the dispersal draft of Las Vegas Posse players, Ottawa management drafted Derrell Robertson , who had died the previous December. Following the 1996 season, years of poor ownership and mismanagement took a toll on
2035-716: A member of the Buffalo Bills) out of retirement to serve as a backup. They finished 12–6 and finally made the playoffs. In the first round they trounced Birmingham, 51–9, before falling to the Baltimore Stallions, 21–11, in the South Division final. Team attendance was around the same level Anderson had previously seen in Sacramento. The Baltimore franchise finally received a permanent name, the "Baltimore Stallions." Led by quarterback Tracy Ham and running back Mike Pringle ,
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#17328510207152220-936: A national craze in the late 19th century, the Argonaut Rowing Club of Toronto formed a rugby team for its members' off-season participation. The football team name Toronto Argonauts still remains even though it and the rowing club have long since gone their separate ways. After World War II, the Hamilton Tigers absorbed the upstart war-era Flying Wildcats and called the team the Hamilton Tiger-Cats . The league remained stable with nine franchises—the BC Lions , Calgary Stampeders , Edmonton Eskimos , Saskatchewan Roughriders , Winnipeg Blue Bombers , Hamilton Tiger-Cats , Toronto Argonauts , Ottawa Rough Riders and Montreal Alouettes —from its 1958 inception until 1981 . After
2405-519: A new five-year collective bargaining agreement (from 2014 through the 2018 season) between the CFL and the Canadian Football League Players' Association (CFLPA). The Toronto Argonauts entered a period of transition off the field, with new ownership and a new stadium. The Argonauts were sold by politician/businessman David Braley to Bell Media and MLSE chairman Larry Tanenbaum . At
2590-480: A player with the Calgary Stampeders , Toronto Argonauts and Edmonton Eskimos from 1985 to 1993, Ambrosie is the first commissioner to have played in the league since Larry Smith left the position in 1997. On September 12, 2018, it was announced that Buffalo, New York –based New Era Cap Company would become the official apparel supplier of the CFL beginning in 2019, replacing Adidas . In October 2018,
2775-497: A re-branding for the CFL, including a new logo, motto, uniforms for all nine teams and website. After not having a drug enforcement policy in effect for the 2015 season the league and the CFLPA agreed to a new drug policy. In 2017, the Board of Governors and Jeffrey Orridge agreed to part ways, effective June 30, 2017; Orridge cited "differing views on the future of the league" between him and
2960-465: A replacement for the Pirates. However, that deal was contingent upon the league approving the sale and relocation, which never happened. Smith had given the American teams until the end of January 1996 to decide whether they would return for the 1996 season. By then, sources were stating that four of the five American teams had "either folded, have no stadiums to play in or will not be permitted to be part of
3145-578: A reputation as one of the CFL's best ever. At the time, their .756 winning percentage over their first two seasons was the best start for an expansion team in North American professional sports history. While the Stallions experienced a successful year on the field, and finished second to Edmonton in average attendance, the city's excitement of 1994 died down. Attendance declined, with season ticket sales dropping to around 17,000. Later reports suggested that attendance numbers had been inflated by giveaways and
3330-431: A requirement would be a violation of US employment laws. The experiment started on a sour note, however, when an ownership dispute forced Benson to pull San Antonio out on the same evening the franchise was to be formally introduced. Anderson decided to continue with the venture after Benson's withdrawal, but made clear that he did not want his team to be the only American franchise after 1993. The Gold Miners were placed in
3515-440: A result, much like their American counterparts, the Canadian leagues played mainly in the autumn after the baseball season had wound down. Until the early 1960s, such arrangements allowed for a number of CFL–NFL interleague games to be held in Canada . NFL teams handily won most of these contests, however the most compelling reason they were discontinued was that minor league baseball attendance in both countries fell drastically in
3700-571: A saw blade, a nod to Ottawa's logging heritage. In the Redblacks' first home game, they retired the 10 player numbers that the Rough Riders had retired. For a few years, the CFL did not acknowledge the Redblacks (or for that matter, the Renegades) as the Rough Riders' successor in the same way it considered all three incarnations of the Montreal Alouettes as a single franchise. However, according to
3885-635: A semi-final against the champion of the Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU)–by then, the only amateur union still competing for the Grey Cup. The ORFU withdrew from Grey Cup competition after the 1953 season, and the WIFU champion was given an automatic berth in the Grey Cup final. For this reason, 1954 is reckoned as the start of the modern era of Canadian football, in which the Grey Cup has been exclusively contested by professional teams. Since 1965, Canada's top university football teams, competing in what
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#17328510207154070-505: A shocker when the Riders jumped out to a 20–1 halftime lead over the Eskimos. But a controversial double interference call against Riders receiver Tony Gabriel late in the game proved to be costly, as the Eskimos, led by backup quarterback Tom Wilkinson , came from behind to beat the Riders 26–23 on a game-winning field goal by kicker Dave Cutler , giving the Eskimos their fourth (out of five) consecutive Grey Cup championship. Throughout most of
4255-426: A single game average of 28,193. The 2007 season was a recent high point with average game attendance of 29,167, the best since 1983. During Mark Cohon's time in office many of the teams either undertook major renovations to their existing stadiums, or constructed brand new stadiums. The Montreal Alouettes were the first to undertake this project, adding 5,000 seats to Percival Molson Memorial Stadium in time for
4440-556: A special ceremony in the host city during the week before the Grey Cup game; this ceremony is broadcast nationally on TSN . The Annis Stukus Trophy , also known as the Coach of the Year Award, is awarded separately at a banquet held during the off-season each February. While the CFL has not held an all-star game since 1988 , an All-Star Team is selected and honoured at the league awards ceremony during Grey Cup week. The CFL Championship game,
4625-456: A television audience in the United States, with one notable venture coinciding with the NFL players' strike in 1982, and more recently on ESPN . While the CFL's presence on U.S. television has consistently been limited to cable TV networks and streaming services, its U.S. TV audience was enough to account for about 20% of the league's total North American viewership during the 2018 season . Until 1993,
4810-592: A time when they were known as the Ottawa Senators . In 1925, Ottawa defeated three-time defending champion Queen's in the Eastern semi-final. Ottawa then defeated Winnipeg 24–1 in the championship, held in Ottawa, and defeated Toronto Varsity 10–7 in Toronto in 1926. The team was led by top players such as Eddie Emerson, Joe Tubman, Joe Miller, Jess Ketchum, Jack Pritchard, Harold Starr and Don Young. The Riders went back into
4995-418: A tradition of at least one Friday night game each week, branded as Friday Night Football . CBC and TSN drew record television audiences for CFL broadcasts in 2005. The 2006 season was the first season in which every regular-season game was televised, as the league implemented an instant replay challenge system. In 2006, the CFL also began offering pay-per-view webcasts of every game on CFL Broadband. Until
5180-409: A transplantation of Bernie Glieberman and his organization from Ottawa . The Gliebermans had hinted at moving the Rough Riders to the United States, making them even more unpopular than they already were in Canada's capital. As part of a settlement with the CFL, Glieberman sold the Rough Riders to Bruce Firestone for CA$ 1.85 million , and in return was granted a US-based expansion team which became
5365-453: A wide variety of American cities. By the end of the expansion era, a minimum of 22 cities were reported to have been considered for teams. Coincidentally, the World League of American Football , an attempt by the NFL to create a spring league in major markets without NFL teams (including Montreal ), suspended its North American operations after its 1992 season. WLAF owners Fred Anderson of
5550-629: Is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football . The league consists of nine teams, each in a city in Canada. They are divided into two divisions: four teams in the East Division and five teams in the West Division . As of 2024 , it features a 21-week regular season in which each team plays 18 games with three bye weeks . This season traditionally runs from mid-June to early November. Following
5735-417: Is allowed the three days before the main camp opens. The pre-season exhibition schedule is two weeks long with each team playing two games against teams from its own division. The regular season is 21 weeks long, with games beginning in early June and finishing by late October. With 18 regular season games being played, each team gets three bye weeks. The CFL's nine current teams are divided into two divisions:
Canadian Football League in the United States - Misplaced Pages Continue
5920-835: Is now U Sports , have competed for the Vanier Cup . In 1956, the Montreal Alouettes threatened to leave the Big Four and join the rival WIFU. As a result, the Big Four and WIFU formed a new umbrella organization, the Canadian Football Council (CFC) to modernize the operations and management of the professional game. In 1958 , the CFC formally left the CRU and reorganized as the Canadian Football League. As part of an agreement between
6105-524: Is possible for two teams in the same division to play for the Grey Cup, only five crossover teams have won a semifinal since the rule's 1996 inception, and none of them have advanced to the Grey Cup). The winners of each division's semifinal game then travel to play the first place teams in the division finals. The two division champions then face each other in the Grey Cup game, which, since 2022 , has been held on
6290-529: Is similar to the arrangement made by Art Modell and the Cleveland Browns made later in the 1990s. For the 1994 season the team unveiled its final logo design with the team colours changing from black, silver, and red, to dark navy, red, and gold. The colour changes proved to be unpopular as the team dropped dark navy in favour of a return to black for the 1996 season . Despite the ownership changes, neither Ottawa nor Shreveport played well. In 1995, after
6475-427: The 111th Grey Cup . Ambrosie had reportedly lost a vote of confidence among the league's owners a day prior. Notes Note: team franchise history is listed as it is recognized by the CFL in its publication CFL Guide and Record Book (2017) . Since 2022 , the CFL season has included: Team training camps open 28 days prior to the first regular season game of the season, a camp solely devoted to first year players
6660-533: The 2010 CFL season . The Edmonton Eskimos and Calgary Stampeders also renovated their respective stadiums and facilities for the 2010 season. In 2011 , the BC Lions played under a new, retractable roof in BC Place after spending one and a half seasons at Empire Field . In 2013 , the Winnipeg Blue Bombers moved to Investors Group Field, now known as Princess Auto Stadium , an entirely new stadium at
6845-762: The Banjo Bowl . Other features of the regular season schedule are the Hall of Fame Game and the Thanksgiving Day Classic , the one or two games held on Thanksgiving where the match ups usually do not feature traditional rivalries. From 2010 to 2013, a neutral site regular season game was played in Moncton under the name Touchdown Atlantic . The neutral site games returned in 2019 and were also played in 2022, 2023, and 2024. The league awards points based on regular season results (much like in most ice hockey leagues, but unlike
7030-461: The CFL's East Division ) struck a deal with NBC that lasted a year and featured 13 games. The infamous Fog Bowl of 1962 was—at least until play was suspended—broadcast by ABC . Over subsequent years various non-major networks picked up an assortment of games. The fledgling ESPN cable network signed a deal in 1980 to broadcast 30 CFL regular season games and the playoffs (including the Grey Cup game) in
7215-635: The Calgary Stampeders and publicly owned Saskatchewan Roughriders had to mount public campaigns to survive. By 1993, the BC Lions had experienced years of ownership chaos and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers faced $ 3 million in debt, despite frugal management. The Toronto Argonauts were embroiled in a series of ownership crises after the initially successful ownership triumvirate of Bruce McNall , Wayne Gretzky , and John Candy faced mounting financial losses. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats were confronting an attendance swoon, fan malaise, and struggling community ownership. Both Southern Ontario teams faced competition at
7400-484: The East Division with four teams and the West Division , with five teams. From the 1986 season until the COVID-19 pandemic (other than during the U.S. expansion when the league had twelve and thirteen teams) each team played two games against each of the other eight teams, plus two or four additional divisional games with opponents rotating each season. This format was changed when the league resumed play in 2021 to create
7585-492: The East Division , and concluding with a simulcast of the 111th Grey Cup ; returning the CFL to over-the-air television for the first time since 2007. As of 2024, the CFL's agreement with TSN, CTV and RDS runs through the 2026 CFL season. In 2013, the CFL announced that its U.S. broadcast rights would return to the ESPN Networks for the 2013 season, with five games airing on ESPN2 , and 55 airing on ESPN3 . This agreement
Canadian Football League in the United States - Misplaced Pages Continue
7770-596: The Fédération française de football américain [ fr ] would participate in the CFL national combine. Throughout early 2019, Ambrosie actively travelled Europe forming partnerships between the CFL and top-level European American football leagues and associations, specifically Germany ( GFL ), Austria ( AFL ), France (FFFA), the Nordic countries ( NL , VL , SS and NAFL) and Italy ( IFL ). By January 2020 football leagues from 13 countries had signed partnerships with
7955-673: The Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (IRFU or more commonly known as the "Big Four"). It took almost 30 years for an elite interprovincial western union to emerge, when in 1936 the stronger senior clubs in Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan formed the Western Interprovincial Football Union (WIFU). From the 1930s to the 1950s, the Big Four and WIFU gradually evolved from amateur to professional leagues, and amateur teams were no longer competitive for
8140-565: The Las Vegas Posse , Baltimore CFL Colts , and Shreveport Pirates . On television ESPN and its subsidiary ESPN2 picked up some games alongside the usual broadcasting by TSN and CBC in Canada. Shreveport and Baltimore were placed in the East Division, while Sacramento and Las Vegas were placed in the West. The playoffs were expanded again to eight teams (four per division). Another franchise
8325-604: The Miami Orange Bowl . An exhibition game between Birmingham and Baltimore was held there in June 1995 to gauge support, which drew a decent crowd just above 20,000. The Gold Miners grew increasingly dissatisfied with Hornet Stadium , and Anderson blamed losses of US$ 10 million over two years on the facility. After attempts to have Sacramento State upgrade or replace the facility failed, he announced in October 1994—with two weeks to go in
8510-460: The Ottawa Redblacks beating the heavily favoured Calgary Stampeders 39–33 in overtime; the first Grey Cup championship for any Ottawa CFL team in 40 years. As the country's single largest annual sporting event, the Grey Cup has long served as an unofficial Canadian autumn festival generating national media coverage and a large amount of revenue for the host city. Many fans travel from across
8695-502: The Ottawa Rough Riders , in existence since 1876, folded after the 1996 season (another dispersal draft was conducted the next year to distribute the former Rough Rider players among the remaining eight teams). Toronto and recently revived Montreal also were struggling; Montreal's woes were solved by moving to Percival Molson Memorial Stadium , a much smaller venue than the cavernous Olympic Stadium . The Winnipeg team again moved to
8880-661: The Sacramento Gold Miners . After modest success, the league then expanded further in the U.S. in 1994 with the Las Vegas Posse , Baltimore Stallions , and Shreveport Pirates . For the 1995 campaign, the American teams were split off into their own South Division, and two more teams, the Birmingham Barracudas and Memphis Mad Dogs , were added; at the same time, the Posse folded and the Gold Miners relocated to become
9065-535: The Sacramento Surge and Larry J. Benson of the San Antonio Riders applied to join the CFL as the Sacramento Gold Miners and San Antonio Texans, respectively. On January 13, 1993, the league approved both franchises by a vote of 7–1, with Winnipeg dissenting. League owners also decided not to apply the requirement of 20 "non-import" Canadian-raised players to the American squads after being advised that such
9250-583: The San Antonio Texans . With the Posse folding, the Gold Miners moving, and the Pirates facing money troubles, three of the four CFL expansion teams had stumbled. The league, however, still managed to expand into two new markets for the 1995 season. The Memphis Mad Dogs were announced in November 1994, followed by the Birmingham Barracudas in January 1995. The Memphis deal was hailed as a large step forward for
9435-412: The San Antonio Texans . In 1995, the Stallions became the only non-Canadian team to win the Grey Cup . Despite all American teams having the advantage of not being bound to the CFL's minimum Canadian player quotas, only the Stallions proved to be an on-field and off-field success. The establishment of the NFL's Baltimore Ravens , worsening financial problems among the league's core Canadian teams, and
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#17328510207159620-471: The Shreveport Pirates . As part of the deal, Glieberman not only had to pay the expansion fee, but also had to settle his previous Ottawa debts. There was a groundswell of local support for the club, but also significant difficulties in its first year, including stifling weather, cultural clashes, organizational gaffes, and serious hints of under-capitalization (during training camp the team was housed in
9805-477: The University of Manitoba . The Hamilton Tiger-Cats began using their new stadium, Tim Hortons Field , after spending 2013 at University of Guelph's stadium and the first half of the 2014 season at McMaster University's football field following the demolition of the iconic Ivor Wynne Stadium . In 2014 the Ottawa Redblacks kicked off their inaugural season (having been awarded a franchise in 2008 ), becoming
9990-474: The "Eastern Riders" while Saskatchewan was referred to as either the "Western Riders" or "Green Riders". On four occasions, the two teams met in the Grey Cup (1951, 1966, 1969, and 1976); Ottawa won all but the 1966 meeting, which was also Saskatchewan's first Grey Cup in team history. The Riders vs. Riders matchups were often confusing for fans. Errors were occasionally made on the official scoreboard and commentators often got confused. A CFL franchise in Ottawa
10175-651: The 1860s, and many of the first Canadian football teams played under the auspices of the Canadian Rugby Football Union (CRFU), founded in June 1880 then reorganized in February 1884. The CRFU was reorganized as the Canadian Rugby Union (CRU) in 1891, and served as an umbrella organization for several provincial and regional unions. The Grey Cup was donated by Governor General the Earl Grey in 1909 to
10360-413: The 1950s and 1960s, a development which coincided with MLB telecasts reaching an ever-larger audience. This allowed CFL teams to take over several facilities originally designed to accommodate baseball for their exclusive use, and in turn allowed the CFL to play a less compressed schedule that eventually started in early summer. The NFL, by contrast, had neither the need nor the inclination to play throughout
10545-513: The 1980s and 1990s, except for two even (.500) records (8–8 in 1983 and 9–9 in 1992), the Riders struggled with losing seasons, poor ownership, mismanagement, and decreased fan support. In 1988, Jo-Anne Polak was named the co-General Manager of the Rough Riders. She became the first woman in CFL history to be appointed to an executive post, and the first female General Manager of any professional sports franchise in North America. Three years later,
10730-598: The 1981 season, the Alouettes folded and were replaced the next year by a new franchise named the Concordes. In 1986 the Concordes were renamed the Alouettes to attract more fan support, but the team folded the next year. The loss of the Montreal franchise forced the league to move its easternmost Western team, Winnipeg, into the East Division from 1987 to 1994. In 1993 , the league admitted its first United States–based franchise,
10915-471: The 1994 season, placing the team in the hands of Horn Chen , who turned out to be its final owner. In Calgary, Ryckman suggested he would move the Stampeders to the United States unless fans stepped up with 16,000 season tickets. While season ticket goals were met, the overall increase in attendance was modest in 1995 to 24,406 and would be wiped out the next year. In Toronto, Bruce McNall's finances collapsed in
11100-504: The 2002 and 2010 Men's Olympic Gold Medal Hockey Game. Currently, the official television broadcasters of CFL games are cable network TSN (which began televising CFL games in 1985 ), while TSN's French-language network RDS broadcasts Montreal Alouettes games for the Quebec television market. Games are typically scheduled for Thursday to Saturday evenings during June, July and August, but switch to more Saturday and Sunday afternoon games during September and October. TSN has created
11285-443: The 2017 CFL Guide and Record Book , the CFL now recognizes all three Ottawa-based clubs that played in the CFL or its predecessors–the Rough Riders, the Renegades, and the Redblacks–as "a single entity" dating to 1876 for record-keeping purposes, with "two intervals of non-participation (1997–2001 and 2006–2013)." Ottawa Journal sports editor Bill Westwick poked fun at the team rather than criticize during their struggles in
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#173285102071511470-472: The Argonauts later faced the Calgary Stampeders in another exhibition game in Portland, Oregon in 1992; and several CFL games with at least one Canadian team occurred in the United States during the CFL USA era of the early/mid 1990s.) The 1960s and 1970s were the Rough Riders' glory years. With General Manager Red O'Quinn and Coach Frank Clair at the helm along with players Russ Jackson , Whit Tucker , Ron Stewart , Tom Clements , and Tony Gabriel ,
11655-444: The Barracudas fell short of the South Division title, but remained competitive throughout the year. Despite selling only 2,000 season tickets and facing community apathy after numerous attempts at pro football squads had failed in the city, attendance for the first three games exceeded expectations. Williams knew that the 'Cudas potentially faced serious attendance problems once the traditional American football season began, and persuaded
11840-461: The Big Four game in Hamilton against the Hamilton Tigers on October 15, 1938, when he set the Big Four record with seven interceptions, a record that still stands unofficially compared to the CFL. The Riders next won the Big Four and Eastern title in 1939, but lost to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 8–7 in the Grey Cup game, held in Ottawa. In 1940, the Riders won the Big Four and Eastern titles, defeating Toronto Balmy Beach. The win over Balmy Beach carried
12025-400: The Board of Governors for the departure, with both sides stating the decision was mutual and amicable. His last day as commissioner was June 15, 2017. Jim Lawson , the CFL's Chair of the Board of Governors, took over the duties of interim Commissioner until a suitable replacement was found. On July 5, 2017, Randy Ambrosie succeeded Orridge as CFL commissioner. Having spent nine seasons as
12210-407: The CFL announcing that its global combine in 2020 with new rules, including two designated active-roster international players and three practice-squad international players with as many as 45 global players in the league. The league took over operations of the Montreal Alouettes prior to the 2019 season after Robert C. Wetenhall , the league's last non-Canadian owner, surrendered the franchise to
12395-459: The CFL began focusing marketing internationally again after the unsuccessful expansion into the United States during the 1990s, with Ambrosie's plan being called CFL 2.0 . Ambrosie partnered with the Professional American Football League of Mexico (LFA) for player development, as part of the league's plan to expand globally. Ambrosie also later announced a special edition of the CFL Combine to be held in 2019 in Mexico for Mexican players, which
12580-530: The CFL in 1996." Only the Stallions appeared to be able to take the field in some form for the 1996 season. Of the American owners, Anderson was the most amenable to retaining an American-based team in 1996. While he initially stated that the league needed at least three other American teams for the Texans to be viable, he was willing to bring the Texans back for 1996 if the Stallions moved to Houston, since this would have not only ensured two American teams but also an intrastate rivalry. Anderson estimated that if there
12765-468: The CFL to let them play their late-season home games on Sunday afternoons – something the league had avoided in order to avoid putting its television broadcasts in direct competition with the NFL's. Williams calculated that competing with the NFL on television was a more reasonable risk to take compared to competition with local high school and Alabama / Auburn college football. Despite the time change, attendance still dropped to unsustainable levels; none of
12950-456: The CFL's American expansion to a close. At the same time, former Stallions owner Speros was granted a "reactivated" Alouettes franchise in Montreal. Stallions general manager Jim Popp and much of the Stallions' coaching and front office staff moved north to Montreal and much of the club's roster re-signed with the Alouettes. Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League ( CFL ); French : Ligue canadienne de football (LCF )
13135-424: The CFL's application to register "Ottawa Rough Riders" as a trademark, and the league abandoned the application in 2016. In 2008, a partnership of five Ottawa business leaders acquired the Ottawa CFL franchise rights with the intent of relaunching professional football in Ottawa. The CFL also acquired the Rough Riders intellectual properties from Chen. Because the Saskatchewan Roughriders enforced their trademark on
13320-407: The CFL, becoming the first openly gay player in the league's history. Sam left the team the day before the first preseason game, citing personal reasons. As reported by Fox Sports , Sam returned to Montreal to continue his professional football career. He left again on August 14, this time permanently, again citing personal reasons. Immediately following the 2015 season Jeffrey Orridge announced
13505-519: The CFL, these partnerships included mutual exchanging of players and coaches with leagues like the Mexican LFA holding reserved roster spots for Canadians with up to 25 playing in the league's 2020 season. In February 2020, the CFL expanded its global alliance system, welcoming the Japanese X-League , generally regarded the third-best professional gridiron league in the world. This coincided with
13690-459: The CRU and CFL, the CFL took possession of the Grey Cup, and the amateurs were officially locked out of Grey Cup play. However, the Grey Cup had been the de facto professional championship since 1954. The CRU remained the governing body for amateur play in Canada, eventually adopting the name Football Canada . Initially, the two unions remained autonomous, and there was no intersectional play between eastern (Big Four) and western (WIFU) teams except at
13875-487: The Canadian Football League, and its predecessor associations, had always operated solely within Canada, despite most other professional sports leagues in North America being cross-border enterprises. The substantially different rules and fields of the Canadian and American games and the popularity of the National Football League and NCAA Division I-A football in the United States were generally seen to inhibit
14060-530: The Canadian champions for the next several years, with the Riders defeating Brockville 17–10 in 1900, and defeating Ottawa College 5–0 in 1902, College being the 1901 Canadian champions. The Riders moved back to the Quebec Union, winning the 1903 Quebec championship, in a year where there was no playoff for the Canadian title. In 1905, Ottawa won the Quebec title, only to lose to the Toronto Varsity team 11–9 in
14245-655: The Canadian championship. The club absorbed the Ottawa St. Pats when the Riders helped found the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union in 1907. The Riders won the IRFU championship in 1909 over the Hamilton Tigers, but lost in the Canadian final in Toronto to Toronto Varsity. The Riders declined and became uncompetitive during the 1910s, attributed to the First World War, and the lure of salaries in professional ice hockey meaning athletes chose hockey over football in Ottawa. During
14430-466: The Canadian game, rebounded strongly to finish 9–8–1 in their second season, three points short of the playoffs. They were led again by David Archer at quarterback, who had persisted with the team since its World League days as the Sacramento Surge. However, in what was to become a trend during the CFL expansion, the second Sacramento season saw an attendance decline. At the other end of the spectrum,
14615-405: The Canadian game, such as three downs and the larger field, had not been embraced south of the border. While the CFL had a small deal with ESPN2, a major television contract had not materialized; efforts by the league's U.S. teams to negotiate a deal with CBS Sports failed after the network managed to pick up college football rights for 1996. There was no widespread national promotional effort for
14800-666: The Canadian title, as the west refused the Canadian Rugby Union code. The Big Four went out of existence during the Second World War, but the Riders were able to field a club in the Eastern Rugby Football Union, along with Balmy Beach, Montreal and the Argonauts. The Riders won the 1942 ERFU title over the Argonauts, but again lost to the Blue Bombers in the Canadian final, 18–16 at Varsity Stadium. The ERFU folded and
14985-569: The Colts' history gained them an instant following in Baltimore and publicity in the national sports media, although an injunction obtained shortly before the team's first game forced the team to stop using "Colts" in their name and to instead refer to the team as the "Baltimore CFLers" or "Baltimore Football Club". Since Memorial Stadium had originally been built to accommodate Major League Baseball 's Baltimore Orioles as well as football, its playing surface
15170-525: The Dogs play their late-season home games on Sundays to avoid competing against high school and Tennessee / Ole Miss football. It was of no avail; late in the season the Mad Dogs struggled to attract more than 10,000 people. Like Williams, Smith publicly blamed community apathy and media hostility for the lackluster attendance. The team went 9–9 in their only year. In Shreveport , meanwhile, whatever positive momentum
15355-452: The East Division from 1997 to 2001 to make up for the loss of Ottawa. In 1997, the NFL provided a US$ 3-million interest-free loan to the financially struggling CFL. In return, the NFL was granted access to CFL players entering a defined two-month window in the option year of their contract. This was later written into the CFL's collective bargaining agreement with its players. The CFL's finances have since stabilized and they eventually repaid
15540-542: The Eastern opponents twice and one of the Eastern opponents once, while playing each other twice and the other Western teams three times. The CFL returned to the previous more balanced format beginning in the 2024 season . The most popular featured week in the CFL season is the Labour Day Classic , played over the course of the Labour Day weekend, where the matchups feature the first half of home-and-home series between
15725-672: The Giants won both times, and NFL-CFL matches were not attempted again until 1959. In the first season of the CFL , the Ottawa Rough Riders and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats made history when they played the first regular season CFL game at Philadelphia 's Municipal Stadium on September 14, 1958 as Hamilton defeated Ottawa , 24–18. The Toronto Argonauts had played the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in Buffalo in an exhibition game in 1951, and
15910-476: The Grey Cup had the highest ever television ratings for a championship game in English Canada. During the 2000s the CFL had the third highest per-game attendance of any North American sports league and the seventh highest per-game attendance of any sports league worldwide . A 2006 survey conducted at the University of Lethbridge confirmed that the CFL was the second most popular sports league in Canada, with
16095-636: The Grey Cup final. This situation was roughly analogous to how Major League Baseball operated for almost all of the 20th century. The Big Four was renamed the Eastern Football Conference in 1960 , while the WIFU was renamed the Western Football Conference in 1961 . Also in 1961, limited intersectional play was introduced. Because the West played 16 games by this time while the East still only played 14, this arrangement oddly allowed both
16280-399: The Grey Cup, previously held the record for the largest television audience in Canadian history. Television coverage on CBC, CTV and Radio-Canada of the 1983 Grey Cup attracted a viewing audience of 8,118,000 people as Toronto edged B.C. 18–17, ending a 31-year championship drought for the Argonauts. At the time, this represented 33% of the Canadian population. This has since been surpassed by
16465-479: The Grey Cup. Apart from the World War II years, an amateur team last won the Grey Cup in 1936. By the end of World War II, the WIFU's play was at the same level as that of the Big Four. Within a few years after the return of peace, both interprovincial unions had turned openly professional. However, while the Big Four champion got an automatic berth to the Grey Cup final, until 1954 the WIFU's champion had to play in
16650-509: The Mad Dogs had folded and the Barracudas were on the brink. The Pirates held out a little longer and flirted with a relocation to Norfolk, but local officials broke off talks after they learned that Glieberman was still facing legal disputes in Shreveport. The Barracudas resurfaced in the news in January 1996 when Williams sold them for $ 750,000 to a group that planned to move them to Shreveport as
16835-445: The NFL, which strictly uses winning percentages to determine their standings; two points are awarded for a win, one for a tie and none for a loss). As of the 2021 season, in the event two or more teams in a division finish the season with the same number of points, the tie is broken based on the following criteria (in descending order), with coin tosses used if all such tie-breaker steps fail: The playoffs take place in November. After
17020-419: The NFL. Tension had also arisen between the American and Canadian teams. As early as the 1994 Grey Cup, the American owners, led by Speros in Baltimore, were calling for numerous changes to accommodate the American teams and their potential fans. They proposed that the end zones be reduced to 15 yards in length, that the Grey Cup be played earlier in the year, that player quotas be removed for all teams, and that
17205-575: The Pirates had gained at the end of the 1994 season failed to carry over into 1995. Despite the signing of former NFL quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver , who put up decent numbers, the squad limped to a 5–13 record. As elsewhere, Shreveport saw a second season attendance decline, and with the season winding down, the city had clearly soured on the Gliebermans. They became embroiled in legal difficulties and, in one particularly absurd incident, Bernie Glieberman had his lawyer attempt (unsuccessfully) to abscond with
17390-576: The Posse were an abject failure both on the field and off. Playing in Sam Boyd Stadium on the outskirts of the city and practicing on an ersatz practice field in the parking lot of the Riviera Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip , the team became infamous for botched gimmicks. Attendance, never good to begin with, dropped to embarrassing levels as the season went on. With such dreadful gates,
17575-671: The Quebec Union to the Ontario League that season. The Riders defeated the Hamilton Tigers 15–8 for the Ontario championship, then defeated Toronto Varsity, the Intercollegiate champions 7–3 and defeated Ottawa College 11–1 to win the Canadian championship. In those days, Ottawa athletes played in multiple sports and the Riders had athletes famous in other sports, such as Harvey Pulford and Frank McGee . The Riders and Ottawa College were
17760-619: The Riders continued in the Ottawa City league until 1945 when the Big Four was restarted. During the Riders' time in the Ottawa City league, another team from Ottawa, the Trojans won the Ontario title, and in 1948 the Trojans were absorbed into the Riders. The Rough Riders were pioneers in international play in the 1950s. In 1950 and 1951 , Ottawa hosted the New York Giants in exhibition games;
17945-445: The Riders were one of the CFL's best teams, winning the Grey Cup in 1968 and 1969 to finish out the decade and then two more under Clair as GM, including their last victory in 1976, where Tony Gabriel made the game-winning touchdown catch in the end zone in a 23–20 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders . The Rough Riders' final appearance in the Grey Cup game was 1981 against the heavily favoured Edmonton Eskimos . The game started out as
18130-540: The Rough Riders franchise that ultimately led to its folding after a storied 120 years. After the Rough Riders folded, the CFL moved its easternmost-West Division team, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, back to the East Division for a second time to take Ottawa's place and to balance out the divisions (they played in the East from 1987 to 1994, and the Bombers stayed in the East Division from 1997 to 2001; it returned there upon
18315-465: The Rough Riders name, Ottawa's new franchise was required to choose a new name. It took the field in 2014 as the Ottawa Redblacks. Despite being denied the use of the Rough Riders nickname, the Redblacks do pay homage to the Rough Riders. The Redblacks' primary logo is a stylized version of the block "R" used by the Rough Riders from 1975 to 1991. The currently-used "R" is set within the outline of
18500-520: The Rough Riders to the United States . The CFL, obviously, did not take kindly to Glieberman's suggestion, but allowed him to split the Rough Riders into American and Canadian halves. The American half became an expansion franchise known as the Shreveport Pirates under Glieberman's ownership. The Canadian half retained the Rough Riders name, colours and history under the ownership of modern Ottawa Senators co-founder Bruce Firestone . This arrangement
18685-533: The Spanish–American War or logging). For a time, both clubs shared the same colours of red and black until 1948, when the Saskatchewan team became green and white, which remain their colours to this day. The teams had historically belonged to separate leagues ('unions') until the CFL was formed in 1958. When the CFL was formed, they were allowed to keep their long-standing names; Ottawa was frequently known as
18870-543: The Stallions started 2–3, but then steamrolled through the rest of the season, winning 13 games in a row to finish first in the South Division. They knocked off Winnipeg and then San Antonio in the South Division final. They faced the Calgary Stampeders in the 1995 Grey Cup in Regina, Saskatchewan and won convincingly, 37–20. The first and only American team to take the championship, the 1995 Stallions team has since acquired
19055-508: The Stallions would have faced serious logistical problems with Memorial Stadium once the NFL season started in September. Speros said years later that all of this led him to conclude that the Stallions would have effectively been reduced to "minor league" status had they stayed in Baltimore. Speros began talks with Richmond , Norfolk , the Lehigh Valley , and, most seriously, Houston , which
19240-481: The United States, and CFL games became a fixture of the early years of the network. Two years later, in 1982, after NFL players went on strike in September, the CFL got another chance at major network exposure when NBC bought out the ESPN rights for $ 100,000 a game to make up for its lost football programming. NBC would air CFL games on Sunday afternoons with full NFL production values and announcing crews. However, every one of
19425-616: The United States. Played in a city that at the time was embittered with the National Football League after its All-America Football Conference team was controversially excluded from a merger with the NFL, the Buffalo game drew more than 18,000 fans – a decent crowd for the era. In 1958, the first season officially played under the CFL moniker, Hamilton defeated Ottawa in a regular-season contest in front of about 15,000 in Philadelphia 's cavernous Municipal Stadium , 24–18. It remains
19610-584: The announcement, even though rumors of the NFL's impending return to Baltimore had cropped up as early as September. Speros and other insiders initially did not believe Modell was serious, a belief shared for a time even by some NFL owners. Even as it became clear that the Browns' relocation threat was credible, they still hoped NFL owners known to be opposed to the Browns' relocation such as Pittsburgh's Dan Rooney and Buffalo's Ralph Wilson would persuade Modell to come to terms with Cleveland. Nonetheless, by November
19795-520: The chances of any sort of expansion into the United States. Lackluster CFL television ratings in the United States during the 1982 NFL strike seemed to bolster this argument. A proposal by Bill Tatham to have his Arizona Outlaws and possibly other teams of the moribund United States Football League enter the CFL after the league suspended operations saw little interest in both leagues. There had been an ongoing degree of cross-fertilization between Canadian and American leagues for several decades prior to
19980-461: The corners and fourteen yards behind the uprights. The grandstands stood mere yards from the end line, prompting veteran CFL quarterback Danny McManus to call the end zones "a lawsuit waiting to happen." Like Williams, Smith knew the Mad Dogs would face an uphill battle attracting fans once the traditional American football season started. As was the case in Birmingham, Smith persuaded the CFL to let
20165-561: The country to attend the game and the week of festivities that lead up to it. Since 2015, the Grey Cup game's presenting sponsor is Shaw Communications . Following the Grey Cup game, the Grey Cup Most Valuable Player and Grey Cup Most Valuable Canadian are selected. A number of league individual player awards, such as the Most Outstanding Player and Most Outstanding Defensive Player , are awarded annually at
20350-553: The creation of the Ottawa Renegades . After four seasons of financial losses, the Renegades were suspended indefinitely before the 2006 season ; their players were absorbed by the remaining teams in a dispersal draft. Winnipeg was moved to the East Division again in 2006, a situation that continued until 2013. In 2005 , the league set an all-time attendance record with a total attendance of more than 2.3 million. In June 2006
20535-427: The decline of the Riders, another Ottawa team, Ottawa St. Brigids, was on an ascent. St. Brigids, which played in the Ottawa City league, and later the Ontario league, was developing top talent. In 1923, St. Brigids and the Riders merged, with St. Brigids manager Jim McCaffery becoming the manager of the Riders. McCaffery was a member of the Riders executive for several decades. The team won the Grey Cup in 1925 and 1926,
20720-517: The eight Canadian teams were included in the North Division. The top five Canadian teams and top three American teams would qualify for the playoffs; the fifth-seeded North team would "cross over" to the South playoffs, for a total of four teams per playoff bracket. The league gained its first national American television contract with ESPN2 , which agreed to televise more than 20 regular season games, plus
20905-399: The end of the 2007 season , CBC and RDS were the exclusive television broadcasters for all playoff games, including the Grey Cup , which regularly draws a Canadian viewing audience in excess of 4 million. In 2008 , the CFL began a new, five-year television deal with CTVglobemedia . Valued at $ 16 million per-year, it gave TSN and RDS exclusive rights to all CFL games, including
21090-468: The few dignitaries to attend the Stallions' championship celebration) and some others claimed it was possible that the Stallions could coexist with Modell's team (which was ultimately reconstituted as the Baltimore Ravens following a settlement between Modell, the NFL and the city of Cleveland) it soon became apparent that there wasn't enough advertising revenue or fan support to go around. Additionally,
21275-490: The final CFL game played in the United States, and announced a respectable attendance of 30,217 for their South Division Final victory over San Antonio. It was to no avail; the Grey Cup victory celebration in Inner Harbor went almost unnoticed in local media. Speros quickly realized that as successful as the Stallions had been, they could not even begin to compete with an NFL team. While Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke (one of
21460-417: The final four home games attracted more than 10,000 people. Williams claimed to have lost at least US$ 10 million on the season—at least as much as his startup costs—and blamed fan apathy for the attendance woes. Memphis had been a prime target for either expansion or relocation, as it was near Shreveport and San Antonio . In 1995, Fred Smith's ownership group, which had narrowly missed out on an NFL team,
21645-522: The folding of the Renegades from 2006 to 2013). For much of the team's history, it played in the same league as the Saskatchewan Roughriders, confusing many, and also attracting general ridicule to the CFL for being a league with only eight or nine teams, but two of them being named "rough riders" (spelled identically although configured differently; also, the Saskatchewan team's nickname has a well-documented derivation that has nothing to do with
21830-481: The following of 19% of the total adult Canadian population compared to 30% for the NHL . The NFL had 11% following, with a total of 26% following at least one of the pro football leagues. In other words, approximately 80% of Canadian football fans follow the CFL, and about 55% follow the NFL. With the absence of Ottawa from 2006 to 2013, league attendance hovered around the 2 million mark. It stood at 2,029,875 in 2012 for
22015-494: The four games shown was a blowout, and the league and network decided to black out the games on the NBC stations closest to the Canadian border, and ratings were a major disappointment. NBC quickly backed out of the arrangement. The idea of expansion into the United States began to take shape in the early 1990s, prompted by precarious ownership situations and chronic money shortages among the existing Canadian teams. The chief catalyst of
22200-516: The four-team Eastern Conference and the five-team Western Conference to play three games per intraconference opponent and one game per interconference opponent. It was not until 1974 that the East expanded its schedule to 16 games, just like the West. In 1981 , the two conferences agreed to a full merger, becoming the East and West Divisions of the CFL. With the merger came a fully balanced and interlocking schedule of 16 games per season (with all nine teams playing each other twice, once at home and once on
22385-444: The gate and for general attention from the NFL's Buffalo Bills , then in the middle of their run of four consecutive Super Bowl appearances. Finally, the Ottawa Rough Riders and their fans were being treated to disappointing squads on the field and constant drama off the field from the team's under-capitalized and mercurial owner, Bernie Glieberman . Against this economic backdrop, a new generation of venture capitalist owners took
22570-480: The green light from the owners, Smith began the task of expanding the league across the border, beginning with a June 1992 exhibition game between the Argonauts and Stampeders in Portland, Oregon . A total of 15,362 attended, close to the averages later American teams would post. Portland was seriously considered for a franchise, but investors failed to emerge. The expansion announcement prompted numerous applications from
22755-424: The inconsistent performance of the other American teams prompted the CFL to abandon its American experiment and retrench its Canadian operations. The Stallions organization was used as the basis for a revival of the Montreal Alouettes . The CFL returned to an all-Canadian format in 1996 with nine teams; the league conducted a dispersal draft to distribute players from the disbanded American-based teams; however,
22940-558: The last two games of the era. A low-scoring BC–Edmonton game in Everett, Washington , in 1967 drew just over 6,000; there would not be another CFL game in the United States until the cusp of US expansion itself in 1992. The idea of attracting American fans through television has long been a goal of the CFL although the results have been intermittent. As early as 1954, the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (forerunner of
23125-487: The league announced the launch of CFL Broadband, an internet streaming service designed to provide fans with another media platform, in addition to TSN and CBC broadcasts, to watch games live. With Mark Cohon as commissioner of the league the CFL entered a period of stability and growth. New television deals, two new collective bargaining agreements, the 100th Grey Cup celebration, and widespread stadium renovation and rebuilding highlighted this era. The 100th anniversary of
23310-504: The league in May. The Alouettes found new ownership in January 2020 in Crawford Steel executives Sid Spiegel and Gary Stern, whose holding company S and S Sportsco would oversee the team. On August 17, 2020, the CFL cancelled its 2020 season after coronavirus-related social distancing mandates and travel restrictions imposed in most of Canada prevented the league from selling tickets and
23495-493: The league in the U.S., and the general preference to avoid competing with the NFL in major markets hurt its efforts to reach out to major media platforms. Moreover, the July to November CFL season, designed to ensure the playoffs finish before Canada's harsh winters set in, forced most American teams to play the first half of the season in oppressive heat and the second half in competition with high school football , college football, and
23680-497: The league was unable to secure a bailout from the federal government to cover any losses. It was the first cancelled season in the league's history, and the first year without a Grey Cup championship since the canceled 1916–1919 seasons. The league returned in 2021 , playing a shortened 14-game schedule which began that August, with the season concluding with the Grey Cup game in December for the first time since 1972. On March 10, 2021,
23865-421: The league's presence in the U.S., as it brought in the wealth of team owner Fred Smith (the founder and CEO of Federal Express ) and his marketing connections. With these changes, the CFL abandoned its longstanding east–west divisional format in favour of a north–south format for 1995. The five American teams—Baltimore, Birmingham, Memphis, San Antonio, and Shreveport—would be placed in the South Division, while
24050-499: The league's sponsorship deals with Carling, had retired in 1984. The Montreal Alouettes , already having been rescued from failure five years prior, folded during the 1987 preseason. It would take two decades for economic equilibrium to again be reestablished. With the exception of the Edmonton Eskimos , every team in the league had faced some kind of crisis in the years leading up to 1993. In addition to Montreal's sudden collapse,
24235-481: The league's struggles was Carling O'Keefe 's decision to stop its lucrative television sponsorship in 1987. The arrangement had provided steady income to all of the league's teams, reaching $ 11 million per season before its withdrawal. However, these guaranteed revenues, instead of being used to grow the league, had subsidized outdated and shoddy financial practices and marketing both at the team and league level. Longtime CFL commissioner Jake Gaudaur , who had negotiated
24420-490: The loan. The CFL–NFL agreement expired in 2006. Both leagues have been attempting to reach a new agreement, but the CFL broke off negotiations in November 2007 after Canadian telecommunications firm Rogers Communications paid $ 78 million to host seven Bills games in Toronto over five seasons (the last Bills Toronto Series game was played during the 2013 NFL season ). In 2002 , the league expanded back to nine teams with
24605-468: The merger of the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union and the Western Interprovincial Football Union to form the CFL in 1958. Until well into the second half of the twentieth century, football in both countries was often played in facilities designed for baseball, the most popular summer sport in both countries, with both Major League Baseball (whose facilities hosted several NFL teams) and minor league baseball attracting large crowds in both countries. As
24790-413: The mid-1950s. When coach Chan Caldwell suggested that the team could practice on a train ride to an away game by attaching a railway flatcar filled with dirt, Westwick played along with the joke although the plan never happened. A fellow journalist recalled that and Westwick reported on the idea with "brilliant clarity and memorable hilarity". Newspaper journalist Eddie MacCabe regularly reported on
24975-417: The midst of revelations of financial wrongdoing, and because Wayne Gretzky's salary relied on McNall, and John Candy had put his share in the team up for sale the day he died, hours before his death, the Argonauts effectively had no owners; the team would be operated by league television partner TSN through the rest of the 1990s. With these troubles still fresh, the NFL then dealt the CFL's American expansion
25160-540: The more restricted 100 yard American field. One BC–Winnipeg matchup in 1960 was held not on the west coast but in Cedar Rapids, Iowa , presumably because both teams had a number of former University of Iowa stars, including Willie Mitchell, who scored the Lions' only touchdown in a 13–7 loss in front of 12,583. Western teams were mostly ignored by U.S. clubs as potential opposition for preseason interleague contests, although this
25345-451: The most visible face of the era, he emphasized that it was the owners who drove the initiative, particularly McNall and Ryckman. McNall's issues with cash flow, later revealed to be the result of his wealth being inflated by illegal accounting, were one obvious instigator. While the newer owners championed expansion, equal distribution of the expansion fees also appealed to the community owned teams as these would shore up their finances. With
25530-520: The name was said to derive from logging (or more specifically, the logdrivers who guided timber down the rivers), the team based its colours on Teddy Roosevelt 's regiment in the Spanish–American War , which, with the date of the renaming, suggests that the name also comes from the war. The team changed its nickname to Ottawa Senators from 1925 to 1930. Ottawa's first Canadian championship came in 1898. The Ottawa Football Club transferred from
25715-415: The only American-based team to win the Grey Cup championship, in 1995 . With the exception of Baltimore, all of the American teams consistently lost money. Tension also arose between the American and Canadian contingents over rule changes, scheduling, import rules, and marketing. Facing these difficulties, the league returned to being exclusively Canadian beginning with the 1996 season . While expansion
25900-562: The only CFL game played outside Canada, involving two Canadian teams, that actually counted in the standings. Prior to and even after the formation of the CFL, the teams of the IRFU (which eventually became the CFL's Eastern Football Conference) were regarded, especially in Eastern Canada, as superior to the Western Canadian teams. Starting in the 1930s, Western Canadian teams had begun aggressively scouting for and recruiting players from
26085-510: The ownership of the Alouettes was transferred back to the CFL. Mario Cecchini was appointed as the interim President while the league sought to finalize a sale to new ownership. On March 10, Quebec media mogul and former Parti Québécois leader Pierre Karl Péladeau purchased the team. On April 11, 2024, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers announced league record revenue of $ 50.5 million and operating profit of $ 5.7 million. Ambrosie announced his resignation on October 26, 2024, to take effect following
26270-472: The place of the community groups, local consortiums, or philanthropists that typically had owned the teams and operated them without any serious profit motive. They were led by McNall in Toronto, Glieberman in Ottawa, and Larry Ryckman in Calgary. Larry Smith was hired as league commissioner in February 1992, reportedly on the explicit understanding that he would pursue American expansion. While Smith would become
26455-498: The playoffs and Grey Cup. In March 2013, TSN exercised an option to extend its contract through 2018. In 2015, the deal was extended for an additional three years, along with exclusive Grey Cup rights for Bell Media Radio stations. In June 2024, Bell Media announced that CTV would broadcast TSN-produced 2024 season coverage on digital terrestrial television , including a late-season package of exclusive 3 p.m. ET games beginning on September 7, continuing with playoff coverage of
26640-453: The playoffs. The deal was reportedly worth about $ 1.5 million (equivalent to $ 3 million in 2023). The CFL would remain on the network until 1997. The Birmingham Barracudas , owned by insurance tycoon Art Williams , entered the league playing at Legion Field , which could accommodate a Canadian football field with 15-yard end zones (five yards shorter than the standard 20 yards). Led by future Hall of Famer Matt Dunigan at quarterback,
26825-548: The regular season, six teams compete in the league's three-week playoffs , which culminate in the Grey Cup championship game in late November. The Grey Cup is one of Canada's largest annual sports and television events. The CFL was officially named on January 19, 1958, upon the merger between the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union or "Big Four" (founded in 1907) and the Western Interprovincial Football Union (founded in March 1936). Rugby football began to be played in Canada in
27010-434: The regular season, the top team from each division has an automatic home berth in the division final, and a bye week during the division semifinal. The second-place team from each division hosts the third-place team in the division semifinal, unless a fourth-place team from one division finishes with a better record than a third place team in the other (this provision is known as the crossover rule , and while it implies that it
27195-508: The relocation. The Mississippi team was even included on the 1995 internal schedule and had hired a general manager and coaching staff, only for the deal to collapse amid squabbles with the Las Vegas corporation that owned the Posse. A group from Miami, Florida , tried to convince the league to let it buy the remains of the Posse and move them to South Florida as the Miami Manatees , to play in
27380-406: The rich American talent pool, largely in an effort to achieve parity with the East. The American Pacific Northwest became a frequent site for WIFU and later CFL preseason games in the 1950s and 1960s with Western Canadian teams, particularly the BC Lions , being called upon to entertain their regional neighbours. News reports from the time suggest a hybrid game of three down Canadian ball played on
27565-453: The road). Since 1986 (with exception of 2021), the CFL's regular season schedule has been 18 games. The separate histories of the Big Four and the WIFU accounted for the fact that two teams had basically the same name: the Big Four's Ottawa Rough Riders were often called the "Eastern Riders", while the WIFU's Saskatchewan Roughriders were called the "Western Riders" or "Green Riders". Other team names had traditional origins. With rowing
27750-443: The rumors were enough to seriously impair the Stallions' marketing efforts, and attendance for the team's semi-final against Winnipeg (played two days before the Browns' announcement) was a franchise low of 21,040. Once the Browns' move became official, what remained of local support for the Stallions dried up almost overnight. The team responded with desperate measures, essentially giving away thousands of tickets for what would become
27935-526: The season—that the Gold Miners would be playing elsewhere in 1995. Anderson initially intended to move to Oakland , but quickly abandoned those plans after it became apparent that Los Angeles Raiders owner Al Davis was seriously considering moving his NFL franchise back to its original city (the move came to pass). The Gold Miners eventually moved to the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas , where they played as
28120-417: The squad would not be playing in Birmingham in 1996, if it returned at all. Earlier, he had stated that he was not willing to play another season in Birmingham unless the league moved to a spring schedule; he felt it would be folly to risk another season going head-to-head with Alabama and Auburn. The end came swiftly in the months after the Grey Cup. By the time of a December 1 CFL Board of Governors meeting,
28305-618: The start of the 2016 season the Argos moved to BMO Field after more than twenty seasons at the Rogers Centre (formerly called the SkyDome from 1989 to 2005). Construction on the New Mosaic Stadium for the Saskatchewan Roughriders was completed in October 2016 and the first game was played in the 2017 season . In 2015, Michael Sam signed a two-year contract with Montreal Alouettes of
28490-405: The summer in the much warmer U.S. climate, and thus continued to start its schedule in early September, thus making interleague play with the CFL unfeasible. Eleven neutral-site IRFU/WIFU/CFL games have been played on American soil. The earliest of these dates to 1909, while the bulk occurred between 1951 and 1967. The 1909 game, featuring the Ottawa Rough Riders and Hamilton Tigers of the IRFU,
28675-646: The suspension of nine members of the Ottawa team due to the Roy Berry incident. In 1936, the Riders won the Big Four title defeating the Hamilton Tigers 3–2. The team progressed to the Eastern final against the Sarnia Imperials. The Imperials won the game 26–20 in a frozen battle held at Toronto's Varsity Stadium . Since there was no western challenge that year, the Imperials became Canadian champions. The highlight of Rough Rider Joe Zelikovitz 's football career came in
28860-408: The team projected some losses in 1995. Despite these difficulties, the Stallions remained the model that lent the American expansion project credibility; other American owners looked to Baltimore in deciding on the future of their own teams. Despite some positive initial attendance numbers, after three years it was clear that general American fan interest in Canadian football was sparse. Differences in
29045-404: The team was purchased by Detroit businessman Bernard Glieberman and his son Lonie Glieberman, who became team president, for a dollar. The team changed its logo from a simple block "R" to a double flaming red and silver "RR", and added silver to their traditional red and black colours. Despite a promising year in 1992 the bottom fell out in 1993, when the Gliebermans began making noise about moving
29230-552: The team winning the "Senior Amateur Football Championship of Canada". By that time, the sport as played in Canada had diverged markedly from its rugby origins with the introduction of the Burnside rules , and started to become more similar to the American game . For much of the early part of the 20th century, the game was contested by intraprovincial leagues, or unions. In 1907, several of the stronger senior clubs in Ontario and Quebec formed
29415-413: The team's cash flow dwindled to the point that, according to one assistant coach, "we couldn't even afford paper." After only 2,350 attended an October home game against Winnipeg (the lowest-attended match since the CFL's founding in 1958), owner Nick Mileti announced the team was suspending operations. To avoid shuttering a team mid-season, the league moved the Posse's final home game to Edmonton. The team
29600-429: The then-on hiatus XFL entered into talks with the CFL over the possibility of a future collaboration; these discussions were called off four months later with nothing coming of them. On August 29, 2022, Gary Stern of the Montreal Alouettes stepped away from day-to-day operations with the club and resigned from his role with the Canadian Football League's board of governors, effective immediately. On February 14, 2023,
29785-470: The third Ottawa franchise in CFL history. The new Ottawa franchise returned the league to a nine-team structure, with five teams in the West Division and four in the East; the Winnipeg Blue Bombers moved back to the West Division. The expansion Ottawa Redblacks played at the massively renovated Frank Clair Stadium , now branded as TD Place Stadium . In Mark Cohon's last year as commissioner he negotiated
29970-515: The third Sunday of November; for 2021, the game was played in December, which was the first time this had happened since 1972 . The Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the CFL and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. The Grey Cup is the second-oldest trophy in North American professional sports, after the Stanley Cup. The Grey Cup game is hosted in one of the league's member cities. In recent years, it has been hosted in
30155-506: The traditional geographic rivalries of Toronto–Hamilton (a rivalry which began in 1873 ), Edmonton–Calgary (see Battle of Alberta ), Winnipeg–Saskatchewan, and Ottawa–Montreal. In years that Ottawa or Montreal were not in the league, BC played against one of these teams. The following week's rematch of these games is a popular event as well, especially in recent years, where the rematch of the Saskatchewan–Winnipeg game has been dubbed
30340-406: The very strong West Division and finished last with a record of 6–12. The Gold Miners played at the austere Hornet Stadium , located on the campus of Sacramento State University and averaged around 17,000 fans per game (down slightly from the roughly 21,000 fans per game the Surge had drawn in 1992), selling 9,000 season tickets. In response to a disparity between the East and West Divisions, it
30525-432: The world. The first American team, the Sacramento Gold Miners , joined in 1993. The league added three more American teams in 1994 , after which two more teams joined, one re-located and one folded to bring the total to five in 1995. In the latter year, the teams were aligned into a new South Division . The three years saw numerous ownership debacles on both sides of the U.S.–Canada border. The Baltimore Stallions became
30710-491: Was a team that eventually finished second in the East with a 12–6 record and became the first American team to qualify for the playoffs, advancing all the way to the Grey Cup game. In a thrilling match played in BC Place , the BC Lions defeated Baltimore on a last-second field goal by Lui Passaglia . Perhaps most remarkably, they were reported to have turned a profit in their first year after an initial US$ 7 million investment by Speros. The Shreveport Pirates were actually
30895-437: Was about to lose the NFL's Oilers . At one point, he was prepared to move to Houston and play in the Astrodome , and also intended to take on then- Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane as a minority partner. Williams had decided to get out even before Baltimore's fate was announced; a day after the Barracudas were eliminated from the playoffs (and a day before the Browns announced they were leaving Cleveland), he announced that
31080-422: Was absent for the next five years until 2002, when the city regained a CFL team, named the Renegades . Although sentiment arose toward resurrecting the Rough Riders name, Chen expected payment for the rights to it; the new franchise declined the request, and went with a 'fresh' name for the new team. The team also faced financial problems, ceasing play after the 2005 CFL season. The Saskatchewan Roughriders opposed
31265-429: Was an indoor, air-conditioned facility, meaning the teams playing there did not have to deal with the summer heat. The team continued to be bankrolled by the enthusiastic Fred Anderson. Archer, entering his fifth year as Anderson's quarterback, led the second best offence in the league; he nevertheless suffered an injury late in the season, prompting the team to hire 45-year-old Joe Ferguson (whom Stephenson had coached as
31450-415: Was awarded a CFL franchise to begin play as the Memphis Mad Dogs . The Mad Dogs played in the Liberty Bowl , which had to be heavily reconfigured to accommodate the Canadian game. Astroturf sections were added around the grass field to accommodate the required width, while the expansion of the length of the field to 110 yards forced the end zones to become half Astroturf pentagons that averaged seven yards in
31635-416: Was decided in the middle of the season to grant the fourth-place Western team a playoff berth. There was speculation this was done in part to ensure Sacramento remained in playoff contention as long as possible and at the insistence of Ryckman, who preferred the revenue of two playoff games for his first-place Stampeders over a first-round bye. In 1994 the Gold Miners were joined by three other American teams:
31820-436: Was even one other American team in the league, he could withstand annual losses of US$ 2 million indefinitely. However, that scenario looked less and less likely, as Speros—under prodding from Smith—had begun serious discussions with officials in Montreal . Against this backdrop, a second round of league meetings was held on February 2, where all five American franchises, including the Stallions, were formally shuttered, bringing
32005-431: Was held on January 13, 2019. Ambroise said he wished the combine in Mexico to become annual, and that a combine could be held in Europe. On January 14, 2019, the league held a draft of LFA and Mexican university players where wide receiver Diego Viamontes was the first pick, selected by the Edmonton Eskimos. The CFL announced in February 2019 that German and French football players from the German Football League and
32190-507: Was in part due to the more onerous travel requirements to Western Canada in an era when rail travel was the norm and the fact the WIFU moved up the start of its regular season long before the Eastern section followed suit. It would not be until 2019 that NFL teams would play any sort of contest in Western Canada. Most exhibition games involving Canadian teams in the U.S. tended to be characterized by low scores and frequent punting, with crowds between 10,000 and 20,000; these numbers dropped off in
32375-453: Was large enough to accommodate a full-size Canadian field. Baltimore was far and away the most successful of any American CFL team both the field and off, averaging crowds of over 37,000 their first year. Knowing that Canadian football was considerably different from the American game, Speros stocked the Baltimore club mostly with CFL veterans. As coach, he brought in Don Matthews , who had already played in two Grey Cups and won one. The result
32560-473: Was little better on the field, finishing 5–13—the second-worst record in the league (ahead of only the Pirates). The Las Vegas situation was one of a bevy of developments faced by the league in the 1994–1995 offseason. The Posse were officially disbanded in April 1995, but not before the CFL damaged its credibility by twice granting provisional approval for the franchise's relocation, first to Milwaukee, Wisconsin , then to Jackson, Mississippi . The Milwaukee bid
32745-517: Was mysterious about his origins. The Riders defeated the Toronto Argonauts in the final two games of the Big Four schedule to deny Toronto the Big Four championship. On November 19, 1935, Toronto's The Mail and Empire accused the Riders of using an illegal player in those matches. Editor Edwin Allen stated "Roy Berry" was an alias for Bohn Hilliard, a Texas Longhorns footballer who had played semi-professional baseball. In February 1936, Amateur Athletic Union of Canada president W. A. Fry announced
32930-436: Was organized on Wednesday, September 20, 1876, where they won the first game they played on September 23 against the Aylmer Club at Jacques Cartier Square. The team's colours were cerise , grey, and navy blue. The club adopted the name Ottawa Rough Riders on Friday, September 9, 1898, and changed its team colours to red and black. Since then, red and black have been Ottawa's traditional sporting colours. Although in later years
33115-505: Was renewed in 2014 for five years, the same length as the TSN deal (ESPN holds a stake in TSN), with a stipulation that at least 17 games would be carried on ESPN2 (or another ESPN network, such as ESPN or ESPNEWS ) each season, including the Grey Cup; this gives ESPN exclusive CFL rights during this time frame. Originally ESPN3 carried all games not carried on one of the linear channels online, later ESPN moved those games to ESPN+ . Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Football Club
33300-418: Was sponsored by the New York Herald and played at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx ; this in the era when the Canadian game was more similar to rugby football and did not feature modern rules such as the forward pass like the American game. The next game, a 1951 match-up between the IRFU's Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Toronto Argonauts in Buffalo , was billed as the first true all-Canadian game played in
33485-458: Was the most notable CFL effort in the United States, the league had also made previous inroads. Eleven neutral-site CFL games (including exhibition games) have been held in the United States. In earlier decades when the CFL season started much later than it does today (i.e. around the same time as that of the National Football League ), NFL teams were occasionally invited northward for exhibition interleague play. The CFL has also attempted to find
33670-436: Was the most substantial, followed by US$ 4 to $ 6 million estimated for Anderson's Texans. Memphis and Shreveport losses were estimated at US$ 3 million apiece. The Baltimore losses were comparatively modest at US$ 1 to $ 1.5 million, but stung the league, given the prestige of the franchise. Canadian teams were facing their own troubles, particularly with attendance. The eight Canadian teams were down to an average of 22,740 in 1994,
33855-479: Was to allow smaller field sizes in American stadiums that could not fit a regulation CFL field. Agreement on rules and schedules might have been reached had the league achieved economic stability, but losses among American teams were drastic and widespread. In 1995 alone, Fred Anderson estimated that the U.S. teams had collectively lost more than US$ 20 million. The Baltimore Sun provides a similar estimate of US$ 21 million. The $ 10 million estimated loss in Birmingham
34040-478: Was to be owned by Marvin Fishman and use Milwaukee County Stadium , which for the previous four decades had hosted Green Bay Packers home games in Milwaukee before the Packers decided to move their entire home schedule to Lambeau Field beginning in 1995; while County Stadium's main tenants, the Milwaukee Brewers , accepted the Packers, the idea of sharing the venue with a CFL team whose schedule substantially overlapped with Major League Baseball led them to reject
34225-481: Was to have been added in Orlando ; however, in a debacle that had now become a pattern, the presumptive ownership group failed to appear at the January 1994 press conference announcing the team's formation. The Baltimore CFL Colts made headlines before even playing a down. Owned by Jim Speros , the team was marketed as a revival of the Baltimore Colts NFL franchise, who had left the city 10 years earlier and had also played at Memorial Stadium . The team's embrace of
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