We’ve reached a third of the way through the 2025 CFL season! Time flies when you’re having fun. The league has been putting out little graphics about the growth of the league and the viewerbase pretty consistently, and I thought it would be a fun idea to suggest my ideas for growing the CFL even further. Let’s take a look at the top three!
1: FLAG FOOTBALL
In Regina, where I’m from, flag football is a big deal. Pretty much every kid plays or has played flag before. Unfortunately, the CFL hasn’t been in the flag market for a while. Every flag team adopts the namesake and logo of an NFL team. As such, the younger generation pays less attention to the CFL and more attention to the NFL. If a kid is placed on the Bengals, for example, as their first flag team, chances are they’re going to start watching more Bengals games on TV. Now imagine if the kid was placed on the Elks. Chances are, they’ll start watching Elks games! Making CFL flag a reality would be a big step into getting the younger fan base involved.
2: STREAMING RIGHTS
For much too long, TSN has been the only network with the rights to broadcast CFL games. I’m sure many people reading this will remember when the CBC used to broadcast games as well. Unfortunately, that’s no longer the case. My idea here is to expand again to more networks to reach a larger audience. While the CTV broadcasts help with that, all they’re doing is broadcasting TSN’s feed. I think it would be beneficial if CTV had an intro, their own commentators, pretty much a whole separate broadcast to TSN every game of the year which would reach more people and allow some viewers to experience the CFL who may not have had the chance previously. This could also be done with Amazon Prime Video.
3: EXPANSION
I’m aware this one is much less likely, but imagine the spark that a 10th team would add to the league and to the community that it’s added into. Expanding somewhere like Halifax or Quebec City would generate tons of buzz around the city and the community and get people to watch or attend games featuring the new team, especially at their home stadium. Some of my favourite spots for a new team to be located are Halifax, Quebec City, London and St. Louis. “Woah” you may be thinking. “American expansion? In the CANADIAN Football League?” To that, I say, yes. Look at the city of St. Louis! Their NFL team got taken from them and relocated to Los Angeles. Ever since then, they’ve been missing football a ton. If you look at the UFL’s attendance numbers, the St. Louis Battlehawks have repeatedly led that league in crowd size and continually draw CFL-sized crowds. If the CFL ever expanded southbound, St. Louis would be the top city on my list.
So, what do you think? Do you agree with my ideas? Do you have any ideas of your own for league growth? Let me know in the comments!
By Bruce Chimirri-Olson
What do you think about the CFL financing a 10th team until a permanent residence and ownership group can be found? The team can play it's home games in neutral site locations (Victoria, Saskatoon, Moncton, etc) anywhere that can support 5k plus spectators at a stadium. This will be a way to expose the league to a bigger audience and give more people a chance to attend a cfl game who otherwise might not get the chance. And once an owner/location is found you have a turnkey operation ready to go, saving time in getting a successful new franchise off the ground.
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