St Louis Fans want a CFL team

[danlaurin]

http://www.thestar.com/sports/footba...-st-louis.html

U.S. football fans urge CFL to play in St. Louis
Heartbroken fans have turned to the CFL with the hope they could still have a team in St. Louis after the NFL Rams moved to Los Angeles.

By: Chris O’Leary Sports Reporter

St. Louis has been a NFL-free market for just over a month now, but some Rams fans aren’t letting their team head west to L.A. easily.
The organization is facing a trio of lawsuits from fans, with one seeking reimbursement for merchandise sold between 2000 and 2015 under Missouri’s Merchandising Practices Act. A second suit pertains to St. Louis season ticket holders laying claim to Rams seats, regardless of where the team plays, through 2025. A third suit has a fan seeking a refund on the portion of his personal seat licence that he can’t use, with the team moving away. The fan had committed money to seats into 2024.
Then there are the people that just want to continue watching football in their hometown. A small contingent of heartbroken fans has turned (in varying degrees of seriousness) to the CFL with the hope that they could still have a team to cheer on at the now empty Edward Jones Dome, where the Rams played for the last 20 years.
There have been emails of varying lengths sent to the league’s head office that detail St. Louis’ love of all things Canadian, like hockey, lacrosse and Tim Horton’s. St. Louis fans have tweeted their frustration with Rams owner Stan Kroenke and at the same time have said that there is a football market left empty at the moment, waiting to be tapped.
“I can confirm that the CFL has indeed received several emails and a substantial amount of messages on social media — mainly Twitter — from Rams fans asking for us to consider expansion south of the border, and specifically into the city of St. Louis,” Paulo Senra, the CFL’s director of communications said over email.
There seems to be knowledge from the St. Louis-based fans on the CFL’s failed foray into U.S. expansion in the 1990s. The league put seven teams into the mix between 1993 and 1995. The Baltimore team — known briefly as the Baltimore CFL Colts — was formed in 1994, arriving just after a failed NFL expansion bid to replace the original Colts that called Baltimore home from 1953 to 1983.
The CFL team was widely watched in Baltimore, averaging better than 30,000 fans in each of its two years of existence before the Cleveland Browns relocated to the city in 1996. The team moved to Montreal that year and exists as the Alouettes today.
While he understands where the St. Louis fans are coming from, Senra said that U.S. expansion is not a priority for the CFL today.

“The desire for more of our game isn’t really a surprise because we know that the CFL has a substantial following from fans in the USA — and our partners at ESPN are doing a great job showcasing our league, teams and players on TV,” he said.
“Our priority however, remains growing our game on TV and online for fans here in Canada and around the world.
“To fans in St. Louis, I would say this: our 2016 season begins in late June — watch us on ESPN, visit our teams online, and with the current exchange rate I would even recommend coming to visit us at our stadiums. We’d be happy to welcome you!”

[BaronAmongYou]

Re: St Louis Fans want a CFL team

Oh god yes! Aside from American expansion being a near total unmitigated disaster, for fans of sports oddities, like me, it was a glorious time in CFL history. My Memphis Mad Dogs shirt is looking a little ratty after 20 years of use and it's time for an upgrade.

[glenvb]

Re: St Louis Fans want a CFL team

I suppose we can appreciate the interest. But you know exactly what would happen. Once the CFL team started, it would either be a complete failure or a roaring success. If it's a success, it's a matter of a few minutes before the St Louis fans and media use that success to push hard for the NFL to return to St Louis. Either way, the CFL team would be doomed.

No thanks.

[ben_the_eskimo]

Re: St Louis Fans want a CFL team

I suppose we can appreciate the interest. But you know exactly what would happen. Once the CFL team started, it would either be a complete failure or a roaring success. If it's a success, it's a matter of a few minutes before the St Louis fans and media use that success to push hard for the NFL to return to St Louis. Either way, the CFL team would be doomed.

No thanks.

And once that happens they can relocate the team to Quebec City or Atlantic Canada.

[56Parkies]

Re: St Louis Fans want a CFL team

People obviously forgot what a gong show the US expansion was.

Travel would be exponentially more expensive for teams; the US doesn't allow you to mandate a certain amount of players be from a certain country, so the ratio disappears for one team. Not enough tv exposure in the St. Louis area to properly promote the team, and after the team loses buckets of money, they either fold or try and relocate, causing a media circus at best.

Just. Say. No.

[Opus]

Re: St Louis Fans want a CFL team

People obviously forgot what a gong show the US expansion was.

Travel would be exponentially more expensive for teams; the US doesn't allow you to mandate a certain amount of players be from a certain country, so the ratio disappears for one team. Not enough tv exposure in the St. Louis area to properly promote the team, and after the team loses buckets of money, they either fold or try and relocate, causing a media circus at best.

Just. Say. No.

You're right for the most part.

Baltimore was a success though, and likely could have continued if the NFL didn't go stomping back in.

We do need a 10th team, and this might be the best alternative in the short term before a maritime or Quebec team becomes more viable.

Is the reward worth the risk? Tough to say.

[budha]

Re: St Louis Fans want a CFL team

The Stallions were the reason that Ravens came into existance. The NFL saw that the CFL was getting 30K a game and realized that they could do much better with an NFL teams there. It could have worked in Baltimore long term had the Browns stayed in Cleveland.

The other teams just did not catch on in the markets. There was some support in Memphis or Birmingham (can not remember which right now) but as soon as HS/NCAA/NFL started they could not compete head to head with it. There was also some really bad ownership, see LV and Shreveport.

That all being said the CFL needs 10 teams, but they do not need it that badly. What they need is someone who knows how to make a schedule. Sorry wrong thread.

[cmbuk]

Re: St Louis Fans want a CFL team

Forget America.. Expand to England! Lol

[Moon1]

Re: St Louis Fans want a CFL team

Yawn
CFL in USA. Been there done that.
And maybe the NFL will finally kill the CFL by opening a team in Tornoto, Vancouver or Montreal.

[danlaurin]

Re: St Louis Fans want a CFL team

http://www.cflamerica.com/2016/02/th...americans.html

http://www.stlramscfl.com/

During the 2000s the Canadian Football League had the third highest per-game attendance of any North American sports league. This kind of strong competition would not be welcomed by the monopoly that is today's NFL. It's time for true football fans...St. Louis Rams Fans...to get creative. Get strategic. And boldly go where no football town has gone before. The NFL can't shut the door on us if we shut the door on them first. If not the CFL, then, there will likely be a couple generations before we see another NFL team in this town. So, let's pursue other avenues. Other option. And whatever we do, let's take a page from the Green Bay Packers playbook: Sell shares and become a community-owned franchise. It's that type of smart thinking and creativity that has allowed Green Bay to keep their team in their town, despite being the absolute smallest market in all of professional sports in American.

My suggestion would be: Don't blow a billion dollars building a new stadium, when the Edward Jones Dome is still a pretty awesome place to enjoy a football game. A few upgrades to the dome would be nice. The rest could be used to finance a CFL expansion team, especially since the CFL's East Division is short one team (the West has 5 teams, the East has 4). Then, ala Green Bay, sell shares, and develop a community-owned franchise model that allows the initial private investors to recoup their investment, plus a modest ROI.

Whatever we decide, we all know that St. Louis needs a fresh start. And no one is going to turn this town around but us! Sometimes what we see as disaster, is often our greatest opportunity. "THIS" is our opportunity. We've never stood idly by and allowed others to put down our town as we've seen in the media the past couple weeks, and we're not going to start now, are we? We have no choice but to look at the Rams move as a positive. To do otherwise would be an even bigger disaster for our city.

In times like these it doesn't matter what your political affiliation is, whether you're white or black, male or female, young, old, live in the city or suburbs. In times like these we are all St. Louisans first! So, it's time for us to stand up and show the NFL and the rest of the country what we're made of. That we are still one hell of a town. And if we must have a new stadium, ok. From a riverfront development and an economic development perspective, it would take lots of great events to make it feasible, but it could be a plus for the St. Louis riverfront.

The Undisputed Truth: Saint Louis is one of the greatest football cities in America! We were great fans in the days of the Football Cardinals, and we were great fans again with the St. Louis Rams. So, when Roger Goodell and crew tries to negate that truth, and thumb their noses at our valiant effort to keep our team here in St. Louis, (while San Diego and Oakland made little to no effort to keep their teams at home), it's not just disrespectful, it's an attack on who we are, and who we've always been, as one of America's truly historically great cities...older than the State of Missouri itself. It's time for "us" to begin rebuilding our city, with a newer, fresher and cleaner image. And we will start by taking back what Stan Kroenke tried to take away from us...Our St. Louis, Show-Me-State PRIDE.

The Final Truth: "The Greatest Show On Turf": Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Torry Holt, Orlando Pace and company, played here, in St. Louis...NOT in L.A. The Rams have never been as good in L.A. as they were during their heyday here in our town. Great things can still happen for St. Louis, the "Saint Louis Rams", and most importantly the good people of St. Louis, if we keep our heads up and continue moving forward! DON'T LOOK BACK!!! Let's not drive in reverse. Kroenke and the NFL is the past. Leading the way for the CFL to re-enter the U.S. market is our FUTURE! Being part of the Canadian Football League and not the NFL, would allow us to keep "our team name", The ST. LOUIS RAMS (CFL), just as Browns' fans did when the NFL relocated their team to Baltimore. This is our town! This is our time! No matter what struggles we face, there's one thing we can always take pride in...We are still St. Louis, and there's no city in America like our city. Now...we've got a team to build, and a stadium to fill. That is, unless we want to wait around another 20 years for the NFL to show us favor again.

[Moon1]

Re: St Louis Fans want a CFL team

Hmmm
Although it was a while ago, I did live in St. Louis for nearly five years.
Baseball is King.
Football and hockey distant runner ups.
Canadian Football will be a real tough sell, to folks who for the most part at best only vaguely know where Canada is - and nothing actually "a boot" it.
Canadian Football as a replacement for the NFL in a major US City? LOL. Kind of like offering an unheard of de-alcoholized beer for sale during a Cardinals game at BUSCH Stadium….

ALSO … c'mon. Speaking for myself, I don't want any US based teams in the CFL. The last time the CFL did that, I lost interest in the game. I like the CFL best BECAUSE it is what I am, Canadian. Yes yes I know about all the US born players and coaches etc, but the teams are based in Canada, there is a high proportion of Canadian born players, and the fans are overwhelmingly Canadian.

[tigerdar]

Re: St Louis Fans want a CFL team

My concern with this move is that the reason they want a team is so they can say yeah screw you NFL we can get our own team na na na na na. Unfortunately when that anger wears off there will wind up with attendances that will make the Las Vegas Posse games look good in comparaisson.

[BaronAmongYou]

Re: St Louis Fans want a CFL team

Let's not engage in outcome bias here. American expansion failed yes, but that doesn't mean the idea of American expansion is bad. It would be far more productive to look at why the experiment failed and what could be done to improve the outcome before deciding whether it would be a good idea to try again.

[nafnikufesin]

Re: St Louis Fans want a CFL team

Yeah, I just can't see this as anything more than a couple of desperate football fans. What they are talking about has been tried before and mostly failed spectacularly.

I wouldn't say "never" to American expansion, but it would certainly need to be looked at with caution and skepticism, and I would certainly look at exhausting all expansion options north of the border first, and ensuring that the Canadian franchises are all healthy and stable.

[eskimoses]

Re: St Louis Fans want a CFL team

Let's not engage in outcome bias here. American expansion failed yes, but that doesn't mean the idea of American expansion is bad. It would be far more productive to look at why the experiment failed and what could be done to improve the outcome before deciding whether it would be a good idea to try again.

I'm kinda thinking THIS^^