Canadian Football League
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- "CFL" redirects here. For other uses, see CFL (disambiguation).
| Canadian Football League | |
|---|---|
| |
| Sport | Canadian football |
| Founded | 1958 |
| No. of teams | 8 |
| Country | Image:Flag of Canada.svg Canada |
| Current champions | BC Lions |
| Official website | CFL.ca |
</div> </div>
The Canadian Football League (CFL), also known by its French name, Ligue canadienne de football (LCF), is a professional sports league located in Canada that plays Canadian football, and is the second most popular sports league in Canada.<ref>The CFL is the second most popular league in Canada, after the NHL, according to a recent survey: Canadian Press (2006-06-08). Survey: Canadian interest in pro football is on the rise. Globe and Mail. Retrieved on 2006-06-08.</ref> Its eight teams, located in eight different cities, are divided into two divisions (East and West), with each division containing four teams. During the league's twenty-week regular season, which runs from June to October, each team plays eighteen games, and rests during two bye weeks. In November, following the regular season, six of the eight teams compete in the league's three-week long playoffs, which culminate in the Grey Cup championship.
The Grey Cup was donated by Governor General Earl Grey in 1909 to the team winning the Senior Amateur Football Championship of Canada. Over time, both the trophy and the championship game have come to be known as the Grey Cup, and since 1954, when the Ontario Rugby Football Union stopped challenging for the Grey Cup, it has been awarded only to professional teams. While 1954 is often referred to as the start of the "modern era" of Canadian professional football, and the year that the Canadian Football League began in substance if not in name, the Canadian Football League itself was not officially founded until 1958.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Early history
The first Canadian football teams played under the auspices of the Canadian Rugby Football Union (CRFU), founded in 1884. However this union quickly folded and was reorganized as the Canadian Rugby Union in 1892. The CRU was an umbrella organization that several leagues were part of. From the 1930s to the 1950s the two senior leagues of the CRU (the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union and the Western Interprovincial Football Union) gradually evolved from amateur to professional leagues. They found they had less and less in common with the amateur leagues and consequently in 1956 formed a new umbrella organization, called the Canadian Football Council. And in 1958 it left the CRU altogether and was renamed the Canadian Football League. Initially, there was no interdivisional play between eastern and western teams except at the Grey Cup final. Limited interlocking play was introduced in 1961 and by 1981 there was a full interlocking schedule of 16 games a season.
The separate histories of the IRFU and the WIFU accounted for the fact that 2 teams had basically the same nickname. To tell the two apart, the IRFU's Ottawa Rough Riders (always 2 separate words) were often called the "Eastern Riders", while the WIFU's Saskatchewan Roughriders (always one word) were called the "Western Riders" or "Green Riders".
Other team nicknames had unusual yet traditional origins. With rowing a national craze in the late 1800's, the Argonaut Rowing Club of Toronto formed a rugby team for its members' off-season participation, and the Club nickname remains with the team. After World War II, the two teams in Hamilton--the Tigers and the Wildcats--merged both their organizations and their nicknames, forming the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
After the admission of the expansion British Columbia Lions in 1954, the league remained stable with nine franchises from its 1958 inception until 1982 when the Montreal Alouettes folded and were subsequently replaced the same 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 demise of the Alouettes, leaving only 3 teams in the Eastern Division compared to 5 teams in the Western Division, forced the League to balance its playoff structure by moving the 'easternmost' Western team, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, into the East--achieving balance, but upsetting the long-standing tradition of 'East vs. West,' as Winnipeg isn't seen as part of eastern Canada.
[edit] Attempts at expansion into the United States
- Main article: CFL USA
In 1993 the league admitted its first U.S. franchise, the Sacramento Gold Miners, in an attempt to broaden Canadian football's popular appeal and boost league revenues. The ultimate plan was to have a league of 10 Canadian and 10 American teams. Spearheading the efforts were two former World League of American Football owners, Fred Anderson and Larry J. Benson, who would each receive a franchise. While Benson's team, the San Antonio Texans, would not play a single down, the Gold Miners would see action, finishing a respectable 6-12 (but remaining at the bottom of the West Division). The following year would see more expansion: the Las Vegas Posse, the Shreveport Pirates, and the Baltimore CFL Colts (who were forced to change their name to the Stallions after a long legal battle). Baltimore was the most successful of any American CFL team, having finished second in the East and making it to the Grey Cup Finals (becoming the first American team to play for the Grey Cup).
The 1995 season saw the loss of the Posse and the move of the Gold Miners to San Antonio, while the Birmingham Barracudas and Memphis Mad Dogs were added (Teams were also considered for Orlando and Miami). However, fan interest in Canadian football, with the possible exception of the Stallions, was sparse at best. At the end of the year, which saw the Stallions become the first American team to win the Grey Cup, all but the Stallions and the San Antonio Texans folded because of financial difficulties. When the National Football League announced that a new team was to be added in Baltimore, the Stallions looked at possibly relocating to nearby Richmond, Virginia, but nothing could be worked out so the team would later move to Montreal (renamed the Alouettes). The Texans would later fold with a similar explanation.
[edit] Recent history
After three seasons of American teams, the CFL returned to an all-Canadian format in 1996 with nine teams; however, the Ottawa Rough Riders folded following the season. In 2002 the league expanded back to nine teams with the expansion Ottawa Renegades. After playing four seasons, the Renegades were suspended for the 2006 season after sustaining millions of dollars in losses in their four seasons, and their players were absorbed by the remaining teams in a dispersal draft.
In 2003, the league struck a committee to examine the feasibility of adding a tenth team, with the leading candidate cities being Quebec City and Halifax.<ref name="CBC 2003-11-14">CFL considering Quebec or Halifax expansion. CBC Sports Online (2003-11-14). Retrieved on 2006-12-02.</ref> Exhibition games were held in Quebec City in 2003<ref name="CBC 2003-06-09">Calvillo, Alouettes hammer Renegades. CBC Sports Online (2003-06-09). Retrieved on 2006-12-02.</ref> and in Halifax in 2005. The Halifax event, dubbed Touchdown Atlantic, was scheduled to repeat in 2006 but was cancelled after the suspension of the Ottawa Renegades franchise.<ref name="Canadian Press 2006-04-09">Canadian Press (2006-04-09). CFL suspends operations of Renegades. TSN.ca. Retrieved on 2006-12-03.</ref> Commissioner Tom Wright had indicated that Halifax was the leading candidate for expansion.<ref name="Richardson 2006-01-27">Adam Richardson (2006-01-27). CFL returning to Halifax. Halifax Daily News. Retrieved on 2006-12-03.</ref>
[edit] Popularity
Image:Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, August 2005.jpg Although ice hockey is currently Canada's most popular sport, the CFL is highly popular in Quebec and west of Ontario, and western franchises generally enjoy a greater level of support than Ontario teams. However, since the 2004 season, both Toronto and Hamilton have seen a resurgence in attendance, with Toronto drawing upwards of 32,000 people a game. The BC Lions franchise has also seen a recent resurgence of fan support, going from 14,000 people per game to over 30,000 in just a couple of years, which many attribute to proper on-field and off-field management. The Edmonton Eskimos regularly boast the league's highest average attendance, drawing around 40,000 people per game (Vancouver's BC Place Stadium, Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium, and Toronto's Rogers Centre being the only stadiums that seat 40,000+). Saskatchewan Roughriders fans are known for their loyalty and for attending Roughriders games at stadiums across the country.
Football has been gaining in popularity in Quebec with the recent success of the Alouettes, and Quebec university football teams now lead the country in attendance and on the field, with Laval University, the University of Montreal and Concordia University consistently in the top ten in the country. In Southern Ontario, the CFL is recovering from the bankruptcy that plagued the Toronto and Hamilton teams in the 2003 season. Both teams have improved their attendance figures dramatically since the 2003 season.
A recent survey conducted at the University of Lethbridge confirmed that the CFL is the second most popular league in Canada, with the following of 19% of the total adult Canadian population compared to 30% for the NHL. The NFL had 13% following, with a total of 24% following at least one of the pro football leagues. This could be interpreted to mean that approximately 80% of Canadian football fans follow the CFL and about 55% follow the NFL.<ref>Canadian Press (2006-06-08). Survey: Canadian interest in pro football is on the rise. Globe and Mail. Retrieved on 2006-06-08.</ref>
In 2005, the league set an all-time attendance record with a total attendance of more than 2.3 million.<ref name="Sports Business Daily 2005-11-17">CFL Sees Numbers Rise At The Gates. Sports Business Daily (2005-11-17). Retrieved on 2006-12-03.</ref> With the absence of Ottawa in 2006, the league recorded total regular season attendance of 2,083,894 - enough to increase the average per-game attendance to 28,943. This is the third-highest per-game attendance of any North American sports league and the seventh-highest per-game attendance of any sports league worldwide.
[edit] Season structure
Image:BC Lions vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders, October 1 2005.jpg Image:Montreal Alouettes vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats, July 6 2006.jpg
As of 2006, The CFL season includes:
- A 2-game, 2-week exhibition season (or preseason) in early June
- An 18-game, 20-week regular season running from late June to early November
- A 6-team, 3-week playoff tournament beginning in early November and culminating in the Grey Cup championship in late November. Championship teams will play either 2 or 3 playoff games, including the Grey Cup game, depending on their standing at the end of the regular season.
[edit] Exhibition season
Team training camps open in May, with pre-season exhibition games beginning in early June. The pre-season schedule is two weeks long with each team playing a home game and a road game against a team in its division.
[edit] Regular season
Regular season games begin by late June and finish by early November. The 9-team season format had each team playing 18 games over this 20 week span, thus giving each team at least 2 bye weeks, while one team played 2 games in one week at some point during the schedule because of the odd number of teams. With short notice after the suspension of Ottawa, the CFL is maintaining the 18 game/20 week schedule by playing eight three-game weekends during the 2006 season, thus giving two teams a bye. Teams are divided into 2 divisions, with 4 teams in each division, the East and the West. Each team plays one home game and one away game against each team in the opposing division, three games (2 home/1 road or 1 home/2 road) against two division rivals, and a double home-and-home (four games) against one division rival. For 2006, the double home-and-home pairings are B.C./Saskatchewan, Calgary/Edmonton, Montreal/Winnipeg, and Toronto/Hamilton.
A featured week in the CFL season is the Labour Day Classic, played over the course of the Labour Day weekend (typically Week 10 in the regular season), where the matchups feature the first half of home-and-home series between the traditional geographic rivalries of Toronto–Hamilton, Edmonton–Calgary (see Battle of Alberta), and Winnipeg–Saskatchewan. 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 played at Canad Inns Stadium in Winnipeg has been dubbed the Banjo Bowl. Other featured weekends in the CFL season are the Canada Day Bash (weekend of July 1) and the Thanksgiving Day Classic, played over Canadian Thanksgiving Day (the second Monday in October). Unlike the Labour Day games, however, the matchups do not always feature traditional rivalries and the games are not usually as popular.
[edit] Playoffs
The playoffs begin in November. After the regular season, the top team from each division has an automatic home game berth in the Division Finals, and a bye week during the Division Semifinals. The second-place team from each division hosts the third-place team in the Division Semifinals, unless the fourth place team from the opposite division finishes with a better record (this provision is known as the crossover rule, and while it implies that it is possible for two teams in the same division to play for the Grey Cup, no crossover team has ever won the Semifinal game). The winners of each Division's Semifinal game then travel to play the first place teams in the Division Finals. Since 2005, the Division Semifinals and Division Finals have been sponsored by Scotiabank and are branded as the "Scotiabank East Championship" and "Scotiabank West Championship".<ref name="CFL.ca 2005-08-08">Partnership of champions. CFL.ca (2005-08-08). Retrieved on 2006-12-03.</ref>
[edit] Grey Cup
The two division champions then face each other in the Grey Cup game, which is held on the 3rd or 4th Sunday of November.
[edit] Television and radio
The principal television broadcasters are TSN and CBC, while RDS broadcasts Montreal Alouettes games in French for the Quebec television market.<ref name="CFL.ca Broadcast">Broadcast. CFL.ca. Retrieved on 2006-12-03.</ref> 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.<ref name="CFL.ca Schedule">Schedule. CFL.ca. Retrieved on 2006-12-03.</ref> TSN has created a tradition of at least one Friday night game each week, branded as Friday Night Football, while CBC airs at least one game every Saturday. CBC and TSN drew record television audiences for CFL broadcasts in 2005.<ref name="CFL.ca 2006-04-17">CFL announces updated schedule. CFL.ca (2006-04-17). Retrieved on 2006-12-03.</ref> The 2006 season was the first season in which every regular season game was televised, as the league implemented an instant replay challenge system.<ref name="CFL.ca 2006-06-13">CFL to introduce instant replay for 2006. CFL.ca (2006-06-13). Retrieved on 2006-12-03.</ref> In 2006, the CFL also began offering pay-per-view webcasts of every game on CFL Broadband.<ref name="CFL.ca 2006-06-22">CFL debuts live webcast for entire schedule. CFL.ca (2006-06-22). Retrieved on 2006-12-03.</ref>
CBC and RDS are the exclusive television broadcasters for all playoff games, including the Grey Cup, which regularly draws a Canadian viewing audience in excess of 4 million.<ref name="Houston 2006-11-20">William Houston (2006-11-20). Minor rise in Grey Cup ratings good for CBC. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved on 2006-12-03.</ref> Teams have local broadcast contracts with terrestrial radio stations for regular season and playoff games, while Corus Entertainment owns the rights to the Grey Cup. In 2006 Sirius Satellite Radio Canada gained exclusive rights for North American CFL satellite radio broadcasts and will broadcast 25 CFL games per season including the Grey Cup through 2008.<ref name="CFL Gets Sirius 2006-04-24">CFL Gets Sirius. CFL.ca (2006-04-24). Retrieved on 2006-12-03.</ref>
In the United States, CFL games are broadcast on America One, which feeds the broadcasts to regional cable outlets, such as NESN and Comcast Sportsnet.<ref name="CFL.ca 2006-06-01">CFL to be in eight of top 10 U.S. TV markets. CFL.ca (2006-06-01). Retrieved on 2006-12-03.</ref> In Europe, games are available on NASN.<ref name="CFL.ca 2006-06-16">NASN secures European CFL TV rights. CFL.ca (2006-06-16). Retrieved on 2006-12-03.</ref>
[edit] Players and compensation
The CFL implemented a salary cap for the 2006 season of $3.8 million per team. Enforcement of the cap will begin in 2007, with financial penalties for teams that breach the cap set at $1 to $1 for the first $100,000 over, $2 to $1 for $100,000 to $300,000 over, and $3 to $1 for $300,000 and above. Penalties could also include forfeited draft picks.<ref name="CFL Salary Management System">Salary Management System. CFL.ca. Retrieved on 2006-12-03.</ref>
Also in 2006, the active roster limit was increased to 42 from 40. The "import/non-import ratio", which required teams to keep at least 20 non-import (Canadian-born or Canadian-trained) players on their active roster, was increased to 21. Teams may have up to 4 players on their reserve roster, and up to 7 on their practice roster.<ref name="CFL Salary Management System"/>
Eligible non-imports (usually, players having played CIS football, or Canadians playing American college football) are drafted by teams in the annual Canadian College Draft. An exceptionally talented non-import player in the locale of a team may be claimed as a "territorial exemption" and sign with that team before beginning collegiate play (one recent example is Mike Maurer, who signed was signed by Saskatchewan as a territorial exemption in 1997<ref name="CFL.ca Mike Maurer #19">Mike Maurer #19. CFL.ca. Retrieved on 2006-12-03.</ref>). Teams maintain "negotiation lists" of import players that they wish to sign as free agents.
CFL players are represented by the Canadian Football League Players Association (CFLPA). Each team elects two players to the CFLPA Board of Player Representatives, which meets once per year. Every two years, it elects an executive Board of Directors.<ref name="Organization of the CFLPA">Organization of the CFLPA. CFLPA.ca. Retrieved on 2006-12-03.</ref>
[edit] Teams
- Ottawa Renegades (currently suspended for the 2006 season, although the team could re-launch in a future season)
[edit] Defunct teams
- Atlantic Schooners (never played a game)
- Birmingham Barracudas
- Las Vegas Posse
- Memphis Mad Dogs
- Montreal Concordes
- Ottawa Rough Riders
- San Antonio Texans
- Sacramento Gold Miners
- Shreveport Pirates
[edit] Commissioners/Presidents
- G. Sydney Halter (1958-1966)
- Keith Davey (1966)
- Ted Workman (1967) (interim)
- Allan McEachern (1967-1968)
- Jake G. Gaudaur (1968-1984)
- Douglas H. Mitchell (1984-1988)
- C. William Baker (1989)
- R. Roy McMurtry (1990) (interim)
- J. Donald Crump (1990-1991)
- Phil Kershaw (1992) (interim)
- Larry W. Smith (1992-1996)
- John H. Tory (1996-2000)
- Michael R. Lysko (2000-2002)
- David Braley (2002) (interim)
- Tom E.S. Wright (2003-present)
[edit] Comparisons with the NFL
In the days when sports teams were financed almost entirely by ticket sales; the CFL and NFL were, financially speaking, on relatively equal footing, and the CFL could sign top U.S. college football stars such as Johnny Rodgers and Joe Theismann. In fact, during the 1950s and 1960s exhibition games were played between CFL and NFL/AFL teams using a mixture of rules. The last such exhibition game saw the CFL's Hamilton Tiger-Cats defeat the AFL's Buffalo Bills, the only time in which a Canadian team defeated an American team in those series.
As late as the 1970s and early 1980s when high-capacity stadiums were built in Montreal, Edmonton and Vancouver and Toronto's stadiums were expanded, people such as Montreal Alouettes owner Nelson Skalbania continued to believe that relative parity could be sustained so long as the CFL could get larger stadiums built in its other cities and sell them out. However, by the 1980s it became clear that financial parity between the two leagues was not going to be maintained - not so much because of the disparity in attendance figures as due to the NFL's increasingly lucrative television contracts that now bring in a majority of the NFL's revenue. The CFL could not hope to negotiate similar contracts with Canadian networks because the U.S. television market is nearly ten times the size of Canada's.
Currently, the difference in average salaries between the CFL and NFL is significant, with only a handful of CFL players making more than the NFL minimum. This disparity in salaries is reflected in a talent gap between the two leagues, although in many cases players with adequate talent but smaller physique have found themselves well suited to the larger Canadian field and the different rules. It is also apparent that an established NFL player is not guaranteed easy success in the CFL game, one recent example being ex-Miami Dolphins star running back Ricky Williams who played the 2006 CFL season with the Toronto Argonauts.<ref name="Bender 2006-08-22">Jim Bender (2006-08-22). NFL experience doesn't translate. Winnipeg Sun. Retrieved on 2006-12-03.</ref>
The signing of Williams by Toronto following his drug-related suspension from the NFL created a degree of controversy. To avoid such controversy in the future, and to maintain good relations with the NFL, the CFL will not allow players suspended by the NFL to play in the league, effective for the 2007 season.<ref name="CBC 2006-11-19">CFL to bar suspended NFL players. CBC Sports Online (2006-11-19). Retrieved on 2006-12-03.</ref>
[edit] See also
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to: |
- Canadian football
- Canadian Football Hall of Fame
- Comparison of Canadian and American football
- List of Canadian Football League records
- List of Canadian Football League seasons
- List of Canadian Football League stadiums
- List of sports attendance figures
East Division: Hamilton • Montreal • Toronto • Winnipeg
West Division: British Columbia • Calgary • Edmonton • Saskatchewan
Suspended for 2007 season: Ottawa
East Division Awards: Evanshen • Hayman • McCaffrey • Gibson • Dandurand
West Division Awards: Nicklin • Martin • Fieldgate • Parker • DeMarco-Becket • Dryburgh • James
League Awards: Outstanding Player • Canadian • Defensive Player • Offensive Lineman • Rookie • Stukus • Pate • Agro • Rogers
Playoff Awards: Grey Cup • Dixon • Taylor • Most Valuable Player • Most Valuable Canadian
1920 •
1921 •
1922 •
1923 •
1924 •
1925 •
1926 •
1927 •
1928 •
1929
1930 •
1931 •
1932 •
1933 •
1934 •
1935 •
1936 •
1937 •
1938 •
1939
1940 •
1941 •
1942 •
1943 •
1944 •
1945 •
1946 •
1947 •
1948 •
1949
1950 •
1951 •
1952 •
1953 •
1954 •
1955 •
1956 •
1957 •
1958 •
1959
1960 •
1961 •
1962 •
1963 •
1964 •
1965 •
1966 •
1967 •
1968 •
1969
1970 •
1971 •
1972 •
1973 •
1974 •
1975 •
1976 •
1977 •
1978 •
1979
1980 •
1981 •
1982 •
1983 •
1984 •
1985 •
1986 •
1987 •
1988 •
1989
1990 •
1991 •
1992 •
1993 •
1994 •
1995 •
1996 •
1997 •
1998 •
1999
2000 •
2001 •
2002 •
2003 •
2004 •
2005 •
2006
[edit] Notes and references
<references/>
[edit] External links
|
|
eo:Ligo kanada de piedpilko fr:Ligue canadienne de football sv:Canadian Football League
