Quote Originally Posted by Tau Ceti View Post
The early '90s are key. If the emergence of the Jays in '77 started the Argos decline I think the two World Series wins confirmed it. This, the Gilmour Leafs, and the appearance of the Raptors in '95 are the seminal events for late Gen-X and early Millennials in creating sports viewing affiliations in Toronto.

By the mid-1990s the Argos were firmly of B league status. They were the team my grandfather listened to in his den.
This is all true, and it's also important to remember that the prevailing wisdom by 1996 was that the CFL was at death's door. The aborted US expansion was an unmitigated disaster, and stories abounded about near-bankruptcies and missed payrolls. Furthermore the "American Bowls" at the SkyDome were in full swing and everyone was led to believe that a Toronto NFL team was imminent. To top it all off, the League and the Argonaut organization spent very little on marketing to counter these perceptions at the time. All of this helped create a deeply-rooted negativity towards the Argos and the CFL that I believe we are only now beginning to crawl out of.