R.J
11-23-2011, 10:38 PM
Has been brought up yet again. Via Yahoo Sports' (http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/cfl/blog/cfl_experts/post/-8220-Canadian-Football-Act-8221-would-be-a-b;_ylt=AptHvphH.B6H5TJseKJ9loqpYQM6?urn=cfl-wp2099) Andrew Bucholtz.
While the attention of the Canadian football universe is focused on Vancouver for the Grey Cup, there's a potentially-significant development underway in Ottawa. As CBC political reporter Kady O'Malley pointed out Tuesday night, one of the items on the House of Commons notice paper for Wednesday is "An Act to support Canadian professional football." Looking into it a little further with the help of Twitter users Adam Dodek, Tobias Vaughn and @bookmistress, it seems this is a repeated effort by NDP MP Peter Julian (Burnaby-New Westminister), and one that didn't seem to go anywhere in previous attempts in 2009 and 2010. From a CFL perspective, that's too bad, as the provisions of this act would likely significantly benefit the league if enacted.
What exactly does this involve? Well, here's a PDF of the bill Julian (seen above at a June press conference in Ottawa) brought forward in 2009. Some of the highlights from it:
—"The purpose of this enactment is to preserve Canadian professional football
and to prevent the expansion of foreign football leagues into Canada."
—"Whereas the game of Canadian football,with its unique rules, has existed longer than the
American version of football and is played nowhere else in the world;"
—"Whereas professional Canadian football is an important cultural industry and the Grey Cup game and events surrounding it form a significant cultural event that contributes to the bonds of nationhood across Canada;"
—"Whereas the Canadian Football League generates thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in economic activity annually in Canada while providing sporting memories and inspirational heroes for millions of Canadian football fans"
—"Whereas the incursion of the National Football League into Canada from the United States would threaten the continued existence of the Canadian Football League;"
—"And whereas it is in the national and public interest that an effort be made to protect this Canadian institution from the encroachments of the National Football League or any other foreign league upon Canadian soil;"
—"4. No Canadian league shall (a) grant a franchise to any person to operate
a football team elsewhere than in Canada; (b) authorize or permit any football team
organized or operating in Canada to play any football game outside Canada, except an
exhibition game; or (c) authorize or permit a football team within a foreign league or organized or operating outside Canada to play any football game in Canada against any team within the Canadian league, except an exhibition game."
—"5. (1) Subject to this section, no person owning or operating a football team within a
foreign league shall require or permit that team to play football in Canada.
(2) Subject to this section, no person shall play football within Canada as a player on a
football team within a foreign league.
(3) This section does not apply where a football team within a foreign league plays
football in Canada in an exhibition game."
—"6. (1) Where it appears to the Attorney General of Canada that any person has engaged,
is engaged or is about to engage in any act or practice in contravention of this Act, the
Attorney General of Canada may bring an action in any superior court of competent
jurisdiction to enjoin such act or practice"
Got all that? Well, to cut through the political jargon, this act would essentially do two things. It would prevent Canadian professional football leagues (defined as "not a foreign league", or not a league that has offices or teams outside Canada) from expanding beyond Canadian borders, and it would also prevent American professional football leagues from expanding into Canada (or even playing regular-season games here). The first part isn't all that important at the moment and is unlikely to ever matter, as American expansion really didn't go all that well for the CFL and would be far less likely to succeed in today's sports climate. The second part is the crucial part, and it's something that would substantially help preserve the CFL's future.
NFL expansion to Toronto isn't an imminent threat at the moment, regardless of what Doug Ford might think, but that doesn't mean it isn't a threat. It may not be a present danger, but it's certainly a clear one. The current batch of Buffalo Bills' preseason and regular season games (one per year) hasn't been all that bad for the CFL, but basing a team in Toronto is a radically different proposition. A NFL team in Toronto would directly compete with the Argonauts for sponsorship, suite and regular ticket revenue, and would likely win on all of those fronts. Moreover, the Argos are already not in a great spot; their attendance this year was by far the lowest in the league. A Toronto NFL franchise wouldn't irrevocably doom them immediately, but it would certainly add to their problems, and it could perhaps even eventually lead to their relocation or demise.
Fans from markets where the CFL is more popular may well scoff that the league doesn't need the Argonauts, but that's not true. Without a presence in Toronto, the CFL takes a substantial hit on the national radar in terms of media coverage, television broadcasts and sponsorship revenue. It's possible the CFL could survive the relocation or demise of the Argonauts, but it wouldn't be the same league; it would likely be a much more provincial endeavour with less coverage, less prominent television broadcasts, lower revenues and salaries and a decreased quality of play. To exist in its current form, the CFL needs Toronto. To go beyond its current form, the CFL needs a better presence in Toronto. Either of those propositions becomes substantially more difficult if you add a Toronto NFL team.
A Toronto NFL team isn't a certainty or necessarily even a significant probability even with no laws prohibiting it, but passing a bill like this would effectively kill the idea of the NFL expanding to Toronto. Heck, just proposing a similar bill (also known as "The Canadian Football Act") in 1974 forced the World Football League to go away. It's not that the NFL's evil, or bad football, or that Canadians can't or don't watch and enjoy it; I love the NFL as well as the CFL, as do many others. The point is just that Canadian football fans are better served with both a strong CFL and a strong NFL; that allows them to pick and choose whichever one they like.
Under the current circumstances (and also in the foreseeable future), a strong CFL requires the NFL to stay out of Toronto. This bill would accomplish that very effectively. (It also might kill off the Lingerie Football League's Canadian endeavours for good, which wouldn't be lamented here, although that league's doing a pretty good job of taking itself down.) Thus, it seems like a good plan.
Of course, similar ideas have been bandied about before without much success, most notably by Senator Larry Campbell in 2008. This one's also likely to go that way; as Dodek pointed out, it's "a bit of a Hail Mary pass." That's unfortunate, but things might change if some pressure's brought to bear. The CFL can't really lobby for this, as that could impact what's become a very solid working relationship with the NFL, but CFL fans certainly could. A bill like this isn't necessarily crucial at the moment, as the CFL's in good shape and NFL expansion to Toronto has plenty of hurdles to clear, but it would be a substantial benefit to and assurance of the CFL's long-term future. From this corner, that's a worthy cause.
While the attention of the Canadian football universe is focused on Vancouver for the Grey Cup, there's a potentially-significant development underway in Ottawa. As CBC political reporter Kady O'Malley pointed out Tuesday night, one of the items on the House of Commons notice paper for Wednesday is "An Act to support Canadian professional football." Looking into it a little further with the help of Twitter users Adam Dodek, Tobias Vaughn and @bookmistress, it seems this is a repeated effort by NDP MP Peter Julian (Burnaby-New Westminister), and one that didn't seem to go anywhere in previous attempts in 2009 and 2010. From a CFL perspective, that's too bad, as the provisions of this act would likely significantly benefit the league if enacted.
What exactly does this involve? Well, here's a PDF of the bill Julian (seen above at a June press conference in Ottawa) brought forward in 2009. Some of the highlights from it:
—"The purpose of this enactment is to preserve Canadian professional football
and to prevent the expansion of foreign football leagues into Canada."
—"Whereas the game of Canadian football,with its unique rules, has existed longer than the
American version of football and is played nowhere else in the world;"
—"Whereas professional Canadian football is an important cultural industry and the Grey Cup game and events surrounding it form a significant cultural event that contributes to the bonds of nationhood across Canada;"
—"Whereas the Canadian Football League generates thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in economic activity annually in Canada while providing sporting memories and inspirational heroes for millions of Canadian football fans"
—"Whereas the incursion of the National Football League into Canada from the United States would threaten the continued existence of the Canadian Football League;"
—"And whereas it is in the national and public interest that an effort be made to protect this Canadian institution from the encroachments of the National Football League or any other foreign league upon Canadian soil;"
—"4. No Canadian league shall (a) grant a franchise to any person to operate
a football team elsewhere than in Canada; (b) authorize or permit any football team
organized or operating in Canada to play any football game outside Canada, except an
exhibition game; or (c) authorize or permit a football team within a foreign league or organized or operating outside Canada to play any football game in Canada against any team within the Canadian league, except an exhibition game."
—"5. (1) Subject to this section, no person owning or operating a football team within a
foreign league shall require or permit that team to play football in Canada.
(2) Subject to this section, no person shall play football within Canada as a player on a
football team within a foreign league.
(3) This section does not apply where a football team within a foreign league plays
football in Canada in an exhibition game."
—"6. (1) Where it appears to the Attorney General of Canada that any person has engaged,
is engaged or is about to engage in any act or practice in contravention of this Act, the
Attorney General of Canada may bring an action in any superior court of competent
jurisdiction to enjoin such act or practice"
Got all that? Well, to cut through the political jargon, this act would essentially do two things. It would prevent Canadian professional football leagues (defined as "not a foreign league", or not a league that has offices or teams outside Canada) from expanding beyond Canadian borders, and it would also prevent American professional football leagues from expanding into Canada (or even playing regular-season games here). The first part isn't all that important at the moment and is unlikely to ever matter, as American expansion really didn't go all that well for the CFL and would be far less likely to succeed in today's sports climate. The second part is the crucial part, and it's something that would substantially help preserve the CFL's future.
NFL expansion to Toronto isn't an imminent threat at the moment, regardless of what Doug Ford might think, but that doesn't mean it isn't a threat. It may not be a present danger, but it's certainly a clear one. The current batch of Buffalo Bills' preseason and regular season games (one per year) hasn't been all that bad for the CFL, but basing a team in Toronto is a radically different proposition. A NFL team in Toronto would directly compete with the Argonauts for sponsorship, suite and regular ticket revenue, and would likely win on all of those fronts. Moreover, the Argos are already not in a great spot; their attendance this year was by far the lowest in the league. A Toronto NFL franchise wouldn't irrevocably doom them immediately, but it would certainly add to their problems, and it could perhaps even eventually lead to their relocation or demise.
Fans from markets where the CFL is more popular may well scoff that the league doesn't need the Argonauts, but that's not true. Without a presence in Toronto, the CFL takes a substantial hit on the national radar in terms of media coverage, television broadcasts and sponsorship revenue. It's possible the CFL could survive the relocation or demise of the Argonauts, but it wouldn't be the same league; it would likely be a much more provincial endeavour with less coverage, less prominent television broadcasts, lower revenues and salaries and a decreased quality of play. To exist in its current form, the CFL needs Toronto. To go beyond its current form, the CFL needs a better presence in Toronto. Either of those propositions becomes substantially more difficult if you add a Toronto NFL team.
A Toronto NFL team isn't a certainty or necessarily even a significant probability even with no laws prohibiting it, but passing a bill like this would effectively kill the idea of the NFL expanding to Toronto. Heck, just proposing a similar bill (also known as "The Canadian Football Act") in 1974 forced the World Football League to go away. It's not that the NFL's evil, or bad football, or that Canadians can't or don't watch and enjoy it; I love the NFL as well as the CFL, as do many others. The point is just that Canadian football fans are better served with both a strong CFL and a strong NFL; that allows them to pick and choose whichever one they like.
Under the current circumstances (and also in the foreseeable future), a strong CFL requires the NFL to stay out of Toronto. This bill would accomplish that very effectively. (It also might kill off the Lingerie Football League's Canadian endeavours for good, which wouldn't be lamented here, although that league's doing a pretty good job of taking itself down.) Thus, it seems like a good plan.
Of course, similar ideas have been bandied about before without much success, most notably by Senator Larry Campbell in 2008. This one's also likely to go that way; as Dodek pointed out, it's "a bit of a Hail Mary pass." That's unfortunate, but things might change if some pressure's brought to bear. The CFL can't really lobby for this, as that could impact what's become a very solid working relationship with the NFL, but CFL fans certainly could. A bill like this isn't necessarily crucial at the moment, as the CFL's in good shape and NFL expansion to Toronto has plenty of hurdles to clear, but it would be a substantial benefit to and assurance of the CFL's long-term future. From this corner, that's a worthy cause.