CFL Making One Final Push for Halifax Expansion
A tenth team is something the CFL has been wanting for a long time. There is potential for it to happen in Halifax, but the league wants an answer soon.
CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie spoke to the media last week following the announcement that the Touchdown Series will be heading to Victoria. Ambrosie is hoping to get the deal done or start looking elsewhere.
“I think it’s been a relationship that has been positive for both sides — for the league and for Atlantic Canada,” Ambrosie said, according to 3DownNation.com. “We certainly would like to end up there with a permanent franchise, but look. We’re gonna take one big, hard swing at it with this potential partner that we have a great deal of confidence in, and if it doesn’t work this time, then we have said ‘Look, there are other markets that we are very interested in.'”
This has been a topic of discussion since 2018, when Schooner Sports and Entertainment were originally awarded the team. The impact of COVID-19 changed those plans, however, and resulted in the group pulling out.
The conversation opened back up during Grey Cup week, where they were “highly engaged” in talks with a potential owner. An update on the situation is expected next week during the board of governors' meetings.
Quebec City is also being considered as a potential expansion location.
“One that I would like very much to start a discussion with is Quebec City, because it has got such an amazing profile,” the commissioner suggested. “It’s a great football city, obviously. With the success they’ve had in college football, they’ve got one of the biggest amateur football communities in all of Canada. So, the pursuit of our expansion is not a single-market pursuit; it’s a multiple-market pursuit.”
With a resolution needed by the CFL soon, the timeline seems to be reaching its end with Halifax if an agreement cannot be reached.
CFL Commissioner Looking for 'Conclusion' to Expansion Talks
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Anthony Miller has been covering professional spring football since 2019 including XFL, USFL, and CFL. He was a local news reporter in Texas before transitioning to sports. Other sites he writes for includes College Football Network and NTZ Network.