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Winnipeg Leads Opposition to CFL American Expansion

When the Canadian Football League rolled out American expansion in the early 1990s, support for the idea was far from unanimous. Yes, proponents argued that U.S. expansion was the way forward to grow the league and to help stabilize the struggling Canadian teams. But detractors countered that the CFL simply stood too much to lose in the process.

Traditional CFL fans – many who had supported their teams for decades – feared the CFL would gradually lose its identity and uniqueness as more American teams came onboard. Canadian players felt threatened that they would ultimately lose their jobs once it became evident that the league’s import ratio could not be enforced in the United States due to American labour law. Add in some sceptical media and tepid team governors and it became quite apparent that this was going to take some serious convincing by Larry Smith, the CFL commissioner at the time, who was tasked with implementing the league’s expansion plan.

Perhaps the greatest opposition to CFL expansion to the United States came out of Winnipeg. Looking back, it appears the Manitoba capital was ground zero for opposition to American expansion. I had a great chat with Ed Tait on this subject. Ed was the beat reporter for the Winnipeg Sun covering the Blue Bombers at the time. He recalls how Winnipeg took a bit of heat for being against expansion.

Ed Tait’s piece in the Winnipeg Sun (November 12, 1992) along with other CFL expansion tidbits.

“Cal Murphy (Winnipeg GM and head coach) and Bruce Robinson (Blue Bombers president) were against it,” Ed recalls. “Cal Murphy being a Canadian certainly influenced his opposition, for sure.”

“I remember an article in one of the Toronto newspapers that basically called the Bomber organization a bunch of dinosaurs stuck in the past and unwilling to embrace change.” Winnipeg responded by selling t-shirts with the slogan Dinosaurs play hard rock football.

Winnipeg’s politicians even got into the debate. Winnipeg South Centre MP Lloyd Axworthy, who would later serve as a Minister of the Crown in Jean Chrétien’s government, introduced a Private Member’s Bill in the House of Commons to block the CFL from expanding to the U.S., raising the ire of Larry Smith.

Canadian Press article about Winnipeg MP Lloyd Axworthy anti-expansion bill.

In the end, though, the CFL’s Board of Governors approved the addition of Sacramento and San Antonio by a vote of 7-1. Yes, Winnipeg was the lone dissenter.

Ed Tait shared with me some of his memories of covering the Winnipeg Blue Bombers during the CFL USA era. He was in the room at the Coach of the Year dinner in Edmonton in January 1993 when San Antonio backed out just two weeks after being admitted. “We were all there to celebrate,” he recalls “Then we get the news that San Antonio isn’t going to happen. Larry Smith literally ducked out through the kitchen to avoid giving any interviews.” Talk about a rocky start.

Wild is the word he uses to describe the expansion experience. “They were definitely fun road trips. I kind of marvelled at covering a Bombers game in places like Shreveport, Louisiana and Birmingham, Alabama and Las Vegas,” he said.

The game in Las Vegas is notorious for drawing such a dismal crowd. Only 2,350 fans came out to Sam Boyd Stadium to watch the Las Vegas Posse host the Blue Bombers. And about a third of them were from Winnipeg who came down for the game. Yikes.

Read Ed’s article recollecting the game in Las Vegas: https://www.bluebombers.com/2024/10/16/remember-when-blue-bombers-at-las-vegas-october-15-1994/

Ed shares the commonly held view that the CFL expanded out of desperation and didn’t do its homework on choosing expansion markets. “It made the league a bit of a laughing stock,” he admits. That said, Ed made a habit of collecting various memorabilia of the U.S.-based teams. No doubt, he recognized that the expansion experiment wouldn’t last and that the merchandise would be something unique to hold on to.

Perhaps my favourite story he shared was his experience in Shreveport. Apparently, Shreveport had a pretty high homicide rate. On the ride to the stadium, when he asked the taxi driver if it was true that most people there carried handguns for protection, the driver nonchalantly raised the console cover to show a loaded .45 handgun. Guess that answered that question.

Ed told me that the most memorable Grey Cup that he covered as a journalist was the 1994 game in Vancouver between the BC Lions and Baltimore. That was the first time an American team played in the Grey Cup. “The whole us vs. them made this Grey Cup very special,” he says. And just last year at the 2025 Grey Cup in Winnipeg, several fans from Baltimore were there proudly waving their Stallions flags, representatives from a short-lived and bygone era.

Some thirty plus years later, there are no American teams in the CFL. Sure, the topic of U.S. expansion comes up now and then. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if it ever gains any momentum again. But for now, I think it’s safe to say that the lone dissenters, the so-called dinosaurs in Winnipeg were right all along.

Special shoutout to Ed Tait, who is now the Senior Writer/Reporter for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, for taking the time to share his thoughts and memories with me. Thanks Ed.

Sources:
The Winnipeg Sun, 12 November 1992
The Ottawa Citizen, 29 November 1992
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January 21, 2026
The CFL Expands to the USA

When I first started following CFL football in the early 1990s, two issues dominated the league: struggling Canadian franchises and U.S. expansion. They kind of went hand in hand, the idea being that an injection of American money and new markets would help stabilize the existing Canadian teams. The ultimate goal was for the CFL to grow in popularity and take its rightful place as a major North American sports league.

Of course, things don’t always go according to plan. As we kick off a new year here at Canadian Football History, we’re going to look back at the CFL’s brief foray south of the border. It’s been 30 years since the so-called CFL USA experiment ended.

Whatever your views on the idea of American teams playing in the Canadian Football League are, one thing is certain. U.S. expansion at the time did breathe some new life into an 8-team league that was otherwise in dire straits. New teams. New colours. New players. And some expansion fees to boot. I still have a Sacramento Gold Miners t-shirt I bought. They were my favourite U.S.-based CFL team and had a great name and logo, in my opinion.

So, let’s set the stage for this endeavour, shall we?

Talk of CFL expansion to the United States was nothing new. The subject came up frequently over the years. The CFL staged an exhibition game in Portland, Oregon in June 1992 to test the waters. By most accounts the game was a success. But the expansion idea really picked up steam following the demise of the World League of American Football in 1992. Cities that had teams in that league were front and centre when it came to potential CFL markets.

Larry Smith, the newly appointed CFL commissioner in 1992, became the face of CFL expansion to the U.S. He had the untenable job of selling expansion to would-be American investors, nervous Canadian team governors, and sceptical players and fans. And there was plenty of sceptism.

Article by Mike Board in the Calgary Herald (3 October 1991) about the CFL greenlighting U.S. expansion with hints of future expansion into Europe or Japan.

An initial focus on cities close to the Canada-U.S. border (e.g., Portland, Detroit, etc.) was soon abandoned. Late in 1992, Smith presented a map showing prospective CFL expansion sites. While Montreal and Halifax were included, the rest of the map showed mid-sized U.S. markets such as Sacramento, San Antonio, and Orlando. Honolulu, Hawaii was even on the map. Ironically, several of the eventual U.S.-based teams were never on this map, including the most successful franchise in Baltimore.

Larry Smith’s expansion map (Toronto Star, 13 November 1992)

While the i’s still had to be dotted and the t’s crossed, plans were afoot for four new teams to join the CFL for the 1993 season. These included Portland, Sacramento, San Antonio, and Montreal. The league’s twelve teams were be divided into a new three division alignment. I’m not sure if it was ever explained how the playoffs would work under this structure.

Ian MacDonald in the Montreal Gazette (13 November 1992) writing about the CFL’s expansion plans with new teams Montreal, Portland, Sacramento, and San Antonio.

However, shortly after CFL’s plans were made public the backtracking began. Portland, which was always considered the frontrunner for U.S. expansion, backed out. As did Montreal. It would come down to just the Sacramento Gold Miners and the San Antonio Texans joining the CFL for 1993. They were formally welcomed into the CFL on January 12, 1993.

CFL Commissioner Larry Smith (centre) with Fred Anderson and Larry Benson. (CP Photo)

The Gold Miners were owned by Fred Anderson and in many ways were a reincarnation of the Sacramento Surge of the WLAF. Fred Anderson was a genuinely seen as a nice guy who truly believed in the CFL’s potential in California. He seemed to have the capital and the commitment as well as local fan and media support. His biggest obstacle was a suitable stadium. The Gold Miners would play at Hornet Field on the campus of Sacramento State university, a stadium comprising mostly temporary bleachers and portable washrooms. Not an ideal facility for a fledging professional football team by any stretch of the imagination.

On the other hand, San Antonio was to play in the brand new 65,000-seat Alamodome, a state-of-the-art indoor stadium that was one of the few American stadiums that could accommodate the larger Canadian football field. The Texans were owned by Larry Benson who, like Fred Anderson, had previously owned the city’s former WLAF franchise. Fun fact. The WLAF team in San Antonio was called the Riders. Now, imagine a scenario where the San Antonio Riders, along with the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Ottawa Rough Riders (Ottawa’s team at the time), played together. That could’ve been quite fun to watch.

Article in the Calgary Herald about the demise of the San Antonio Texans CFL expansion franchise.

Alas, Benson pulled out two weeks later. Was it cold feet or lack of money or something else? Whatever the case, there would be no CFL football in Texas in 1993.

In the end, it was only Sacramento left standing from the original four expansion teams. The Gold Miners played in the West Division and kicked off their season with a two-game road trip in Ottawa and Hamilton. The Gold Miners home opener at Hornet Field was played on July 17, 1993, against the Calgary Stampeders.
Amongst the uncertainty and despite the hiccups, CFL expansion to the United States was here at last.

Sources:
The Calgary Herald, 3 October 1992
The Calgary Herald, 28 January 1993
The Montreal Gazette , 13 November 1992
The Toronto Star, 13 November 1992
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January 7, 2026
Happy Anniversary to Us

Wow. Time sure does fly. It’s been just over a year since I launched the Canadian Football History website.

Admittedly, I wasn’t quite certain there would be an audience for the content I wanted to share here. Sure, I was a football fan and a history buff, but were there others out there who would be interested in this stuff? Well, it turns out there are plenty of you. And this makes me happy.

The site averages about 1000 visitors per month, which is a nice start. Not surprisingly, the bulk of these visitors are from Canada. But there is a good chunk of web traffic from the United States and Europe, too.

We have a strong presence in the social media landscape and are active on Facebook and Bluesky. And we’ve gained some good traction using Reddit and the CFL forums (both excellent communities btw). CFH is even on the Fediverse (which I am still trying to figure out).

I hope to have some exciting news to share in the coming weeks and months as CFH continues to grow and evolve. I’ll continue to pump out fresh (as “fresh” as historical content can be, of course) on a regular basis but will probably take a brief break on publishing any lengthy articles until the new year.

In the meantime, I want to thank you for following along, reading the articles, and by sharing with me a passion for celebrating the rich history of the great game of Canadian football.

– RF
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December 3, 2025
The Vanier Cup Becomes Canada’s University Football Championship

Universities in Canada have played football since…well…since football has been played in Canada. Teams from the University of Toronto, McGill University, and Queen’s University played what would become Canadian football long before the CFL and professional football ever took hold. In fact, university teams even competed for the Grey Cup in the early years.

In the modern era of Canadian football but before 1965, universities across Canada would compete for regional championships such as the Yates Cup in Ontario. There was no national football championship for university or collegiate football. That changed in 1965.

Toronto Star article about the new Vanier Cup

Vancouver Sun article about the new Vanier Cup

In 1965, a new national university football championship was established called the Canadian College Bowl. It’s important to remember that up until the 1960s the terms “university” and “college” were often used interchangeably. There were no community or vocational colleges (post-secondary non-degree awarding institutions) like what we have today. So, it was common to refer to university football as college football.

Advertisement in the Globe and Mail advertising tickets for sale for the Save the Children College Bowl for the Vanier Cup

The initial Canadian College Bowl was sponsored by the Save the Children Fund. In fact, the initial college bowl was partly set up to help raise money for the charity. A team of panellists selected the two teams – the University of Toronto Varsity Blues and the University of Alberta Golden Bears – that would compete for the first “national championship.” It wasn’t until 1967 that a national playoff system was held to determine the Canadian College Bowl contestants.

Coverage of the first Canadian College Bowl in the Toronto Star

On November 20, 1965, the Varsity Blues defeated the Golden Bears by a score of 14-7 in dismal conditions at Toronto’s Varsity Stadium. Less than 2500 fans braved the rain to come out to watch the inaugural championship. Not only did the weather keep the fans away, but the game was also largely overshadowed by the CFL playoffs that were being played and televised on the same day.

Governor General Georges Vanier, an avid sports fan, lent his name to a trophy to be awarded to the winner of the Canadian College Bowl. Thus, the Vanier Cup was born. His Excellency himself presented the new trophy to the U of T at a banquet the following year.

Governor General Georges Vanier presenting the Vanier Cup to the University of Toronto (Toronto Star photo by Doug Griffin)

The Canadian College Bowl began to gain some traction in the years that followed. Like the pros, university teams now had a national championship to play for. Finally, in 1982, the name of the game was formally changed from the Canadian College Bowl to the Vanier Cup.

Sources:
Globe and Mail (17 November 1965)
Kingston Whig Standard (22 November 1965)
Toronto Star (2 September 1965)
Toronto Star (16 March 1966)
Vancouver Sun (2 September 1965)

November 26, 2025
Varsity Wins the Almost Forgotten Grey Cup

In 1909, Governor General Earl Grey donated a trophy to be awarded to the amateur rugby football champions of Canada. The University of Toronto won the inaugural championship with a 26-6 win over Toronto Parkdale. Various teams in Toronto and Hamilton competed in the early Grey Cup contests before the game was put on hold after 1915 due to the First World War.

1920 University of Toronto Varsity Team (photo courtesy of the Canadian Football Research Society)

The Grey Cup was then virtually forgotten. The trophy itself was locked away hidden in a storage vault. War has a way of resetting priorities, you see. After football resumed in Canada in 1919, there were growing organizational issues amongst some teams and disagreements amongst the rugby unions, climaxing in a decision by McGill University and Montreal to refuse to contest the Canadian Rugby Union playoffs. Alas, there was no Grey Cup in 1919, either.

Coverage of the 1920 Grey Cup in the Toronto Star on December 6, 1920.

But in 1920, the Grey Cup made its triumphant return. And a couple of familiar teams were back in the mix to win the big game. On Saturday, December 4, 1920, the University of Toronto played the Toronto Argonauts in the 8th edition of the Grey Cup. Played in less-than-ideal conditions (rain and mud!) at Toronto’s Varsity Stadium, Varsity’s Joe Breen was the star of the day, according to the Toronto Star, leading his team to a 16-3 victory over the Argonauts.

Coverage of the 1920 Grey Cup in the Globe and Mail on December 6, 1920.

This would be the University of Toronto’s fourth and final Grey Cup championship. At the time, Varsity was considered by many to be the best football team in the country. Their championship win cemented this sentiment.

Despite being relegated to a dark memory hole just a few years prior, the Grey Cup was back. And perhaps that’s what mattered most.

Sources:

https://web.archive.org/web/20130820024400/http://cfl.ca/page/his_greycup_recap1920

The Toronto Star, 6 December 1920

The Globe and Mail, 6 December 1920

November 12, 2025