To be clear, I specifically said I don't think a maritime expansion will work for the CFL,
unless Halifax has a natural rival in the maritimes. Moncton is the logical location for a second CFL team in the maritimes, and in terms of expanding and upgrading their stadium, they're a lot closer to having a 25,000+ person stadium than Halifax is.
The greatest rivalry in the CFL (Saskatchewan vs Winnipeg) is the rivalry with the furthest distance between the two teams in the league, and it's between two of the most similar provinces in the country. If Regina never had a team, almost no one would travel to Winnipeg for CFL games, or vice versa. Although without the CFL rivalry, there might be less animosity between Saskatchewanians and Manitobans
I think it's a huge reach (Like Elly is suggesting) to expect many if any people from PEI, NB, or Newfoundland and Labrador to travel to Halifax to support a CFL team "as their own", simply because they're called the Atlantic Schooners and not the Halifax Schooners.
They could make the Saint John->Digby ferry free, and I still don't think many Saint Johners would go watch (let alone support) the Halifax CFL team simply because they called them "the Atlantic Schooners".
However, I could see
many Saint Johners travelling to Moncton to support a New Brunswick CFL team molded in the image of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and sponsored by Alpine Lager. I imagine there'd also be many proud New Brunswickers from Fredericton and elsewhere that would support an NB branded CFL team in Moncton, our largest city. I think many New Brunswickers from Moncton, Saint John, and Fredericton would travel to Halifax to support the New Brunswick CFL team in the Maritimes version of "the Banjo Bowl", and maybe many Haligonians would travel to Moncton.
Also, Schooner is a
Nova Scotian beer, and a
Nova Scotian symbol. Beer matters
a lot when it comes to the CFL, or at least it does in Saskatchewan and Winnipeg. The Riders have Old Style Pilsner and the Bombers have Labatt Blue.
Rider fans at the first Banjo Bowl in Winnipeg
I've always found Alpine in New Brunswick to be especially analogous to Pilsner in Saskatchewan, as you find merch and advertising for this beer absolutely everywhere in both provinces, and they are beers that are especially associated with pride in their province (and football team).
After taking a trip to New Brunswick to see my grandparents and see their province as a teenager, I soon came to feel like New Brunswick was like a smaller, coastal Saskatchewan, and the similarities with Alpine and Pilsner beer advertising plastered everywhere or people buying/ collecting the merchandise was a big part of why I felt the two provinces were similar, along with the demographics of the province between multiple cities, not just one like Winnipeg or Halifax.
I think New Brunswick, not Nova Scotia has the best chance in Canada to successfully emulate the secret sauce that makes the Saskatchewan Roughriders successful as a province wide CFL team... and Halifax could be the Winnipeg of the East in the CFL.
Halifax/Nova Scotia is analogous to Winnipeg/Manitoba, as the primate city and capital of each province. Whereas New Brunswick is more analogous to Saskatchewan, without a primate city, and who's biggest city is
not the capital.
In the Saskatchewan vs Winnipeg rivalry (the greatest rivalry in the CFL), there's a lot more Sask fans that make the trip to Winnipeg than Winnipeg fans that make the trip to Regina. I'd imagine it would be a similar situation between a New Brunswick team and a Halifax team, where more NB fans would actually travel to support their team than vice versa. Victoria just makes sense, since the CFL is much more popular in Western Canada than Eastern Canada, and Victoria is the largest CMA in Western Canada without a CFL team.
What makes the CFL so great is the regional rivalries. I've taken the liberty to map it out, and think adding teams in Victoria, Moncton, and Halifax would be a great way to even out the two conferences for a league of 12.
12 teams, 6 natural rivalries
I'm not sure if Quebec City has any interest in a CFL team, but I could see adding a team there along with one more in Western Canada working for a league of 14.
The CFL should chill out a bit too with their super strict standards for stadium quality and minimum seating capacities. It's a league of marginal popularity, and they shouldn't make the bar for expansion teams so high if they actually want to grow their league.
One good thing the CFL has going for them in terms of expansion and getting governments to support funding for stadiums, is the rising popularity of soccer. The rising popularity of soccer could make governments much more willing to fund the construction of new stadiums or expanding existing ones. There should be professional soccer teams at every CFL stadium in Canada.
Canada would be better off with 12 quality stadiums from the West Coast to the East Coast. Having a dozen quality stadiums across the country could enable Canada to host the
Copa America one day, and make both types of professional
football in Canada much more interesting.
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