History UsefulNotes / CanadianFootballLeague

* ''Saskatchewan Roughriders'': AKA the Riders. Founded in 1910 and based in Saskatchewan's provincial capital of Regina. Not usually a successful team, though there have been seasonal exceptions, the Riders are nevertheless known for their ''absolutely devoted fans'', to the point of being called the Canadian counterpart of the Packers.[[note]]Much like the Packers, the Roughriders play in their league's smallest market and are a community-owned team. The teams' fanbases even share an affinity for unusual headgear–a good number of Packers fans wear foam blocks shaped like cheese wedges, while some Riders fans wear actual hollowed-out watermelons.[[/note]] Their major rival is Winnipeg, (often) crossing division lines, especially after an incident in which a Winnipeg player recalled a provincial stereotype in an interview and referred to the Saskatchewan population as "banjo-pickin' inbreds". However, much like Toronto, they also hate nearly every other team in the league for some grudge or another. For many years, the Riders were one of two similarly-named teams in the CFL. From the 1950s (when Canada's Eastern and Western leagues merged into the modern CFL) through 1996, the 'Riders co-existed with the Ottawa Rough Riders.

As of the 2015 CFL season, the roster of CFL teams consists of:

* ''Saskatchewan Roughriders'': AKA the Riders. Founded in 1910 and based in Saskatchewan's provincial capital of Regina. Not usually a successful team, though there have been seasonal exceptions, the Riders are nevertheless known for their ''absolutely devoted fans'', to the point of being called the Canadian counterpart of the Packers.[[note]]Much like the Packers, the Roughriders play in their league's smallest market and are a community-owned team. The teams' fanbases even share an affinity for unusual headgear–a good number of Packers fans wear foam blocks shaped like cheese wedges, while some Riders fans wear headgear shaped like hollowed-out watermelons.[[/note]] Their major rival is Winnipeg, (often) crossing division lines, especially after an incident in which a Winnipeg player recalled a provincial stereotype in an interview and referred to the Saskatchewan population as "banjo-pickin' inbreds". However, much like Toronto, they also hate nearly every other team in the league for some grudge or another. For many years, the Riders were one of two similarly-named teams in the CFL. From the 1950s (when Canada's Eastern and Western leagues merged into the modern CFL) through 1996, the 'Riders co-existed with the Ottawa Rough Riders.

The CFL season starts in mid-June and ends with the CFL championship game, the Grey Cup, at end of November. The CFL season starts in the summer and ends in November to avoid playing in the winter, since almost every team (with BC as the exception) plays in open air stadiums, and to avoid getting overshadowed by the NHL regular season (and for the CFL's American fans, NCAA bowl games and the NFL playoffs). After a two game preseason, each team plays an 18 game regular season schedule in a modified double round robin format, with each team playing six teams twice and two divisional opponents thrice. At the end of the regular season, six teams advance to the CFL playoffs. The top team in both divisions earns a bye in the divisional semifinals and home field advantage in the divisional finals. In the divisional semifinals, the second place team hosts the third place team in their respective division; however, under the "crossover rule", the fourth place team in the opposing division can take the third place team's place provided that they have a better win-loss record[[note]]While an intradivisional Grey Cup is possible with the crossover rule, no crossover team has advanced to the Grey Cup championship as of 2015[[/note]]. The winners of the divisional semifinals advance to their respective divisional finals, and the winners of divisional finals play for the Grey Cup.

* ''Saskatchewan Roughriders'': AKA the Riders. Founded in 1910 and based in Saskatchewan's provincial capital of Regina. Not usually a successful team, though there have been seasonal exceptions, the Riders are nevertheless known for their ''absolutely devoted fans'', to the point of being called the Canadian counterpart of the Packers.[[note]]Much like the Packers, the Roughriders play in their league's smallest market and are a community-owned team. The teams' fanbases even share an affinity for unusual headgear–a good number of Packers fans wear foam blocks shaped like cheese wedges, while some Riders fans wear headgear shaped like hollowed-out watermelons.[[/note][ Their major rival is Winnipeg, (often) crossing division lines, especially after an incident in which a Winnipeg player recalled a provincial stereotype in an interview and referred to the Saskatchewan population as "banjo-pickin' inbreds". However, much like Toronto, they also hate nearly every other team in the league for some grudge or another. For many years, the Riders were one of two similarly-named teams in the CFL. From the 1950s (when Canada's Eastern and Western leagues merged into the modern CFL) through 1996, the 'Riders co-existed with the Ottawa Rough Riders.

* ''Saskatchewan Roughriders'': AKA the Riders. Founded in 1910 and based in Saskatchewan's provincial capital of Regina. Not usually a successful team, though there have been seasonal exceptions, the Riders are nevertheless known for their ''absolutely devoted fans'', to the point of being called the Canadian counterpart of the Packers[[note]]Much like the Packers, the Roughriders play in their league's smallest market and are a community-owned team[[/note]]. Their major rival is Winnipeg, (often) crossing division lines, especially after an incident in which a Winnipeg player recalled a provincial stereotype in an interview and referred to the Saskatchewan population as "banjo-pickin' inbreds". However, much like Toronto, they also hate nearly every other team in the league for some grudge or another. For many years, the Riders were one of two similarly-named teams in the CFL. From the 1950s (when Canada's Eastern and Western leagues merged into the modern CFL) through 1996, the 'Riders co-existed with the Ottawa Rough Riders.

In recent years, the CFL has explored the idea of adding a tenth team to the league, preferably in the Eastern Division. One-off games have been played in Quebec City, Halifax (NS), and Moncton (NB) and all were well attended. An attempt was actually made back in 2009 to start up a Quebec City team (Montreal had won the Grey Cup that year), but the management of the Montreal Alouettes replied that any attempt to form another Quebec team would need to go through them, and nothing has been heard since. A CFL expansion team, the ''Atlantic Schooners'' (meant to represent all four Atlantic provinces), was even awarded to Halifax in 1984, but never came to fruition. This came after the franchise's owners lacked the funds needed to build a new stadium using land purchased in neighbouring Dartmouth. The Schooners are still included in official things that don't require an actual team, however; for example, when the Grey Cup rolls around, there's a party in the host city for each team [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and one for the Schooners]]. West of Montreal, other locations often rumoured for a tenth CFL team include Saskatoon (SK), London (ON), Windsor (ON), and Victoria (BC). The Regina-based Roughriders argue that Saskatchewan is not populous enough, with only a little over one million residents in the entire province, to support a team in Saskatoon. For London and Windsor, the Argos, Ti-Cats, and Redblacks would likely object to a fourth team in Southern Ontario; also, Windsor is on the Canada[=/=]US border next to UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}}, and a Windsor CFL team would very likely be overshadowed by the NFL's Lions (despite their near-perennial ButtMonkey status) and the [[UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootball Big Ten's]] Michigan Wolverines and Michigan State Spartans. Victoria is unlikely to land a CFL team, due to its close proximity to both Vancouver and UsefulNotes/{{Seattle}} and its relative isolation from mainland Canada on Vancouver Island.

Among the main differences are 12 men per side versus 11, 3 downs per series versus 4, the neutral zone being a full yard wide rather than just a football's length (meaning that quickness is more important for Canadian offensive linemen than it is in the U.S. game; also, if third down is within a yard of the first down marker, the offence will more often than not attempt to convert), a 110-yard long field with 20-yard end zones (Originally 25 yards but shortened as a side effect of the American expansion experiment) versus 100/10, unlimited backfield players in motion, and the fact that any kick that goes into the end zone and isn't returned (including missed field goals) counts for one point (a "single" or "rouge"). These rules open up the passing game considerably and result in several otherwise unmemorable NFL players being able to do very well in the CFL, as well as the inverse. The leader for combined passing yards in all North American professional football leagues, Anthony Calvillo, played exclusively in the CFL and quarterbacks like Doug Flutie and Jeff Garcia have done extremely well in the CFL despite average careers in the US [[note]]Additionally, there is just one player that played with the CFL at some point in their career who is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Quarterback [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Moon Warren Moon]] (who after playing a few very good years with the Edmonton Eskimos, went on to an outstanding NFL career)[[/note]]. CFL supporters in Canada tend to point to this as evidence of a more exciting game while NFL supporters point out that there is a significant difference in skill between the two leagues. At any rate, the NFL and CFL have always had a good relationship, and were more or less on equal footing until the 1980's, when broadcasting rights to NFL games became ridiculously lucrative.

In recent years, the CFL has explored the idea of adding a tenth team to the league, preferably in the Eastern Division. One-off games have been played in Quebec City, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Moncton, New Brunswick, and all were well attended. An attempt was actually made back in 2009 to start up a Quebec City team (Montreal had won the Grey Cup that year), but the management of the Montreal Alouettes replied that any attempt to form another Quebec team would need to go through them, and nothing has been heard since. A CFL expansion team, the ''Atlantic Schooners'' (meant to represent all four Atlantic provinces), was even awarded to Halifax in 1984, but never came to fruition. This came after the franchise's owners lacked the funds needed to build a new stadium using land purchased in neighbouring Dartmouth. The Schooners are still included in official things that don't require an actual team, however; for example, when the Grey Cup rolls around, there's a party in the host city for each team [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and one for the Schooners]]. West of Montreal, other locations often rumoured for a tenth CFL team include Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, London and Windsor, both in Ontario, and Victoria, BC. The Regina-based Roughriders contend that Saskatchewan is not populous enough, with only a little over one million residents in the entire province, to support a team in Saskatoon. For London and Windsor, the Argos, Ti-Cats, and Redblacks would likely object to a fourth team in Southern Ontario; also, Windsor is on the Canada[=/=]US border next to UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}}, and a Windsor CFL team would very likely be overshadowed by the NFL's Lions (despite their near-perennial ButtMonkey status) and the [[UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootball Big Ten's]] Michigan Wolverines and Michigan State Spartans. Victoria is unlikely to land a CFL team, due to its close proximity to Vancouver (and to a lesser extent, UsefulNotes/{{Seattle}} and the NFL's Seahawks) and its relative isolation from mainland Canada on Vancouver Island.

The CFL season starts in mid-June and ends with the CFL championship game, the Grey Cup, at end of November. The CFL season starts in the summer and ends in November to avoid playing in the winter, since every team except BC play in open air stadiums, and to avoid getting overshadowed by NCAA bowl games, the NFL playoffs, and the NHL regular season. After a two game preseason, each team plays an 18 game regular season schedule in a modified double round robin format, playing six teams twice and two divisional opponents thrice. At the end of the regular season, six teams advance to the CFL playoffs. The top team in each division earns a bye in the divisional semifinals and home field advantage in the divisional finals. In the divisional semifinals, the second place team hosts the third place team in their respective division; however, under the "crossover rule", the fourth place team in the opposing division can take the third place team's place if the fourth place team has a better record than the native third place team[[note]]While an intradivisional Grey Cup is possible with the crossover rule, no crossover team has advanced to the Grey Cup championship as of 2015[[/note]]. The winners of the divisional semifinals advance to their respective divisional finals, and the winners of divisional finals play for the Grey Cup.

In recent years, the CFL has explored the idea of adding a tenth team to the league, preferably in the Eastern Division. One-off games have been played in Quebec City, Halifax, and Moncton, and all were well attended. An attempt was actually made back in 2009 to start up a Quebec City team (Montreal had won the Grey Cup that year), but the management of the Montreal Alouettes replied that any attempt to form another Quebec team would need to go through them, and nothing has been heard since. A CFL expansion team, the ''Atlantic Schooners'' (meant to represent all four Atlantic provinces), was even awarded to Halifax in 1984, but never came to fruition. This came after the franchise's owners lacked the funds needed to build a new stadium using land purchased in neighbouring Dartmouth. The Schooners are still included in official things that don't require an actual team, however; for example, when the Grey Cup rolls around, there's a party in the host city for each team [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and one for the Schooners]]. West of Montreal, other locations often rumoured for a tenth CFL team include Saskatoon, London and Windsor. The Regina-based Roughriders contend that Saskatchewan is not populous enough, with only a little over one million residents in the entire province, to support a team in Saskatoon. For London and Windsor, the Argos, Ti-Cats, and Redblacks would likely object to a fourth team in Southern Ontario; also, since Windsor is on the Canada[=/=]US border next to UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}}, a Windsor CFL team would very likely be overshadowed by the NFL's Lions (despite their near-perennial ButtMonkey status) and the [[UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootball Big Ten's]] Michigan Wolverines and Michigan State Spartans.

Among the main differences are 12 men per side versus 11, 3 downs per series versus 4, the neutral zone being a full yard wide rather than just a football's length (meaning that quickness is more important for Canadian offencive linemen than it is in the U.S. game; also, if third down is within a yard of the first down marker, the offence will more often than not attempt to convert), a 110-yard long field with 20-yard end zones (Originally 25 yards but shortened as a side effect of the American expansion experiment) versus 100/10, unlimited backfield players in motion, and the fact that any kick that goes into the end zone and isn't returned (including missed field goals) counts for one point (a "single" or "rouge"). These rules open up the passing game considerably and result in several otherwise unmemorable NFL players being able to do very well in the CFL, as well as the inverse. The leader for combined passing yards in all North American professional football leagues, Anthony Calvillo, played exclusively in the CFL and quarterbacks like Doug Flutie and Jeff Garcia have done extremely well in the CFL despite average careers in the US [[note]]Additionally, there is just one player that played with the CFL at some point in their career who is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Quarterback [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Moon Warren Moon]] (who after playing a few very good years with the Edmonton Eskimos, went on to an outstanding NFL career)[[/note]]. CFL supporters in Canada tend to point to this as evidence of a more exciting game while NFL supporters point out that there is a significant difference in skill between the two leagues. At any rate, the NFL and CFL have always had a good relationship, and were more or less on equal footing until the 1980's, when broadcasting rights to NFL games became ridiculously lucrative.

In recent years, the CFL has explored the idea of adding a tenth team to the league, preferably somewhere east of Montreal. One-off games have been played in Quebec City, Halifax, and Moncton, and all were well attended. An attempt was actually made back in 2009 to start up a Quebec City team (Montreal had won the Grey Cup that year), but the management of the Montreal Alouettes replied that any attempt to form another Quebec team would need to go through them, and nothing has been heard since. A CFL expansion team, the ''Atlantic Schooners'' (meant to represent all four Atlantic provinces), was even awarded to Halifax in 1984, but never came to fruition. This came after the franchise's owners lacked the funds needed to build a new stadium using land purchased in neighbouring Dartmouth. The Schooners are still included in official things that don't require an actual team, however; for example, when the Grey Cup rolls around, there's a party in the host city for each team [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and one for the Schooners]]. West of Montreal, other locations often rumoured for a tenth CFL team include Saskatoon, London and Windsor. The Regina-based Roughriders contend that Saskatchewan is not populous enough[[note]]with only a little over one million residents in the entire province[[/note]] to support a team in Saskatoon. Windsor is considered part of UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}}'s media market, and a Windsor CFL team would be overshadowed by the NFL's Lions (despite their near-perennial ButtMonkey status) and the Big Ten's Michigan Wolverines and Michigan State Spartans.

* ''Saskatchewan Roughriders'': AKA the Riders. Founded in 1910. Not usually a successful team, though there have been seasonal exceptions, the Riders are nevertheless known for their ''absolutely devoted fans'', to the point of being called the Canadian counterpart of the Packers. Their major rival is Winnipeg, (often) crossing division lines, especially after an incident in which a Winnipeg player recalled a provincial stereotype in an interview and referred to the Saskatchewan population as "banjo-pickin' inbreds". However, much like Toronto, they also hate nearly every other team in the league for some grudge or another. For many years, the Riders were one of two similarly-named teams in the CFL. From the 1950s (when Canada's Eastern and Western leagues merged into the modern CFL) through 1996, the 'Riders co-existed with the Ottawa Rough Riders.

The CFL season starts in mid-June and ends with the CFL championship game, the Grey Cup, at end of November. The CFL season starts in the summer and ends in November to avoid playing in the winter, since every team except BC play in open air stadiums, and to avoid getting overshadowed by NCAA bowl games, the NFL playoffs, and the NHL regular season. After a three week, two game preseason, each team plays an 18 game schedule regular season schedule lasting over 20 weeks in a modified double round robin format. At the end of the regular season, six teams advance to the CFL playoffs. The top team in each division earns a bye in the divisional semifinals and home field advantage in the divisional finals. In the divisional semifinals, the second place team hosts the third place team in their respective division; however, under the "crossover rule", the fourth place team in the opposing division can take the third place team's place if the fourth place team has a better record[[note]]While an intradivisional Grey Cup is possible with the crossover rule, no crossover team has advanced to the Grey Cup championship as of 2015[[/note]]. The winners of the divisional semifinals advance to their respective divisional finals, and the winners those games play for the Grey Cup.

The Grey Cup is a major annual event in Canada. The Grey Cup is considered to be a major symbol of Canadian sport, although it's not as well known as the Stanley Cup by non-Canadians. Like the Stanley Cup, the Grey Cup trophy was originally commissioned as an amateur trophy; however, it became solely contested by the CFL's predecessor leagues by 1933, is reused every year and the name of players, coaches, front office staff, and owners are engraved upon it. Similar to the UsefulNotes/SuperBowl, the Grey Cup game is hosted at a predetermined site every year; however, with six out of nine teams in the playoffs, it is not uncommon for a team to play for the Grey Cup in its own stadium[[note]]However, whenever Montreal hosts the game, it is held in the Olympic Stadium rather than the Alouettes' regular home of Molson Stadium[[/note]].

The CFL season starts in mid-June and ends with the CFL championship game, the Grey Cup, end of November. The CFL season ends in November to avoid playing in the winter (since every team except BC play in open air stadiums) and to avoid getting overshadowed by NCAA bowl games, the NFL playoffs, and the NHL regular season. After a three week, two game preseason, each team plays an 18 game schedule regular season schedule lasting over 20 weeks in a modified double round robin format. At the end of the regular season, six teams advance to the CFL playoffs. The top team in each division earns a bye in the divisional semifinals and home field advantage in the divisional finals. In the divisional semifinals, the second place team hosts the third place team in their respective division; however, under the "crossover rule", the fourth place team in the opposing division can take the third place team's place if the fourth place team has a better record[[note]]As of 2015, no crossover team has advanced to the Grey Cup championship[[/note]]. The winners of the divisional semifinals advance to their respective divisional finals, and the winners those games play for the Grey Cup.

The CFL season starts in mid-June and ends with the CFL championship game, the Grey Cup, end of November. The CFL season ends in November to avoid playing in the winter (since every team except BC play in open air stadiums) and to avoid getting overshadowed by NCAA bowl games, the NFL playoffs, and the NHL regular season. After a three week, two game preseason, each team plays an 18 game schedule regular season schedule lasting over 20 weeks in a modified double round robin format. At the end of the regular season, six teams advance to the CFL playoffs. The top team in each division earns home field advantage in the divisional finals and a bye in the divisional semifinals. In the divisional semifinals, the second place team hosts the third place team in their respective division; however, under the "crossover rule", the fourth place team in the opposing division can take the third place team's place if the former team finishes with a better record than the latter team. The winners of the divisional semifinals advance to their respective divisional finals, and the winners there play for the Grey Cup.

The Grey Cup is a major annual event in Canada. The Grey Cup is considered to be a major symbol of Canadian sport, although it's not as well known as the Stanley Cup by non-Canadians. Like the Stanley Cup, the Grey Cup trophy was originally commissioned as an amateur trophy; however, it became solely contested by the CFL's predecessor leagues by 1933, is reused every year and the name of players, coaches, front office staff, and owners are engraved upon it. Similar to the UsefulNotes/SuperBowl, the Grey Cup game is hosted at a predetermined site every year; however, given the small size of the CFL (with six out of nine teams in the playoffs), it is not uncommon for a team to play for the Grey Cup in its own stadium.

The CFL season starts in mid-June and lasts until the end of November. After a three week, two game preseason, each team plays an 18 game schedule regular season schedule lasting over 20 weeks in a modified double round robin format. At the end of the regular season, six teams advance to the CFL playoffs. The top team in each division earns a first round bye and home field in the divisional finals. In the divisional semifinals, the second place team hosts the third place team in their respective division; however, under the "crossover rule", the fourth place team in the opposing division can take the third place team's place if the former team finishes with a better record than the latter team. The winners of each divisional semifinal advances to their respective divisional finals, and the winners there advance to the CFL's championship game, the Grey Cup.

The Grey Cup is a major annual event in Canada. The Grey Cup is considered to be a major symbol of Canadian sport, although it's not as well known as the Stanley Cup by non-Canadians. Like the Stanley Cup, the Grey Cup trophy was originally commissioned as an amateur trophy; however, it became solely contested by the CFL's predecessor leagues by 1933, is reused every year and the name of players, coaches, front office staff, and owners are engraved upon it. Similar to the UsefulNotes/SuperBowl, the Grey Cup game is hosted at a predetermined site every year; however, given the small size of the CFL, it is not uncommon for a team to play for the Grey Cup in its own stadium.

The CFL season starts in mid-June and lasts until the end of November. After a three week, two game preseason, each team plays an 18 game schedule regular season schedule lasting over 20 weeks in a modified double round robin format. At the end of the regular season, six teams advance to the CFL playoffs. The top team in each division earns a first round bye and home field in the divisional finals. In the divisional semifinals, the second place team hosts the third place team in their respective division; however, under the "crossover rule", the fourth place team in the opposing division can take the third place team's place if the former team finishes with a better record that the latter team. The winners of each divisional semifinal advances to their respective divisional finals, and the winners there advance to the CFL's championship game, the Grey Cup.

The CFL's championship, the Grey Cup, is a major annual event in Canada. The Grey Cup is considered a major symbol of Canadian sport, although it's not as well known as the Stanley Cup by non-Canadians. Like the Stanley Cup, the Grey Cup was originally commissioned as an amateur trophy; however, it became solely contested by the CFL's predecessor leagues by 1933, is reused every year and the name of players, coaches, front office staff, and owners are engraved upon it.

In recent years, the CFL has explored the idea of adding a team somewhere east of Montreal. One-off games have been played in Quebec City, Halifax, and Moncton, and all were well attended. An attempt was actually made back in 2009 to start up a Quebec City team (Montreal had won the Grey Cup that year), but the management of the Montreal Alouettes replied that any attempt to form another Quebec team would need to go through them, and nothing has been heard since. A CFL expansion team, the ''Atlantic Schooners'' (meant to represent all four Atlantic provinces), was even awarded to Halifax in 1984, but never came to fruition. This came after the franchise's owners lacked the funds needed to build a new stadium using land purchased in neighbouring Dartmouth. The Schooners are still included in official things that don't require an actual team, however; for example, when the Grey Cup rolls around, there's a party in the host city for each team [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and one for the Schooners]]. West of Montreal, locations rumoured for a tenth CFL team include Saskatoon, London and Windsor; however, the Regina-based Roughriders contend that Saskatchewan is not populous enough[[note]]with only a little over one million residents in the entire province[[/note]] to support a team in Saskatoon, a Windsor CFL team would be overshadowed by the NFL's Detroit Lions (despite their perennial ButtMonkey status) and the Big Ten's Michigan Wolverines and Michigan State Spartans, and London lies halfway between Detroit and Toronto.

* ''Ottawa Redblacks'': Introduced in 2014, the Redblacks are the CFL's third team in Canada's capital. The first, the Ottawa Rough Riders, was one of the oldest teams in the CFL, founded in 1876 and folded in 1996. The second team, the Renegades, only lasted for a few years before folding (it lasted 2002-2005). With the [[DevelopmentHell issues regarding the redevelopment of Ottawa's football stadium]] and the area around it having been worked out, the way was cleared for the Redblacks to return the CFL to Ottawa. The new stadium, TD Place (formerly named Frank Clair Stadium, after an Ottawa Rough Riders legend), at the redeveloped Lansdowne Park, opened with the Redblacks' first home game on July 18, 2014; they won against the Toronto Argonauts. After a 2-16 inaugural campaign, the [=RedBlacks=] clinched the Eastern Division in only their second year of existence, marking the first time any club from Ottawa reached the Grey Cup in over three decades; unfortunately, the [=RedBlacks=] fell short in the 103rd Grey Cup.

In recent years, the CFL has explored the idea of adding a team somewhere east of Montreal. One-off games have been played in Quebec City, Halifax, and Moncton, and all were well attended. An attempt was actually made back in 2009 to start up a Quebec City team (Montreal had won the Grey Cup that year), but the management of the Montreal Alouettes replied that any attempt to form another Quebec team would need to go through them, and nothing has been heard since. A CFL expansion team, the ''Atlantic Schooners'' (meant to represent all four Atlantic provinces), was even awarded to Halifax in 1984, but never came to fruition. This came after the franchise's owners lacked the funds needed to build a new stadium using land purchased in neighbouring Dartmouth. The Schooners are still included in official things that don't require an actual team, however; for example, when the Grey Cup rolls around, there's a party in the host city for each team [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and one for the Schooners]].

Among the main differences are 12 men per side versus 11, 3 downs per series versus 4, the neutral zone being a full yard wide rather than just a football's length (meaning that quickness is more important for Canadian offensive linemen than it is in the U.S. game), a 110-yard long field with 20-yard end zones (Originally 25 yards but shortened as a side effect of the American expansion experiment) versus 100/10, unlimited backfield players in motion, and the fact that any kick that goes into the end zone and isn't returned (including missed field goals) counts for one point (a "single" or "rouge"). These rules open up the passing game considerably and result in several otherwise unmemorable NFL players being able to do very well in the CFL, as well as the inverse. The leader for combined passing yards in all North American professional football leagues, Anthony Calvillo, played exclusively in the CFL and quarterbacks like Doug Flutie and Jeff Garcia have done extremely well in the CFL despite average careers in the US [[note]]Additionally, there is just one player that played with the CFL at some point in their career who is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Quarterback [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Moon Warren Moon]] (who after playing a few very good years with the Edmonton Eskimos, went on to an outstanding NFL career)[[/note]]. CFL supporters in Canada tend to point to this as evidence of a more exciting game while NFL supporters point out that there is a significant difference in skill between the two leagues. At any rate, the NFL and CFL have always had a good relationship, and were more or less on equal footing until the 1980's, when broadcasting rights to NFL games became ridiculously lucrative.

As of the 2014 CFL season, the roster of CFL teams consists of:

* ''Edmonton Eskimos'': AKA the Esks (and originally the [[ItIsPronouncedTroPAY Esquimaux]]). Though Toronto has the most Grey Cup wins of the overall history of the league, Edmonton has the most Grey Cup wins of the league in its current incarnation, and is thus a very popular team. Continuing the "Battle of Alberta" tradition made famous by the NHL, its main rival is Calgary.

* ''Ottawa Redblacks'': Introduced in 2014, the Redblacks are the CFL's third team in Canada's capital. The first, the Ottawa Rough Riders, was one of the oldest teams in the CFL, founded in 1876. The team folded in 1996. The second team, the Renegades, only lasted for a few years before folding (it lasted 2002-2005). With the [[DevelopmentHell issues regarding the redevelopment of Ottawa's football stadium]] and the area around it having been worked out, the way was cleared for the Redblacks to return the CFL to Ottawa. The new stadium, TD Place (formerly named Frank Clair Stadium, after an Ottawa Rough Riders legend), at the redeveloped Lansdowne Park, opened with the Redblacks' first home game on July 18, 2014; they won against the Toronto Argonauts.

For a trial period in the early-to-mid 1990s, the CFL also included a few American teams; these are no longer a part of the league. The most successful of these teams was the Baltimore franchise, who played two seasons (1994-95), reaching the Grey Cup game both times, and winning in 1995. The team was sued by the NFL to keep them from going by the name "Baltimore CFL Colts", although this didn't stop Baltimore fans from using the Colts name (the PA announcer would give a pause after "Your Baltimore CFL" to allow the crowd to shout "Colts!" before finishing with "... football team"). By the start of the 1995 season, the team had settled on "Baltimore Stallions". While the American experiment ended in 1995, the Stallions were a strong enough franchise that they might have stayed, had Art Modell not been about to bring the Ravens to town.

The other most memorable American experiment franchise was the Las Vegas Posse, but not for the same reasons; they were a poorly-managed comedy of errors with a plethora of terrible stories, from their ticket sales (they went from hundreds for season tickets to five bucks a game with very little improvement in attendance) to their stadium (built American-style, not to mention open-air... in a ''desert'' for a league that plays over the ''summer'') to the butchering of the Canadian national anthem. They suffered so badly that they actually tried to fold mid-season. [[EpicFail The league wouldn't let them.]] The Posse ended up being a warning in hindsight, with many other Vegas-based sports franchises suffering similar woes to theirs.

As of the current 2014 CFL season, the roster of CFL teams consists of:

The professional Canadian Football League (CFL) plays UsefulNotes/AmericanFootball under the only slightly different Canadian rules. Though the CFL is [[OlderThanTheyThink considerably older]] than the UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague (if one counts its predecessor, the Canadian Rugby Union), and its rules remain closer to those originally developed for gridiron football, there has been a substantial AdaptationDisplacement making U.S.-style football far better known worldwide. Among the main differences are 12 men per side versus 11, 3 downs per series versus 4, the neutral zone being a full yard wide rather than just a football's length (meaning that quickness is more important for Canadian offensive linemen than it is in the U.S. game), a 110-yard long field with 20-yard end zones (Originally 25 yards but shortened as a side effect of the American expansion experiment) versus 100/10, unlimited backfield players in motion, and the fact that any kick that goes into the end zone and isn't returned (including missed field goals) counts for one point (a "single" or "rouge"). These rules open up the passing game considerably and result in several otherwise unmemorable NFL players being able to do very well in the CFL, as well as the inverse. The leader for combined passing yards in all North American professional football leagues, Anthony Calvillo, played exclusively in the CFL and quarterbacks like Doug Flutie and Jeff Garcia have done extremely well in the CFL despite average careers in the US [[note]]Additionally, there is just one player that played with the CFL at some point in their career who is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Quarterback [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Moon Warren Moon]] (who after playing a few very good years with the Edmonton Eskimos, went on to an outstanding NFL career)[[/note]]. CFL supporters in Canada tend to point to this as evidence of a more exciting game while NFL supporters point out that there is a significant difference in skill between the two leagues. At any rate, the NFL and CFL have always had a good relationship, and were more or less on equal footing until the 1980's, when broadcasting rights to NFL games became ridiculously lucrative.

* ''Calgary Stampeders'': AKA the Stamps. Founded in 1935, this team was originally called the Calgary Broncs. Its main rival is Edmonton due to the aforementioned provincial rivalry. Saskatchewan has also been listed as a rival in recent years, but its animosity was not for Calgary itself but [[ItsPersonal for its star player, Henry Burris]]; Burris was traded to Hamilton in 2012, eliminating this reason for heat with Rider fans. However, the sheer number of former Saskatchewan residents in Calgary (thus Riders fans at [=McMahon=] Stadium) and the memory of previous venom often leads to ''friction'' when the teams play in Calgary. A fight in the stands ''will'' erupt during most games.
* ''Saskatchewan Roughriders'': AKA the Riders. Founded in 1910. Not usually a successful team, though there have been seasonal exceptions, the Riders are nevertheless known for their ''absolutely insane fans'', to the point of being called the Canadian counterpart of the Packers. Their major rival is Winnipeg, (often) crossing division lines, especially after an incident in which a Winnipeg player recalled a provincial stereotype in an interview and referred to the Saskatchewan population as "banjo-pickin' inbreds". However, much like Toronto, they also hate nearly every other team in the league for some grudge or another. For many years, the Riders were one of two similarly-named teams in the CFL. From the 1950s (when Canada's Eastern and Western leagues merged into the modern CFL) through 1996, the 'Riders co-existed with the Ottawa Rough Riders.

* ''Ottawa Redblacks'': New for 2014, the Redblacks are the CFL's third team in Canada's capital. The first, the Ottawa Rough Riders, was one of the oldest teams in the CFL, founded in 1876. The team folded in 1996. The second team, the Renegades, only lasted for a few years before folding (it lasted 2002-2005). With the [[DevelopmentHell issues regarding the redevelopment of Ottawa's football stadium]] and the area around it having been worked out, the way was cleared for the Redblacks to return the CFL to Ottawa. The new stadium, TD Place (formerly named Frank Clair Stadium, after an Ottawa Rough Riders legend), at the redeveloped Lansdowne Park, opened with the Redblacks' first home game on July 18, 2014; they won against the Toronto Argonauts.

* ''BC Lions'': AKA the Leos. Created in 1954 and has never folded. It has long had to compete with hockey for fans' attention and lost miserably on this front, but recent events have given it a large insurgence of viewers. No inherent major rival, although Saskatchewan ends up being the default one, since the other two Western teams have each other to hate.
* ''Edmonton Eskimos'': AKA the Esks. Though Toronto has the most Grey Cup wins of the overall history of the league, Edmonton has the most Grey Cup wins of the league in its current incarnation, and is thus a very popular team. Continuing the "Battle of Alberta" tradition made famous by the NHL, its main rival is Calgary.

* ''Hamilton Tiger-Cats'': AKA the Ti-Cats. Created in 1950 from a merger of two teams. Throughout the twentieth century, either Hamilton or one of the two teams it had been before the merger won the Grey Cup at least once per decade. Its rival is Toronto, being from the same province. Their stadium (Tim Hortons Field, which opened in 2014 on the site of the Ti-Cats' former Ivor Wynne Stadium) is notable for being smack in the middle of a residential neighborhood, giving home games a feel similar to a block party.
* ''Toronto Argonauts'': AKA the Argos. One of the oldest North American sports teams still existing and the oldest North American football team, this team was founded in 1873. Has the largest amount of Grey Cup wins in the league in part because it is the oldest and has also never folded. Has near-equal animosity towards the entire Eastern Division, but its main rival is Hamilton.
* ''Montreal Alouettes'': AKA the Als. Created in 1946, this team has been in Montreal for most of its history. It folded in 1986, and was later recreated from the ex-Baltimore Stallions in 1996; league-wide team histories recognize Baltimore in Montreal's history but the Montreal team itself does not. One of the strongest teams in the league today, it won the 2009 Grey Cup when Saskatchewan received a penalty at the last second. They consider both Toronto and Edmonton their rivals.

In recent years, the CFL has explored the idea of adding a team somewhere east of Montreal. One-off games have been played in Quebec City, Halifax, and Moncton, and all were well attended. A CFL expansion team, the ''Atlantic Schooners'' (meant to represent all four Atlantic provinces), was even awarded to Halifax in 1984, but never came to fruition. This came after the franchise's owners lacked the funds needed to build a new stadium using land purchased in neighbouring Dartmouth.

* ''Ottawa [=RedBlacks=]'': New for 2014, the [=RedBlacks=] are the CFL's third team in Canada's capital. The first, the Ottawa Rough Riders, was one of the oldest teams in the CFL, founded in 1876. The team folded in 1996. The second team, the Renegades, only lasted for a few years before folding (it lasted 2002-2005). With the [[DevelopmentHell issues regarding the redevelopment of Ottawa's football stadium]] and the area around it having been worked out, the way was cleared for the [=RedBlacks=] to return the CFL to Ottawa. The new stadium, TD Place (formerly named Frank Clair Stadium, after an Ottawa Rough Riders legend), at the redeveloped Lansdowne Park, opened with the [=RedBlacks=]' first home game on July 18, 2014; they won against the Toronto Argonauts.

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