CFL USA

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CFL USA refers to the failed expansion of the Canadian Football League (CFL) into the United States in the mid 1990s. The 1993 CFL season saw the addition of the first American team to the league, the Sacramento Gold Miners. By the 1994 CFL season there were 4 American teams, and in the 1995 CFL season there were 5. However, following the 1995 season the only American team remaining was the Baltimore Stallions, which were moved to Montreal and renamed the Montreal Alouettes for the 1996 CFL season.

In 1993 the league admitted its first U.S. franchise, the Sacramento Gold Miners, in an attempt to broaden Canadian football's popular appeal and boost league revenues. The ultimate plan was to have a league of 10 Canadian and 10 American teams. Spearheading the efforts were two former World League of American Football owners, Fred Anderson and Larry J. Benson, who would each receive a franchise. While Benson's team, the San Antonio Texans, would not play a single down, the Gold Miners would see action, finishing a respectable 6-12 (but remaining at the bottom of the West Division). The following year would see more expansion: the Las Vegas Posse, the Shreveport Pirates, and the Baltimore CFL Colts (who were forced to change their name to the Stallions after a long legal battle). Baltimore was the most successful of any American CFL team, having finished second in the East and making it to the Grey Cup Finals (becoming the first American team to play for the Grey Cup).

The 1995 season saw the loss of the Posse and the move of the Gold Miners to San Antonio, while the Birmingham Barracudas and Memphis Mad Dogs were added (Teams were also considered for Orlando and Miami). However, fan interest in Canadian football, with the possible exception of the Stallions, was sparse at best. At the end of the year, which saw the Stallions become the first American team to win the Grey Cup, all but the Stallions and the San Antonio Texans folded due to financial difficulties. When the NFL announced that a new team was to be added in Baltimore, the Stallions looked at possibly relocating to nearby Richmond, Virginia, but nothing could be worked out so the team would later move to Montreal (renamed the Alouettes). The Texans would later fold with a similar explanation.

[edit] CFL USA teams

Sacramento Gold Miners 1993-1994	Las Vegas Posse 1994	Baltimore Stallions (aka Baltimore CFLers) 1994-1995	Shreveport Pirates 1994-1995
San Antonio Texans (relocated from Sacramento) 1995	Birmingham Barracudas 1995	Memphis Mad Dogs 1995