CFL

[nucklehead_88]

Sorry nucklehead, no way does Victoria support a CFL team.

I'm not so sure about that.

Regina has a CFL Football team and Victoria has a larger population. Furthermore - Nanaimo (2nd largest city on Vancouver Island) has a population that is close to 90,000 people....and travelling to Victoria would be cheaper and quicker than going to Vancouver.

I would argue that if Victoria got a CFL team, it would be well received. Victoria, for one of the 1st times ever, would get to play with "the big boys" in one of Canada's major sports. We see how nutty Saskatchewan Roughrider fans can be (for similar reasons). I could see the same thing happening with Victoria (although I wonder if a lot of Lions fans....would be willing to foresake them in favor of Victoria's team.....or would it even be an issue?).

I was about to respond with pretty much all the same points. And as for the Lions fans jumping ship, just think about the Houston Texans (bigger market i know but still the idea is there!) where the Cowboys were the only team in that State for decades and manage to have a solid, loving fanbase. In the near future (next 3-5 years) probably not, but maybe 5+ years there could be something there! BC needs a second city to compete with Vancouver......it's getting boring being the only fish in the pond out here!

[Puck]

I note that all these responses are coming from guys that don't live on the Island. Victoria is not a small version of Vancouver. First of all, you can't use Regina as an example because a) The Riders are the *only* major pro sport in Saskatchewan so their support is somewhat magnified, b) they draw from the entire province unhampered by a ferry, and c) have you noticed the loyalty level of Rider fans? It is not matched by many fans in this province.

The biggest issue is that you wouldn't draw from any further north than maybe Comox/Courtenay. The total population of that area south to Victoria is maybe 500,000 and you'd need to get 25,000 of them per game. Do you think that 1:20 people (including children and the elderly) are interested in going to a CFL game - especially if 25% have to drive for 2 hours to get there? If you draw from only Greater Victoria, you need 1:14. That may look plausible, but it's not. At least not here. This town is NOT big on team sports. Many are not into sports at all, and a large number that are are into individual pursuits - this region has lots of cyclists, hikers, and kayakers. I once had someone ask me what the logo was on my hat (Canucks Orca "C").

I would love to have a team here. I'm not trying to be Mr. Negative. I'd be the first in line to grab seasons tickets, but at this time, it's not going to happen. Perhaps some of the other island residents can chime in.

BTW, Houston is the third largest city in the US, in football-MAD Texas. No parallel whatsoever.

[Cookie La Rue]

Right Puck, i was in Nanaimo overnight nearly 2 weeks ago, walking from Departure bay to the Cambies where the Invasives played and back the next day and it felt like they have a population of 900 and not 90.000.......