Florida’s IMG Academy is hosting preseason camps for almost half of the CFL’s teams

The CFL is coming to the Sunshine State—for real this time. Twoattempts were made to put teams in Florida during the league's USA expansion era in the 1990s, which didn't work out, but four of the league's current nine teams are heading to Florida's IMG Academy for offseason camps this year. The Saskatchewan Roughriders' camp is already underway this weekend, with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers following from April 12-15, the Edmonton Eskimos heading there April 22-25 and the Calgary Stampeders taking over April 26-28.

It's interesting to see such an extensive CFL presence in the US, and all at one facility. These aren't free-agent tryout camps of the sort just about every team runs; they're the three-day offseason voluntary workouts for current members of the team that we've discussed before. There are huge advantages to doing these in Florida rather than in the team's own city as they've often been in the past, though, and they go well beyond just getting sunshine instead of snow. One of the biggest factors is geography and the cost and availability of flights; as explored in 2011, it was extremely difficult for teams in more isolated cities such as Regina and Winnipeg to get their American players in for a minicamp. At that time, Edmonton was the only West Division team holding an offseason voluntary workout, and that was a short one. Now, teams like Saskatchewan and Calgary have elected to do these in Florida, making it much easier (and cheaper) to bring in their players from across the States. That's a way around geographic isolation, and one that will likely work out well for those teams.

They've found what looks like a good facility, too. IMG's 450-acre academy in Bradenton, Florida has long been renowned as a place for top NFL draft picks to train (seven of their trainees were taken in the first round in 2013). Former Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke is the director of the academy's football programs, which have become quite famous. Training there has worked out well for CFL teams too. The Roughriders have trained there for the past two years, and the rest of the CFL seems to be following suit.

It's going to be interesting to see if these offseason voluntary workouts (which were first brought in in the 2010 CBA) will be retained in the next one (where heated discussions are ongoing). Teams seem to like them, and it's notable that more and more teams seem to be going that route all the time. The players have indicated they're not thrilled with some of the league's plans to alter their hours and have them essentially work more, though (including a proposed change from daily limited hours to weekly limited hours), and offseason workouts might be something the league would be willing to sacrifice for concessions elsewhere. (While these are "voluntary," teams obviously want some of their marquee players there, and on-the-bubble guys almost have to be there in order to keep their spot.) We'll see how that develops. Holding these workouts in Florida or other southern states might prove to be a key way to keep them, though; it's a little easier to sell a player on a trip to Florida than one to Winnipeg in April, and it's also a lot easier to get American-based players there.