Advertisement

Redblacks-Alouettes is a look at Quebec City, a potential CFL expansion site

Andrew Bucholtz
Laval University's stadium has seen plenty of Rouge et Or wins. On Saturday, it will host a CFL preseason game between Ottawa and Montreal, which could be the first step in a CFL expansion to Quebec City. (ulaval.ca.)

On its own, Saturday's CFL preseason clash between the Ottawa Redblacks and the Montreal Alouettes (7:30 p.m. Eastern) shouldn't mean much. The preseason's notable for those on the roster bubble and for a look at teams' overall depth, but it doesn't say a lot about how teams will actually play when the season rolls around. Saturday's game deserves special attention, though, as while Ottawa's technically the home team, the game is being played in Quebec City at Laval University's Stade Telus. Quebec City has frequently received mention as a CFL expansion candidate, but the league itself has gone back and forth on whether it's actually being considered. Saturday's game, and the reception to it in particular, may give us an indication of how viable a CFL market Quebec City might be.

On the surface, there's a lot in favour of Quebec City as a potential CFL market. The city itself has a population of 516,622, 11th-largest in Canada (the only cities ahead of it without CFL teams are Toronto suburbs Mississauga and Brampton), and its metro population is 765,075, the seventh-largest in Canada. By comparison, oft-discussed expansion possibility Moncton has just 69,074 people in the city and 138,644 in the metro area. Beyond that, the city has a strong football fanbase thanks to the dominant success of the Laval Rouge et Or (who have won a record eight Vanier Cups as CIS champions, despite only starting their football program in 1996) and some impressive high school and CEGEP programs. They also have a potential CFL stadium; Stade Telus' regular capacity of 12,257 would be too small, but it has held 18 to 19,000 fans in the past with seating expansions for Vanier Cup games, and it's possible it could be built up to CFL standards if Laval went along.

Quebec City also doesn't currently have any sort of pro team, (although they're trying to attract the NHL with a new arena) so the top sports in town are Laval and the QMJHL's Quebec Remparts. Combine that with the population, and that sounds like a market ready-made for the CFL. Former CFL commissioner Mark Cohon confirmed that the league sees it as an interesting possibility at the 2012 State of the League address, saying "If you just take a very high level look at markets, Quebec is clearly one of them."

There are specific challenges to trying to put a team in Quebec City, though, particularly its incursion into what the Alouettes and the Rouge et Or both view as their territory. It's notable that Cohon completely shot down the idea of Quebec City as a CFL expansion destination when it was brought up at the 2010 State of the League. Here's what he had to say then:

"One, I think it's the stadium there," Cohon said. "Number two, with the Rouge et Or there, they already have their football there."

He also said that the Alouettes have territorial rights to the entire province, something that surprised many observers.

"Their territorial rights are all of Quebec," Cohon said.

He said he's spoken with Laval officials in the past, but they didn't show much interest in the CFL.

"In 2007, I did have a discussion with officials from the university on expansion money for their stadium, and it was focused on the university, it wasn't focused on building a [CFL] stadium," Cohon said.

Cohon also said the Alouettes might be open to the possibility of a Quebec City team, but it would involve substantial negotiations.

"That would be a negotiation we would have to have," he said. "We haven't had those kind of discussions yet with them, but if we ever did go there, it would have to be a negotiation, because those are part of those rights.

It's possible that the league's stance on territorial rights has changed since 2010, or that they have had those discussions and that the Alouettes have decided not to put up too much of a fight about Quebec expansion. That might make some sense; after all, the old Nordiques - Canadiens NHL rivalry helped build excitement in Montreal as well as Quebec City, and that might be the case in the CFL too. However, it's also possible that Cohon's 2012 comments about Quebec City were merely intended to put pressure on Atlantic Canada by offering a seemingly-viable alternative for a 10th team (which the league would love to have, both for boosting its TV money and for balancing its schedule and divisions).

In any case, the interest level around Saturday's game should help indicate if Quebec City is worth pursuing despite the potential complications. It shouldn't be seen as the only factor; even a strong turnout for one preseason game won't necessarily mean much (after all, the first regular-season Touchdown Atlantic was great, but the 2011 one was more mixed, and the 2013 one only drew 15,123 fans), and a weak turnout might be more about the lack of interest in the CFL preseason than any issues with Quebec City. This may turn out to be more than just a one-off game, though, especially if there's a lot of local buzz around it and a lot of fans show up to support it. If all goes well, it might be the first step towards having a Quebec City CFL team down the road.