CFL IN THE USA

CFL-USA TEAMS

CFL-USA PLAYOFFS

Sacramento Goldminers and San Antonio Texans were added as the first US franchises with the Texans soon folding,due to financial problems,with the Goldminers going it alone for the 1993 season.

In 1994,Goldminers were joined by Las Vegas Posse,Shreveport Pirates and Baltimore CFL Colts (changed to Stallions,due to the NFL's Indianapolis Colts). Goldminers and Posse were placed in the West Division whereas the Pirates and the Stallions were put in the East Division. In that same year,the Stallions lost to the British Columbia Lions,by a mere three points,in that year's Grey Cup.

In 1995,the Goldminers became the San Antonio Texans. The Posse failed to move to relocate to Jackson,Mississippi,with their owners deciding to rename the team,the Miami Manatees. But after an exhibition game, it became apparent that it would not be possible as fans were finding it difficult to adapt to the new rules. Instead,Birmingham Barracudas and Memphis Mad Dogs were added,and therefore the CFL introduced a new league alignment. The Canadian teams were put in the Northern Division and the American teams were placed in the Southern Division. Also that year,the Baltimore Stallions beat the Calgary Stampeders in the 1995 83rd Grey Cup by a score of 37-20 and becoming the first and last American team to win a Grey Cup.

It was apparent that the CFL's experiment was failing,and by 1996 the Barracudas and Mad Dogs had folded due to considerable financial losses. Pirates owner Glieberman tried to move the franchise to Norfolk,VA but failed and then admitted defeat. With the NFL being the bigger league,the 'defunct' Cleveland Browns would be moving to Baltimore to become the Ravens and would take away the crowds of the Stallions. Stallions owner tried to move the franchise to Houston,TX and Norfolk,VA before moving the franchise to become the Montreal Alouettes once more. This put an end to the CFL's expansion into the United States.

	TEAMS (1995)

In 1993,it added teams in North America split into North Division (Canadian teams) and South Division (American Teams) with the Baltimore Stallions being the only team to win the 83rd Grey Cup. In 1995,the league returned to Canada-based teams and has remained like that ever since.

NORTH DIVISION	1995
SOUTH DIVISION	1995

	PLAYOFFS (1995)

The 5th placed North Division team (Winnipeg Blue Bombers) played in the South Division Playoffs to even up the number of teams to 8.