THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 17, 1995 TAG: 9511170352
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 121 lines
Although it seems certain the former Shreveport Pirates will play at Norfolk's Foreman Field next season, it is uncertain in what league they'll be playing.
The owners of the five American members of the Canadian Football League, including Bernie Glieberman of the Pirates, held what was supposed to be a secret conference call last week in which a secession from the CFL was discussed. The Toronto Globe and Mail recently reported on the conference call and said another is expected soon.
It was not the first time such a discussion was held. Nearly three months ago, when a delegation from the Pirates first met with members of the Sports Authority of Hampton Roads, local officials acknowledge privately they were told a split was possible and perhaps even likely.
``We were told the American teams feel like they might have to leave the CFL to land a lucrative American TV contract,'' said a source familiar with that meeting.
If they left the CFL, the five teams would plan to form their own league, add three to five franchises in cities such as Orlando, Milwaukee and Portland, Ore., and become something akin to the old World and United States football leagues.
With CBS still smarting from its loss of the NFL to Fox Network last year, the U.S. teams' hope would be that CBS carry the new league on Sundays opposite the NFL.
Memphis owner Fred Smith has been in contact with CBS, which has repeatedly stated it is not presently interested in the U.S. teams. Regardless, the U.S. teams feel their chances are better of landing a high-profile contract with a major cable carrier, such as ESPN, without the Canadian teams.
The status quo is clearly unacceptable to at least one American owner - Birmingham's A.L. Williams, who reportedly said during the conference call that he would fold his franchise if a new league wasn't formed.
Pirates team president Lonie Glieberman shrugged his shoulders when asked if a split is possible.
``You know my quote,'' is all he would say. By that, he meant his oft-stated comment: ``Anything's possible in the CFL.''
CFL commissioner Larry Smith acknowledges there are serious differences between the American and Canadian members and that Birmingham might fold. But he envisions no split.
``I'm not saying there might not be a casualty, but I think our problems will be corrected,'' he said. ``We just have to make it work, and quite frankly, the NFL is presenting us with an opportunity.
``With Cleveland jumping to Baltimore, and the Houston, Tampa Bay and Phoenix franchises all in limbo, people are getting frustrated with the high-paid athletes and distant owners.
``We offer moderately-priced tickets and excellent football. I think there's a market for that in the United States, as the great interest in the CFL in Norfolk has demonstrated.''
Perhaps, but American CFL owners are currently losing millions of dollars - an average of $3 million per team, Smith concedes. Birmingham lost $7 million.
Even if there is not a split, the CFL board of governors meeting Nov. 29-Dec. 1 promises to be heated. The American owners will demand changes, most notably a major TV presence in the U.S. This season, 25 games were televised by ESPN and ESPN2. Lonie Glieberman said that's the only problem he thinks needs to be addressed.
``That's the major issue,'' he said. ``We need a contract with an over-the-air or major cable network that everybody receives. It's a fundamental problem.
``The Grey Cup (Sunday between Baltimore and Calgary) is a great example of what's wrong. It's a terrific opportunity for the fans here to see what the CFL is all about. But it's on ESPN2. You have to pay extra to watch it in most of Hampton Roads. You can't even get it on the Peninsula and that's a portion of our market we care very much about.''
Baltimore Stallions owner Jim Speros suggests that the CFL open a satellite office in the U.S. in addition to the main office in Toronto.
``The Canadian teams don't have to work to get on TV,'' Speros said. ``They're like the NFL is in America, they're on all the time up there.
``We feel the U.S. teams ought to have a small office to help market our product. Larry Smith can't do everything and we need to be on television.''
Speros also wants a name change - the league should be called the North American Football League and should have Canadian and U.S. divisions, he said.
Other owners, including Memphis' Smith, said the league needs to change its rules to Americanize the game - go from 12 players to 11, from three downs to four, from 110-yard fields to 100, etc.
Glieberman doesn't agree.
``I love the game,'' he said. ``It's up to the fans, eventually, to decide whether they like the CFL rules. But we'll never know how they feel, it will never have the chance to take off, without TV.''
It's unlikely the U.S. teams will get that exposure anytime soon in the CFL. CBS has shown no interest, and although ESPN is close to renewing its contract with the CFL, it again will call for only about 25 games, said Josh Krulewtiz, senior publicist at ESPN.
``There will be some exposure on ESPN, but the CFL will remain essentially an ESPN2 product,'' he added.
The 13 CFL teams receive about $200,000 per year per team from ESPN, and that fee, considered paltry even by ESPN standards, isn't likely to rise very much.
The talk of a separate league and rules changes has touched a nerve north of the border. Smith testily lashed out at some of the American owners last week in a press conference in Toronto, acknowledging that the league could always go back to an All-Canadian confederation.
John Tory, the league's chairman, was upset when he learned of the conference call.
``They are not going to get us to agree to Americanizing the CFL's rules because this is something that's too important to us,'' he said. ``We didn't ask for the baskets to be lowered in Toronto and Vancouver for our home games when the Raptors and Grizzlies were given NBA franchises.
``Look, if expansion can't succeed playing Canadian-rules football on a Canadian-style field in the States, then we should declare that this won't work, we should part as friends and we should agree that we're going to play CFL football in Canada by ourselves.
``Maybe we can figure out some way of having playoff games with our American friends, with rotating rules, like baseball does in the World Series.
``All I can say for certain is that if the alternatives are them setting up another league or us changing our CFL rules, then I would say they should set up another league.'' by CNB