THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 26, 1996 TAG: 9601260662
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
The American division of the Canadian Football League appears close to death, and along with it, the CFL Pirates.
Five American teams began the season with the CFL and only one - San Antonio - is still standing, and on shaky ground at that.
San Antonio owner Fred Anderson said talks have ended without success with Pirates owner Bernie Glieberman about a possible merger of the two teams.
Without an additional investor, Anderson said his team likely will fold.
Meanwhile, the Pirates have ruled out moving to Dallas after a two-day telemarketing campaign there indicated the team would receive lukewarm fan support.
The Pirates, whose two-month stay in Hampton Roads was ended last week by a negative vote from the Norfolk and Virginia Beach city councils, have also apparently ruled out Shreveport, La., the city that the team left in November.
The Pirates' last alternative, according to a CFL official who asked not to be identified, is Calgary. The CFL has asked Glierberman to buy into Calgary's troubled franchise as a part owner.
Glieberman and son Lonie, the team president, were unavailable for comment.
The other American teams have fallen in quick succession. Memphis and Birmingham folded in early December.
Baltimore, the CFL Grey Cup champion, must move to make way for the NFL's Browns and team owner Jim Speros apparently is moving the team to Montreal, the largest city in Canada without a CFL team.
He had considered Houston, Richmond and Allentown, Pa., but said Thursday that Montreal is his first choice.
San Antonio's Anderson, whose team lost $6 million, says he was counting on the Stallions moving to Houston to provide him with a rival.
``I'd have a hard time going it alone (in San Antonio) another year,'' Anderson said in Thursday's San Antonio Express-News.
``Even with budget cuts and better planning and maybe a little better attendance, I still don't have the ability to go at it alone.
``It's still my first choice to stay in San Antonio if I can find a way of doing it.
``If the CFL wants to maintain a toehold or a beachhead in the U.S., we'll try to do it maybe with a little financial help from (the CFL office).''
Anderson has asked the CFL owners to hold a conference call today to discuss the continuing deterioration of the league's American division.
Meanwhile, Speros met with civic and stadium officials Thursday about relocating the Stallions to Montreal, which has been without a CFL franchise since the Alouettes folded days into the 1987 season. He wants the city to provide $2 million to help him move from Baltimore.
``I don't see any major stumbling blocks why we shouldn't complete a deal here,'' he said. ``Right now it's just crossing the T's and dotting the I's.''
``Montreal has a great chance of having a football team for 1996 and it would be a great honor for me to build a new team here.''
CFL commissioner Larry Smith, a former Alouettes star, acknowledged that Speros needs more investors to move anywhere. Smith spoke with several potential investors Thursday.
``I said to Jim that Montreal could be an excellent market and I base that on the history of the successful years of the Alouettes,'' Smith said.
``Jim's group has strong ownership and wants to get involved locally; it has a great football team, a Grey Cup champion; and it's a great management team.''
If the league reverts to an all-Canadian format, a dispersal draft involving players under contract with American franchises would be conducted next month. by CNB