CFL HAS A HISTORY OF TROUBLED FRANCHISES

JAN 23 (The Canadian Press) - For each moment of glory Canadian football has enjoyed throughout its 100-year history it has had to contend with spots of trouble; some minor, some serious, like the current financial problems threatening the existence of the Calgary Stampeders franchise. Pick a year, any year the CFL and its various predecessors has existed, and chances are there was at least one franchise in financial difficulty. How about 1976? That was the year British Columbia Lions, now Grey Cup champions, were for sale at a bargain basement price after losing $304,696. Attendance had fallen drastically and directors floated $300,000 in debentures to fans and took out their own personal notes before the club was saved by a five-year, $250,000 investment from Labatt's Brewery and a $250,000 rent subsidy from Pacific National Exhibition. The Lions' problems peaked one year after the CFL had recorded a record attendance figure of 2,180,993 for the 1975 season. "The nature of the beast," says Greg Fulton, the CFL's long-time secretary, "is that no one is making a pile a money. That's the reality of the situation." CFL officials offer vague answers when asked if the current Calgary situation is any more serious than past situations. Maybe it is, they say, but could it be any more serious than Montreal in 1982 when the Alouettes folded and the Concordes were born under new ownership? "Every one of the Western clubs has been in trouble and managed to come out of it okay," said G. Sydney Halter, the CFL's first commissioner, "although we maybe never had one come down to a climax like this." Halter, commissioner from 1958 through 1966, said the league's recent financial problems could probably be traced to increased competition for players that began in the late 1960s. The CFL salary scale, until then competitive with the National Football League, began rising and was rapidly driven up by the World Football League in the early 1970s and then by the United States Football League. "And we kept moving up," said Halter. "The crowds got larger, seating increased, as the years went by the prices increased...it was a matter of the economics of the country." Eventually the bills grew faster than the revenues. Through the 1960s and 1970s, Western clubs depended more and more on prepaid season ticket sales and $100-a-plate annual dinners to survive the off-season. They took turns fighting financial problems. In 1960 Saskatchewan Roughriders were on the verge of collapse before giving near dictatorial powers to Bob Kramer, a millionaire heavy machinery magnate, to turn the team's fortunes around. "The Year of Decision" it was called. The Riders survived and in 1966 won their only Grey Cup title. Edmonton Eskimos, who won three straight Grey Cups in the mid-1950s and a record five straight 1978-1982, suffered through tough times in the early 1960s. They survived after directors took out personal loans totaling $100,000. In 1967 Winnipeg Blue Bombers lost $137,000, putting them $30,000 in debt. The team was given one year to live. "I remember going to a meeting with 20 or 25 other people," recalled Halter. "People paid $1,000 each so the club would have $70,000 to pay off its bank deficit and continue operating. Those people were all repaid within two years." In 1978 Winnipeg Stadium was expanded by 8,000 seats and in 1984 the Bombers won their eighth Grey Cup championship. Now it's Calgary's turn. After several years of losing teams and declining attendance, the Stampeders are $1.3 million in debt and in more danger of folding than any club since the 1982 Alouettes. "We used to laugh at the USFL but we're no better off, especially in this city," said Stampeder linebacker Bernie Morrison. "There's lots and lots of money here but nobody seems to care. Caring people are the backbone of the community-owned Western Division teams. "The clubs are never going to make money," said Halter. "The best they can do is break even...with the co-operation of the public in all promotions." In the East the teams are privately owned but that hasn't helped them escape their share of financial problems. The Alouettes had to fold for Canadian football to live in Montreal; Ottawa and Toronto have flirted with financial problems throughout the years and Harold Ballard had to purchase Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1978 to bail them out. Ironically, while the majority of the financial problems are in the West, so too are many of the strengths of the CFL. It was Ballard who once said, "The CFL ought to thank God for the Western Conference." The Western teams gave the CFL some of its strongest, most exciting teams over the last 15 years. Those teams, combined with a change to an interlocking schedule in 1981, led to perhaps the league's best year, 1983. The CFL signed a three-year television contract worth $33 million, league attendance reached a record 2,856,031 and the Grey Cup game was watched on TV by 8,118,000 people, the largest viewing audience in history for any Canadian sporting event. By then the CFL had survived the scare of the NFL moving into Canada, had temporarily solved the problem in Montreal and most clubs appeared financially stable. But, as league oldtimers will say, that was merely the top of the cycle. Now the league is facing a downward trend; attendance is falling, its television contract expires this year, there is danger of losing a major brewery sponsor in some cities, and teams are again losing substantial amounts of money. Reports say perhaps only Winnipeg and British Columbia made money last year. Montreal is reported to have lost as much as $3 million, Toronto, Montreal and Saskatchewan losses are near the $1-million mark. The one constant throughout the CFL's history has been its strength - the dedication of the fans and people who respond in times of need. Those people have enabled the league to survive all the challenges to its existence and they are being called upon once again.