Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League (CFL; ) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. Its nine teams, which are located in nine separate cities throughout Canada, are divided into two divisions: the East Division, with four teams, and the West Division with five teams.
National Football League in Toronto
Any NFL team that entered the Toronto market would have to deal with the Canadian Football League (CFL)'s Toronto Argonauts, as well as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who play in nearby Hamilton, Ontario, both of which—as well as the CFL—have objected to a NFL team in Canada. The Tiger-Cats supported the Bills Toronto Series on the premise that it would keep other suitors for the Toronto market at bay. The NFL has been reluctant to hurt the CFL. Godfrey claimed that "the city is big enough ... they both could co-exist in the city." The World Football League (WFL) intended to place a franchise in Toronto known as the Toronto Northmen, but after the Canadian Parliament began debating the Canadian Football Act, which would have banned foreign football leagues from playing in Canada in an attempt to protect the CFL, the WFL moved the team to Memphis, Tennessee. Similar bills have been introduced to Parliament since the Bills Toronto Series was announced. It has been suggested that one of the reasons the NFL would not want to put a franchise in Canada and risk putting the CFL out of business is that the CFL offers antitrust protection as a competing league. However, Commissioner Rozelle said in 1987 that "I can't see where a league operating in Canada could possibly help us in any anti-trust trials."