9 Defunct CFL Teams: Ottawa, Sacramento, and More

While we know the CFL as the Canadian Football League, and with all nine teams located in Canada, there was a brief stint in the mid-1990s where, due to financial troubles, the CFL attempted to launch expansion franchises in the United States. 

At first, there were some “hits,” but there were more misses, and there were seven teams that ceased to exist after, at most, a couple of seasons.

With this expansion, you can’t help but wonder what their football odds must’ve been for each game. After all, there was a game in 1994 where the BC Lions, an established franchise, beat the Shreveport Pirates 67-15. 

Below, I’ll be discussing nine defunct CFL franchises. Seven of them are failed expansion teams, whereas two others were based in Canada, including one that lasted more than 100 years. 

9 Defunct CFL Teams

Baltimore Stallions – 1994-1995

Kicking off my list, here is the best team from this expansion. 

The Stallions came at a time before the birth of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens, and during their brief stint, they went 27-9 as a franchise. In their two seasons, they made the Grey Cup and then, the next year, won the Grey Cup. The Stallions were also one of few CFL franchises to win 15 games in a season. 

The worst part of their brief history was when they tried to call themselves the Baltimore CFL Colts. Of course, the Baltimore Colts were a franchise that left for Indianapolis, and needless to say, the NFL and their Colts had something to say about that legally. 

Birmingham Barracudas – 1995

Although the Barracudas were only around for one season, they had a good run. They made the playoffs but lost to San Antonio after going 10-8 and drawing nearly 18,000 fans per game. They even drew north of 30,000 fans for two of their home games. 

Sadly, when the NFL, college football, and even high school football seasons began, those attendance figures plummeted to as low as 6,000. 

Matt Dunnigan, a CFL Hall of Famer, played for the team before spending one more season in the league. That year, he threw for nearly 5,000 yards and 34 touchdowns. 

Las Vegas Posse – 1994

The Posse was easily the least successful franchise during this expansion period. They went 5-13 in their lone season and averaged less than 10,000 fans per game. The last game they played had a mere 2,350 fans. 

CFL Hall of Famer and four-time Grey Cup winner Anthony Calvillo played for the team in his rookie season before going on to play from 1995 to 1997 with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and from 1998 to 2013 with the Montreal Alouettes. 

Memphis Mad Dogs – 1995

The Mad Dogs were OK, but in their lone season, they missed the playoffs after going 9-9. 

What was unique for them was the field they played on. In the CFL, the end zone is typically 20 yards deep, but the Mad Dogs field was a trapezoid shape and had as little as 7 yards along the sidelines. 

Damon Allen played for them before rounding out his career with the BC Lions and Toronto Argonauts. He was inducted into the CFL Hall of Fame in 2012. 

Ottawa Renegades – 2002-2006

Looking back north to Canada, the Renegades were founded six years after the Ottawa Rough Riders ceased. However, after just four seasons, the league suspended the team due to financial issues. The franchise ultimately completely folded in 2008, and the players from the team went elsewhere via a dispersal draft. 

In its four seasons, the Renegades went 23-49 and never made the playoffs. 

Ottawa Rough Riders – 1876-1996

I mentioned the Rough Riders above as the team that came before the Renegades. As I also mentioned at the top of this page, there was a team that lasted over 100 years, and here they are. 

As a franchise, the Rough Riders won nine Grey Cups from 1925 to 1976 and five from 1960 to 1976. 

However, the success plummeted in the 1980s and 1990s. 

From 1980 until they folded in 1996, the Rough Riders were under .500 every year except two, where they went 8-8 (1983) and 9-9 (1992). 

They somehow made the Grey Cup in 1981 after going 5-11 but lost to the Edmonton Eskimos.

Sadly, this poor performance over more than a decade led to waning support. It didn’t help that when the team was sold to Bernard and Lonie Glieberman. The businessmen discussed the idea of bringing the Rough Riders to the United States. Ultimately, there ended up being a split, creating the Shreveport Pirates. 

Then, in 1995, after bankruptcy hit the team, it was bought again by a seemingly disinterested owner Horn Chen, who had never attended a game. 

Following the Posse shuttering, the team drafted Derrell Robertson in the dispersal draft. The only problem with that was Robertson had passed away the previous December. 

Needless to say, this franchise was in disarray and under poor management before it ultimately closed its doors following a 3-15 1996 campaign. 

Sacramento Gold Miners – 1993-1994

The Gold Miners were the first non-Canadian CFL team, taking its first snaps in 1993. 

Sadly, the team didn’t make the playoffs in either season. It was around and drew close to 17,000 fans in 1993, then closer to 14,000 in 1994. 

The team was ultimately moved to San Antonio. 

San Antonio Texans – 1995

Speaking on San Antonio, the Texans (not the NFL ones) came to be following the Gold Miners move. 

The Texans played in the Alamodome, a 59,000-person stadium, but struggled to draw 16,000 fans per game. 

However, the Texans won a playoff game after going 12-6. They dismantled the Barracudas 52-9 but lost to Baltimore 21-11. 

The team rostered Joe Ferguson, a 45-year-old signal-caller who retired from football five years before that and decided to come back after quarterback Dave Archer suffered an injury. 

Shreveport Pirates – 1994-1995

In two seasons in the CFL, the Pirates won just eight games, including a 3-15 inaugural season. 

The Pirates were formed after the Gliebermans purchased the Ottawa Rough Riders and wanted to move the team to the United States. 

Instead, the CFL divided the team, and half went to Shreveport while new ownership purchased the existing Rough Riders. 

The Gliebermans tried once again to move the team, this time to Norfolk, Virginia, but it was denied after officials there discovered they were facing lawsuits in Shreveport. 

Despite the small market and poor ownership, they averaged nearly 18,000 fans per game.