Remember all 7 failed American CFL teams from the 1990s?

The CFL has been around for 65 years but it hasn’t always been an all-Canadian operation.

For three seasons in the mid-1990s, the CFL went south — figuratively and literally. With the league in financial turmoil, the CFL decided to try out American expansion.

There were issues, of course. The CFL rule that required each team to carry 20 Canadian players did not apply to the US-based teams, given it would be in violation of American employment laws.

Then there was the problem of the Canadian-sized field, which didn’t always fit in American stadiums. That resulted in some goofy-looking end zones, particularly in Memphis.

Also goofy? Some of the uniform choices.

Give it up for the short-lived Birmingham Barracudas and Memphis Mad Dogs of the CFL for their commitment to oversized cartoon logos crawling out of their waistline pic.twitter.com/t3E09K2DWA

— ℳatt (@matttomic) May 22, 2018

“We made a lot of mistakes,” said CFL chairman John Tory after the league pulled out of the United States in 1996. “The process (of expansion) can control you, rather than you controlling the process. At times, cities seemed to materialize on their own.”

Here’s a look at all seven US-based teams that once called the CFL home.

1. Sacramento Gold Miners (1993-1994)

The first American CFL team, the Sacramento Gold Miners began play as the only non-Canadian franchise in 1993.

Despite the advantage of playing under a different set of rules from their Canadian counterparts, the Gold Miners missed the playoffs during both of their seasons. The team averaged 16,978 fans per game in 1993 but saw that number drop to 14,226 in 1994 before the team moved to San Antonio for the 1995 season.

2. Las Vegas Posse (1994)

The least-successful American franchise was the Las Vegas Posse, which barely lasted only one season in the CFL.

Las Vegas finished the 1994 season with a woeful 5-13 record and struggled to attract fans. The team averaged 9,527 fans per game, with attendance dipping to a minuscule 2,350 fans in the last CFL game ever played in Las Vegas.

The team lost so much money each game that it opted to play its last “home” game on the road in Edmonton.

The most memorable part of Las Vegas’ one-year run in the CFL was this all-time terrible rendition of O Canada, sung to the tune of O Christmas Tree.

3. Baltimore Stallions (1994-1995)

There was one CFL success story to come out of the United States, and that was the Baltimore Stallions.

Baltimore averaged 37,347 fans in 1994 and 30,111 in 1995 and may have continued on beyond that season if not for the NFL returning to the city in 1996 when the Baltimore Ravens were introduced after moving from Cleveland.

Baltimore made it to the Grey Cup in 1994 before losing to the BC Lions but won the championship the following year when it defeated the Calgary Stampeders. The franchise moved to Montreal in 1996.

The only embarrassing part of Baltimore’s time in the CFL was its name. The team tried to call itself the “Baltimore CFL Colts” before the Indianapolis Colts and the NFL pressed legal action, stopping them from using the Colts nickname. The team went without a nickname but was commonly known as the “Baltimore CFLers” for an entire season before settling on Stallions.

4. Shreveport Pirates (1994-1995)

Playing two seasons in Louisiana, the Shreveport Pirates did a lot of losing before folding in 1995. Shreveport was the worst team in the CFL during their inaugural season, posting a 3-15 record. They weren’t much better in 1995, winning just five games.

The Pirates averaged 17,871 fans per game in 1994, but attendance dipped in Shreveport to 14,359 in 1995.

5. Memphis Mad Dogs (1995)

The Memphis Mad Dogs had a 9-9 record during their lone CFL season, averaging just 13,691 fans per game. They narrowly missed the playoffs in 1995.

Memphis played out of the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, which was the most ill-suited stadium for the Canadian game. It was narrower and shorter than all other CFL fields, with artificial turf cutouts being added to the natural grass field.

Instead of the end zone being 20 yards deep, in Memphis, they were as shallow as seven yards along the sidelines.

CFL US Expansion Quirks – Memphis Mad Dogs Unique Trapezoid Endzones at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in 1995
by u/That0therGuy in CFL

6. San Antonio Texans (1995)

Before the NFL’s Houston Texans, there was the CFL’s San Antonio Texans, which played one season in 1995. The team played out of the Alamodome, sharing it with the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs at the time. They averaged 15,855 fans per game in the 59,000-capacity stadium.

Along with Baltimore, San Antonio is one of two American franchises ever to win a CFL playoff game.

7. Birmingham Barracudas (1995)

The 1995 CFL season saw the league split teams into two new divisions. Eight Canadian teams played in the North Division, while the five American teams played in the South Division.

That included the Birmingham Barracudas, who posted a 10-8 record and averaged 17,625 fans per game. They qualified for the playoffs but lost to San Antonio.

Birmingham actually had really impressive attendance for their home games in the first half of the season, drawing over 30,000 on two occasions. Fan support dwindled once NFL, college, and high school football began in September though, with the team drawing between 6,000 and 9,000 fans for their final three home games.