Could —or Would —the NFL Save the CFL if They Get Into Serious Trouble?

No matter what happens with American sports leagues in 2020, I think we all feel confident that when this pandemic ends, the leagues we follow will still be there. This is not so in Canada where the CFL could be in real trouble if they miss a season. The nine-team league's season is currently in limbo and the players are in the dark.

Sportsnet’s Arash Madani appeared on The Rod Pederson Show on Monday afternoon to talk about the current state of the CFL. Via 3 Down Nation:

"“There are some people on the medical side of this operation and some people on the business side who have not concern, but worry about 2021,” said Madani. “What happens on May 1st, 2021 if there isn’t approval to play in front of fans? That’s the biggest worry right now, not this season but what’s going to happen if medically, scientifically, you can’t have gatherings because of this virus next year.”"

Rod Pederson ranted about the state of the league later in the show and suggested that the only way the CFL could survive was the NFL acting as a savior.

The question is, why would the NFL want to save the CFL? Even re-branded as NFL Canada, what's the benefit? I guess NFL Canada could help grow the game, bu the NFL is already readily available in Canada. Unless they just assume they won't be welcome back in England anytime soon and they just need to expand... somewhere. Anywhere. I guess you have to wonder if the CFL going away would lead more people to give up on football in Canada or look elsewhere. Otherwise, they're just doing it to be nice and the NFL is still very new to doing things out of the goodness of their heart.