The Miami Manatees was a proposed

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL) team scheduled to begin play in the 1996 season, and had plans to play out of the

Miami Orange Bowl The Miami Orange Bowl was an outdoor athletic stadium in Miami, Florida, from 1937 until 2008. The stadium was located in the Little Havana neighborhood west of Greater Downtown Miami, downtown Miami. The venue was considered a landmark and ser ...

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. After looking at a possible expansion franchise, the decision to relocate the

Las Vegas Posse The Las Vegas Posse were a Canadian Football League (CFL) team, that played at the Sam Boyd Silver Bowl in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, in the league's 1994 CFL season, 1994 season as part of the Canadian Football League in the United States ...

to Miami became the preferred choice to land a CFL team in Miami. The team never came to fruition as the CFL suspended its U.S. operations in spring 1996.

History

By March 1995, an investment group that originally sought to relocate the defunct

franchise announced their intention to pursue an expansion franchise to begin play in the 1996 season. At this time the name Miami Manatees was officially submitted to the CFL, and the team announced that a portion ticket sales would go to a fund to help save Florida's

manatee Manatees (, family (biology), family Trichechidae, genus ''Trichechus'') are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivory, herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. There are three accepted living species of Trichechidae, representing t ...

s. The team even adopted a manatee named ''Gamzo''. To be coached by

Ron Meyer Ronald Shaw Meyer (February 17, 1941 – December 5, 2017) was an American college and professional football coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) from 1973 to 1975 and Southern Methodist Unive ...

, the team needed to sell 20,000 to 25,000 tickets per game to break even. Although previously stating that an expansion franchise would be preferred, the Miami ownership group sought to purchase the Las Vegas team after deals to relocate to

Jackson Jackson may refer to: Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson South, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson oil field in Durham, ...

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

, and

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, fell through. The cost of buying the Las Vegas franchise was estimated at $1.45 million as opposed to a $3 million expansion fee. Following an exhibition at the Orange Bowl between the

Baltimore Stallions The Baltimore Stallions (known officially as the "Baltimore Football Club" and previously as the "Baltimore CFL Colts" in its inaugural season) were a Canadian Football League team based in Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States, which played ...

and the

Birmingham Barracudas The Birmingham Barracudas were a Canadian football team that played the 1995 season in the Canadian Football League. The Barracudas were part of a failed attempt to expand the CFL into the United States. History In the beginning Insurance ty ...

that drew an announced 20,250 spectators, the ownership group continued its pursuit to relocate the Posse franchise. The pursuit of the franchise would end in Spring 1996 when the CFL suspended its U.S. operations thus ending the prospect of the CFL playing in Miami. Had the league gone forward with American teams in the 1996 season, the Manatees would have been the only CFL team to compete directly in an NFL market (the

refused to do so and moved to Montreal to become the revived

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

; had Baltimore stayed in the U.S. it would have relocated to recently vacated Houston).

References

{{CFL Sports clubs and teams established in 1995 American football teams disestablished in 1996 1995 establishments in Florida 1996 disestablishments in Florida Defunct Canadian Football League teams Sports clubs and teams in Miami Defunct sports clubs and teams in Florida Defunct Canadian football teams in the United States