CFL Barracudas Play FIrst game

Speaking of the CFL
July 4, 1995 - In the CFL, the Birmingham (Alabama) Barracudas played their first game, defeating the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 38-10. Unfortunately, the squad folded after just one season in the Canadian Football League.

Baracuda Team History

The Birmingham Barracudas were a fleeting, yet memorable, part of the Canadian Football League's ambitious, and ultimately unsuccessful, venture into the United States. Founded in 1995, the Barracudas were one of several American expansion teams introduced by the CFL in an attempt to expand its footprint south of the border.

The team played its lone season at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama, under the ownership of Art Williams and coached by the experienced Jack Pardee. Despite a respectable 10-8 regular-season record and a playoff berth (losing in the Division Semi-Finals), the Barracudas faced an uphill battle. The primary challenge was dwindling attendance, particularly once the immensely popular college football season, and later the NFL, began. Fans in the "Football Capital of the South" had deep allegiances to the American game and its traditional rules.

Owner Art Williams reportedly lost between $10-$12 million during the season, citing the direct competition with American football as a major factor. Efforts to make changes to the CFL's rules or even its name to better suit the U.S. market failed.

By early 1996, the dream of Canadian football in Birmingham, and indeed most of the American CFL expansion, fizzled out. The Barracudas franchise was sold and intended to move to Shreveport, but ultimately, the entire American experiment folded, ending the "Cudas'" brief but impactful existence.