The NFL should merge with the CFL (Canadian Football League) if it is looking to expand

Leagues under the same sport can merge even if both leagues have starkly different playing rules. Basketball was never split into two variations unlike gridiron. CON argues basketball leagues can impose different rules as long as the original rules implemented by Naismith are obeyed. CON states gridiron is split into two forms and the CFL had a century's worth of control over the nation's variation of gridiron. CON argues league does not equate to sport.The AFL and the NFL were also financially stabel when those merged into the NFL, so the same could also happen between the NFL and the CFL.Merger was a gentleman's agreement between Lamar Hunt and Tex Shramm unbeknowst to AFL commissioner Al Davis. CON argues present day league bears NFL identity and will still do it even if a merger ever happens. CON questions NFL's preservation and acknowledging of Canadian teams' successes prior to merger.The NBA and the ABA literally did exactly that when they merged, so your claim suggesting otherwise is once again worthless.Ad hominem on PRO's part. Irrelevant.Con cannot remember what his opinion on the talent level of the CFL even is.PRO is twisting words. CON: "The CFL is deemed a "second-rate" league that will never be on par with the NFL" CON not making a personal opinion on the CFL, only reflecting American fans' consensus of Canada's take on gridiron.UNBALANCED DIVISIONS. If you just create one or two teams in one or two places, that would cause for the divisions in the NFL to become unbalanced since all the teams in the NFl are currently evenly divided into 8 divisions of four teams each.PRO stated the NFL at one time had 13 teams. CON argues NFL's small number was reason behind lack of scheduling conflict. CON also points out lack of round-robin scheduling (each team plays the other teams twice)Adding one or two more franchises would unbalance current divisions, but merger with the CFL avoids problem because then NFL is bringing in enough teams to add to each division equally, preventing imbalance from occurring.CON points out PRO's oversight of 9-team CFL without any extra teams would tally up to 41 teams in the league, creating imbalance and possibly BYEs favoring one conference.The NFL and the CFL could agree to move the season to earlier in the year to avoid the winter months, schedule away games during the coldest parts of winter so that the Canadian teams would be in the US at the timeCON argues exposure to football in Canada should be continuous. Lack of football in Canadian grounds for 3 months would diminish interest and revenue.The NFL and the CFL along with the Canadian government could convert some stadiums into dome stadiums... There are numerous possibilities that can be pursued.CON provides 3rd-party contradiction http://www.cbc.ca...NFL makes BILLIONS $$$ annually. Chipping in a little of that income combined with Canadian government pitching in would certainly be able to cover majority of expenses needed to make Canadian stadiums more hospitable during winter months.Government involvement would lead taxation and Canadians aren't quite happy with their own stadia prices: http://www.calgarysun.com...NFL gets billions of revenue but still have to pay income tax to the US government alone, not to mention difference in value between USD and CDN.http://www.sbnation.com...Merger would've been more viable if NFL were still a tax-exempt corporation, hence keeping money.CFL stadiums average 20K-40K, making them very small compared to NFL stadiums which average 60K-80K, literally twice the size of CFL stadiums. Cost of converting some of those stadiums into dome stadiums would therefore not be as expensive as one would think, especially since some of the CFL teams already HAVE dome stadiums.CON argues expansion of stadia would not lead to higher attendance as PRO states desire to have Canadian teams play before/after winter, leading to financial losses during the merger.Con didn't dispute merger would move worse CFL teams to LA; solve LA team issueCurrently the worst CFL team are the Ottawa RedBlacks which have just been founded in 2010. Highly unlikely the team would move to L.A. with little time in existence, especially if the team is based in a national capital.Con fails to acknowledge merger avoids imbalancePRO ignores possible imbalance comes from an odd-numbered team league swallowed by the NFL as stated before. No discussion of sacrificing or merger of teams.Con drops the point that the CFL already has staff and stadiums in operation where expanding into new cities would require starting completely from scratchPRO stated prior "Individually expanding into new places one or two places at a time causes the team imbalance in conference divisions that I stated before."CFL only has two conferences serving as the league's de-facto divisions. League slowly expanding on its own nation at is own accord: http://www.vavel.com..."If you add a team to LA or San Antonio, you would have to sort those new franchises into the league, which would cause some divisions to have more teams than other divisions and therefore create an imbalance in the league."PRO waves away a domestic expansion and instead promotes an international merger with a league whose number of teams are roughly the same of a conference division. PRO fails to provide Canadian involvement in conference/divisions or if Canadian teams be their own conference.Con ignores US leagues with Canadian teamsPRO fails to point out difference between individual teams of a different country and two leagues of two countries representing and administrating two different rules of gridiron respectively.Con fails to address Canadian fanbasePRO fails to provide American interest in CFLCon refuses to accept other league mergers with different rulesCON argues leagues PRO mentioned were subjected to one nation.Con fails to adequately reason NFL being domesticPRO promotes Canadian fanbase growth at expense of domestic interest in NFL franchises.Con fails to justify an alternative type of expansion for the NFL that should be pursued instead of a merger with the CFLCON proposes NFL expansion from established minor league teams.Numerous ways merger can get around issue of season during winter months, such as moving the season to earlier in the year, investing in dome stadiums, or having the Canadian teams play most of their away games during the harshest months of the winter.PRO repeating words. Already stated.NFL merged with AFL in 70's, could certainly and plausibly do the same with CFL today.CON affirms merger unlikely due to international, financial, geographical, scheduling, cultural, and citizenship differences/conflicts.