You all misunderstand. I'm not being mean, I'm just suggesting that QCS deal with his trauma in an emotionally appropriate manner so that he can heal. Learn the difference

1964 League Meetings

OFU-NAAF MERGER PLANNING
Throughout the 1963 season, Ontario Football Union commissioner and Toronto Lakers’ Owner Jerry Anderson had been trying to put together a merger plan with the NAAF. It had been determined last offseason that the OFU was going to cease operations following their own 1963 season. The OFU and NAAF had started talks about merging the leagues to have some OFU teams join the NAAF. It was very likely that the Toronto Lakers and Hamilton Steelers were going to get in while the Toronto Brawlers and Kitchener Blue Tigers were likely going to fold or become amateur teams. The only stick in the mud with this proposal was Hamilton owner, Arnold Gibson. From the start, Gibson has been against the decision to fold, since it will likely kill the sport of Canadian Football. Both Gibson and Anderson were trying to work out ways for both sides to be happy and even still looked into how the league could potentially find a way to survive. However, the plans would have to be scrapped over the season as attendance plummeted in the OFU and rose in the NAAF. With both Ottawa and London finding success this season in the NAAF, fans were starting to gravitate to those teams more, especially in Kitchener for the Tigers. 

Anderson would move forward with the merger plans. The main proposal as stated before would see the Toronto Lakers and Hamilton Steelers join the league, however, as they were approaching the end of the season, Gibson decided to completely pull out of the whole ordeal. The longtime owner felt that his time to move on from the team was coming, and since the OFU was folding, it would be the perfect time to step down. The sudden decision would not make things easier for Anderson. He would have to try and find a new owner for the Steelers just to be financially viable. Unfortunately, there were no stable options available for new ownership. To make matters worse, on top of buying and running the team, Hamilton was likely needing a new stadium soon which was another big cost to an owner hoping to buy the team. Gibson was likely the only man who was able to keep the team afloat, and he was gone. With the tough situation, Anderson would decide to merge the Hamilton Steelers with the Toronto Lakers. The new team would receive a name change to try and please the Hamilton fans and honour the team which will come at a later date. 

OFU-NAAF MERGER
Anderson would arrive at the NAAF’s annual league meetings with the final merger proposal. The NAAF would absorb the Ontario Football Union and its players, the merged Toronto-Hamilton team would join the NAAF as a new team based in Toronto for next season. 

From that simple proposal, the NAAF would develop a plan to handle the team next season. First, the season would likely see a couple of extra weeks next season as the odd number of teams would mean bye weeks are necessary. However, they will still maintain the 12 game season. The Toronto team would be added to the West Division and the Long Island Raiders would finally be able to shift into the East Division to play closer opponents. 

As for the actual formation of the team next season, Toronto would get the first choice of players from the OFU teams to build their team from. They will also receive the 1st overall pick in the 1964 draft with Halifax receiving the 2nd overall pick. 

ADDITIONAL NAAF EXPANSION
With the addition of Toronto, the NAAF was at 11 teams. The odd number of teams was not ideal for the league, so they would make the decision to seek out a location to add a 12th team to the league. The league will immediately start looking for options that are available in hopes of making a decision on a home by the end of the offseason. They will be looking for a financially stable owner and a ready-to-go stadium in order to have the team ready to play in 1965. 

ACFL
On the ACFL’s side, there have been some improvements coming from their new teams. Mainly Rochester who saw a fairly competitive second season with GM Dwight Gilbert finding a way to bring in some strong young talent. The fans have been supporting the team quite well, which means they are here to stay for now. As for the Boston Shamrocks, well, in 2 seasons, they only have 1 win to their name. The fans of Boston do not support the team at all. Some enjoy some football once the Independents’ season comes to a close, but they still don’t even fill half of the stadium. Steven Van Fossen has gotten a lot of questions about the team and why it hasn’t worked. The frustrated commissioner is still staying the course and believes as the team improves, they will start to see more people come out to watch exciting football. 

MONTREAL ROUGE
It was announced shortly after the end of the 1963 season that Montreal Rouge owner Jean Beaulieu had passed away. The longtime owner had been dealing with on and off illnesses over the last several years. His declining health led to the decision to bring in GM Virgil Gross and the rest of the newer staff to try and get one more championship before he passed on. While the Rouge did get to the 1962 McCallister Cup, they were unsuccessful in winning the title. 

Following the news, the Rouge would be handed over to Alvon Martineau. Martineau had been slowly taking on more responsibility as the likely successor. His father, Marc Martineau, was good friends with Beaulieu, and through that connection, Alvon got to learn lots under Beaulieu. Martineau would hold a small press conference, where he talked about some minor changes he wants to look into, while he wants to honour his mentor, he feels like there are things that can be improved on. His main goals initially will be to get this team back to the top of the NAAF, as well as giving the team a refresh brand-wise. While Montreal has a classic look, he feels like the team could use a refresh and they will be working on something over the next season or two. 

QCS wrote:

Exciting news! Sad to see the OFU go, but I'm glad the legacy of the league will continue with the new Toronto team. I expect the '65 expansion team will be in a pretty safe city, if only because of the quick turnaround. Something in the NAAF's relative stronghold of New England makes the most sense to me. Additionally looking forward to the Rouge's refresh, they've got really strong brand potential and I think Martineau can unlock that potential.

You stole the words right outta my mouth. Everything aside, it should be interesting to see what happens with expansion, i'd say there could be some more midwest teams but it seems like most midwest cities have a team in the GLFL or something like that.

Enigmajones wrote:

As far as stadiums go, are there any available in Saint John's, Newfoundland? Would love to see a team called the Newfies take the field. That or Portland, Maine.

St. John's would be an interesting place to go, but not they certainly do not have a NAAF ready stadium. They just don't have the population. For comparison, the smallest markets in the 1960s are Halifax and London who have 225,000 and 220,000 people respectively, and St. John's in 1960 is only 63,000 (meaning the entire population could fit inside Providence's stadium). It's just too small to be able to host a team and Halifax would suffer if another Atlantic Canada team was put in place. 

As for Portland, they have always been in circulation as a rumoured destination for the NAAF. This started during the 1957 expansion process. They did host one of The Athletics games during the 1962 season at Bayside Park, their baseball stadium. So they are likely in consideration for this additional team. 

Maybe Detroit?