Sometimes the owner of the team chooses the name, as is the case with the Chicago Blackhawks. The team was originally known as the Black Hawks, which was the nickname (the Black Hawk division) of original owner Frederic McLaughlin's infantry division in WWI. However, most of the current names of NHL franchises were chosen via fan naming contests, wherein the team's front office chooses a few potential team names based on their own ideas and community feedback, and then allows fans to vote to decide the name. Another variation of this method is holding a write-in campaign, where individual fans suggest names and the most frequently suggested/owner's favorite suggestion is chosen.
The teams choose their own names. Most of the team names predate the formation of the CFL by many years. The Toronto Argonauts were originally a rowing club and have been called the Argonauts for 100 years. Hamilton's team name the Tiger-Cats reflects the merger of two Hamilton teams: the Tigers and the Wildcats. Saskatchewan's team has been called the Roughriders since the 1920s, Edmonton has been the Eskimos since at least the 1930s, Winnipeg has been the Blue Bombers since the late 1930s, and Calgary has been the Stampeders since the 1940s (they used to be called the Bronks). The Montreal team has gone through a number of team names and team colours over the years. The new Ottawa team is calling itself the Redblacks, probably because the league has discouraged them from using the traditional Ottawa name, the Rough Riders, as being too similar to Saskatchewan's.
CFL. It must be short for RoughRiders. There is no team called the "Riders" in the NFL. However, there is a team called the Raiders.
Ricky Williams played for the CFL Toronto Argonauts.
Montreal Alouettes
It has been announced that in 2014 the Ottawa Redblacks will become the ninth team in the CFL.
The teams that share a name between the NFL and CFL are the Detroit Lions of the NFL and the British Columbian Lions of the CFL.
none
CFL or LED
Montreal, 15
calgary stampede
ottawa
No Maximum but a minimum of 20 canadians
in 2011 each CFL teams get close to 2 million per team. The TV deal is up in 2012 and the CFL should be able to double the current deal to around 160 million for 5 years, which would give each team 4 million. Then every team in the CFL will turn a profit