Baltimore was far and away the most successful of any American CFL team on the field and off, averaging crowds of over 37,000 their first year. Knowing that Canadian football was considerably different from the American game, Speros stocked the Stallions mostly with CFL veterans. As coach, he brought in Don Matthews, who had already played in two Grey Cups and won one. The result was a team that eventually finished second in the East with a 12–6 record and became the first American team to qualify for the playoffs. They advanced all the way to the Grey Cup. In a thrilling match played in BC Place, the BC Lions defeated the Stallions on a last second field goal. Perhaps most remarkably, they were reported to have turned a profit in their first year after an initial US$7 million investment by Speros.