| Most recent season or competition: 2024 CFL season | |
 | |
| Sport | Canadian football |
|---|---|
| Founded | January 19, 1958 (67 years ago) (1958-01-19)[1][2] |
| First season | 1958 |
| Commissioner | Randy Ambrosie |
| No. of teams | 9 |
| Country | Canada |
| Headquarters | 50 Wellington Street East,Toronto, Ontario |
| Most recent champion(s) | Toronto Argonauts (9th title) |
| Most titles | Edmonton Elks (11 titles) |
| TV partner(s) | |
| Official website | www |
TheCanadian Football League (CFL;French:Ligue canadienne de football[liɡkanadjɛndəfutbol],LCF) is aprofessionalCanadian football league inCanada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in theEast Division and five in theWest Division. The CFL is the highest professional level of Canadian football in the world. The league is headquartered inToronto.
The CFL was officially named on January 19, 1958,[3] upon the merger between the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union or "Big Four" (founded in 1907) and the Western Interprovincial Football Union (WIFU) (founded in March 1936).[4] The Big Four was renamed the Eastern Football Conference in 1960, while the WIFU was renamed the Western Football Conference in 1961.
As of 2025[update], the league features a 21-weekregular season in which each team plays 18 games with 3bye weeks. This season traditionally runs from mid-June to early November. Following the regular season, six teams compete in theplayoffs, which culminate in theGrey Cup championship game in late November. The Grey Cup is one of Canada's largest annual sports and television events.[5]
Rugby football began to be played in Canada in the 1860s, and many of the first Canadian football teams played under the auspices of the Canadian Rugby Football Union (CRFU), founded in June 1880 then reorganized in February 1884.[6] The CRFU was reorganized as the Canadian Rugby Union (CRU) in 1891, and served as anumbrella organization for several provincial and regional unions. TheGrey Cup was donated byGovernor Generalthe Earl Grey in 1909 to the team winning the "Senior Amateur Football Championship of Canada". By that time, the sport as played in Canada had diverged markedly from its rugby origins with the introduction of theBurnside rules, and started to become more similar to theAmerican game.
For much of the early part of the 20th century, the game was contested by intraprovincial leagues, or unions. In 1907, several of the stronger senior clubs in Ontario and Quebec formed theInterprovincial Rugby Football Union (IRFU or more commonly known as the "Big Four"). It took almost 30 years for an elite interprovincial western union to emerge, when in 1936 the stronger senior clubs in Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan formed theWestern Interprovincial Football Union (WIFU). From the 1930s to the 1950s, the Big Four and WIFU gradually evolved fromamateur to professional leagues, and amateur teams were no longer competitive for the Grey Cup. Apart from theWorld War II years, an amateur team last won the Grey Cup in 1936.
By the end of World War II, the WIFU's play was at the same level as that of the Big Four. Within a few years after the return of peace, both interprovincial unions had turned openly professional. However, while the Big Four champion got an automatic berth to the Grey Cup final, until 1954 the WIFU's champion had to play in a semi-final against the champion of theOntario Rugby Football Union (ORFU)–by then, the only amateur union still competing for the Grey Cup. The ORFU withdrew from Grey Cup competition after the 1953 season, and the WIFU champion was given an automatic berth in the Grey Cup final. For this reason, 1954 is reckoned as the start of the modern era of Canadian football, in which the Grey Cup has been exclusively contested by professional teams. Since 1965, Canada's top university football teams, competing in what is nowU Sports, have competed for theVanier Cup.
In 1956, the Montreal Alouettes threatened to leave the Big Four and join the rival WIFU. As a result, the Big Four and WIFU formed a new umbrella organization, the Canadian Football Council (CFC) to modernize the operations and management of the professional game. In1958, the CFC formally left the CRU and reorganized as the Canadian Football League (CFL). As part of an agreement between the CRU and CFL, the CFL took possession of the Grey Cup, and the amateurs were officially locked out of Grey Cup play. However, the Grey Cup had been the de facto professional championship since 1954. The CRU remained the governing body for amateur play in Canada, eventually adopting the nameFootball Canada. Initially, the two unions remained autonomous, and there was no intersectional play between eastern (Big Four) and western (WIFU) teams except at the Grey Cup final. This situation was roughly analogous to howMajor League Baseball operated for almost all of the 20th century.
The Big Four was renamed the Eastern Football Conference in1960, while the WIFU was renamed the Western Football Conference in1961. Also in 1961, limited intersectional play was introduced. Because the West played 16 games by this time while the East still only played 14, this arrangement oddly allowed both the four-team Eastern Conference and the five-team Western Conference to play three games per intraconference opponent and one game per interconference opponent. It was not until 1974 that the East expanded its schedule to 16 games, just like the West. In1981, the two conferences agreed to a full merger, becoming the East and West Divisions of the CFL. With the merger came a fully balanced and interlocking schedule of 16 games per season (with all nine teams playing each other twice, once at home and once on the road). Since 1986 (with the exception of 2021), the CFL's regular season schedule has been 18 games.
The separate histories of the Big Four and the WIFU accounted for the fact that two teams had basically the same name: the Big Four'sOttawaRough Riders were often called the "Eastern Riders", while the WIFU'sSaskatchewanRoughriders were called the "Western Riders" or "Green Riders". Other team names had traditional origins. Withrowing a national craze in the late 19th century, theArgonaut Rowing Club of Toronto formed a rugby team for its members' off-season participation. The football team nameToronto Argonauts still remains even though it and the rowing club have long since gone their separate ways. After World War II, the Hamilton Tigers absorbed the upstart war-era Flying Wildcats and called the team theHamilton Tiger-Cats.
The league remained stable with nine franchises—theBC Lions,Calgary Stampeders,Edmonton Eskimos,Saskatchewan Roughriders,Winnipeg Blue Bombers,Hamilton Tiger-Cats,Toronto Argonauts,Ottawa Rough Riders andMontreal Alouettes—from its 1958 inception until1981. After the 1981 season, the Alouettes folded and were replaced the next year by a new franchise named the Concordes.
In1986 the Concordes were renamed the Alouettes to attract more fan support, but the team folded the next year. The loss of the Montreal franchise forced the league to move its easternmost Western team, Winnipeg, into the East Division from 1987 to 1994.
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In1993, the league admitted its first United States-based franchise, theSacramento Gold Miners. After modest success, the league then expanded further in the U.S. in1994 with theLas Vegas Posse,Baltimore Stallions, andShreveport Pirates. For the1995 campaign, the American teams were split off into their own South Division, and two more teams, theBirmingham Barracudas andMemphis Mad Dogs, were added; at the same time, the Posse folded and the Gold Miners relocated to become theSan Antonio Texans. In 1995, the Stallions became the only non-Canadian team to win theGrey Cup.
Despite all American teams having the advantage of not being bound to the CFL's minimum Canadian player quotas, only the Stallions proved to be an on-field and off-field success. Theestablishment of the NFL'sBaltimore Ravens, worsening financial problems among the league's core Canadian teams, and the inconsistent performance of the other American teams prompted the CFL to abandon its American experiment and retrench its Canadian operations. The Stallions organization was used as the basis for a revival of theMontreal Alouettes.[7]
The CFL returned to an all-Canadian format in1996 with nine teams;[8] the league conducted adispersal draft to distribute players from the disbanded American-based teams; however, theOttawa Rough Riders, in existence since 1876, folded after the 1996 season (another dispersal draft was conducted the next year to distribute the former Rough Rider players among the remaining eight teams). Toronto and recently revived Montreal also were struggling; Montreal's woes were solved by moving toPercival Molson Memorial Stadium, a much smaller venue than the cavernousOlympic Stadium. The Winnipeg team again moved to the East Division from 1997 to 2001 to make up for the loss of Ottawa.
In 1997, the NFL provided aUS$3-million interest-free loan to the financially struggling CFL. In return, the NFL was granted access to CFL players entering a defined two-month window in the option year of their contract. This was later written into the CFL's collective bargaining agreement with its players. The CFL's finances have since stabilized and they eventually repaid the loan. The CFL–NFL agreement expired in 2006. Both leagues attempted to reach a new agreement, but the CFL broke off negotiations in November 2007 after Canadian telecommunications firmRogers Communications paid $78 million tohost seven Bills games inToronto over five seasons (the last Bills Toronto Series game was played during the2013 NFL season).[9][10]
In2002, the league expanded back to nine teams with the creation of theOttawa Renegades. After four seasons of financial losses, the Renegades were suspended indefinitely before the2006 season; their players were absorbed by the remaining teams in a dispersal draft. Winnipeg was moved to the East Division again in 2006, a situation that continued until 2013.
In2005, the league set an all-timeattendance record with a total attendance of more than 2.3 million.[11] In June 2006 the league announced the launch of CFL Broadband, an internet streaming service designed to provide fans with another media platform, in addition to TSN and CBC broadcasts, to watch games live.[12]
With Mark Cohon as commissioner of the league the CFL entered a period of stability and growth. New television deals, two new collective bargaining agreements, the100th Grey Cup celebration, and widespread stadium renovation and rebuilding highlighted this era. The100th anniversary of the Grey Cup had the highest ever television ratings for a championship game in English Canada.[13]
During the 2000s the CFL had the third highest per-game attendance of any North American sports league and the seventh highestper-game attendance of any sports league worldwide. A 2006 survey conducted at theUniversity of Lethbridge confirmed that the CFL was the second most popular sports league in Canada, with the following of 19% of the total adult Canadian population compared to 30% for theNHL. TheNFL had 11% following, with a total of 26% following at least one of the pro football leagues. In other words, approximately 80% of Canadian football fans follow the CFL, and about 55% follow the NFL.[14] With the absence of Ottawa from 2006 to 2013, league attendance hovered around the 2 million mark. It stood at 2,029,875 in 2012 for a single game average of 28,193.[15] The2007 season was a recent high point with average game attendance of 29,167, the best since 1983.[16]
During Mark Cohon's time in office many of the teams either undertook major renovations to their existing stadiums, or constructed brand new stadiums. TheMontreal Alouettes were the first to undertake this project, adding 5,000 seats toPercival Molson Memorial Stadium in time for the2010 CFL season.[17] TheEdmonton Eskimos andCalgary Stampeders also renovated their respective stadiums and facilities for the 2010 season.[18] In2011, theBC Lions played under a new, retractable roof inBC Place after spending one and a half seasons atEmpire Field.[19] In2013, theWinnipeg Blue Bombers moved to Investors Group Field, now known asPrincess Auto Stadium, an entirely new stadium at theUniversity of Manitoba. TheHamilton Tiger-Cats began using their new stadium,Tim Hortons Field, after spending 2013 atUniversity of Guelph's stadium and the first half of the 2014 season atMcMaster University's football field following the demolition of the iconicIvor Wynne Stadium.[20]
In 2014 theOttawa Redblacks kicked off their inaugural season (having been awarded a franchise in 2008[21]), becoming the third Ottawa franchise in CFL history. The new Ottawa franchise returned the league to a nine-team structure, with five teams in the West Division and four in the East; the Winnipeg Blue Bombers moved back to the West Division.[22] The expansion Ottawa Redblacks played at the massively renovatedFrank Clair Stadium, now branded asTD Place Stadium.[23]
In Mark Cohon's last year as commissioner he negotiated a new five-year collective bargaining agreement (from 2014 through the 2018 season) between the CFL and theCanadian Football League Players' Association (CFLPA).[24]
TheToronto Argonauts entered a period of transition off the field, with new ownership and a new stadium. The Argonauts were sold by politician/businessmanDavid Braley toBell Media andMLSE chairmanLarry Tanenbaum.[25] At the start of the 2016 season the Argos moved toBMO Field after more than twenty seasons at theRogers Centre (formerly called the SkyDome from 1989 to 2005).[26] Construction on the NewMosaic Stadium for theSaskatchewan Roughriders was completed in October 2016[27] and the first game was played in the2017 season.[28]
In 2015,Michael Sam signed a two-year contract withMontreal Alouettes of the CFL,[29][30] becoming the first openly gay player in the league's history.[30] Sam left the team the day before the first preseason game, citing personal reasons.[31] As reported byFox Sports, Sam returned to Montreal to continue his professional football career.[32] He left again on August 14, this time permanently, again citing personal reasons.
Immediately following the 2015 season Jeffrey Orridge announced a re-branding for the CFL, including a new logo, motto, uniforms for all nine teams and website.[33] After not having a drug enforcement policy in effect for the 2015 season the league and the CFLPA agreed to a new drug policy.[34] In 2017, the Board of Governors andJeffrey Orridge agreed to part ways, effective June 30, 2017; Orridge cited "differing views on the future of the league" between him and the Board of Governors for the departure, with both sides stating the decision was mutual and amicable.[35] His last day as commissioner was June 15, 2017.[36]Jim Lawson, the CFL's Chair of the Board of Governors, took over the duties of interim Commissioner until a suitable replacement was found.[37]
On July 5, 2017, Randy Ambrosie succeeded Orridge as CFL commissioner.[38][39] Having spent nine seasons as a player with theCalgary Stampeders,Toronto Argonauts andEdmonton Eskimos from 1985 to 1993, Ambrosie is the first commissioner to have played in the league sinceLarry Smith left the position in 1997.
On September 12, 2018, it was announced thatBuffalo, New York–basedNew Era Cap Company would become the official apparel supplier of the CFL beginning in 2019, replacingAdidas.[40]
In October 2018, the CFL began focusing marketing internationally again after the unsuccessful expansion into the United States during the 1990s, with Ambrosie's plan being calledCFL 2.0.[41] Ambrosie partnered with theProfessional American Football League of Mexico (LFA) for player development, as part of the league's plan to expand globally.[42][43][44] Ambrosie also later announced a special edition of theCFL Combine to be held in 2019 in Mexico for Mexican players, which was held on January 13, 2019.[45] Ambroise said he wished the combine in Mexico to become annual, and that a combine could be held in Europe.[45] On January 14, 2019, the league held adraft of LFA and Mexican university players[46] where wide receiverDiego Viamontes was the first pick, selected by the Edmonton Eskimos.[47] The CFL announced in February 2019 that German and French football players from theGerman Football League and theFédération française de football américain [fr] would participate in the CFL national combine.[48][49] Throughout early 2019, Ambrosie actively travelled Europe forming partnerships between the CFL and top-level European American football leagues and associations, specifically Germany (GFL), Austria (AFL), France (FFFA), theNordic countries (NL,VL,SS and NAFL) and Italy (IFL).[50][51][52] By January 2020 football leagues from 13 countries had signed partnerships with the CFL,[53] these partnerships included mutual exchanging of players and coaches[54] with leagues like the Mexican LFA holding reserved roster spots for Canadians with up to 25 playing in the league's 2020 season.[55] In February 2020, the CFL expanded its global alliance system, welcoming the JapaneseX-League, generally regarded the third-best professional gridiron league in the world.[56] This coincided with the CFL announcing that its global combine in 2020 with new rules, including two designated active-roster international players and three practice-squad international players with as many as 45 global players in the league.[57]
The league took over operations of theMontreal Alouettes prior to the 2019 season afterRobert C. Wetenhall, the league's last non-Canadian owner, surrendered the franchise to the league in May.[58] The Alouettes found new ownership in January 2020 in Crawford Steel executives Sid Spiegel and Gary Stern, whose holding company S and S Sportsco would oversee the team.[59]
On August 17, 2020, the CFL cancelled its2020 season aftercoronavirus-relatedsocial distancing mandates and travel restrictions imposed in most of Canada prevented the league from selling tickets and the league was unable to secure a bailout from the federal government to cover any losses.[60] It was the first cancelled season in the league's history, and the first year without a Grey Cup championship since the canceled 1916–1919 seasons. The leaguereturned in 2021, playing a shortened 14-game schedule which began that August, with the season concluding with the Grey Cup game in December for the first time since 1972.[61][62] On March 10, 2021, the then-on hiatusXFL entered into talks with the CFL over the possibility of a future collaboration;[63] these discussions were called off four months later with nothing coming of them.[64]
On August 29, 2022, Gary Stern of the Montreal Alouettes stepped away from day-to-day operations with the club and resigned from his role with the Canadian Football League's board of governors, effective immediately.[65] On February 14, 2023, the ownership of the Alouettes was transferred back to the CFL.[66]Mario Cecchini was appointed as the interim President while the league sought to finalize a sale to new ownership.[67] On March 10, Quebec media mogul and formerParti Québécois leaderPierre Karl Péladeau purchased the team.[68] On April 11, 2024, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers announced league record revenue of $50.5 million and operating profit of $5.7 million.[69]
On October 26, 2024, Ambrosie announced his intention to retire from the commissioner's role in 2025, once a successor is found.[70] Ambrosie had allegedly lost avote of confidence among the league's owners the day prior, a report that neither the league nor Ambrosie would confirm nor deny.[71]
Notes
| Team | City | Planned debut | Result of proposal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proposed London team | London, Ontario | 1974 | [c][84] |
| Atlantic Schooners (1) | Halifax/Dartmouth, Nova Scotia | 1984 | [d] |
| San Antonio Texans (1) | San Antonio, Texas | 1993 | [b] |
| Proposed Mississippi team | Jackson, Mississippi | 1995 | [e][85][86] |
| Miami Manatees | Miami, Florida | 1995 | [f] |
| Proposed Houston team | Houston, Texas | 1996 | [g] |
| Norfolk Pirates/Hampton Roads Pirates | Norfolk, Virginia, orHampton, Virginia | 1996 | [h][87] |
| Proposed second Shreveport team | Shreveport, Louisiana | 1996 | [i][88] |
| Proposed Milwaukee team | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | 1996 | [j][89] |
| Proposed Quebec City team | Quebec City, Quebec | 2006 | [k] |
| Atlantic Schooners (2) | Halifax, Nova Scotia, or Moncton, New Brunswick | 2021 | [l][90] |
Notes
Note: team franchise history is listed as it is recognized by the CFL in its publicationCFL Guide and Record Book (2017).[91]
Since2022, the CFL season has included:
Team training camps open 28 days prior to the first regular season game of the season, a camp solely devoted to first year players is allowed the three days before the main camp opens. The pre-season exhibition schedule is two weeks long with each team playing two games against teams from its own division.
The regular season is 21 weeks long, with games beginning in early June and finishing by late October. With 18 regular season games being played, each team gets three bye weeks. The CFL's nine current teams are divided into two divisions: theEast Division with four teams and theWest Division, with five teams.
From the 1986 season until theCOVID-19 pandemic (other than during the U.S. expansion when the league had twelve and thirteen teams) each team played two games against each of the other eight teams, plus two or four additional divisional games with opponents rotating each season. This format was changed when the league resumed play in 2021 to create a greater emphasis on divisional play. Under the eighteen game format, each Eastern team played ten games within their division and eight games against Western opponents, thus playing two of the Western teams once (one at home and one on the road) and the other three Western teams twice, while playing two Eastern opponents three times and one division rival four times. Three of the Western teams played each division rival three times, two Eastern teams twice and two Eastern teams once. The remaining two Western teams played three of the Eastern opponents twice and one of the Eastern opponents once, while playing each other twice and the other Western teams three times. The CFL returned to the previous more balanced format beginning in the2024 season.[92]
The most popular featured week in the CFL season is theLabour Day Classic, played over the course of the Labour Day weekend, where the matchups feature the first half of home-and-home series between the traditional geographic rivalries of Toronto–Hamilton (a rivalry which began in 1873[6]), Edmonton–Calgary (seeBattle of Alberta), Winnipeg–Saskatchewan, and Ottawa–Montreal. In years that Ottawa or Montreal were not in the league, BC played against one of these teams.[93] The following week's rematch of these games is a popular event as well, especially in recent years, where the rematch of the Saskatchewan–Winnipeg game has been dubbed theBanjo Bowl.
Other features of the regular season schedule are theHall of Fame Game and theThanksgiving Day Classic, the one or two games held onThanksgiving where the match ups usually do not feature traditional rivalries. From 2010 to 2013, a neutral site regular season game was played inMoncton under the nameTouchdown Atlantic. The neutral site games returned in 2019 and were also played in 2022, 2023, and 2024.
The league awards points based on regular season results (much like in most ice hockey leagues, but unlike the NFL, which strictly uses winning percentages to determine their standings; two points are awarded for a win, one for a tie and none for a loss). As of the 2021 season, in the event two or more teams in a division finish the season with the same number of points, the tie is broken based on the following criteria (in descending order), with coin tosses used if all such tie-breaker steps fail:[94]
Theplayoffs take place in November. After the regular season, the top team from each division has an automatic home berth in the division final, and a bye week during the division semifinal. The second-place team from each division hosts the third-place team in the division semifinal, unless a fourth-place team from one division finishes with a better record than a third place team in the other (this provision is known as thecrossover rule, and while it implies that it is possible for two teams in the same division to play for the Grey Cup, only five crossover teams have won a semifinal since the rule's 1996 inception, and none of them have advanced to the Grey Cup). The winners of each division's semifinal game then travel to play the first place teams in the division finals. The two division champions then face each other in theGrey Cup game, which, since2022, has been held on the third Sunday of November; for 2021, the game was played in December, which was the first time this had happened since1972.
TheGrey Cup is both the name of the championship of the CFL and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. The Grey Cup is the second-oldest trophy in North American professional sports, after the Stanley Cup. The Grey Cup game is hosted in one of the league's member cities. In recent years, it has been hosted in a different city every year, selected two or more years in advance. The Toronto Argonauts have won the most Grey Cups with 19 wins total, most recently in 2024. In 2013, the Grey Cup was won at home for the third consecutive time (by theSaskatchewan Roughriders), which had not been done sinceToronto won at home from 1945 to 1947. In 2016, the Grey Cup was won on the natural grass turf ofBMO Field by theOttawa Redblacks beating the heavily favouredCalgary Stampeders 39–33 in overtime; the first Grey Cup championship for any Ottawa CFL team in 40 years.
As the country's single largest annual sporting event, the Grey Cup has long served as an unofficial Canadian autumn festival generating national media coverage and a large amount of revenue for the host city.[5] Many fans travel from across the country to attend the game and the week of festivities that lead up to it.
Since 2015, the Grey Cup game's presenting sponsor isShaw Communications.[95]
Following the Grey Cup game, theGrey Cup Most Valuable Player andGrey Cup Most Valuable Canadian are selected. A number of league individual player awards, such as theMost Outstanding Player andMost Outstanding Defensive Player, are awarded annually at a special ceremony in the host city during the week before the Grey Cup game; this ceremony is broadcast nationally onTSN. TheAnnis Stukus Trophy, also known as the Coach of the Year Award, is awarded separately at a banquet held during the off-season each February. While the CFL has not held anall-star game since1988, an All-Star Team is selected and honoured at the league awards ceremony during Grey Cup week.
The CFL Championship game, the Grey Cup, previously held the record for the largest television audience in Canadian history. Television coverage on CBC, CTV and Radio-Canada of the 1983 Grey Cup attracted a viewing audience of 8,118,000 people[citation needed] as Toronto edged B.C. 18–17, ending a 31-year championship drought for the Argonauts. At the time, this represented 33% of the Canadian population.[citation needed] This has since been surpassed by the 2002 and2010 Men's Olympic Gold Medal Hockey Game.[citation needed]
Currently, the official television broadcasters of CFL games are cable networkTSN (which began televising CFL games in1985), while TSN's French-language networkRDS broadcastsMontreal Alouettes games for theQuebec television market.[96] Games are typically scheduled for Thursday to Saturday evenings during June, July and August, but switch to more Saturday and Sunday afternoon games during September and October.[97] TSN has created a tradition of at least one Friday night game each week, branded asFriday Night Football. CBC and TSN drew record television audiences for CFL broadcasts in 2005.[98] The 2006 season was the first season in which every regular-season game was televised, as the league implemented aninstant replay challenge system.[99] In 2006, the CFL also began offering pay-per-view webcasts of every game on CFL Broadband.[100] Until the end of the2007 season, CBC and RDS were the exclusive television broadcasters for all playoff games, including theGrey Cup, which regularly draws aCanadian viewing audience in excess of 4 million.[101]
In2008, the CFL began a new, five-year television deal withCTVglobemedia. Valued at $16 million per-year, it gave TSN and RDS exclusive rights to all CFL games, including the playoffs and Grey Cup.[5] In March 2013, TSN exercised an option to extend its contract through 2018. In 2015, the deal was extended for an additional three years, along with exclusive Grey Cup rights forBell Media Radio stations.[102]
In June 2024,Bell Media announced thatCTV would broadcast TSN-produced2024 season coverage ondigital terrestrial television, including a late-season package of exclusive 3 p.m. ET games beginning on September 7, continuing with playoff coverage of theEast Division, and concluding with a simulcast of the111th Grey Cup; returning the CFL to over-the-air television for the first time since 2007.[103] As of 2024, the CFL's agreement with TSN, CTV and RDS runs through the 2026 CFL season.[104]
In 2013, the CFL announced that its U.S. broadcast rights would return to theESPN Networks for the 2013 season, with five games airing onESPN2, and 55 airing onESPN3.[105] This agreement was renewed in 2014 for five years, the same length as the TSN deal (ESPN holds a stake in TSN), with a stipulation that at least 17 games would be carried on ESPN2 (or another ESPN network, such asESPN orESPNEWS) each season, including the Grey Cup; this gives ESPN exclusive CFL rights during this time frame. OriginallyESPN3 carried all games not carried on one of the linear channels online, later ESPN moved those games toESPN+.[106][107][108][109]
ESPN has had a long relationship with the CFL; the channel broadcast its first CFL game on July 9, 1980, when the network was only 10 months old.[110]
On April 27, 2023,CBS Sports Network announced a multi-year broadcasting rights deal with the league, becoming the U.S. TV rightsholder to the league; the channel broadcast 34 CFL games during the first three months of the 2023 season.[111] CBSSN's 2024 broadcast package consisted of the majority of June, July, and August games, and theLabour Day andThanksgiving Day Classics.
ESPN Brasil began broadcasting CFL games live in Brazil in 2015, as a result of the growth of the NFL and college football fan base in Brazil.[112]BT Sport, which has a licensing partnership with ESPN, has also carried CFL games in Britain and Ireland since 2015.[113]
In June 2019, the CFL signed a broadcast deal withMVS Comunicaciones to broadcast one game a week inMexico onMVS TV.[114]
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The public broadcasterCBC Television, which held a monopoly on Canadian television until 1961, held Canadian professional football broadcast rights beginning the year of its debut, 1952. The private, commercialCTV network was created in 1961 in part because Toronto businessmanJohn W. H. Bassett had won the television rights to the Eastern Football Conference, and needed an outlet to air the games. From1962 through1986, CBC and CTV shared CFL broadcasting rights. They split playoff games andsimulcast the Grey Cup. In 1962,1965,1967,1968 and1970, CTV commentators were used for the dual network telecast, while in1963,1964,1966 and1969, the CBC's announcers were provided. From1971 through1986, one network's crew called the first half while the other called the other half. After the 1986 season, CTV dropped coverage of the CFL and the Grey Cup. From1987 through1990, the CFL operated its own syndicated network,CFN. Like CTV, CFN split playoff games with CBC. However, CFN had completely separate coverage of the Grey Cup, utilizing its own production and commentators. From1991 to2007, all post-season games had been exclusively on CBC; beginning in2008, the Grey Cup and all other CFL games are exclusive to cable TV onTSN, although the cable provider reserves the right to move the game to sister network CTV (from 2008 to 2023, it had never done so, opting to broadcast that Sunday's NFL games on CTV instead.)
The predecessor to the CFL's East Division, the IRFU, had a television contract withNBC in 1954 that provided far more coverage than the NFL's existing contract withDuMont. NBC aired games on Saturday afternoons, competing against college football broadcasts on CBS and ABC. The revenue from the contract allowed the IRFU to directly compete against the NFL for players in the late 1950s, setting up a series of CFL games in the United States beginning in 1958 and a series of interleague exhibitions beginning in 1959. Interest in the CFL in the United States faded dramatically after the debut of theAmerican Football League in 1960.[115]
In 1982, during a players' strike in theNFL, NBC broadcast CFL games in the United States in lieu of the NFL games which were cancelled; the first week of broadcasts featured theNFL on NBC broadcast teams, before a series of blowout games on the network and the resulting low ratings resulted in NBC cutting back and eventually cancelling its CFL coverage after only a few weeks. ESPN hostChris Berman became a fan of the game in the early days of ESPN, when the network first aired CFL games, and continues to cover the Canadian league on-air.[116] The now-defunctFNN-SCORE (unrelated to the Canadian cable network formerly known as The Score [nowSportsnet 360]) carried games in the late 1980s. In the late 1980s and early 1990s,SportsChannel America carried games, usingCBC Television,CFN andTSN feeds. In1993, severalSportsChannel Pacific-produced games that were part of theSacramento Gold Miners' local package were also shown nationally.
Beginning in1994, with now four US-based teams in the league,ESPN reached a four-year deal with the league to produce and air two games per week and all post-season games on its fledglingESPN2. They also put some games on the main network to fill broadcast time vacated by the1994–95 Major League Baseball strike. The 1994 and 1995 Grey Cups were shown live on ESPN2 and then re-aired on ESPN the following day, leading into the network'sMonday Night Countdown show. ESPN's on-air talent included a mix of the network'sAmerican football broadcasters and established CFL broadcasters from Canada. Most of the US-based teams also had deals with local carriers to show games that were not covered in the national package. Though there were no US teams in the league after 1995, ESPN2 continued showing games until 1997, albeit on a much lighter schedule.
The now-defunctAmerica One network held CFL broadcast rights in the United States from 2001 to 2009 and aired a majority of the league's games.[117] Until the2007 season, America One syndicated CFL games toregional sports networks likeAltitude,NESN, andMASN; these were discontinued in2008, mainly because America One and the CFL were able to reach a deal only days before the season began, not allowing the network time to establish agreements with individual RSNs. The Grey Cup aired onVersus on November 22, 2008, with a replay the next day on America One. From 2006 through the 2008 season,Friday Night Football was carried exclusively on World Sport HD in the United States; however, due to the January 2009 shutdown of that channel's parent company,Voom HD Networks, America One reclaimed those rights.
NFL Network took over the league broadcast contract in 2010. For the 2010 season, the network carried 14 games, no more than one each week.[118] For 2011, the network increased its output to two games each week.[119] NFL Network declined to continue its coverage after the 2011 season.[120] It offered to pick up another package in 2019 on the condition that the league change its schedule to not directly compete with the NFL regular season,[121] something that the CFL stated needs to be negotiated with the players' union.[122]
In late July 2012,NBC Sports Network acquired rights to the CFL for the remainder of the 2012 season. The NBCSN deal included nine regular season games starting August 27 (includingLabour Day Classic games) and all the playoffs.[123] NBC Sports renewed their agreement with the CFL for the 2013 season.[124]
ESPN regained the U.S. CFL broadcast rights in 2014, airing games until 2022.[108][125]
The EuropeanESPN America network carried a collection of CFL games as part of its lineup until the network shut down in 2013.
There are no blackout restrictions on radio broadcasts of CFL games, while TSN streams all games online forauthenticated subscribers to participating television providers.
The majority of games not on ESPN television channels are streamed in the United States via the subscription serviceESPN+.[126]
In 2017, the league announced a partnership with Yare Media to offer subscription streaming packages in 130 international territories.[127]
In 2023, the league announced the creation ofCFL+, which made free, live streaming of every regular-season game available to all international viewers outside of the United States and Canada; for those in the United States, all games not being carried on CBS Sports Network were similarly available.[128] In 2024, the league expanded functionality of CFL+ to includevideo on demand for up to 48 hours after the game and coverage of the league's preseason matches by combining in-stadium video feeds with local radio play-by-play and commentary.[129]
CFL teams have individual local broadcast contracts with terrestrial radio stations for regular season and playoff games, whileTSN Radio owns the rights to the Grey Cup.[96] In 2006,Sirius Satellite Radio gained exclusive rights for North American CFLsatellite radio broadcasts and broadcast 25 CFL games per season, including the Grey Cup, through 2008.[130] Sirius later extended its radio coverage through 2010,[131][132] after which it merged with former rivalXM Radio Canada to formSirius XM Canada. The merged broadcaster continues to air CFL games, and as of 2022[update], is contracted to air the CFL until the 2023 season.[needs update] English language broadcasts of every CFL game air onCanada Talks, with French-language broadcasts of the Montreal Alouettes broadcast onInfluence Franco.[133]
According to the new collective bargaining agreement, the 2025 salary cap was scheduled to be set at $5,650,000. However, on February 5, 2025, the league announced that the salary cap would grow by $412,365 to reach $6,062,365 (or $134,719 per active roster spot). The increase was driven by the revenue growth sharing model which first went into effect in 2024, but this was the first year that it impacted the salary cap. The cap excludes unlimited non-football related services payments and preseason and playoff bonus money. The minimum player salary will be set at $70,000, which remains unchanged since 2023. It was reported that the revenue growth was not determined until the last week of January and the CFL Player's Association was required to determine how they wanted the money applied, with options including increases to the salary cap, playoff bonuses, training camp stipends, and pension contributions. The timing of the announcement was questionable since the free agency negotiating window had begun three days prior with teams operating with the old salary cap figure.
According to the collective bargaining agreement, the 2024salary cap was at leastCA$5,585,000 (orCA$124,111 per active roster spot).[134][135] This was the first season that players received revenue sharing, which was set at 25% for the 2024 season (or cap increase of 2.78% for every dollar increase).[clarification needed][134] The salary cap is officially announced in late April every year as well as fines from the previous year. As was the case in2023, the minimum player salary was set atCA$70,000.[134][135]
As of the 2024 season[update], CFL teams have aCA$2,500,000 operations caps which limits the number of people per team drawing salaries for football operations to 11 coaches and 25 total people in total. That includes the general manager as well as scouts, video personnel, and equipment staff.[136]
The CFLPA agreed to include a provision allowing the CFL to enforce asalary cap in the 2002Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA),[137] but the league began enforcing it only from the2007 season ($4.05 million per team) onward. The cap was raised to $4.2 million in the2008 season and remained at that level for 2009.[138] Financial penalties for teams that breach the cap are set at $1 to $1 for the first $100,000 over, $2 to $1 for $100,000 to $300,000 over, and $3 to $1 for $300,000 and above. Penalties could also include forfeited draft picks.[139] On June 29, 2010, a new collective bargaining agreement was ratified that raised the salary cap to $4.25 million for the2010 CFL season and continued to increase by $50,000 each season until2013.[140] In2014, a newCBA was ratified and the salary cap was raised to $5 million per team, with that amount increasing again by $50,000 each year until 2018.[24] As per the 2019 collective bargaining agreement, the2021salary expenditure cap is scheduled to be $5,350,000 and with the minimum team salary set at $4,750,000.[141][142][143]: 90 The salary cap number was subject to increase as players now have revenue sharing of 20% from broadcast deals (outside ofTSN andESPN), but since the league did not play in2020, the cap number will likely be static.[142][143]: 90
For 2010, the minimum team salary was set at $3.9 million while the minimum player salary was set at $42,000.[140] With the new CBA in 2014, the salary floor was raised to $4.4 million per team with increases of $50,000 per year, and the minimum salary was raised to $50,000 per year.[24] The average salary per player in 2014 wasCA$96,000.[144] A new collective bargaining agreement was signed in 2019 that set the minimum annual player salary at $54,000, with that number increasing to $65,000 for National and American players in 2020.[143]: 33 In 2019,Mike Reilly andBo Levi Mitchell were the highest paid players in the CFL after signing contracts in February 2019 for average yearly salaries of over $700,000.[145] Players designated as global players (see player designations) are paid the league minimum by rule and may have a portion of their salary sent back to their original home league as part of a partnership with the CFL.[146]
Player compensation is not tied to league revenue, which remains atrade secret. Only the four publicly held teams in the league reveal their financial information, as those companies are required to do so under Canadian law. As of 2013, prior to Ottawa's rejoining the league (at which time Toronto, which is partially owned by a public company, was still fully private), estimates of the CFL's revenue varied between $150 million[147] andCA$200 million.[148] As of 2019, five of the CFL's nine teams (including all three community-owned franchises) are profitable, and four operate at a loss; those four teams lose more than the five profitable teams, resulting in a net loss of approximatelyCA$20 million overall.[149]
Players in the CFL carry nationality designations referring to their country of origin:Nationals ("a Canadian citizen at the time of signing his first contract, was classified as a non-import prior to May 21, 2019, was physically resident in Canada for an aggregate period of five years prior to reaching the age of 18, or played football for a minimum of three years at aU Sports institution, was draft eligible in 2021 at a minimum, and has graduated with a degree at that institution"),Americans (non-National and non-Global players, almost exclusively used for United States citizens), andGlobals (any player who does not hold Canadian or American citizenship and does not qualify as a National in any other way).[143]: 44 In prior versions of the CFL CBA and league rules, National players were known as non-import players and American players were known as international (2014–2018) and import (before 2014) players, with the criteria to qualify as a non-import player being more restrictive.[24] Global players were introduced in2019.[143]: 44
National players enter the CFL through theCFL Draft or free agency. Global players enter the CFL in a similar method as national players, with exclusive drafts held only for eligible players. American players are typically inducted by way of thenegotiation list: any team can lay unilateral claim to up to 45 players that have never played in the CFL at any given time (each team must make at least ten of those names public as of 2018), with no limit on how long a player can be held on the list and no limit on how old the player must be (thus CFL teams can claim players not yet eligible for theNFL draft). Once a player on a negotiation list expresses formal interest in joining the CFL, that team has up to ten days to offer a contract (usually a league-minimum, two-year contract) to retain the player's rights.[150] Other than the names that are made public, the full list of names league-wide are a secret held from the general public and even from the other teams, with teams only finding out if a player is on another team's negotiating list if the league office tells them.
In 2006, the active roster limit was increased from 40 to 42, in 2014 it was again increased to 44, and in 2016 was increased to 46.[24][151][152] An unlimited number of players may be put on a team's disabled, injured and suspended lists.
As of2021, each team must abide by the National/American/Global ratio rule, which requires teams to have two quarterbacks, two Global players, and a maximum of 20 American players (excluding quarterbacks) with a minimum of 44 total active roster players and a maximum of 45.[151][143]: 69 Each team will also have one player of any nationality on the reserve roster who receives the benefits of being on the active roster, but may not play in a game.[143]: 69
Through the 2018 season,quarterbacks, of which a team was required to carry three on a roster, were not allowed to be counted toward the national player requirement nor the starter requirement, which put Canadian quarterbacks at a disadvantage compared to other positions in being hired by a CFL franchise.[151][153] This rule was changed in 2019 whereby teams had two roster spots for quarterbacks and a third quarterback counted in the ratio.[142][154][141] Additionally, a National quarterback would be considered one of the club's National Starting Players as long as he remains on the field at the quarterback position.[143]: 72
Teams are additionally allowed up to 10 national or international players (with a minimum of one national if there are less than seven players or two nationals if there are at least seven players total) on theirpractice squad roster and may expand it to 12 if the team carries the maximum allowed two global practice squad players, though they are not required to do so.[139][151][152] Every year, the practice squad roster is temporarily increased in size to 15 following the start of theNational Football League's season to accommodate for the influx of cut NFL players.[152] Unlike players on the active roster, players on the practice squad may be signed at any time to another team's active roster without compensation to the player's original team.[152]
CFL players are represented by theCanadian Football League Players' Association (CFLPA). Each team elects two players to the CFLPA Board of Player Representatives, which meets once per year. Every two years, it elects an executive Board of Directors.[155]
EligibleCanadian nationals (usually fromU Sports football domestically or Americancollege football) are drafted by teams in the annualCFL Draft. The draft usually takes place in May and currently consists of eight rounds. The first two rounds of the draft are usually shown live on TSN. TheCFL Combine (formerly known as the CFL Evaluation Camp), similar to theNFL Combine,[156] precedes the draft. A junior player in the locale of a team may be claimed as a territorial exemption and sign with that team before beginning collegiate play (one recent example is when the BC Lions claimedAndrew Harris).[157] Teams maintain "negotiation lists" of players they wish to sign asfree agents, which give them exclusive negotiation rights with that player if they wish to sign in the CFL. Players can be added or removed from these lists by the team at any time, and their signing rights can be used in trades.
| Sydney Halter | 1958–1966 |
| Keith Davey | 1967 |
| Ted Workman (interim) | 1967 |
| Allan McEachern | 1967–1968 |
| Jake Gaudaur | 1968–1984 |
| Douglas Mitchell | 1984–1988 |
| Bill Baker[note 1] | 1989 |
| J. Donald Crump[note 2] | 1990–1991 |
| Larry Smith | 1992–1997 |
| John Tory | 1997–2000 |
| Michael Lysko | 2000–2002 |
| David Braley (interim) | 2002 |
| Tom Wright | 2002–2007 |
| Mark Cohon | 2007–2015 |
| Jim Lawson (interim) | 2015 |
| Jeffrey Orridge | 2015–2017 |
| Jim Lawson (interim) | 2017 |
| Randy Ambrosie | 2017–present |
Notes
Potential CFL expansion markets arethe Maritimes,Quebec City,Saskatoon,Kitchener,London, andWindsor, all of which have been lobbying for Canadian Football League franchises in recent years.[158][159][160] During the 1970s and 1980s,Harold Ballard attempted multiple times (albeit all unsuccessfully) to secure a second CFL team for Toronto (either by way of expansion or by relocating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats), under the premise that Canada's largest city could support two teams.[161]
Since the 1980s, the CFL has occasionally played exhibition and, later, regular-season games at various cities in the Maritimes, includingCanada Games Stadium inSaint John, New Brunswick;Huskies Stadium inHalifax, Nova Scotia; andMoncton Stadium inMoncton, New Brunswick. The league conditionally approved an expansion franchise, theAtlantic Schooners, for play in the 1984 season, but the team never made it to play after plans for a stadium collapsed.
No city in the Maritimes has a permanent stadium that meets CFL standards. As of 2010, the largest stadium in the Maritimes isCroix-Bleue Medavie Stadium, which has 8,300 permanent seats and is expandable to 20,000 with temporary seats.[162][163] A pre-season game, dubbedTouchdown Atlantic, was held in Halifax in the2005 CFL season and regular season games were played in Moncton under the same branding in 2010, 2011, and 2013.[164] All 20,000 seats for the 2010 Moncton game sold out in 32 hours;[165] the 2013 game did not sell out. Former Commissioner Mark Cohon said that Moncton Stadium would require massive renovations to host a CFL team permanently. The cost of the required renovations would be the equivalent of building a brand-new stadium.[163] In November 2015, the Halifax city council voted 9–7 against purchasing land that would then be used to build a 20,000-seat stadium. It was agreed that the price tag for the land was too much, but the close vote indicated municipal interest in building a near CFL sized stadium in Halifax.[166]
In November 2017, the CFL conducted further discussions with a group in Halifax interested in securing a franchise for the city;[167] the group made a "very credible" pitch to the CFL head office.[168] According to TSN analyst Dave Naylor the group named 'Maritime Football Ltd.' consists ofAnthony LeBlanc (former president and CEO of the NHL'sArizona Coyotes), Bruce Bowser (president of AMJ Campbell Van Lines) and Gary Drummond (former president of hockey operations for the Coyotes).[168] In June 2018 the group met with theHalifax Regional Council in private about plans to bring a CFL team to Halifax, with the possibility of playing atUniversité de Moncton while a stadium in Halifax is being built.[169][170] Maritime Football Ltd. ownership group selected a site inShannon Park,Dartmouth, Nova Scotia to develop a new stadium.[171] The stadium was estimated to cost between $170 to $190 million, seat 24,000 and have a business model similar to theOttawa Redblacks, who entered the league in 2014.[172] On October 30, 2018, Halifax City Council unanimously voted in favour of proceeding with a business case analysis of a stadium in the Halifax municipality.[173][174] Following this positive momentum, Maritime Football Ltd. and CFL commissionerRandy Ambrosie announced that the group would proceed with a season ticket drive to further gauge interest, and also running a team name contest in the hopes of making an announcement on the team name just prior to the106th Grey Cup game.[175] The target year for the proposed team to enter the league was 2021, with the team name including "Atlantic" in its name, but no franchise was actually awarded in this announcement.[176][177] Further to the previous discussions with Moncton and New Brunswick politicians, it was also suggested that the potential new franchise could begin play in Moncton while the stadium in Halifax is built.[177] On November 23, 2018, two days before the 106th Grey Cup, Maritime Football Ltd., since renamed Schooners Sports and Entertainment, and commissioner Ambrosie announced the new team would be called theAtlantic Schooners.[178] On March 15, 2023,TSN reporterDave Naylor revealed that Schooner Sports and Entertainment (SSE) "is no longer involved in pursuing a team for Atlantic Canada".[90]
There has been interest in adding a team in Quebec City. In 2003, an exhibition game was held atTelus Stadium between theMontreal Alouettes andOttawa Renegades where Montreal won 54–23.[179] In 2008, the federal government rejected a proposal that could have paved the way for a CFL franchise in Quebec City, saying Ottawa is not in the business of subsidizing professional sports.[180] The following year in May 2009, Christina Saint Marche, a British businesswoman, announced her interest in operating a team in Quebec City—stating that there would be a natural rivalry with the Montreal Alouettes.[181] During the2010 Grey Cup state of the league news conference, Cohon noted that the Alouettes hold the rights for the entire province of Quebec and that any expansion would have to be negotiated with them first.[182] Another exhibition game was held at Telus Stadium on June 13, 2015, with Ottawa (whoseTD Place Stadium was in use by the2015 FIFA Women's World Cup) hosting Montreal.[183]
Saskatoon last hosted top-level Canadian football in 1935 when theRegina Roughriders left theSaskatchewan Rugby Football Union to form the WIFU. TheSaskatoon Hilltops (along with another Saskatchewan-based team, theMoose Jaw Millers) eventually suspended operations due to World War II; the Hilltops remained an amateur team when they returned in 1947 (they have since played in theCanadian Junior Football League). Saskatoon last won a provincial title in 1921. By the time they resumed play after the war, the Roughriders had been the dominant team in the province for two decades.
In early 2012, management atCredit Union Centre publicly expressed its desire to bring a CFL team to Saskatoon. However, the Regina-based Saskatchewan Roughriders have long branded themselves as a province-wide team, and claimed that the population of Saskatchewan is too small to support two teams.[158] In any event, Saskatoon also lacks a suitable outdoor stadium. Its largest,Griffiths Stadium, home of the University of Saskatchewan'sHuskies, seats only 6,171 spectators. TheGordie Howe Bowl, which has hosted CFL exhibitions in the past, has even fewer seats (it seats 3,950 people). It is unlikely that the CFL will expand to Saskatoon in the near future unless approval from the Roughriders and the other ownership groups is obtained first.
While not openly being considered for franchise expansion, Mexico was suggested by Commissioner Randy Ambrosie as a possible location forneutral site regular season games (similar to the NFL'sMexico Series) as early as 2019, as well as potentially partnering with theLFA for player development, as part of the league's plan to expand globally.[42][43][44] Ambrosie also later announced a special edition of theCFL Combine to be held in 2019 in Mexico for Mexican players, and in 2019, the league held adraft of LFA and Mexican university players. In March 2019, Commissioner Randy Ambrosie told the media that after the LFA combine, multiple parties inquired about purchasing a franchise for Mexico. Ambrosie reiterated that the league had no intention to expand internationally at this time.[46]
Our talks with the XFL, exploring the potential for collaboration and innovation, have been positive and constructive. While we remain open to finding new ways to work together in the future, we and our XFL counterparts have jointly decided to not pursue any formal arrangements at this time.
Collective Bargaining Agreement
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