Sweeping changes coming to Canadian Football League (CFL) over the next two years are part of an effort to make the game more “entertaining,” according to Saskatchewan Roughriders CEO and president Craig Reynolds.
“The whole goal around today’s announcement was to keep the game moving â transition from less field goals, more touchdowns, more scoring, which, obviously leads to a better product for our fans,” Reynolds said at a news conference Monday, a few hours after the changes were announced. “Just part of the evolution of the league and the commissioner’s vision.”
The league unveiled a two-part plan Monday that will be phased in over two years and not only alter the way the game is played, but also how it looks. Changes include shortening the field, moving the goal posts to the back of the end zone and restricting how single points are awarded.
“This is all about making our great game even more entertaining,” CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston said in a statement. “We are trading field goals for touchdowns, while improving fan experience in stadiums and at home.”
Reynolds said he’s getting mixed reactions so far: support for trying to increase scoring, but concerns around trying to change the nature of the Canadian game.
“We’ll pass that feedback on to the league and try to get back to our fans,” he said.
He stressed that a lot of the things that make CFL unique will stay in place.
“Three downs, 12 players a side, the wide field, unlimited motion, those are uniquely Canadian and today wasn’t about changing our game, it was around making a great game better,” Reynolds said.
“The change of the goal posts â I think just opening up that field there, the end zone â the data the CFL provided sort of indicated there’s going to be significant increase in touchdowns, they believe, and increased completion percentage in the end zone.”
Rod Pedersen, the voice of the Saskatchewan Roughriders for the past 20 years and host of The Rod Peterson Show, said in an interview that he views the changes as “the start of moving to full-on American rules.”
“I don’t like dipping your toe in. If you’re gonna go all in, go all in. But maybe that would have been too much at once,” Pederson said.
He said many CFL supporters are resistant and don’t want to see any changes.
“I don’t know why they’re making the change,” he said. “I’m not against change. I love the CFL game the way that it is.”
Pederson acknowledged that the elimination of the automatic single point â known as the rouge â for missed field goals sailing through the end zone was necessary.
“If you’re going to go American Rules, which eventually I think they will, you’re going to have to get rid of the Rouge eventually. They tweaked it. I like it. So it’s a step in the right direction,” Pederson said.
Starting next season, teams will no longer be able to win games with a single point off a missed field goal that sails through the end zone. No points will be awarded for errant field goals, punts or kickoffs that go through the end zone â either in the air or on the bounce.
If a returner fields a missed field goal, punt or kickoff and either kneels or is tackled in the end zone trying to forward the ball, a single will be awarded.
Also, there will be a 35-second automatic reset on the play clock. Teams currently have 20 seconds to get a play off, but that usually doesn’t begin until it’s blown in by an official, who usually does so once the 10-yard chains are set and player substitutions have been made.
Next year, once a play is dead, the 35-second clock for the next play will begin.
Meanwhile, each CFL stadium will have team benches on opposite sides of the field to facilitate substitutions starting in 2026. Currently, some stadiums have both benches on the same side of the field.
Then, in 2027, CFL fields will be reduced from 110 yards to 100 yards, end zones will go from 20 yards to 15 yards and goalposts will be moved from the goal line to the back of the reconfigured end zones.
The field will remain 65 yards wide, as opposed to 53 yards for those south of the border.
The CFL rules committee â which consists of Johnston, league head coaches and officials, and the CFL Players’ Association â will evaluate the nuances of rules impacted by these changes this off-season.
