I don't see the NFL being a huge factor here. The CFL's playoffs outdraws the NFL every year. I saw the NFL's TV ratings for 2017 in a Toronto Sun article yesterday and, while they draw a bit higher average TV audiences than the CFL, that is mostly because the NFL is available "over the air" in Canada and not exclusively on cable as is the CFL. In fact, I believe the Sunday night NFL audiences rose considerably in Canada in 2017 but only because the games appeared on BOTH TSN and CTV Two simultaneously. Anyway, that is a whole other conversation.
The key competition for the CFL in Canada is the NHL and, to a lesser degree, MLB and NBA. Starting the season in May does not do the CFL any favours when they are going head-to-head with the Stanley Cup Playoffs and maybe the Raptors, depending on how well they are doing.
The season should only be moved up two weeks at the most and that is what TSN only seems comfortable with so that the Grey Cup is still in mid-November when the CFL is able to get much more of the spotlight to themselves.
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