Major Announcement from Commish Tomorrow.

[OV Argo]

People are free to believe in any fairy tales they like; pretty common in the internet / social media times now. The BOGoofs are counting on you !!!

Would believing the owners would never walk away from the league because they've endured losses for years qualify as a fairy tale?

Let them walk - love to see those clowns get lost.

Then, maybe, a new pro league of Canadian football could be formed up here. American wannabes need not apply. Enshrined key Canadian rules, and a majority of players on rosters are Canadians. Maybe Doman in BC could be convinced to join, if the new & improved CFL does not work out for him.

[AngeloV]

People are free to believe in any fairy tales they like; pretty common in the internet / social media times now. The BOGoofs are counting on you !!!

Would believing the owners would never walk away from the league because they've endured losses for years qualify as a fairy tale?

Let them walk - love to see those clowns get lost.

Then, maybe, a new pro league of Canadian football could be formed up here. American wannabes need not apply. Enshrined key Canadian rules, and a majority of players on rosters are Canadians. Maybe Doman in BC could be convinced to join, if the new & improved CFL does not work out for him.

You have no clue to reality. Go yell at a cloud.

[AngeloV]

Not sure how reducing the field to 100 yards will make the game better. More Americanized obviously. Could there be a clue in the comment about potential International interests in our league? Should it read American interests? Are the owners looking for a quick buck in another American expansion? I hope not--remember how the last attempt worked out!!!

It’s the only way the league will expand. To many, the league is stale at 9 teams. It may even be a true, cheaper path into Halifax, where the can maybe get into business the Halifax Wanderers soccer team.

[OV Argo]

Did I read there is a woman's pro hockey league in Canada now? WTF ??? What, do they get a few family members in attendance, and do they play in 500 seat arenas in dinky little towns ?

Who knew this was possible ? If somebody had suggested that 2 or 3 decades ago ...

[paulwoods13]

News flash: there's a women's pro hockey team in Toronto, and a women's pro basketball team in Toronto, and they play in leagues that are growing -- and adding further competition for disposable income in this market. But leaving everything as it is in the CFL is definitely the best idea.

[OV Argo]

News flash: there's a women's pro hockey team in Toronto, and a women's pro basketball team in Toronto, and they play in leagues that are growing -- and adding further competition for disposable income in this market. But leaving everything as it is in the CFL is definitely the best idea.

What ??? - you're serious - there really is woman's pro hockey now?; and fans pay to go see it in major Canadian cities ?

So let me guess: in order to improve/change the game, the bizne$$ geniuses in charge of that league - moved the boards way in so the ice surface is way smaller (like the CFL wants to make their playing surface about 20% smaller) and this will make the game faster ?; they made the nets way bigger to increase scoring and to help the women who cannot shoot as hard as men's hockey ? and they removed the blue lines and eliminated off-sides so as to make the game easier and to flow better and also easier for Americans to understand ?

[TrueBlueGuy]

I have grown very accustomed to the CFL rules and believe the rules help, in a big way, to make our game more exciting than the NFL
(with a few exceptions, did you recently see the Bills-Ravens game?)

However I take an open-minded attitude with these rule changes, I will not stop supporting the CFL and the Argos.
I will let time tell if these changes made things better or worse.
Call me again in 2028 and we'll talk.

[IssuesMcgee]

News flash: there's a women's pro hockey team in Toronto, and a women's pro basketball team in Toronto, and they play in leagues that are growing -- and adding further competition for disposable income in this market. But leaving everything as it is in the CFL is definitely the best idea.

The WNBA is subsidized by the NBA and the PWHL is essentially subsidized by the LA Dodgers. The airtime they receive is clearly purchased and not the result of demand. There is no guarantee these leagues will last forever in their current forms.

I'm not trashing women's sports. I've been a huge supporter of women's rugby and MMA for a long time, but the airtime for those sports are not artificially inflated by unsustainable levels of cash. They grow organically, just like the CFL.

I'll ask again, how do the CFL rule changes translate to more fans? How many people are out there saying they will suddenly invest their time and money in the CFL now?

There is a failure to connect the dots here. If these rule changes go through, and there is no improvement in revenue, then what was the point of changing the rules in the first place? We will be left with a bastardized version of the sport we love.

I'm not buying the "I love the CFL, but it needs to change" argument. If you love something, why would you want it to change? It's not like the CFL is a family member with a drug addiction.

[IssuesMcgee]

I have so many thoughts about the specific changes, but most have already been discussed so I won’t repeat them. For the record, I’ll only say that I support the views of Nathan Rourke and Santino Filoso at 3-Down Nation https://3downnation.com/2025/09/26/than ... e-changes/. I’ll just add two things.

What problem are the changes intended to solve? It’s all a little vague. The commissioner is pleased to “clean up the canvas” whatever that means. If the problem is a declining fanbase, that’s a marketing issue. The games this year have been highly entertaining. Teams are averaging 27 points a game (54 combined), there’s plenty of last-minute drama and there’s more parity than the last few years. Why change the product on the field? Let’s look at MLSE’s marketing efforts. The population of the GTA is 7.1 million. Since the Argos average only 14,000 per game, that’s a “success” rate of 0.2%. The population for the Winnipeg area is just 953,000 (all figures from Google) but they average 32,000 per game for a rate of 3.3%. On a per capita basis, the Bombers are 16 times more successful than MLSE at putting bums in the seats. Yes, I know there’s more competition for the sports dollar in Toronto but does MLSE even do any marketing, apart from their efforts on behalf of the Buffalo Bills?

I’ve always treasured the CFL because it is ours - Canadian. The opponents are from Canadian cities, the only anthem is O Canada (apart from a few years in the 1990’s), the players could be neighbours and the rules are ours. A hundred years of fine-tuning those rules has made our game challenging and exciting. There are so many ways to score. (Quick story: Last Saturday the Calgary Dinos were trailing the University of Regina Rams 36 to 27 - 9 points - with only 13 seconds left. From the 28-yard line, they scored a touchdown, a 2 point convert and then, with only six seconds left in the game, drove the kickoff out the back of the opposing end zone to earn a rouge and tie the game). We’re told the new changes “modernize” the game. Let’s use honest words, they “Americanize” the game. Every one of those changes comes from the NFL rulebook. Given that these changes were developed in secrecy and delivered as a done deal, I suspect that there is more to come in succeeding years. CFL rules are finely balanced and drastic changes to the playing field will result in a cascade of rule changes. My friends and I are still debating whether to renew our Argo tickets for next year, but our emotional connection to the CFL has certainly taken a hit.

Excellent first post. Welcome!!!

[TICATS SUCK !]

And I’ll ask again. What would everyone that wants to die on this hill do if 4 or 5 owners were tired of losing money on these teams and walked away?

I love the game as is. Absolutely in a perfect world, I would not change a thing. But I would rather have this future version of the CFL game than no CFL at all. I mean, we’ve already lowered our attendance expectations and we are still not hitting those lower expectations. People are so quick to throw out that word “marketing” but there is more to it than that.

Even in Vancouver, they need to bring in a high priced musical talent once a year to get a great crowd. Problem with that is it people were leaving after the musical act. Something needs to be tried to bring in new, young fans. People need to just accept it. If you’re an Argos fan, you will still be an Argos fan. If not, just leave and stop whining.

How is changing the rules going to change the hearts and minds of those who don't support the CFL because they consider it minor league football, a bush league, etc.?