2021 CFL season schedule discussion (was: "Who came up with the schedule?")

If both teams are competitive, I think there will be better crowds with something on the line.

Argos had 2 games late in the season vs. Ottawa and both teams we’re out of it so they wouldn’t draw as well. More meaningful games against fewer opponents create rivalries

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No, not at all. Montreal is not going to Calgary, they are going to Ottawa instead. It is still a road game, they don’t get an extra home game

I think it will…6 games out of 18 against the same team is not going to draw crowds IMO

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6 games against the same team in one season in a 9 team league is too much.

I remember when NHL went to more intra division games years back, and with pre season games, it was like 8 x against one team. Even with rivals unless its a playoff series that's too much. Also that is with an 82 game season. Edm fans in Calgary were at least excited.

When I go to games, naturally I go to see the home team, but I have always enjoyed seeing as many different teams and players that I can.

It will be an interesting 2021 nonetheless.

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Not to mention there is a possibility of a 7th game being the playoffs.
We need to see more teams not the same old same old.

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Interesting

Experiment going on with the schedule and fans .

Don't like the repetitive story lines myself but will see what it brings .

Also .

Too much Saturday for me in the fall and with that it just blocks out the attention they need to give to the CIS /U sport which they need to blend into CDN football atmosphere over all .

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i'm not putting much stock in the schedule.

it'll likely change 5 more times before the start of any season...

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And that’s if we even have a season. . .

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agreed.

it’s like they threw something together, haphazard, just to say “look, we are planning on having a season”…

sure, no idea how, but we having a season cause we released a schedule.

right.

ahh well, I guess it is better than nothing.

Regarding back to back TO and HAM pre season games

Pre season game day rosters can carry up to 62 players I believe
So to have the 2 pre season games split between TO and HAM reduces travel time and travel expenses when both teams can sleep in their own beds after the game

the cost savings are obvious

Very few starters will play any meaningful minutes

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I count 4 out of 18 regular season games vs Ottawa. That means two home dates: July 31 and Oct 11. Those are pretty well spaced apart.

Yes, both preseason games are against Ottawa. Maybe I’m in the minority on this, but I don’t care about opponents in preseason games. They don’t count for standings, and they rarely feature many reps from starters.

True enough that Montreal doesn’t get an extra home game vs an East opponent this time around. If they continue this schedule formula, though, it would probably alternate year by year. One year, they get one fewer West road trips. The next year, they get one more home game vs regional rival. I’m not sure how it breaks down for the West teams.

A potential bonus for TSN is more games in which both home markets are in the same time zone. That should help with viewership numbers . . . unless of course people start tuning out because of too many games against the same teams.

I like the schedule. It facilitates the East Division rivalries (like Argos-Ti-Cats and Argos RedBlacks) more which reduces travel costs for teams. A great thing. Wouldn’t it be cool to be able to buy a “Labour Day Classic cloth branded face mask” with Argos @ Ti-Cats logos on it to either wear watching the game or just to commemorate the loss of the 2020 Labour Day Classic. I know I could have used a cloth face mask back in a freezing November 2016 when in the nosebleeds at BMO watching Ottawa win the Grey Cup. Anyway, great work on a schedule as far as I am concerned. Hope it gets played.

I don't mind the schedule. One more game against a western opponent as opposed to an eastern opponent is a good thing IMO. This probably also helps to deny a crossover too. The two pre-season against Winnipeg might be a little bit much but I guess there's probably some rationale behind it like mixing 120 players and personale together over the first two weeks as opposed to 400+ or whatever the pre season roster is.

Halifax doesn’t have a franchise, stadium, owners, sponsors, so why are you including them in this picture. In 18 months things will be back to normal!!! In 8 years Halifax will vote on to build or not build a stadium.
Next year with a much low salary cap CFL will struggle big time.
Good financial plan is required to cut expense and keep league alive!

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One thing I noticed that I don't particularly like is that there are a lot of back-to-back series. IIRC, Saskatchewan has four such series (not including preseason), which is almost half of their games.

I'd prefer these were only done as part of Labour Day, but perhaps the league has found that they build drama and better ratings for the second game?

I think this is in response to the re-scheduling of games that the NFL had to do. If, for example, the first pre-season game between OTT and MTL features a player or players with COVID (100 players in camp), then only two teams are affected instead of four (if OTT and MTL had to play other opponents). I think that’s another reason why preseason repetitiveness bleeds into the start of the regular season. It could also be why there are more back-to-back games.

No one has mentioned the random Wednesday game between TOR and HAM before Labour Day in week 13. Those two teams also share common bye weeks in week 14 and week 19. I’m betting that if something happens in any preceding game, it will be re-scheduled to one of the bye weeks. I’m surprised that more of those contingencies weren’t built in. At first glance, this schedule seems fairly basic, but maybe there’s more potential shuffling.

I’m happy with the schedule overall. A Canada Day game, traditional Labour Day rivalries, and a Thanksgiving game. There are ZERO Thursday night double headers and pretty consistent scheduling with Saturdays. I’m in favour of more divisional match ups for when the Schooners start play, so as someone else mentioned, this preps us for not seeing some teams in some stadiums in a year.

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Why didn't the league schedule a game on MLB's All-Star Break? That is one day on the Sports calendar that has little action for Sports. It's not too late to parachute a game when MLB releases it's schedule in the new year

I think that random Wednesday game is done to squeeze in three Argos home dates during the CNE. That has been a top drawing gate in recent years but three might be pushing it.

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That’s a good point, I forgot about that. I think you’re right, might be a bit of a stretch. And it will be tough on the Argos to play three games in ten days.

Traditionally attendance has proved to be better against teams in their own division. A number of Hamilton and Toronto fans will travel to these road games, and the same with Ottawa and Montreal. I would think that was the thinking here along with less travel expense.

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Altough this schedule is weird at some levels, I'm ready to accept it due to the exceptionnal circumstances.

Good news: return of the Thanksgiving game, return of the Montreal-Ottawa game for Labour weekend, only one super saturday and the playoffs are still on november's sundays.

Worst news: only one regular game in the entire season on a sunday, no touchdown atlantic event.

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