With the press conference coming today at 1:00, I suspect this one will be big enough for its own topic:
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challenge flag at the ready
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I agree and my thoughts are based on the wording of the full media advisory:
* * * * * * * * * * * *
TORONTO (September 21, 2025) â Media members are invited to a special media conference where Canadian Football League (CFL) Commissioner Stewart Johnston will make a major announcement regarding significant changes to the game. The event will take place at 1 p.m. ET on Monday, September 22 at Hotel X in downtown Toronto.
Following the announcement, Commissioner Johnston will take questions from media members in attendance, before conducting a media scrum.
The media conference will be livestreamed on CFL+.
EVENT DETAILS
What
- Major announcement: Changes to the game
When
Monday, September 22
1 p.m. ET | Media conference begins
* * * * * * * * * * * *
- It says itâs a âmajor announcementâ regarding âsignificant changes to the game.â So, if the words are taken, literally, itâs more than a single change and itâs to the game, not games, meaning our CFL game, as we know it.
- What intrigues me, most, is that a lot of people would have to have been in on agreeing to make these âchangesâ and nothing seems to have leaked out to the media.
- I have two guesses ---- This, in some way, has something to do with the NFL, or QB safety.
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Iâm leaning towards QB Safety. Something to do with the NFL should have happened with the Bills/MLSE announcement youâd think.
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My gut says it wonât be either of these. I just donât think QB Safety rule changes are big enough to justify its own press conference and I think if the NFL were involved it definitely would have leaked through the US Media somehow.
That all said, I donât have a better guess. I just hope beyond hope that weâre not going to four down football. Thereâs more than enough of that. I love it, and consume lots of it, but the CFL doesnât need to be it.
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I wonât be shocked if your four-down suggestion is whatâs coming, Egbert.
In recent decades, the league first took much of special teams play out of overtime periods, and later shortened the field, in regulation time, for offences, believing that greater chances of scoring plays is what will attract new, younger, fans.
I think the league is (finally) thinking long term and realistically about their shrinking fanbase .
Only 2 or 3 teams actually make money every year.
The TV audience of 500k a game seems good but is generally and slowly in decline and now big NFL games like Thursday and Sunday night Football routinely get 800K -1 million viewers
Moving to CTV on Saturdays did not have the rating jump that I expected as those 500K that watch on TSN make up pretty much the total audience for the CFL regardless of what station or if itâs available with a free antenna
I donât like Luke Wilson, but heâs right about one thing; the CFL canât just stay status Quo for the sake of tradition. We are an aging fanbase that wonât really be around in 20 or 30 years unless they find a way to really grow the game.
I personally hope the announcement has more to do with Scheduling or a revived playoff format, but for example (just a hypothetical) if young people donât watch because they hate the 3 down format or the rouge , or the ratio or whatever⌠then the CFL at least has to consider ways to tweak or change the game.
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This announcement came right after our stupendously awful win over Ottawa so we have a sick feeling here in Winnipeg that commissioner Johnston is going to ban any team that canât complete more than three passes in a game from counting a full two points in the standings.
He might even go so far as to create a âdoghouse divisionâ where teams that bring down TSNâs ratings are sent to lay a rotten egg in the privacy of their own parks so as not to make the rest of the CFL look bad.
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Agree
Itâs an aging fan base. Need to get the younger fans excited about the league.
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I still spit if I hear the name Taylor Reed. LOL.
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I suspect young people in Canada donât watch because they hate anything that isnât the NFL and nothing the league does will change that.
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The next generation needs to see live footballâŚ1/2 price tickets for kids under 16 to sit with parents at the gameâŚget them interested early. I see very few young kids at games.
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SureâŚmaybeâŚ
but honestly the league has never really addressed the issue. Not really.
So who knows if more young people could be turned onto the CFL?
Agree, and much easier to find then the 20, 000 Comment âgeneralâ thread.
Rod Pedersen has said heâs heard its an Americanization of the game, so 4 downs, no rouge.
The timing of it is odd.
My prediction is theyâll try it for 5 years max (and probably less) before switching back to the current rules.
I have a hard time believing slightly different rules are thee reason young people arenât interested in the CFL. Itâs the poor play and slow pace.
When done properly, like we saw previous decades, the CFL rules produce an exciting product.
Itâs actually a bit baffling the rouge isnât celebrated. NFL fans claim to love the strategy aspect of football, the rouge presents an interesting wrinkle that league lacks. Maybe theyâre full of it and they just like to gamble.
That said, the CFL needs to try things. I just donât think this (if itâs rule changes) is the silver bullet. So after they see no noticeable uptick in new fans, I see them reverting back to the current rules.
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While I donât profess to know how to get new generations to fall in love with the CFL, I am wholly convinced that changing to four downs wonât do it.
My staunch belief⌠All the people that call the CFL bush league for being three downs, for the rouge, for the no yards penalty etc, wonât suddenly become CFL fans if we adopt NFL rules. Those people will move onto the next list of reasons to not love the CFL. Itâll be things like the ratio, the salaries, the talent. Itâll effectively be AHL hockey compared to NHL hockey. Same game, less talent, loved by a passionate few, ignored by the masses.
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I admit to not having time to watch football the last few seasons but I always remember the CFL as being faster and more exciting than the NFL, which I always attributed to fewer downs and players who are there for the love of the game, rather than a fat paycheque.
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I think things are starting to leak out a bit and heâs right on the first thought, wrong on the second, and Iâm not sure about the third. I, for one, will be very disappointed, if the rouge disappears because people, who donât undertand it, see it, at least on missed FG attempts, as awarding failure.
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What is unique
rouge
endzone
field size
size of the football
expect motifications to all.