Canadian Football League

Canadian Football League
Ligue canadienne de football

Current season, competition or edition: 2018 CFL season
Sport	Canadian football
Founded	January 17, 1958 (60 years ago)[1]
Inaugural season	1958
Commissioner	Randy Ambrosie
No. of teams	9
Country	Canada
Headquarters	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Most recent champion(s)	Toronto Argonauts (7th title)
Most titles	Edmonton Eskimos (11)
TV partner(s)	TSN, RDS
Official website	cfl.ca

The Canadian Football League (CFL; French: Ligue canadienne de football, LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. Its nine teams, which are located in nine separate cities throughout Canada, are divided into two divisions: the East Division, with four teams, and the West Division with five teams.

As of 2018, the league features a 21-week regular season, which traditionally runs from mid-June to early November; each team plays 18 games with three bye weeks. Following the regular season, six teams compete in the league's three-week divisional playoffs, which culminate in the Grey Cup championship game in late November, one of the country's largest annual sports and television events.^[2]

The CFL was officially founded on January 19, 1958.^[3] The league was formed from a merger between the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union founded in 1907 and the Western Interprovincial Football Union founded in 1936.^[4]

Contents

• 
  1 History
  
  
  
  • 
    1.1 Early history
    
  
  
  • 
    1.2 United States expansion
    
  
  
  • 
    1.3 Post-U.S. expansion era
    
    
    
    • 
      1.3.1 Mark Cohon era (2007–15)
      
    
    
    • 
      1.3.2 Jeffrey Orridge era (2015–17)
      
    
    
    • 
      1.3.3 Randy Ambrosie era (2017–present)
      
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  2 Teams
  
  
  
  • 
    2.1 Active teams
    
  
  
  • 
    2.2 Defunct teams
    
    
    
    • 
      2.2.1 Teams that never played
      
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • 
    2.3 Potential expansion
    
    
    
    • 
      2.3.1 Maritimes
      
    
    
    • 
      2.3.2 Quebec City
      
    
    
    • 
      2.3.3 Saskatoon
      
    
    
    • 
      2.3.4 Mexico
      
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  3 Season structure
  
  
  
  • 
    3.1 Preseason
    
  
  
  • 
    3.2 Regular season
    
  
  
  • 
    3.3 Playoffs
    
  
  
  • 
    3.4 Grey Cup
    
  
  
  • 
    3.5 Awards
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  4 Broadcasting
  
  
  
  • 
    4.1 Canadian broadcasters
    
  
  
  • 
    4.2 Foreign coverage
    
  
  
  • 
    4.3 Previous broadcasting arrangements
    
    
    
    • 
      4.3.1 Canada
      
    
    
    • 
      4.3.2 United States
      
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • 
    4.4 Internet
    
  
  
  • 
    4.5 Radio
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  5 Players and compensation
  


• 
  6 CFL Draft
  


• 
  7 League commissioners
  


• 
  8 See also
  


• 
  9 References
  


• 
  10 Further reading
  


• 
  11 External links
  

History

Early history

Further information: History of Canadian football

CFL logo from 1958 to 1969

Rugby football began to be played in Canada in the 1860s, and many of the first Canadian football teams played under the auspices of the Canadian Rugby Football Union (CRFU), founded in 1884.^[5] The CRFU was reorganized as the Canadian Rugby Union (CRU) in 1891, and served as an umbrella organization for several provincial and regional unions. The Grey Cup was donated by Governor General Earl Grey in 1909 to the team winning the Senior Amateur Football Championship of Canada. By that time, the sport as played in Canada had diverged markedly from its rugby origins, and started to become more similar to the American game.

From the 1930s to the 1950s, the two senior leagues of the CRU, the eastern Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (IRFU or Big Four) and Western Interprovincial Football Union (WIFU) gradually evolved from amateur to professional leagues, and amateur teams such as those in the Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) were no longer competitive for the Grey Cup. From 1945 onward, the WIFU's champion faced the Big Four's champion for the Grey Cup, though until 1954 it had to play in a semi-final against the champion of the ORFU–by then, the only amateur union still competing for the Grey Cup. The ORFU withdrew from Grey Cup competition after the 1954 season, and the WIFU champion was automatically awarded a berth in the Grey Cup final. For this reason, 1954 is reckoned as the start of the modern era of Canadian football, in which the Grey Cup has been exclusively contested by professional teams. Since 1965, Canada's top amateur teams, competing in what is now U Sports, have competed for the Vanier Cup.

In 1956, the IRFU and WIFU formed a new umbrella organization, the Canadian Football Council (CFC). In 1958, the CFC left the CRU and became the Canadian Football League. As part of an agreement between the CRU and CFL, the CFL took possession of the Grey Cup, even though amateurs had not competed for it since 1954. The CRU remained the governing body for amateur play in Canada, eventually adopting the name Football Canada. Initially, the two unions remained autonomous, and there was no intersectional play between eastern (IRFU) and western (WIFU) teams except at the Grey Cup final. This situation was roughly analogous to how the American baseball leagues operated for years.

The IRFU was renamed the Eastern Football Conference in 1960, while the WIFU was renamed the Western Football Conference in 1961. Also in 1961, limited intersectional play was introduced. Because the West played 16 games by this time while the East still only played 14, this arrangement oddly allowed both the four-team Eastern Conference and the five-team Western Conference to play three games per intraconference opponent and one game per interconference opponent. It wasn't until 1974 that the East would expand its schedule to 16 games, just like the West. In 1981, the two conferences agreed to a full merger, becoming the East and West Divisions of the CFL. With the merger came a fully balanced and interlocking schedule of 16 games per season (with all nine teams playing each other twice, once at home and once on the road). Since 1986, the CFL's regular season schedule has been 18 games.

The separate histories of the IRFU and the WIFU accounted for the fact that two teams had basically the same name: the IRFU's Ottawa Rough Riders were often called the "Eastern Riders", while the WIFU's Saskatchewan Roughriders were called the "Western Riders" or "Green Riders". Other team names had traditional origins. With rowing a national craze in the late 19th century, the Argonaut Rowing Club of Toronto formed a rugby team for its members' off-season participation. The football team name Toronto Argonauts still remains even though it and the rowing club have long since gone their separate ways. After World War II, the two teams in Hamilton—the Tigers and the Flying Wildcats—merged both their organizations into the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

CFL logo from 1970 to 2002

The league remained stable with nine franchises—the BC Lions, Calgary Stampeders, Edmonton Eskimos, Saskatchewan Roughriders, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Toronto Argonauts, Ottawa Rough Riders and Montreal Alouettes—from its 1958 inception until 1981. After the 1981 season, the Alouettes folded and were replaced the next year by a new franchise named the Concordes.

In 1986 the Concordes were renamed the Alouettes to attract more fan support, but the team folded the next year. The demise of the Alouettes forced the League to move its easternmost Western team, Winnipeg, into the East Division (it would stay there between 1987–94, 1997–2001, and once more from 2006–2013).

United States expansion

Main article: Canadian Football League in the United States

The CFL USA logo used to promote the United States expansion from 1993 to 1995.

In 1993, the league admitted its first United States-based franchise, the Sacramento Gold Miners. After modest success, the league then expanded further in the U.S. in 1994 with the Las Vegas Posse, Baltimore Stallions, and Shreveport Pirates. For the 1995 campaign, the American teams were split off into their own South Division, and two more teams, the Birmingham Barracudas and Memphis Mad Dogs, were added; at the same time, the Posse folded and the Gold Miners relocated to become the San Antonio Texans. In 1995, the Stallions became the only non-Canadian team to win the Grey Cup.

Despite all American teams having the advantage of not being bound to the CFL's minimum Canadian player quotas, only the Stallions proved to be an on-field and off-field success. The establishment of the NFL's Baltimore Ravens, worsening financial problems among the league's core Canadian teams, and the inconsistent performance of the other American teams prompted the CFL to abandon its American experiment and retrench its Canadian operations. The Stallions organization was used as the basis for a revival of the Montreal Alouettes.

Post-U.S. expansion era

The CFL returned to an all-Canadian format in 1996 with nine teams;^[6] the league conducted a dispersal draft to distribute players from the shuttered American-based teams; however, the Ottawa Rough Riders, in existence since 1876, folded after the 1996 season (another dispersal draft was conducted to distribute the former Rough Rider players amongst the remaining eight teams). Toronto and recently revived Montreal also were struggling; Montreal's woes were solved by moving to Percival Molson Memorial Stadium, a much smaller venue than the cavernous Olympic Stadium.

In 1997, the NFL provided a US$3-million interest-free loan to the financially struggling CFL. In return, the NFL was granted access to CFL players entering a defined two-month window in the option year of their contract. This was later written into the CFL's collective bargaining agreement with its players. The CFL's finances have since stabilized and they eventually repaid the loan. The CFL–NFL agreement expired in 2006. Both leagues have been attempting to reach a new agreement, but the CFL broke off negotiations in November 2007 after Canadian telecommunications firm Rogers Communications paid $78 million to host seven Bills games in Toronto over five seasons (the last Bills Toronto Series game was played during the 2013 NFL season).^[7][8]

Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium (shown during player introductions prior to a game) is the largest venue in the CFL.

In 2002, the league expanded back to nine teams with the creation of the Ottawa Renegades. After four seasons of financial losses, the Renegades were suspended indefinitely before the 2006 season; their players were absorbed by the remaining teams in a dispersal draft, as was the case during 1996 and 1997.

In 2005, the league set an all-time attendance record with a total attendance of more than 2.3 million.^[9] With the absence of Ottawa from 2006 onwards, league attendance hovered around the 2 million mark. It stood at 2,029,875 in 2012 for a single game average of 28,193.^[10] The 2007 season was a recent high point with average game attendance of 29,167, the best since 1983.^[11]

Mark Cohon era (2007–15)

The CFL logo from 2002 to 2015

With Mark Cohon as commissioner of the league the CFL entered a period of stability and growth. New television deals, two new collective bargaining agreements, the 100th Grey Cup celebration, and widespread stadium renovation and rebuilding highlighted this era. The 100th anniversary of the Grey Cup had the highest ever television ratings for a championship game in English Canada.^[12]

During the 2000s the CFL had the third highest per-game attendance of any North American sports league and the seventh highest per-game attendance of any sports league worldwide. A 2006 survey conducted at the University of Lethbridge confirmed that the CFL was the second most popular sports league in Canada, with the following of 19% of the total adult Canadian population compared to 30% for the NHL. The NFL had 11% following, with a total of 26% following at least one of the pro football leagues. In other words, approximately 80% of Canadian football fans follow the CFL, and about 55% follow the NFL.^[13]

During Mark Cohon's time in office many of the teams either undertook major renovations to their existing stadiums, or constructed brand new stadiums. The Montreal Alouettes were the first to undertake this project, adding 5,000 seats to Percival Molson Memorial Stadium in time for the 2010 CFL season.^[14] The Edmonton Eskimos and Calgary Stampeders also renovated their respective stadiums and facilities for the 2010 season.^[15] In 2011, the BC Lions played under a new, retractable roof in BC Place after spending one and a half seasons at Empire Field.^[16] In 2013, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers moved to an entirely new stadium at the University of Manitoba. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats began using their new stadium, Tim Hortons Field, after spending 2013 at University of Guelph's stadium and the first half of the 2014 season at McMaster University's football field following the demolition of the iconic Ivor Wynne Stadium.^[17]

In 2014 the Ottawa Redblacks kicked off their inaugural season (having been awarded a franchise in 2008^[18]), becoming the third Ottawa franchise in CFL history. The new Ottawa franchise returned the league to 9 team structure, with 5 teams in West Division and 4 in the East; the Winnipeg Blue Bombers moved back to the West Division.^[19] The expansion Ottawa Redblacks played at the massively renovated Frank Clair Stadium, now branded as TD Place Stadium.^[20]

In Mark Cohon's last year as commissioner he negotiated a new five-year collective bargaining agreement (from 2014 through the 2018 season) between the CFL and the Canadian Football League Players' Association (CFLPA).^[21]

Jeffrey Orridge era (2015–17)

The Toronto Argonauts entered a period of transition off the field, with new ownership and a new stadium. The Argonauts were sold by politician/businessman David Braley to Bell Media and MLSE chairman Larry Tanenbaum.^[22] At the start of the 2016 season the Argos moved to BMO Field after more than twenty seasons at the Rogers Centre (formerly called the SkyDome from 1989–2005).^[23] Construction on the New Mosaic Stadium for the Saskatchewan Roughriders was completed in October 2016^[24] and the first game was played in the 2017 season.^[25]

On May 22, 2015, Michael Sam signed a two-year contract with Montreal Alouettes of the CFL.^[26][27] The signing made him the first openly gay player in the league's history.^[27] Sam left the team the day before the first preseason game, citing personal reasons.^[28] As reported by Fox Sports, Sam returned to Montreal to continue his professional football career.^[29] He left again on August 14, this time permanently, again citing personal reasons.

Immediately following the 2015 season Jeffrey Orridge announced a re-branding for the CFL, including a new logo, motto, uniforms for all nine teams and website.^[30] After not having a drug enforcement policy in effect for the 2015 season the league and the CFLPA agreed to a new drug policy.^[31] On April 12, 2017 the Board of Governors and Jeffrey Orridge agreed to part ways, effective June 30, 2017; Orridge cited "differing views on the future of the league" between him and the Board of Governors for the departure, with both sides stating the decision was mutual and amicable.^[32] His last day as commissioner was June 15, 2017.^[33]Jim Lawson, the CFL's Chair of the Board of Governors, took over the duties of interim Commissioner until a suitable replacement was found.^[34]

Randy Ambrosie era (2017–present)

On June 29, 2017, the CFL announced Randy Ambrosie would succeed Orridge as CFL commissioner.^[35] The move was made official on July 5, 2017, with Ambrosie named as the 14th Commissioner of the league that day.^[36] Having spent 9 seasons as a player with the Calgary Stampeders, Toronto Argonauts and Edmonton Eskimos from 1985–1993, Ambrosie is the first commissioner to have played in the league since Larry Smith left the position in 1997.

On September 12, 2018, it was announced that Buffalo, New York-based New Era Cap Company would become the official apparel supplier of the CFL beginning in 2019, replacing Adidas.^[37]

Teams

Active teams

Team	City	Stadium	Capacity	Coordinates	Founded (Lineage)	Head Coach	General Manager	Owner
East Division
Hamilton Tiger-Cats	Hamilton, Ontario	Tim Hortons Field	24,000	43°15′9.26″N 79°49′48.89″W / 43.2525722°N 79.8302472°W / 43.2525722; -79.8302472 (Hamilton Tiger-Cats)	1950 (1869)[1]	June Jones	Eric Tillman	Bob Young
Montreal Alouettes	Montreal, Quebec	Percival Molson Memorial Stadium	23,420	45°30′36.3″N 73°34′50.4″W / 45.510083°N 73.580667°W / 45.510083; -73.580667 (Montreal Alouettes)	1996 (1946)[2]	Mike Sherman	Kavis Reed	Bob Wetenhall
Ottawa Redblacks	Ottawa, Ontario	TD Place Stadium	25,000	45°23′53.44″N 75°41′1.14″W / 45.3981778°N 75.6836500°W / 45.3981778; -75.6836500 (Ottawa Redblacks)	2014 (1876)[3]	Rick Campbell	Marcel Desjardins	Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (Jeff Hunt, chairman)[38]
Toronto Argonauts	Toronto, Ontario	BMO Field	25,000	43°37′58″N 79°25′07″W / 43.63278°N 79.41861°W / 43.63278; -79.41861 (Toronto Argonauts)	1873[39]	Marc Trestman	Jim Popp	Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (Larry Tanenbaum, chairman)[40]
West Division
BC Lions	Vancouver, British Columbia	BC Place	54,320	49°16′36″N 123°6′43″W / 49.27667°N 123.11194°W / 49.27667; -123.11194 (BC Lions)	1954	Wally Buono	Ed Hervey	David Braley
Calgary Stampeders	Calgary, Alberta	McMahon Stadium	35,400	51°4′13.18″N 114°7′17.00″W / 51.0703278°N 114.1213889°W / 51.0703278; -114.1213889 (Calgary Stampeders)	1945	Dave Dickenson	John Hufnagel	Calgary Sports and Entertainment (N. Murray Edwards, chairman)
Edmonton Eskimos	Edmonton, Alberta	The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium	56,302	53°33′35″N 113°28′34″W / 53.55972°N 113.47611°W / 53.55972; -113.47611 (Edmonton Eskimos)	1949 (1911)[4]	Jason Maas	Brock Sunderland	Publicly owned
Saskatchewan Roughriders	Regina, Saskatchewan	Mosaic Stadium	33,350	50°27′9.46″N 104°37′27.09″W / 50.4526278°N 104.6241917°W / 50.4526278; -104.6241917 (Saskatchewan Roughriders)	1910[5]	Chris Jones		Publicly owned
Winnipeg Blue Bombers	Winnipeg, Manitoba	Investors Group Field	33,234	49°48′28″N 97°8′35″W / 49.80778°N 97.14306°W / 49.80778; -97.14306 (Winnipeg Blue Bombers)	1930 (1887)[6]	Michael O'Shea	Kyle Walters	Publicly owned

Map this section's coordinates using: OpenStreetMap

Download coordinates as: KML · GPX

Lions

Stampeders

Eskimos

Roughriders

Blue Bombers

Tiger-Cats

Argonauts

Redblacks

Alouettes

Defunct teams

Team	City	Stadium	Years active
Baltimore Stallions	Baltimore, Maryland	Memorial Stadium	1994–1995[7]
Birmingham Barracudas	Birmingham, Alabama	Legion Field	1995
Las Vegas Posse	Las Vegas, Nevada	Sam Boyd Stadium	1994
Memphis Mad Dogs	Memphis, Tennessee	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium	1995
Ottawa Renegades	Ottawa, Ontario	Frank Clair Stadium	2002–2005
Ottawa Rough Riders	Ottawa, Ontario	Frank Clair Stadium	1876–1996
Sacramento Gold Miners	Sacramento, California	Hornet Stadium	1993–1994
San Antonio Texans	San Antonio, Texas	Alamodome	1995[8]
Shreveport Pirates	Shreveport, Louisiana	Independence Stadium	1994–1995

Teams that never played

Team	City	Planned Debut	Result of proposal
Atlantic Schooners	Halifax/Dartmouth, Nova Scotia	1984	Dissolved due to lack of stadium
San Antonio Texans	San Antonio, Texas	1993	Folded before beginning play[9]
Mississippi team / Miami Manatees	Jackson, MS / Miami, FL	1995	Owner reneged on sale after team was included on schedule.[10]

Notes

.mw-parser-output .refbegin{font-size:90%;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul{list-style-type:none;margin-left:0}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul>li,.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>dl>dd{margin-left:0;padding-left:3.2em;text-indent:-3.2em;list-style:none}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-100{font-size:100%}

1. 
   ^ The Hamilton Tiger-Cats were created in 1950 as a merger between the Hamilton Tigers (founded in 1869 as the Hamilton Football Club)^[5] and the Hamilton Wildcats (founded in 1941).


2. 
   ^ The CFL considers the current Montreal Alouettes franchise to be a continuation of the original Montreal Alouettes (founded 1946, played in the CFL 1958–1981) and Montreal Concordes (founded 1982, renamed the Montreal Alouettes in 1986, folded just before the 1987 season).^[41] However this does not include the Montreal Football Club that was formed in 1872, and joined the IRFU in 1907–1915, and the Montreal AAA Winged Wheelers, who played in the IRFU during the 1930s and 40's, winning the Grey Cup in 1931. While the current incarnation of the Alouettes inherited many of the players and staff of the Baltimore Stallions, the CFL considers the Stallions a separate entity.


3. 
   ^ All Ottawa clubs including the previous Rough Riders and Renegades are combined with current Redblacks for historical consistency only, even though the CFL considers them separate clubs.


4. 
   ^ While football in Edmonton was first played in 1890,^[42] the Edmonton Eskimos (in their current incarnation) recognize their first season in 1949.^[43] This was further evidenced by the "60 seasons" decals worn on their helmets during the 2008 season.


5. 
   ^ Became Saskatchewan Roughriders officially in 1950, after the team became the only pro football team left in the province in 1948. Roughriders were originally called the Regina Rugby Football club from 1910 to 1924. then called the Regina Roughriders from 1925 to 1949.


6. 
   ^ Created by a merger of the Winnipegs and the St. John's team on June 10, 1930, and become known as the "Winnipeg Pegs" before changing to the current name, Blue Bombers, in 1937.^[44]
   


7. 
   ^ Franchise folded after the 1995 season. Owner and most players moved to the revived Montreal Alouettes in 1996; the league considers the Stallions a separate franchise from the Alouettes.


8. 
   ^ The San Antonio Texans formed in 1993 folded before playing a game. The 1995 Texans team were the former Sacramento Gold Miners, who moved to San Antonio in 1995.


9. 
   ^ Both the Mississippi and the Miami teams were to use the franchise of the Las Vegas Posse. Mississippi was included on the 1995 draft schedule, but squabbles with the Posse's ownership led to the sale falling through. The Miami ownership group would have put the franchise back onto the field in 1996, but the league withdrew from the United States prior to the 1996 season.

Note: team franchise history is listed as it is recognized by the CFL in its publication CFL Guide and Record Book (2017).^[45]

Potential expansion

Potential CFL expansion markets are the Maritimes, Quebec City, Saskatoon, London, and Windsor, all of which have been lobbying (unsuccessfully to date) for Canadian Football League franchises in recent years.^[46][47][48] During the 1970s and 1980s, Harold Ballard attempted multiple times to secure a second CFL team for Toronto (either by way of expansion or by relocating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats), under the premise that Canada's largest city could support two teams.^[49]

Maritimes

Since the 1980s, the CFL has occasionally played exhibition and, later, regular-season games at various cities in the Maritimes, including Canada Games Stadium in Saint John, New Brunswick; Huskies Stadium in Halifax, Nova Scotia; and Moncton Stadium in Moncton, New Brunswick. The league conditionally approved an expansion franchise, the Atlantic Schooners, for play in the 1984 season, but the team never made it to play after plans for a stadium collapsed.

No city in Atlantic Canada has a permanent stadium that meets CFL standards. As of 2010, the largest stadium in the Maritimes is Moncton Stadium, which has 10,000 permanent seats and is expandable to 20,000 with temporary seats.^[50] A pre-season game, dubbed Touchdown Atlantic, was held in Halifax in the 2005 CFL season and regular season games were played in Moncton under the same branding in 2010, 2011, and 2013.^[51] All 20,000 seats for the 2010 Moncton game sold out in 32 hours;^[52] the 2013 game did not sell out. Former Commissioner Mark Cohon has stated that Moncton Stadium would require massive renovations to host a CFL team permanently. The cost of the required renovations would be the equivalent of building a brand-new stadium.^[53] In November 2015 the Halifax city council voted 9–7 against purchasing land that would then be used to build a 20,000-seat stadium. It was agreed that the price tag for the land was too much, but the close 9–7 vote indicates municipal interest in building a near CFL sized stadium in Halifax.^[54]

In November 2017, the CFL conducted further discussions with a group in Halifax interested in securing a franchise for the city;^[55] the group made a "very credible" pitch to the CFL head office.^[56] According to TSN analyst Dave Naylor the group consists of Anthony LeBlanc (former president and CEO of the NHL's Arizona Coyotes), Bruce Bowser (president of AMJ Campbell Van Lines) and Gary Drummond (former president of hockey operations for the Coyotes).^[56] In June 2018, the ownership group, named Maritime Football Ltd., met with Premier of New Brunswick Brian Gallant and Moncton mayor Dawn Arnold, to discuss the possibility of a Halifax team playing some games in Moncton.^[57] Later that month, the group met with the Halifax Regional Council in private about plans to bring a CFL team to Halifax, with the possibility of playing at Moncton University while a stadium in Halifax is being built.^[58][59] The possible stadium locations were narrowed down to two sites, in Dartmouth Crossing and Bayers Lake Business Park.^[60] It was then revealed that the Maritime Football Ltd. ownership group preferred the Shannon Park location in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia to develop a new stadium.^[61] The stadium would be estimated to cost between $170 to $190 million and would seat 24,000 and have a business model similar to the Ottawa Redblacks, who entered the league in 2014.^[62] On October 30, 2018, Halifax City Council unanimously voted in favour of proceeding with a business case analysis of a stadium in the Halifax municipality.^[63][64] Following this positive momentum, Maritime Football Ltd. and CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie announced that the group would proceed with a season ticket drive to further gauge interest in addition running a team name contest in the hopes of making an announcement on the team name just prior to the 106th Grey Cup game.^[65] The target year for the proposed team to enter the league would be 2021, with the team name including "Atlantic" in its name, but no franchise was actually awarded in this announcement.^[66][67] Further to the previous discussions with Moncton and New Brunswick politicians, it was also suggested that the potential new franchise could begin play in Moncton while the stadium in Halifax is built.^[67]

Quebec City

There has also been interest in adding a team in Quebec City. In 2003, an exhibition game was held at Telus Stadium between the Montreal Alouettes and Ottawa Renegades where Montreal won 54–23.^[68] In May 2009, Christina Saint Marche, a British businesswoman, announced her interest in operating a team in Quebec City—stating that there would be a natural rivalry with the Montreal Alouettes.^[69] During the 2010 Grey Cup state of the league news conference, Cohon noted that the Alouettes hold the rights for the entire province of Quebec and that any expansion would have to be negotiated with them first.^[70] Another exhibition game was held at Telus Stadium on June 13, 2015, with Ottawa (whose TD Place Stadium was in use by the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup) hosting Montreal.^[71]

Saskatoon

Saskatoon last hosted top-level Canadian football in 1935 when the Regina Roughriders left the Saskatchewan Rugby Football Union to form the WIFU. The Saskatoon Hilltops (along with another Saskatchewan-based team, the Moose Jaw Millers) eventually suspended operations due to World War II; the Hilltops would remain an amateur team when they returned in 1947 (they have since played in the Canadian Junior Football League). Saskatoon last won a provincial title in 1921. By the time they resumed play after the war, the Roughriders had been the dominant team in the province for two decades.

In early 2012, management at Credit Union Centre publicly expressed its desire to bring a CFL team to Saskatoon. However, the Regina-based Saskatchewan Roughriders have long branded themselves as a province-wide team, and claimed that Saskatchewan is too small to support two teams.^[46] In any event, Saskatoon also lacks a suitable outdoor stadium. Its largest, Griffiths Stadium, home of the University of Saskatchewan's Saskatchewan Huskies, seats only 6,171 spectators. The Gordie Howe Bowl, which has hosted CFL exhibitions in the past, has even fewer seats (it seats 3,950 people).

Mexico

While not openly being considered for franchise expansion, Mexico was suggested by Commissioner Randy Ambrosie as a possible location for neutral site regular season games (similar to the NFL's Mexico Series) as early as 2019, as well as potentially partnering with the LFA for player development, as part of the league's plan to expand globally.^[72][73][74]

Season structure

Montreal Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo looks down field with the ball during the 2005 Grey Cup game against the Edmonton Eskimos at BC Place

Since 2018, the CFL season has included:

• A two-game, three-week exhibition season (or pre-season) in mid-June


• An 18-game, 21-week regular season running from late June to early November


• A six-team, three-week single elimination playoff tournament beginning in November and culminating in the Grey Cup championship in late November. Championship teams will play either two or three playoff games, including the Grey Cup game, depending on their standing at the end of the regular season. The division leaders at the end of the regular season receive byes in the first round of the playoffs.

Preseason

Team training camps open 28 days prior to the first regular season game of the season, a camp solely devoted to first year players is allowed the 3 days before the main camp opens. The pre-season exhibition schedule is two weeks long with each team playing two games against teams from its own division.

Regular season

The regular season is 21 weeks long, with games beginning in mid-June and finishing by early November. The CFL's nine current teams are divided into two divisions: the East Division with four teams and the West Division, with five teams. Each team plays two games against each of the other eight teams, plus two divisional games with opponents rotating each season. With 81 regular season games being played, each team gets three bye weeks.

The most popular featured week in the CFL season is the Labour Day Classic, played over the course of the Labour Day weekend, where the matchups feature the first half of home-and-home series between the traditional geographic rivalries of Toronto–Hamilton (a rivalry which began in 1873^[5]), Edmonton–Calgary (see Battle of Alberta), Winnipeg–Saskatchewan, and Ottawa–Montreal. In years that Ottawa or Montreal were not in the league, BC would play against one of these teams.^[75] The following week's rematch of these games is a popular event as well, especially in recent years, where the rematch of the Saskatchewan–Winnipeg game has been dubbed the Banjo Bowl.

Other features of the regular season schedule are the Hall of Fame Game and the Thanksgiving Day Classic, the doubleheader held on Thanksgiving where the match ups usually do not feature traditional rivalries. From 2010 to 2013, a neutral site regular season game was played in Moncton under the name Touchdown Atlantic.

The league awards points based on regular season results (two for a win, one for a tie and none for a loss). As of the 2011 season, in the event two or more teams in a division finish the season with the same number of points, the tie is broken based on the following criteria (in descending order), with coin tosses used if all such tie-breaker steps fail:^[76]

• Number of wins in all games;


• Winning percentage in games between the tied teams;


• Net aggregate of points scored (i.e. total points scored less total points conceded) between the tied teams;


• Net quotient of points scored (i.e. total points scored divided by total points conceded) between the tied teams;


• Winning percentage in divisional games;


• Net aggregate of points scored in divisional games;


• Net quotient of points scored in divisional games;


• Net aggregate of points scored in all games;


• Net quotient of points scored in all games.

Playoffs

The playoffs begin in November. After the regular season, the top team from each division has an automatic home berth in the division final, and a bye week during the division semifinal. The second-place team from each division hosts the third-place team in the division semifinal, unless a fourth-place team from one division finishes with a better record than a third place team in the other (this provision is known as the crossover rule, and while it implies that it is possible for two teams in the same division to play for the Grey Cup, only two crossover teams have won a semifinal since the rule's 1996 inception, and neither advanced to the Grey Cup). The winners of each division's semifinal game then travel to play the first place teams in the division finals. Since 2005, the division semifinals and division finals have been sponsored by Scotiabank.^[77] The two division champions then face each other in the Grey Cup game, which, since 2007, has been held on the fourth or fifth Sunday of November.

Grey Cup

The Grey Cup

The Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the CFL and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. The Grey Cup is the second-oldest trophy in North American professional sports, after the Stanley Cup. The Grey Cup game is hosted in one of the league's member cities. In recent years, it has been hosted in a different city every year, selected two or more years in advance. The Toronto Argonauts have won the most Grey Cups with seventeen wins total, most recently in 2017. In 2012, the game was held in Toronto at Rogers Centre, and for the second year in row the cup was won on a team's home field, with Toronto beating Calgary 35–22.^[78] In 2013, the Grey Cup was won at home for the third consecutive time (by the Saskatchewan Roughriders), which had not been done since Toronto won at home from 1945–1947. In 2016, the Grey Cup was won on the natural grass turf of BMO Field by the Ottawa Redblacks beating the heavily favoured Calgary Stampeders 39–33 in overtime; the first Grey Cup championship for any Ottawa CFL team in 40 years.

As the country's single largest annual sporting event,^[2] the Grey Cup has long served as an unofficial Canadian autumn festival generating national media coverage and a large amount of revenue for the host city. Many fans travel from across the country to attend the game and the week of festivities that lead up to it. A 2014 survey found that 48% of Canadians would prefer to watch the Grey Cup over the Super Bowl if they could only watch one or the other, with 52% preferring the Super Bowl.^[79]

Grey Cup appearances, active teams^[80]

Team	Wins	Losses	Total	Last Won
BC Lions	6	4	10	2011
Calgary Stampeders	6	8	14	2014
Edmonton Eskimos	11	8	19	2015
Hamilton Tiger-Cats	6	12	18	1999
Montreal Alouettes	6	8	14	2010
Ottawa Redblacks	1	1	2	2016
Saskatchewan Roughriders	4	7	11	2013
Toronto Argonauts	7	3	10	2017
Winnipeg Blue Bombers	7	6	13	1990

Since 2015, the Grey Cup game is presented by Shaw Communications.^[81]

Awards

Following the Grey Cup game, the Grey Cup Most Valuable Player and Grey Cup Most Valuable Canadian are selected. A number of league individual player awards, such as the Most Outstanding Player and Most Outstanding Defensive Player, are awarded annually at a special ceremony in the host city during the week before the Grey Cup game; this ceremony is broadcast nationally on TSN. The Annis Stukus Trophy, also known as the Coach of the Year Award, is awarded separately at a banquet held during the off-season each February. While the CFL has not held an all-star game since 1988, an All-Star Team is selected and honoured at the league awards ceremony during Grey Cup week.

Broadcasting

See also: List of Grey Cup broadcasters

The CFL Championship game, the Grey Cup, held the record for the largest television audience in Canadian history. Television coverage on CBC, CTV and Radio-Canada of the 1983 Grey Cup attracted a viewing audience of 8,118,000 people^{[citation needed]} as Toronto edged B.C. 18–17, ending a 31-year championship drought for the Argonauts. At the time, this represented 33% of the Canadian population.^{[citation needed]} This has since been surpassed by the 2002 and 2010 Men's Olympic Gold Medal Hockey Game.^{[citation needed]}

Canadian broadcasters

Currently, the official television broadcasters of CFL games are cable network TSN (which began televising CFL games in 1985), while TSN's French-language network RDS broadcasts Montreal Alouettes games for the Quebec television market.^[82] Games are typically scheduled for Thursday to Saturday evenings during June, July and August, but switch to more Saturday and Sunday afternoon games during September and October.^[83] TSN has created a tradition of at least one Friday night game each week, branded as Friday Night Football. CBC and TSN drew record television audiences for CFL broadcasts in 2005.^[84] The 2006 season was the first season in which every regular-season game was televised, as the league implemented an instant replay challenge system.^[85] In 2006, the CFL also began offering pay-per-view webcasts of every game on CFL Broadband.^[86] Until the end of the 2007 season, CBC and RDS were the exclusive television broadcasters for all playoff games, including the Grey Cup, which regularly draws a Canadian viewing audience in excess of 4 million.^[87]

In 2008, the CFL began a new, five-year television deal with CTVglobemedia. Valued at $16 million per-year, it gave TSN and RDS exclusive rights to all CFL games, including the playoffs and Grey Cup.^[2] In March 2013, TSN exercised an option to extend its contract through 2018. In 2015, the deal was extended for an additional three years, along with exclusive Grey Cup rights for Bell Media Radio stations.^[88]

Foreign coverage

On June 26, 2013, it was announced that the CFL's U.S. broadcast rights would return to the ESPN Networks for the 2013 season, with five games airing on ESPN2, and 55 airing on ESPN3.^[89] This agreement was renewed in 2014 for five years, the same length as the TSN deal (ESPN holds a stake in TSN), with a stipulation that at least 17 games would be carried on ESPN2 (or another ESPN network, such as ESPN or ESPNEWS) each season, including the Grey Cup; this gives ESPN exclusive CFL rights during this time frame. As in previous years. Originally ESPN3 carried all games not carried on one of the linear channels online, later ESPN moved those games to ESPN+.^{[90][91][92][93]}

ESPN has had a long relationship with the CFL; the channel broadcast its first CFL game on July 9, 1980, when the network was only 11 months old.^[94]

On June 19, 2015, it was announced that ESPN Brasil will broadcast CFL games live, beginning on June 25, as a result of the growth of the NFL and College Football fan base in Brazil.^[95]BT Sport, which has a licensing partnership with ESPN, has also carried CFL games in Britain and Ireland since 2015.^[96]

Previous broadcasting arrangements

Canada

CBC Television, which held a monopoly on Canadian television until 1961, held Canadian professional football broadcast rights beginning the year of its debut, 1952. CTV was born in 1961 part because Toronto businessman John Bassett had won the television rights to the Eastern Conference, and needed a network to air the games. From 1962 through 1986, CBC and CTV shared CFL broadcasting rights. They split playoff games and simulcast the Grey Cup. In 1962, 1965, 1967, 1968 and 1970, CTV commentators were used for the dual network telecast, while in 1963, 1964, 1966 and 1969, CBC announcers were provided. From 1971 through 1986, one network's crew called the first half while the other called the rest of the game. After the 1986 season, CTV dropped coverage of the CFL and the Grey Cup. From 1987 through 1990, the CFL operated its own syndicated network, CFN. Like CTV, CFN split playoff games with CBC. However, CFN had completely separate coverage of the Grey Cup, utilizing its own production and commentators. From 1991 to 2007, all post-season games had been exclusively on CBC; beginning in 2008, the Grey Cup and all other CFL games were carried exclusively on TSN, although the cable provider reserves the right to move the game to sister network CTV (as of 2016, it has never done so, opting to broadcast that Sunday's NFL games on CTV instead.)

United States

The predecessor to the CFL's East Division, the IRFU, had a television contract with NBC in 1954 that provided far more coverage than the NFL's existing contract with DuMont. NBC aired games on Saturday afternoons, competing against college football broadcasts on CBS and ABC. The revenue from the contract allowed the IRFU to directly compete against the NFL for players in the late 1950s, setting up a series of CFL games in the United States beginning in 1958 and a series of interleague exhibitions beginning in 1959. Interest in the CFL in the United States faded dramatically after the debut of the American Football League in 1960.^[97]

In 1982, during a players' strike in the NFL, NBC broadcast CFL games in the United States in lieu of the NFL games which were cancelled; the first week of broadcasts featured the NFL on NBC broadcast teams, before a series of blowout games on the network and the resulting low ratings resulted in NBC cutting back and eventually cancelling its CFL coverage. ESPN host Chris Berman became a fan of the game in the early days of ESPN, when the network used to air CFL games, and continues to cover the Canadian league on-air.^[98] The now-defunct FNN-SCORE (unrelated to the Canadian The Score) carried games in the late 1980s. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, SportsChannel America carried games, using CBC Television, CFN and TSN feeds. In 1993, several SportsChannel Pacific-produced games that were part of the Sacramento Gold Miners' local package were also shown nationally.

Beginning in 1994, with now four US-based teams in the league, ESPN reached a four-year deal with the league to produce and air two games per week and all post-season games on its fledgling ESPN2. They also put some games on the main network to fill broadcast time vacated by the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike. The 1994 and 1995 Grey Cups were shown live on ESPN2 and then re-aired on ESPN the following day, leading into the network's Monday Night Countdown show. ESPN's on-air talent included a mix of the network's American football broadcasters and established CFL broadcasters from Canada. Most of the US-based teams also had deals with local carriers to show games that were not covered in the national package. Though there were no US teams in the league after 1995, ESPN2 continued showing games until 1997, albeit on a much lighter schedule.

The now-defunct America One network held CFL broadcast rights in the United States from 2001 to 2009 and aired a majority of the league's games.^[99] Until the 2007 season, America One syndicated CFL games to regional sports networks like Altitude, NESN, and MASN; these were discontinued in 2008, mainly because America One and the CFL were able to reach a deal only days before the season began, not allowing the network time to establish agreements with individual RSNs. The Grey Cup aired on Versus on November 22, 2008, with a replay the next day on America One. From 2006 through the 2008 season, Friday Night Football was carried exclusively on World Sport HD in the United States; however, due to the January 2009 shutdown of that channel's parent company, Voom HD Networks, America One reclaimed those rights.

NFL Network took over the league broadcast contract in 2010. For the 2010 season, the network carried 14 games, no more than one each week.^[100] For 2011, the network increased its output to two games each week.^[101] NFL Network declined to continue its coverage after the 2011 season.^[102]

In late July 2012, NBC Sports Network acquired rights to the CFL for the remainder of the 2012 season. The NBCSN deal included nine regular season games starting August 27 (including Labour Day Classic games) and all the playoffs.^[103] NBC Sports renewed their agreement with the CFL for the 2013 season.^[104]

ESPN America carried a collection of CFL games as part of its lineup until the network shut down in 2013.

Internet

On the Internet, all radio broadcasts of CFL games are available for free through each affiliate's Web site. ESPN's digital outlets have broadcast games since 2008; through 2017, the games were carried on ESPN360, later known as ESPN3, a service only available in the United States (or its military bases) through specially negotiated cable providers and not in Canada. Beginning in 2018, these broadcasts were moved behind a paywall through ESPN's over-the-top service ESPN+. Video broadcasts were free in Canada at one time, but are no longer available; viewers are able to purchase previous games on the TSN website. A service known as "CFL Broadband" offered pay-per-view of CFL games in the United States and elsewhere prior to 2009, but the service ceased operations prior to the 2010 season. During America One's time broadcasting CFL games, some CFL video feeds could be found for free due to the fact that a small number of America One affiliates streamed their video on the Internet, even though the CFL discouraged this. On June 16, 2017, the CFL announced it was launching a new International Service over the internet into 130 select regions.^[105]

In Canada, Bell Mobility provides streaming of CFL games to its mobile devices, and TSN's streaming service, TSN GO, provides Internet streaming of CFL games to Bell TV and Rogers Cable subscribers.

Radio

CFL teams have local broadcast contracts with terrestrial radio stations for regular season and playoff games, while TSN Radio owns the rights to the Grey Cup.^[106] In 2006, Sirius Satellite Radio gained exclusive rights for North American CFL satellite radio broadcasts and broadcast 25 CFL games per season, including the Grey Cup, through 2008.^[107]

Players and compensation

The CFL began enforcing a salary cap for the 2007 season of $4.05 million per team. The cap was raised to $4.2 million in the 2008 season and remained at that level for 2009.^[108] On June 29, 2010, a new collective bargaining agreement was ratified that raised the salary cap to $4.25 million for the 2010 CFL season and would continue to increase by $50,000 each season until 2013.^[109] In 2014, a new CBA was ratified and the salary cap was raised to $5 million per team, with that amount increasing again by $50,000 each year until 2018.^[110] Financial penalties for teams that breach the cap are set at $1 to $1 for the first $100,000 over, $2 to $1 for $100,000 to $300,000 over, and $3 to $1 for $300,000 and above. Penalties could also include forfeited draft picks.^[111] For 2010, the minimum team salary was set at $3.9 million while the minimum player salary was set at $42,000.^[109] With the new CBA in 2014, the salary floor was raised to $4.4 million per team with increases of $50,000 per year, and the minimum salary was raised to $50,000 per year.^[110] The average salary per player in 2014 was CA$96,000.^[112] A starting quarterback in the CFL can make as much as CA$500,000.^[113]

Player compensation is not tied to league revenue, which remains a trade secret. Only the four publicly held teams in the league reveal their financial information, as those companies are required to do so under Canadian law. As of 2013, prior to Ottawa's rejoining the league (at which time Toronto, which is partially owned by a public company, was still fully private), estimates of the CFL's revenue varied between $150 million^[114] and CA$200 million.^[115]

In 2006, the active roster limit was increased from 40 to 42 and in 2014 it was again increased to 44.^[110] Each team must abide by the national/international ratio rule, which requires teams to keep at least 21 national players, ("a Canadian citizen at the time of signing his first contract, was classified as a non-import prior to May 31, 2014, or was physically resident in Canada for an aggregate period of five years prior to reaching the age of 18.")^[116] with the other 23 players allowed to originate from any country; quarterbacks, of which a team can carry three on a roster, cannot be counted toward the national player requirement, which puts Canadian quarterbacks at a disadvantage compared to other positions in being hired by a CFL franchise.^[117] Teams may have up to two players on their reserve roster, and up to 10 on their practice roster.^[111]

Canadian national players enter the CFL through the CFL Draft. International players are typically inducted by way of the negotiation list: any team can lay unilateral claim to up to 45 players that have never played in the CFL at any given time (each team much make at least ten of those names public as of 2018), with no limit on how long a player can be held on the list and no limit on how old the player must be (thus CFL teams can claim players not yet eligible for the NFL Draft). Once a player on a negotiation list expresses formal interest in joining the CFL, that team has up to ten days to offer a contract (usually a league-minimum, two-year contract) to retain the player's rights.^[118]

CFL players are represented by the Canadian Football League Players' Association (CFLPA). Each team elects two players to the CFLPA Board of Player Representatives, which meets once per year. Every two years, it elects an executive Board of Directors.^[119]

CFL Draft

Further information: CFL Draft

Eligible Canadian nationals (usually from U Sports football or American college football) are drafted by teams in the annual CFL Draft. The draft usually takes place in May and consists of seven rounds. The first two rounds of the draft are usually shown live on TSN. The CFL Combine (formerly known as the CFL Evaluation Camp), similar to the NFL Combine,^[120] precedes the draft. A junior player in the locale of a team may be claimed as a territorial exemption and sign with that team before beginning collegiate play (one recent example is when the BC Lions claimed Andrew Harris^[121]). Teams maintain "negotiation lists" of players they wish to sign as free agents.

League commissioners

Commissioners

Sydney Halter	1958–1966
Keith Davey	1967
Ted Workman (interim)	1967
Allan McEachern	1967–1968
Jake Gaudaur	1968–1984
Douglas Mitchell	1984–1988
Bill Baker[tablenote 1]	1989
J. Donald Crump[tablenote 2]	1990–1991
Larry Smith	1992–1997
John Tory	1997–2000
Michael Lysko	2000–2002
David Braley (interim)	2002
Tom Wright	2002–2007
Mark Cohon	2007–2015
Jim Lawson (interim)	2015
Jeffrey Orridge	2015–2017
Jim Lawson (interim)	2017
Randy Ambrosie	2017–present

1. 
   ^ In 1989, the commissioner role was split into two positions. Bill Baker held the title of President/Chief Operating Officer. Roy McMurtry, Q.C. held the position of Chairman/Chief Executive Officer. When Baker resigned, McMurtry continued as Chairman and CEO until Crump's appointment but did not serve as Acting Commissioner.
   


2. 
   ^ Between Donald Crump's resignation and Larry Smith's appointment, Phil Kershaw held the role of Chairman but was not acting Commissioner.
   

See also

• 
  Canadian football portal
  


• 
  Sport in Canada portal
  

• Canadian Football Act


• Canadian Football Hall of Fame


• Canadian Football League attendance


• Canadian Junior Football League


• Comparison of American and Canadian football


• Football Canada


• List of attendance figures at domestic professional sports leagues


• List of Canadian Football League mascots


• List of Canadian Football League records


• List of Canadian Football League seasons


• List of Canadian Football League stadiums


• List of Grey Cup champions


• List of neutral site Canadian Football League games


• List of professional sports teams in the United States and Canada


• Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada


• Sports in Canada


• 
  TSN Top 50 CFL Players
  
  

References

1. 
   ^ 2009 Canadian Football League Facts, Figures & Records, Canadian Football League Properties/Publications, Toronto, Ontario, .mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
   ISBN 978-0-9739425-4-5, p.281
   


2. 
   ^ ^abc William Houston (December 20, 2006). "Grey Cup moves to TSN in new deal". Globe and Mail. Toronto. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved December 23, 2006.
   


3. 
   ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-01-12. Retrieved 2012-01-11.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link)
   


4. 
   ^ "CANADIAN FOOTBALL TIMELINES (1860 – 2005)" (PDF). Footballcanada.com. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
   


5. 
   ^ ^abc "Canadian Football Timelines (1860–present)". Football Canada. Archived from the original on February 28, 2007. Retrieved December 23, 2006.
   


6. 
   ^ David George-Cosh, Football: Gaining a Foothold in Canada, Wall Street Journal, Nov 26, 2013.
   


7. 
   ^
   "CFL ends working agreement with NFL". National Post. Canada. November 25, 2007. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
   


8. 
   ^ "Bills' plan exposes NFL-CFL relationship". Sportsnet.ca. October 20, 2007. Archived from the original on May 22, 2012. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
   


9. 
   ^ "CFL Sees Numbers Rise At The Gates". Sports Business Daily. November 17, 2005. Archived from the original on March 10, 2007. Retrieved December 3, 2006.
   


10. 
    ^ "2012 CFL Attendance". Canadian Football Statistics Database. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
    


11. 
    ^ "Sold-out stadiums and strong attendance across the board lead to highest average since 1983". CFL.ca. November 8, 2007. Retrieved December 29, 2007.
    


12. 
    ^ url=https://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=410346%7Ctitle=100th Archived 2016-01-02 at the Wayback Machine. Grey Cup Game Sets Viewership Records for TSN|accessdate=May 31, 2013|publisher=TSN.ca
    


13. 
    ^ "Survey: Canadian interest in pro football is on the rise". Globe and Mail. Toronto. Canadian Press. June 8, 2006. Archived from the original on February 1, 2010. Retrieved June 8, 2006.
    


14. 
    ^ "Expansion project approved". En.montrealalouettes.com. Archived from the original on August 10, 2011. Retrieved February 18, 2011.
    


15. 
    ^ "Eskimos digging their new digs". Cfl.ca. May 27, 2010. Archived from the original on May 30, 2010. Retrieved February 18, 2011.
    


16. 
    ^ Canada (May 4, 2010). "Demise of famous roof begins BC Place renewal". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Archived from the original on June 8, 2010. Retrieved February 18, 2011.
    


17. 
    ^ "Pan Ams will leave lasting legacy". Thespec.com. Retrieved February 18, 2011.
    


18. 
    ^ "CFL Grants Conditional Team to Ottawa". TSN.ca. March 18, 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-05-03. Retrieved June 22, 2014.
    


19. 
    ^ "Blue Bombers moving back to West Division in 2014". TSN.ca. September 13, 2013. Archived from the original on 2014-09-05. Retrieved June 22, 2014.
    


20. 
    ^ "New Lansdowne designs unveiled". Cfl.ca. Archived from the original on May 30, 2010. Retrieved February 18, 2011.
    


21. 
    ^ "New five-year CBA ratified by CFL and CFLPA". CFL.ca. 2014-06-13. Retrieved 2016-08-04.
    


22. 
    ^ "Argonauts announce sale, move to BMO Field". Retrieved 2016-08-04.
    


23. 
    ^ "Argonauts debut at BMO Field a dandy". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 2016-08-04.
    


24. 
    ^ "Update on plans for downtown Regina domed stadium coming: Enterprise Minister Ken Cheveldayoff". Cjme.com. Archived from the original on 14 February 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
    


25. 
    ^ "Roughriders reveal plans to shift fans from old Mosaic Stadium to new facility in 2017". 2016-03-18. Retrieved 2016-08-04.
    


26. 
    ^ "D-lineman Michael Sam signs with Alouettes". CFL.ca. May 22, 2015. Archived from the original on May 25, 2015. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
    


27. 
    ^ ^ab Campbell, Morgan (May 22, 2015). "Michael Sam joins Alouettes, first openly gay CFL player". Toronto Star. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
    


28. 
    ^ "Sam leaves Als training camp". June 12, 2015. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
    


29. 
    ^ AP (June 29, 2015). "Michael Sam returns to Montreal, rejoins CFL's Alouettes". Retrieved July 1, 2015.
    


30. 
    ^ "CFL commissioner Orridge unveils league's new logo". SportsNet.ca. Retrieved 2016-08-04.
    


31. 
    ^ "CFL, CFLPA agree on new drug policy for the 2016 season". CFL.ca. 2016-04-21. Retrieved 2016-08-04.
    


32. 
    ^ "Canadian Football League issues statement regarding Jeffrey L. Orridge". CFL.ca. 2017-04-12. Retrieved 2017-04-13.
    


33. 
    ^ "CFL issues statement as Orridge tenure closes". CFL.ca. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
    


34. 
    ^ "Postmedia Q&A: CFL interim commissioner Jim Lawson". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 2017-07-04.
    


35. 
    ^ "Randy Ambrosie to be named new CFL commissioner: Report". Toronto Sun. 29 June 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
    


36. 
    ^ "Canadian Football League appoints Randy Ambrosie as 14th Commissioner". CFL.ca. 2017-07-05. Retrieved 2017-07-05.
    


37. 
    ^ "New Era Cap to provide uniforms, apparel to Canadian Football League". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
    


38. 
    ^ "About the Ottawa REDBLACKS". Ottawa Redblacks. Archived from the original on 2014-02-17. Retrieved 2014-02-16.
    


39. 
    ^ Toronto Argonauts. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved on July 26, 2013.
    


40. 
    ^ "MLSE ACQUISITION OF TORONTO ARGONAUTS APPROVED BY CFL BOARD OF GOVERNORS". Toronto Argonauts. 2018-01-19. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
    


41. 
    ^ "History of the Montreal Alouettes". CFL.ca. Retrieved December 4, 2006.
    


42. 
    ^ 2009 Canadian Football League Facts, Figures & Records, Canadian Football League Properties/Publications, Toronto, Ontario,
    ISBN 978-0-9739425-4-5, p.282
    


43. 
    ^ "History". Esks.com. August 23, 1978. Archived from the original on November 25, 2010. Retrieved February 18, 2011.
    


44. 
    ^ "History". Bluebombers.com. September 27, 2011. Archived from the original on October 18, 2011. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
    


45. 
    ^ "CFL Guide & Record Book 2017" (PDF). CFL.ca. Canadian Football League. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
    


46. 
    ^ ^ab No Name."Saskatoon CFL team under discussion". Ottawa: CBC l. February 1, 2012. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
    


47. 
    ^ "Walling: The CFL will be coming east". The Sports Network. Archived from the original on 2011-06-29. Retrieved February 18, 2011.
    


48. 
    ^ "canada.com - Canadian news, entertainment, television, newspapers, free email and more". Canada.com. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
    


49. 
    ^ The Canadian Football League: The Phoenix of Professional Sports Leagues, Steve O'Brien, Lulu Enterprises, 2005, p. 43.
    


50. 
    ^ "Cohon has Moncton on his mind". National Post. Canada. Retrieved December 8, 2008.
    


51. 
    ^ "CANADIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE | CFL's Touchdown Atlantic". Newswire.ca. May 28, 2010. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
    


52. 
    ^ "CFL game in Moncton a sellout". Canada: CBC. March 25, 2010. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
    


53. 
    ^ CFL may take a time out from Moncton games, Cohon says. CBC. Retrieved February 16, 2015. (In this article, Cohon notes that the cost of necessary renovations would be C$100,000,000; this number is very close to the projected cost of Hamilton's Tim Hortons Field, which was built from scratch.)
    


54. 
    ^ "CFL Snaps: Halifax wants right price to build football stadium". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
    


55. 
    ^ "CFL confirms discussions have taken place regarding Halifax expansion - CFL.ca". CFL.ca. 2017-11-16. Retrieved 2017-11-25.
    


56. 
    ^ ^ab "Group makes 'very credible' pitch for Halifax CFL franchise - Article - TSN". TSN. 2017-11-16. Retrieved 2017-11-25.
    


57. 
    ^ "Group vying for Halifax CFL team meets with premier in Moncton during N.B. visit". Global News. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
    


58. 
    ^ "Maritime Football Ltd. agree to process for securing Halifax franchise". TSN. June 19, 2018. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
    


59. 
    ^ "Halifax council gets CFL update behind closed doors". thestar.com. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
    


60. 
    ^ "Location down to two sites for Halifax CFL stadium". The Chronicle Herald. July 8, 2018. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
    


61. 
    ^ "Group behind Halifax CFL expansion bid picks stadium site - TSN.ca". TSN. 2018-10-26. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
    


62. 
    ^ "CFL expansion group proposes Halifax-area stadium at Shannon Park". Ottawa Sun. 2018-10-26. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
    


63. 
    ^ "Game on: Halifax votes to advance negotiations on potential CFL stadium". Global News. Retrieved 2018-11-01.
    


64. 
    ^ "Halifax council asks for detailed CFL stadium report". The Chronicle Herald. 2018-10-30. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
    


65. 
    ^ "Maritime Football LTD. announces season ticket drive for potential team". CFL.ca. 2018-11-07. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
    


66. 
    ^ Francis Campbell (2018-10-31). "Some say Halifax should take a pass on Shannon Park CFL stadium". The Chronicle Herald. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
    


67. 
    ^ ^ab "O'Leary: An exclusive Q&A with Maritime Football's Anthony LeBlanc". CFL.ca. 2018-11-07. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
    


68. 
    ^ "Calvillo, Alouettes hammer Renegades". CBC Sports Online. June 9, 2003. Retrieved December 2, 2006.
    


69. 
    ^ "British woman wants football franchise in Quebec City". Montreal Gazette. Archived from the original on May 11, 2009. Retrieved July 9, 2009.
    


70. 
    ^ "CFL road to Quebec City goes via Montreal: Cohon". CBC Sports Online. November 26, 2010. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
    


71. 
    ^ "REDBLACKS and Als set to play in Quebec City". CFL.ca. Archived from the original on August 16, 2015. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
    


72. 
    ^ https://www.tsn.ca/good-chance-cfl-plays-two-games-in-mexico-next-season-1.1202839
    


73. 
    ^ https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/06/14/canada-has-its-eyes-on-mexico/
    


74. 
    ^ https://www.cfl.ca/2018/06/13/randys-word-cfl-international-stage/
    


75. 
    ^ "CFL Game Schedule Announced". CFL.ca. February 14, 2007. Retrieved May 21, 2007.
    


76. 
    ^ "The Game". cfl.ca. Archived from the original on October 22, 2013. Retrieved November 25, 2013.
    


77. 
    ^ "Partnership of champions". CFL.ca. August 8, 2005. Retrieved December 3, 2006.
    


78. 
    ^ Kelly, Malcolm. "Argonauts corral Stampeders for Grey Cup on home turf". CBC. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
    


79. 
    ^ CBC News CFL still loved by Canadians, older people more than others: survey, CBC, Nov 28, 2014.
    


80. 
    ^ Grey Cup record book, 2011 (PDF), Canadian Football League, 2011, archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-04-19, retrieved 2012-07-02
    


81. 
    ^ "Shaw, CFL announce Grey Cup sponsorship deal". Global News. Shaw Media. May 8, 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
    


82. 
    ^ "Broadcast". CFL.ca. Retrieved December 3, 2006.
    


83. 
    ^ "Schedule". CFL.ca. Retrieved December 3, 2006.
    


84. 
    ^ "CFL announces updated schedule". CFL.ca. April 17, 2006. Retrieved December 3, 2006.
    


85. 
    ^ "CFL to introduce instant replay for 2006". CFL.ca. June 13, 2006. Retrieved December 3, 2006.
    


86. 
    ^ "CFL debuts live webcast for entire schedule". CFL.ca. June 22, 2006. Retrieved December 3, 2006.
    


87. 
    ^ William Houston (November 20, 2006). "Minor rise in Grey Cup ratings good for CBC". Globe and Mail. Canada. Retrieved December 3, 2006.
    


88. 
    ^ Penton, Kirk (28 May 2015). "CFL extends TV deal with TSN/RDS another three years". Winnipeg Sun. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
    


89. 
    ^ Stoneberg, Allison. (June 26, 2013) ESPN to Deliver 60 Live Canadian Football League Games « ESPN MediaZone. Espnmediazone.com. Retrieved on July 26, 2013.
    


90. 
    ^ ESPN & CFL reach multi-year US broadcast deal Archived 2015-10-16 at the Wayback Machine., CFL.ca Staff, June 27, 2014
    


91. 
    ^ "404". TSN. Archived from the original on 2014-08-16. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
    


92. 
    ^ Derek Volner. "ESPN Secures Exclusive U.S. Rights to Canadian Football League Games". ESPN MediaZone. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
    


93. 
    ^ "ALL 2018 CFL GAMES TO AIR ON ESPN NETWORKS AND ESPN+". Retrieved 2018-08-17.
    


94. 
    ^ Skarka, Mike (June 25, 2015). "#TBT: Berman, LaPlaca Recall Vintage CFL; Wingo Explains Today's Three-Down Football". Encyclopedia of Things. ESPN Front Row. Retrieved August 6, 2018.
    


95. 
    ^ "A bola oval está de volta à TV! É a da CFL, mas já dá para matar a saudade". ExtraTime. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
    


96. 
    ^ "BT SPORT TO BROADCAST 2017 CFL SEASON IN UK AND IRELAND". Press.cfl.ca. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
    


97. 
    ^ "54, 40 or Fight" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 18, 2010. Retrieved February 18, 2011.
    


98. 
    ^ Naylor, David (November 22, 2008). "Berman still shows loyalty to CFL". Globe and Mail. Toronto. Retrieved November 23, 2008.
    ^{[permanent dead link]}
    


99. 
    ^ "CFL available in all U.S. markets". CFL.ca. June 13, 2007. Retrieved June 13, 2007.
    


100. 
     ^ "CFL moves to a new home in the US". CFL.ca. June 13, 2007. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
     


101. 
     ^ "Canadian Football League back on NFL Network". Retrieved June 25, 2011.
     


102. 
     ^ McMillan, Ken (May 25, 2012). No CFL on NFLN, eh?. HudsonValley.com. Retrieved June 14, 2012.
     


103. 
     ^ 100th Grey Cup Game to air live in US on NBC Sports Network Archived 2015-10-16 at the Wayback Machine..
     


104. 
     ^ "NBC Sports Network to showcase CFL in 2013 | CFL.ca | Official Site of the Canadian Football League". CFL.ca. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
     


105. 
     ^ "CFL 2017 SEASON TO BE LIVESTREAMED IN MORE THAN 130 COUNTRIES". Press.cfl.ca. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
     


106. 
     ^ CFL broadcasters page. Retrieved March 6, 2008.
     


107. 
     ^ "CFL Gets Sirius". CFL.ca. April 24, 2006. Retrieved December 3, 2006.
     


108. 
     ^ "CFL salary cap won't change". Globe and Mail. Canada. Canadian Press. January 14, 2009. Retrieved January 14, 2009.
     


109. 
     ^ ^ab "New CFL-CFLPA CBA at a glance". CFL.ca. Archived from the original on July 3, 2010. Retrieved August 1, 2010.
     


110. 
     ^ ^abc "New five-year CBA ratified by CFL and CFLPA". CFL.ca. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
     


111. 
     ^ ^ab "Salary Management System". CFL.ca. Archived from the original on January 21, 2015. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
     


112. 
     ^ "Some CFL players not happy with concessions made". CBC.ca. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
     


113. 
     ^ "The Manziel contract situation just got complicated - Article - TSN". TSN. 2018-01-09. Retrieved 2018-01-09.
     


114. 
     ^ Hodgson, Glen and Mario Lefebvre. The pro sport market in Canada Archived September 10, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.. Conference Board of Canada. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
     


115. 
     ^ "What percentage of league-wide revenues did CFL players get in 2013 under the old CBA?". Ca.sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
     


116. 
     ^ CFL.ca – Official Site of the Canadian Football League Archived October 7, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. CFL – Import/Non-Import Classification
     


117. 
     ^ "Canadian QB Marc Mueller speaks out against the CFL's quarterback ratio rule". Yahoo! Sports Canada. April 23, 2012. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
     


118. 
     ^ Naylor, Dave (January 29, 2018). "The enduring mystery of CFL negotiation lists". TSN.ca. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
     


119. 
     ^ "Organization of the CFLPA". CFLPA.ca. Archived from the original on November 2, 2006. Retrieved December 3, 2006.
     


120. 
     ^ "TransGlobe Evaluation Camp". CFL.ca. Retrieved May 22, 2007.
     


121. 
     ^ "Harris completes journey from bleachers to Grey Cup glory". TSN.ca. November 28, 2011. Archived from the original on 2013-07-28. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
     

Further reading

• 
  O'Brien, Steve (2005). The Canadian Football League: The Phoenix of Professional Sports Leagues. Lulu Press. ISBN 978-1-4116-5860-8
  


• 
  Maher, Tod (2012). The Canadian Pro Football Encyclopedia: Every Player, Coach and Game. ASIN 0983513635. ISBN 978-0-9835136-3-6CS1 maint: ASIN uses ISBN (link)
  

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Canadian Football League.

Official

• 
  Official website (Mobile)


• French Website


• Canadian Football League Players Association

Media

• TSN


• SLAM! Sports


• Rogers Sportsnet


• Score Media

Other

• CFLapedia

v t e Canadian Football League
Teams	West Division BC Lions Calgary Stampeders Edmonton Eskimos Saskatchewan Roughriders Winnipeg Blue Bombers East Division Hamilton Tiger-Cats Montreal Alouettes Ottawa Redblacks Toronto Argonauts Defunct Canada Ottawa Rough Riders Ottawa Renegades Atlantic Schooners (never played) CFL USA Baltimore Stallions Birmingham Barracudas Las Vegas Posse Memphis Mad Dogs Sacramento Gold Miners San Antonio Texans Shreveport Pirates San Antonio Texans (1993) (never played) Miami Manatees (never played)
Awards	West Division Nicklin Martin Fieldgate Parker DeMarco-Becket Dryburgh James East Division Evanshen Hayman McCaffrey Gibson Dandurand League-wide Grey Cup champions Grey Cup MVP Suderman Outstanding Player Canadian Defensive Player Offensive Lineman Rookie Stukus Pate Gaudaur Agro Campbell Defunct Dominion champions Lineman Jeff Russel Gruen Rogers Ross Taylor Dixon
Broadcasting	Canada CBC CFN CTV TSN United States NBCSN ESPN2 ESPN Lists Current announcers Grey Cup TV markets
Other	Individual records Team records Coaching leaders Retired numbers Seasons Stadiums Mascots Video game Attendance Draft Combine CFLPA Hall of Fame All-Star Game Touchdown Atlantic Canada Day Games Labour Day Classic Thanksgiving Day Classic Top 50 Players Neutral site games
Category Portal

Links to related articles

v t e Canadian Football League seasons Early era 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 CFL era 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 v t e 2018 CFL season by team « 2017 2019 » West Division BC Calgary Edmonton Saskatchewan Winnipeg East Division Hamilton Montreal Ottawa Toronto See also 2018 CFL Draft 106th Grey Cup v t e Professional gridiron football leagues in North America American football Major National Football League Other Alliance of American Football (2019) The Spring League XFL (2020) Defunct national American Football League (1926)** American Football League (1936–1937)** American Football League (1940–1941) All-America Football Conference** American Football League (1960–1969)* Continental Football League World Football League United States Football League United Football League (2009–12) XFL (2001) World League of American Football/NFL Europe/NFL Europa*** Defunct regional American Association (1936–1941)/American Football League (1946–1950)*** American Football Association (1978–83) American Football League (1934) American Football League (1938–1939) American Football League (1944) Anthracite League** Atlantic Coast Football League*** Dixie League*** Eastern League of Professional Football Fall Experimental Football League Midwest Football League National Football League (1902) New York Pro Football League** Ohio League** Pacific Coast Professional Football League*** Regional Football League Seaboard Football League Spring Football League Stars Football League Texas Football League United Football League (1961–64) Western Pennsylvania Professional Football Circuit** World Football League (2008–10) *Merged into the NFL. All teams still active as members of the NFL's American Football Conference. **Teams moved from or to NFL ***Official NFL minor league; see also Association of Professional Football Leagues Canadian football Major Canadian Football League Predecessors Interprovincial Rugby Football Union Western Interprovincial Football Union Arena/Indoor football Current American Arena League Arena Football League Champions Indoor Football Indoor Football League National Arena League National Gridiron League Defunct arenafootball2 American Indoor Football American Professional Football League Arena Pro Football Can-Am Indoor Football League Champions Professional Indoor Football League Continental Indoor Football League Independent Indoor Football Alliance Indoor Football League (1999–2000) Indoor Professional Football League Intense Football League Lone Star Football League National Indoor Football League Professional Indoor Football League (1998) Professional Indoor Football League (2012) Southern Indoor Football League Supreme Indoor Football Ultimate Indoor Football League United Indoor Football X-League Indoor Football World Indoor Football League (2007) v t e Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada Canadian Football League Major League Baseball Major League Soccer National Basketball Association National Football League National Hockey League

Authority control	WorldCat Identities ISNI: 0000 0001 0702 2817 VIAF: 147692658

This page is only for reference, If you need detailed information, please check here