Canadian Football League (CFL)

Background and Formation

Football under formalized rules has been played in Canada since the 1860s. The Grey Cup was first awarded in 1909. The Canadian Football League (CFL) began its formal existence in January 1958. It had been previously known as the Canadian Football Council (CFC). The CFC was formed in 1956 as a loose merger of the Western Interprovincial Football Union (founded in 1936) and the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (founded in 1907).

Through the CFC, professional football came under its own jurisdiction without outside interference. Yet, it was at this time that the game also began to show subtle American influences. The value of a touchdown was changed from 5 to 6 points. Twelve Americans were allowed to dress for the Grey Cup game, up from 10 the previous year. In 1957, the Council approved the change of position names to reflect those used in the US: snaps became centres; inside wings, guards; middle wings, tackles; outside wings, ends; flying wings, wingbacks.

The Ottawa Rough Riders (now the Ottawa Redblacks), Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Toronto Argonauts and Montreal Alouettes formed the eastern division. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Saskatchewan Roughriders, Calgary Stampeders, Edmonton Eskimos (now the Edmonton Elks) and BC Lions made up the western division.

Early History

There was no interdivisional play until 1961. Each conference decided a winner to meet in the Grey Cup game. Limited interlocking play after 1961 allowed east-west rivalries to develop. This acted as a catalyst for the growth of the league. By 1981, both divisions were playing 16 games in a fully interlocking schedule. The league had reached a peak of success.

In 1986, the schedule was increased to 18 games. The structure and success of the league had allowed for non-profit community ownership of the local teams. Only the Toronto, Hamilton and Montreal franchises had been privately owned. Gate receipts and lucrative TV contracts allowed teams to remain profitable.

1980s

The early 1980s appeared promising for Canadian football. The fortunes of the CFL appeared to be at an all-time high. Attendance climbed, sponsorship appeared to be increasing and the Grey Cup game was played indoors for the first time at BC Place Stadium. At the same time, the success was simply a veneer. After leading the league in attendance in 1977, averaging 59,525 spectators per game, the Montreal Alouettes were in serious financial trouble in 1982. The team was reconstituted as the Montreal Concordes before folding prior to the 1987 season. This forced the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to the eastern division.

By the late 1980s, attendance had dropped significantly at Grey Cup games. Sound financial contracts with sponsors like Carling O'Keefe and various TV networks were not forthcoming. The subsequent decline in attendance, gate receipts and TV revenue hit the CFL and its franchises hard. The loss of the Montreal club intensified the league’s financial troubles. The imposition of a salary cap curtailed excess spending. But franchises in Calgary, Ottawa and BC all required infusions of private capital to continue operations. There remain only three teams with community ownership: Winnipeg, Edmonton and Saskatchewan.

1990s

Private ownership led to more aggressive marketing and finally to expansion into the United States. The Sacramento Gold Miners were added to the league in 1993, followed by teams in Baltimore, Shreveport and Las Vegas in 1994. Concerns over the Americanization of the league were legion, especially among Canadian players. The success of the Baltimore franchise, which reached the Grey Cup in their inaugural 1994 season, only deepened these concerns.

The league, however, was committed to US expansion. The Sacramento franchise was moved to San Antonio before the 1995 season. Las Vegas, which failed miserably on and off the field, was put on hiatus while new ownership could be found. Franchises were awarded to Memphis and Birmingham for 1995. The league continued to pursue other US locations. The Baltimore Stallions proved to be the only franchise to achieve any success. They led the CFL in attendance in both 1994 and 1995 and defeated the Calgary Stampeders in the 1995 Grey Cup. The other four US teams all failed at the gate and folded following the 1995 season.

After the NFL’s Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore in 1996, the Stallions relocated to Montreal for 1996. The Alouettes franchise was revived. With the re-emergence of Montreal, the league returned to its traditional format of four teams in the east and five in the west. Winnipeg shifted westward.

While the US expansion experiment failed, much-needed money was poured into the CFL through expansion fees. A US cable TV contract was renewed for 1996. The league survived the 1996 season and instituted a salary cap to ease its financial problems. In the late 1990s, attendance in the CFL grew, sponsorships increased and television network ratings went up. Nevertheless, the Ottawa Rough Riders were disbanded in 1996. The league was once again forced to move Winnipeg to the east.

2000–24

By all accounts, the 2002 season was a success for the CFL. Two teams that had previously folded — the Ottawa Rough Riders (now Ottawa Redblacks) in 1996 and Montreal Alouettes in 1987 — had both made successful comebacks in recent years. The Alouettes won the 2002 Grey Cup against the Edmonton Eskimos (now Edmonton Elks).

Canadian football was also staging a remarkable comeback in Quebec at every level. TV ratings were up on both CBC and TSN (the league’s exclusive broadcaster since 2008). A new three-year collective agreement had been struck with the Players' Association, which added an additional import player to each roster and increased the salary cap by $160,000 to $2.44 million annually per club.

Despite this success, the CFL continued to have pressing concerns. Attendance declined in Vancouver and Hamilton. A positive perception of the CFL was still lacking in Toronto. All this needed to be solved before revenues through television fees could be dramatically improved. However, the cancellation of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which reportedly cost the gate-driven league between $60 and $80 million, didn’t help matters. Nor did the players’ strike in 2022 (the first since 1974). Fortunately, the strike was resolved in four days with the ratification of a seven-year collective-bargaining agreement between the league and the CFL Players’ Association. Regular season play was not interrupted.

Yet, notwithstanding its past financial difficulties and ever-changing face, the CFL remained a unique part of Canadian sports culture. The Grey Cup continued to draw a large TV audience, with more than 3.5 million viewers (2.8 million in English on TSN, and 263,700 in French on RDS) in 2023.

In October 2024, CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie, a former CFL offensive linesman for nine seasons, announced he would be stepping down in early 2025. “I feel like I’m jumping out at a point where I’ve helped to take the league to a much better place,” said Ambrosie, who had been commissioner since 2017. “I’m jumping out at a time when the foundation of the league is infinitely stronger than it was.”

During Ambrosie’s tenure — the second-longest of any CFL commissioner, behind Jake Gaudaur (1968–84) — the Alouettes, Elks and Lions all transitioned from financial uncertainty to new, stable ownership. In 2024, league-wide attendance was an average of 22,901 fans per game — the highest since 2019. The playoffs attendance of 109,239 was the highest since 2015. The average attendance at BC Lions games was almost 27,000 — more than double the average in 2021 — while the Argos’ and Alouettes’ attendance had increased 75 per cent and 60 per cent, respectively, since 2021. The CFL’s TV ratings were up nine per cent in 2023.

But despite these relatively rosy numbers, the CFL faced a highly uncertain future. In particular, concerns over the league’s aging fanbase were widespread. (One headline in November 2024 read: “CFL fans are putting the grey in the Grey Cup. This is a league that needs to find its future.”) A survey conducted by the league in 2024 showed that 29 per cent of its fanbase was between the ages of 18 and 34, while 66 per cent was between 35 and 74.

2025–Present

Ambrosie’s successor, former TSN president and lifelong CFL fan Stewart Johnston, became the CFL’s 15th commissioner on 24 April 2025. The Toronto Star’s Bruce Arthur wrote that Johnston “might be the most qualified commissioner when it comes to familiarity and enthusiasm since the golden age of Jake Gaudaur.” Johnston said that his “three pillars” would be innovation, community and entertainment — with an emphasis on entertainment. He bluntly admitted, “We need to get younger.” And when asked where he wanted the league to be in five years, he said, “Growth in attendance, growth in commercial assets, growth (in) a great new media deal and the CFL absolutely locking in its place as an institution in this country and maybe beyond.”

“I think if this was steady as she goes, we will decline in audiences and likely decline in revenue. (We’ll) retain a great passion, have a fantastic product. But in a world where we are in the entertainment business as much as we are in the sports business, and the fight for attention is a vicious one, if we aren’t planning to win that battle for attention against not only other sports leagues, but other entertainment content, short form, social media content, social media itself, video games, whatever it may be — if we’re not out to fight the fight for attention, we are going to lose, and we’re going to go backwards. You call it scary: I’m going to call it opportunity and, yeah, incredibly challenging.” — CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston, 9 June 2025

On 22 September 2025, Johnston unveiled changes to the CFL that The Toronto Star’s Damian Cox called “the most historic changes to the league since the days of US expansion.” Beginning in 2026, a rouge will only be scored if the ball is kicked into the end zone and stays there, rather than bouncing out of bounds. And instead of a 20-second play clock at the official’s discretion in the final three minutes of a game, there will be a standard 35-second play clock. In 2027, the field will be reduced in length from 110 yards to 100 yards (the same as the NFL). End zones will be 15 yards deep instead of 20, and the goal posts will be moved from the goal line to the back of the end zone (like in the NFL).

These transparent attempts to make Canadian football look more American were unanimously approved by the owners or chairs of the CFL’s nine teams. In a press release, Johnston said, “This is all about making our great game even more entertaining. We are trading field goals for touchdowns, while improving fan experience in stadiums and at home. [The changes] have been thoughtfully and carefully considered. But they are big and bold because that's what's necessary to make our fantastic game even more entertaining, and to win in the attention economy.”

Cox described the rule changes as “a Hail Mary for survival” and called them “both surprising and not so surprising. Surprising because the CFL has been terrific to watch this season with its existing rules. Not surprising because Johnston is a former TSN executive, and the league’s television contract is due to expire after next season, and the announcement of radical changes to the field of play and traditional rules such as the rouge are almost certainly a reflection of an insider’s concern about TV numbers and future revenue.”

(See also Football in Canada; Grey Cup; Fog Bowl: The 1962 Grey Cup.)