Rule changes going forward: Johnston

After three days of discussions with general managers and head coaches from around the league in Calgary, CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston faced the media on Wednesday to share a glimpse of where the three-down game could be headed.

Like any Q+A session with the commish, the topic of conversation was wide-ranging and, of course, Johnston would only pull the curtain back so far. With that said, there were a few key takeaways.

Expansion

No chat with the commissioner would be complete without mentioning the possibility of expansion.

It’s a topic that will never go away until this nine-team league finally welcomes a 10th franchise into the fold. The CFL has been stuck with the odd number since the Ottawa Redblacks were born in 2014.

“I would love to see a 10th team join us by 2030. I think that’s a great date to focus on,” Johnston said.

“I think most who’ve been following the league have known that we would love to get to a 10th team. I’m no different.”

For what it’s worth, his predecessor Randy Ambrosie said back in 2022 that he foresaw the league expanding by 2027 which, obviously, isn’t happening. Johnston wouldn’t discuss which markets have shown serious interest, but Halifax and Quebec City are the two that often get talked about. Nothing will change on this front until one of them has a stadium that’s suitable for CFL action.

“Stadium issues continue to be the number one problem to solve,” said Johnston.

“I think there are a couple of areas across the country where there’s some opportunity. We certainly continue to receive a significant amount of inbound interest from individuals who are interested in being a part of our league. We’ll continue to have those conversations, and I’ll certainly update you as soon as I can.”

Playoff format

While no immediate changes are being made, Johnston revealed that the league is open to the idea of tweaking the current six-team playoff format.

Currently, the top three teams in both the East and West divisions qualify — unless there’s a crossover team. The No. 1 seeds receive byes to the division finals at home which puts them just one win away from reaching the Grey Cup.

“We know that in many other leagues there’s been an introduction of different playoff formats, play-in games, mid-season playoffs, new playoff formats. We talked about our playoff format and how the Grey Cup is the single biggest annual championship in our country,” Johnston said.

“One area we’re focused on is: how do we have our single biggest championship where a team can possibly win only one game and make it to that championship? And can that be solved?”

Johnston wouldn’t divulge any more info on the matter than that.

No pushback on rule changes set to take place in 2026 and 2027

If you were hoping to hear GMs and coaches brought their pitchforks to Calgary to protest the upcoming rule changes prepare to be disappointed.

Everything that was announced in September is going through whether people like it or not.

As a refresher, starting in 2026, missed field goals will no longer elicit a rouge and a new 35-second play clock will start once the previous play has been whistled dead. In 2027, the goal posts are being moved to the back of the end zone, the end zone is being shortened to 15 yards, and the field will shrink to 100 yards which will eliminate the 55-yard line.

“I was asked whether there had been any pushback that I had heard so far this week, and there hasn’t been,” said Johnston.

“I didn’t go around polling everybody, but there hasn’t been (pushback). We’ve just had great discussions on what we’re doing moving this league forward.”

They’re also going to be patient. Whether the new rules make the game better or not in 2027, Johnston won’t jump to any conclusions after one year. When the rules were originally announced, the league estimated that they would lead to 60 more touchdowns per season.

“Coaches need time to adjust, players need time to adjust,” Johnston said.

“No matter which way our game goes, you’re going to need to build a sample of seasons to understand where the trends are leading, and then this is what these winter meetings do. We look at trends, and we see how we anticipate where they’re going to go, and are there any tweaks we need to make to adjust for those.”

Goodbye ties

The CFL rules committee — which features Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea — has proposed the league gets rid of ties.

They’re recommending starting this year, if a regular-season game remains tied after two rounds of overtime, the game should then be decided by the two teams taking turns attempting to score from the opposition’s three-yard line until one team successfully converts and the other does not.

“No one likes a tie,” said Johnston.

There’s only been four regular-season contests that have ended in a tie since 2016, but two of those happened in 2024. The committee’s recommendation needs to be approved by the league’s board of governors which will most likely happen by the end of March.

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