Keep It Canadian

Canadian football is quirky.  Canadian football has some funky rules.  They're what make Canadian football unique.  They're what make Canadian football great.  More importantly, they're what make it distinctly Canadian.

That's why it was so disappointing when the Canadian Football League announced several significant changes for the 2026 & 2027 seasons that will completely change the way the game is played.  CFL football will no longer be distinct.  It'll essentially be American football with a few differences.  Which isn't improving the product the way they think it is.  In fact, it'll have the opposite effect.  That distinctness is, frankly, the reason to watch Canadian football.  By taking that away, they're taking away the reason to watch.

The biggest change is the most significant.  Instead of a 110-yard field with 20-yard end zones, they're reducing the size to a 100-yard field with 15-yard end zones.  The large field is perhaps the signature feature of Canadian football.  It'll continue to be wider than an American football field and they'll still have 12 players per side.  But the long return that isn't possible in American football will soon become a thing of the past.

When the CFL tried its failed American experiment in the mid-90s, one of the biggest problems was how Canadian football fields were too big to fit in the footprint of the American stadiums.  As a result, their end zones weren't 20 yards (except in Baltimore, the only American city that took being in the CFL seriously), which was obviously not ideal.  Now, it'll be the opposite problem.  Suddenly, there'll be a lot of extra room between the field and the stands.  (They can theoretically add a few extra rows, but that would require facility changes which may or may not be possible.)

They're also moving the goal posts from the front of the end zone to the back.  From a safety perspective, this is long overdue.  The NFL moved the goal posts back 50 years ago for that very reason.  It also eliminates the possibility of a pass falling incomplete because it hit the goal post.  With 20-yard end zones, it would've been nearly impossible to make a field goal if the goal posts were at the back of the end zone.  They'll still be 15 yards back rather than the 10 in the NFL, so a field goal attempt from the 30 will be a 45-yarder.  But, the reason I don't particularly like this rule change is because of how it affects the next one.

One of my favorite parts of Canadian football is the rouge, the single point you get for a touchback.  Every kick in the CFL is a live ball, so any missed field goal, punt or kickoff needs to be returned out of the end zone.  If it's not, the kicking team gets a point.  Teams can choose to return it or take a touchback and concede the point.  It's a huge strategic element of the game that comes into play more often than you'd think.  There are even multiple compilations on YouTube of walk-off rouges (including some deliberate misses because they were just going for the one point)!

Next season, though, the rouge will look very different.  And be much harder to get.  Teams won't be able to get those walk-off rouges anymore since there will be no more rouges when a missed field goal goes wide or a punt/kickoff goes through the end zone untouched.  You can only get one if the returner can't get the ball out of the end zone or takes a knee.  I don't know if that's the entire point, but, again, the rouge is a distinctly Canadian rule.  They should take pride in the unique way to win a Canadian football game.

While the changes to the field size and goal post placement won't take effect until 2027 since they require more time because of the necessary facility adjustments.  The new rouge rule will begin next season.  As will two others that are significantly less controversial.

Team benches will move to opposite sides of the field.  Frankly, I didn't even know that some CFL teams had both benches on the same side, but apparently some do.  It just makes more sense to be consistent and have the benches on opposite sidelines in every stadium.  Likewise with the automatic 35-second play clock, which will become the standard.  The current CFL play clock is 20 seconds, manually initiated by an official, which is obviously inconsistent.  Starting it at 35 as soon as the previous play is blown dead will make it uniform across the board.  So, neither of those is a bad thing.

As for the other changes, the CFL was obviously quick to defend them and gave the rationale behind the decision-making.  Their main thought process was about making the game more exciting and "highlight-worthy."  Specifically, they want more big plays and think it'll increase the number of touchdowns.  There's also an argument that it'll lead to more aggressive play-calling.

I can actually see that point about the play-calling.  Field goal attempts being 15 yards longer and knowing you can't get a single point on a miss could definitely result in deciding to go for it rather than kicking the field goal.  Likewise, the shorter field means you're starting closer to the end zone.  We've seen what a difference that can make in the NFL with the variable touchback starting yard line.

Touchdowns will increase, the thought-process goes, because, without the goal posts in the way, the entire end zone will be wide open.  Although, I must say, the precision CFL quarterbacks needed in order to throw around the goal post is mighty impressive.  They also showed their data breaking down the percentage of where touchdown passes are thrown which proves that most throws are to the side of the end zone.  It also shows how many balls are thrown to the back of the end zone, the area of the field that they're eliminating.

This appears to be a case where they're thinking "evolve or die."  This particular evolution could've been achieved without fundamentally changing the game, however.  They could've moved the goal posts back and made the end zones smaller while keeping the field 110 yards long.  The 110-yard field is as much a part of Canadian football's identity as three downs, 12 players per side and the rouge, which will suddenly become a lot harder to get.

Ultimately, that's my biggest issue with the rule changes.  Canadian football is a different sport than American football.  These rule changes will make the two a lot more similar.  Maybe that's the point.  But it shouldn't be.  Because Canadian football is great and exciting all on its own.  Most significantly, it's unique.  Not anymore.  Pretty soon, people won't even be able to tell the difference.