If the rule changes make it easier for expansion to Halifax then it could possibly help bring new fans to the league. If the NFL comes to play an NFL game in Toronto, BC or Montreal (Olympic stadium) it would be a chance for the local CFL team to market itself.
I don’t believe in absolutes. Anything is possible even if it’s improbable.
I think these are very sound observations. For the dedicated fan, it’s just some change to get used to. It shouldn’t be elicit such a strong reaction that people should run away from it. If anything, it’s the timing (in the midst of a Canadian Pride moment) and the bravado of the commissioner that is causing the outrage more than anything else.
As for gaining new fans, I’m not sure that this would do that in any meaningful way as the league couldn’t market themselves out of a paper bag. New fans would only come by way of a new team, and if this makes it easier to build a new stadium, then I suppose that is a roundabout way of making the point.
I know people here don’t like Dancing With The Stars, but they’ve gotten their best ratings in 9 years. It’s always easy to say that ratings have been the best since COVID, which the CFL routinely does, but besting almost a decade of viewership is impressive. Nevermind, I’m not even one of those people that watch it live so it’s actually more viewers than that.
I’m digressing a bit, but the point is it is the marketing that needs to massively improve for the league to get bigger. And it honestly doesn’t take much. Maybe embrace some social media before embracing all that betting.
P.S. - also don’t alienate fans by closing forums on short notice.
Agree 100%. It’s also the way it’s marketed.
A few seasons ago, I was listening to an Als radio broadcast. The commercial was trying to sell why an outing to an Als game is a good value.
I don’t believe you market to someone’s head; you market to their heart.
Why do rivalry games sell better? Because there’s emotion involved. You go to the game hoping to shut up your rival. The trick is, how do you create that emotion for non-rival teams?
The CFL needs to hire Terry O’Reilly clearly.
The rullle changes will make the game better. Making the game better helps attract interest. That being said better marketing needs to be done in most CFL cities or the game will fall off.
As for the detractors to the rule changes. Google chicken little syndrome. You may have it. Have a beer 
or two and a burger 
and burger realize the Sun and the moon gonna rise tomorrow and every day just like it did before you got all upset over nothing
I like that you said burger twice 
i can’t wait for the next CFL season to start. today is the first day after winter solstice where the daylight is longer than the previous day. damn right i am counting down the days. In fact, i should build a count-down timer… 
Right now I will goe out on a limb and call BC Lions to be the 2026 champs. They were not too far away in 2025.
163 days…
i disabled for now and will reset it in the new year when we’re closer to season start date.
Happy solstice 
It’s pure speculation that the new rules in 2026 and field amendments in 2027 will have any positive or negative affect on the excitement of the game it is also pure speculation that it will result in an increase or a decrease in game attendance and viewership, only time will tell. One thing that is certain is since COVID the CFL has been experiencing a slight uptick in viewership and attendance now, that’s a wait and see situation going forward, further, It behoves me to think that a person who doesn’t watch or enjoy the CFL will suddenly come to a realization that there’s no 55 yard line and the goal posts have been moved to the back of the end zone and have an urge to start watching the CFL or better yet switch from the NFL to the CFL. Similarly, if the KHL reduced the ice surface to the North American size ice surfaces, would the KHL suddenly have an increase in North American viewership because their game just became more exciting, I think not. Speaking of the NHL…why are the goal posts 11 feet up from the backboards, does the NHL not understand the placement of the goalies nets obstructs the players and might actually cause injuries? Or does the NHL recognize that playing behind the goal line creates a great deal of excitement and the players learn to use that obstruction to their advantage. Hmmm
I’d suggest the CFL is putting a lot at risk in making changes that could possibly stall any increase of support they have been experiencing; worse it’s possible it could cause a decrease of support in attendance and viewership. If no gains are made and no new franchises are found quickly, I could see the REDBLACKS folding (again) and possibly the Alouettes to follow (again). How long can a seven-team league survive? Just one person’s thoughts.
I will now await for the “Gang of Eight” to admonish my words…I will not respond!
Have a good day.
Don’t know if I’m part of this gang of 8, if not it is a 9 team league lol
Overall, I agree there won’t be significant increase or decrease in attendance or viewership based on these changes alone.
Some of these changes are cosmetic (end zones being the same size league wide), some are dealing with rules that didn’t make sense. i.e. the single for the non returnable kick and the ‘20 second’ play clock.
Things like the moving of the goal post and it’s impact on opening up the middle of the end zone vs. 5ish yards less deep will remain to be seen.
I do think the ‘teams will fold over this’ is a sky is falling view. If enough business gets lost over this for teams to die then it would have only sped up the inevitable.
Thankfully, history shows the opposite is true. When the league cancelled the season over Covid, the same ‘I’m cancelling my season tickets and walking away from me the league after 50-60 ish years was said on this board and social media in general and we have seen things return to pre Covid levels.
Baseball fans said similar things when they announced major rule changes too and the sun rose the next day.
Me Too. And I’ll go on record wishing the rule changes were starting in 2026.
That would be grand if that’s what the kicker was trying to do. But he wasn’t. He was trying to put it through the uprights but shanked it horribly. The result was a line drive that skipped through the endzone with such speed, it might as well have been a missed FG through the air into row 20 of the endzone seating. I wasn’t left with the feeling of an earned point and trust me, I understand and even like the rouge. A casual observer would struggle to understand how a point was earned, even if they weren’t biased by American football.
Now, if the rule is that any kick landing in goal can score a rouge, then yes, a return team should put enough guys in the end zone to prevent a score if said rouge would decide the game.
That said, I can see that the people who decided upon the rouge changes, probably took the case as exemplified in the Vanier Cup into consideration. If you’re going to win a game on the rouge now you’re really going to have to earn it. That kick is going to have to be so well placed that it not only lands in goal, but it stays in goal, and your cover team is going to have to limit the return to next to nothing.
I am ok with that. No one is going to walk away feeling that this kind of score was unearned.
I agree with most of what you’re saying here but the main difference between the KHL and the CFL is fairly obvious. The time zones make it much harder for North Americans to view it. Other than that we totally agree on the fact that everything is unknown at the moment and the CFL definitely rolled the dice earlier in the year.
Only part I don’t necessarily agree with.
I agree with Lennywasout . We got a new Commish and suddenly our games aren’t exciting enough ? By Americanizing our Canadian game , the league will look like the multitude of American spring leagues . Presently we have 3 distinctive football viewing choices . The CFL , NFL and the NCAA . Why spoil a good thing for football fans ???
If you don’t think a game played with 3 downs, 12 men, a 65 yard wide field, the waggle, a yard off the ball, no fair catch, etc is uniquely Canadian, I’d love to find the game that resembles it.
Just because the Americans moved the uprights first doesn’t mean it’s wrong to move them second.
vs colts 
tonight