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Chapter 1: What major changes are being introduced to the CFL schedule?
all right you know what that music means cfl on tsn the cfl draft tonight and i don't remember the last time we had two guests in studio at the same time let alone a commissioner and the head of the players association but there they are stewart johnston of course the commissioner of the cfl and david mackie cflp executive director how's it going boys how you guys doing
Great.
Doing great. Happy to be here. Everyone getting along over there? Got the invite, so appreciate you guys having us out. Absolutely. We appreciate you coming here. And we were referencing, you know, this is some pretty big news today. And I guess, Stu, we'll allow you to kind of lay it out for us.
Chapter 2: How does the CFL aim to enhance fan engagement with long weekends?
You're changing the schedule. Let's begin there. So take us through the reasoning behind it, like why it makes sense for you, specifically starting with the start date. And I think it's pretty cool. Like you're going to try to amplify long weekends throughout the country. That's kind of where this starts and ends.
Yeah, it really started with me going around the markets last year. And one of the questions I asked, I asked the fans and media and the whole CFL community, the players. players actually knew the answer to this pretty easily, but I'd say, hey, when does the CFL season start? And the answer I got was often sometime in June.
Chapter 3: What are the implications of starting the CFL season on Victoria Day weekend?
And some would say Canada Day. And it really is, we kind of thought about it and thought, you know what, let's plant a flag on Victoria Day weekend and say that is going to be our tradition to start our season. Everyone's going to know it's Victoria Day weekend. And from there, we've had so much success with Labor Day weekend and Thanksgiving. Why don't we just run it through?
And some people would say, hey, the long weekends, that's kind of like people go away. Isn't that a weakness of your schedule? I think we're going to make it a strength. I think we're going to make an event out of those long weekends, Canada Day, August long weekend, even in Quebec and Céjean Baptiste Day.
I think these can be really fun events for us, but the key was let's place a marker on Victoria Day weekend as the start of our season.
Well, guess what people do when they're on long weekends? They sit around and they've got to watch something.
They do. They do. So it's exactly right. And, you know, what we found is one of our strengths as a league is owning the summer. And this is, you know, Victoria Day weekend is often considered the unofficial start of summer. And we think we're going to be the league that does own the summer.
So, David, what excites the CFLPA about these schedule changes?
Well, I mean, it's consistent.
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Chapter 4: How will the new playoff format change the CFL's competitive landscape?
Now we know exactly when it starts. If you're in the prairies, I was fortunate. I played in BC the whole time. I was unfortunate to play most of my playoff games on the road, playing in Winnipeg and Regina. And, you know, now if we're not playing those critical games and some of those harsh weather, as much as it makes it innately Canadian, you love the story behind it.
But if ultimately the best players have the best field services, the best conditions to perform to ultimately get to the great cup, it's going to be huge. So you bring this to the players and it's overwhelming, yes, like let's move forward, like easy for the players to understand it and accept it?
Yeah, I mean, ultimately when we first got presented to it, it's like, okay, well, what does this mean for the players, right? Full scope if there's, you know, we'll talk about the playoffs as well, but they really went hand in hand. If the season's moving, what does that mean? And, you know, ultimately we're workers and employees like everybody else. So, hey, what does that mean?
Am I, when am I away from my family? What's, You know, how does that mean for my training schedule? That's really the questions that we're getting. Ultimately, that's 2027. We can align, you know, with our players, making sure they're getting taken care of. But it really came as a full package. What does the full year look like?
Chapter 5: What is the reasoning behind expanding the playoff teams in the CFL?
Most of the guys just totally buy in. They realize it's like, hey, when I'm getting the call to training camp, it's from then all the way to Grey Cup. They don't think, when does the season end? For them, it's as soon as I report to training camp, all the way till, you know, Grey Cup days when I'm locked in to play football.
So moving backwards to the start of the season, what does this mean for the Grey Cup and making that obviously as big as it can be in terms of scheduling and prioritizing that?
Well, I think that, as Dave mentioned, If you go back, and I didn't realize how much time I'd be spending with meteorologists in this new position of mine, and it comes looking at weather right through the winter, or sorry, the late fall. Every week earlier in November that you can go, just better weather. It's very clear what that says.
It'll be hit and misses, of course, with this unpredictable weather, but But we think getting it one week earlier in November will be really important for sort of the fans, the players, the play on the field, all of you at TSN covering the Grey Cup. I think it's just going to be made for a great show. And we, again, we want to make sure the bulk of our play is concentrated in the summer.
And then we have our playoffs just rocking right into the fall.
So this will begin in 2027, but the playoffs are going to take on a different complexion as well. I think the scheduling is something I think all Canadians will get behind. Explain the changes in the playoffs because this is somewhat drastic. More teams are going to get in. There's going to be play-ins, a variety of options for who could be in the great cup.
Take us through that process and kind of lay it out for people that are wondering what this is going to look like.
Sure. Look, I think starting off, we're a nine-team league. So getting a playoff schedule with some robust number of games is difficult as a nine-team league. And we decided, you know what, we've only got five playoff games. And in all of sports, you see it. You see what's going on right now in hockey and basketball. Playoffs are the games of consequence.
They're the most meaningful time of the season. For us to only have five games leading into the biggest championship in Canada, which is the Grey Cup, just felt like it just wasn't enough to build that momentum. So we borrowed a page from curling and their page playoff system.
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Chapter 6: How does the new playoff system affect the regular season's significance?
And so how it works is the divisions are still in place. So in the East and the West, the top two from each division are going to play off in the first round of the playoffs, which normally you don't have your top two teams doing that. But the reason that's so effective and such an incentive for those teams is They're guaranteed two playoff games.
The winner of those games gets a bye to the third round, which is the semis. And the losers of those games move on to the second round. And then we go away from divisions. It's going to be five through eight, just seeded. And five plays eight, six plays seven. Winners move on to the second round. Losers go home. And we've now created nine playoff games total, up from five.
We think the attention on our regular season down the pike is going to be so great because as you're jockeying for position, you want to be in those top two in the division because it's so advantageous. But you also want a home game. In the last five years... The home team has won 80% of all games in the playoffs. So getting your home field advantage with your fans behind you is huge.
We think it's going to make the last month of our regular season even more dramatic.
Well, and that I think is significant because I think a lot of people would look at this and say, okay, there used to be six teams getting in. Now there's eight teams getting in. What does that mean for the dilution possibly of the regular season? But you don't see it that way, Stu. Well, Or you don't think people will experience it that way?
I don't, but I fully acknowledge that. Eight out of nine teams make the playoffs. You don't hear of that too often. We think this format rewards your regular season to such a degree that we're going to get past that. And really, the five through eight, which we call the play-ins... is about getting home field and moving forward.
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Chapter 7: What feedback do players have regarding the new scheduling and playoff format?
So we think the end of the regular season, in fact, the entire regular season, is going to take on even more meaning.
Stu, I like the idea when you said we're trying to build momentum and there's more games. That totally makes sense. It should to everyone. But you understand that traditionalists out there, and basically in this day and age, everybody hates something. Do you expect the traditionalists to be like, what's this? Why do we need this? Go back to the old way?
How do you think it's going to be received by the fan bases?
Well, look, I think that, yeah, I think we're going to have lots of opinion, lots of reaction, and certainly lots of people might say, hey, things are working great. And we are. We're in a really good position. We've got a lot of great momentum with the league. But we're looking forward.
And I think the conversation that this passionate fan base brings to a debate like this, whether you're all for it, you're kind of just figuring it out, or you're against it, is a demonstration of the power of our league and the power of that fan base, just the scale of it.
And that has been noticed, and we're working with TSN and with others in discussing the next cycle of media rights, and I think the fact that our fan base is so loud is a wonderful testament to what this league is and can be.
CFL changes coming in 2027. Stuart Johnston, CFL commissioner in studio. David Mackey, the executive director of the PA, also in studio.
So David, the CFL draft tonight. You've gone through the process. Any advice for the young players getting drafted? And also, maybe any memories of when you did when you were 18? I think it was in Montreal.
Yeah, it's funny. There's been so much focus on the playoffs today. I was like, I forgot the drafts also today. Big night for a lot of players. Yeah, it's a huge day.
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Chapter 8: What are the expectations for the CFL's future with these changes?
It's kind of twofold. One, I've given a lot of advice to guys where it's like, enjoy the day. Where it's like, this is when you're at your absolute peak. Once you move on from the draft, you're still a rookie once you show up to camp. But right now, it's like you're the one getting the phone call, and it's the absolute peak. Your phone's going to blow up.
Everyone that's met you in any capacity is going to be proud of you, and it's something to enjoy. But ultimately, it's like for me and a lot of similarities with these guys is when you really look at the ones that have sacrificed for you, there's been consequences of you've missed time at parties, you've
held back in school your parents have done a lot for you so to surround yourself with those people like i was up in halliburton with my old man my uncle my my wife uh and and my siblings it was really small but it's like those people sacrificed a ton for me for a number of years and get to enjoy it and you know it's something that you know i retired last year and it was one of those moments where i look back on and say that was it was really cool
Because when you're in the spotlight and once you're playing, you're looking at, this is cool because I'm in front of 30,000, 40,000 people. But then when you actually hone in on some of those experiences where it's like I'm with the five or six people that mean the most to me, and it's actually in my brain to see my sister record the screen and Randy's up there saying my name.
And oddly enough... You know, you're so nervous when you get that phone call, right? And it's like, you tell everyone, it's like, do not phone me tonight. It's like, whatever, the house is on fire. Don't phone me. I'm waiting for that phone call. And obviously a Southern Ontario kid. And my phone rings when Hamilton's on the clock and my family loses their mind.
And so I go outside and it's BC and they say, has Hamilton called you?
oh what's going on and they said okay well sit tight and just hung up so i go in my family's they're waiting they're looking at the tv i was like guys it's not not hamilton coming up they announced someone else and the next pick was bc and they're just as happy i mean uh i was super fortunate to get my career out there and uh it's just such an exciting night looking back on it like i said to be able to spend that with your your close-knit group and some people do huge draft parties but just surround yourself with the right people and enjoy it do i just wanted to
about the format, I wanted to go back and touch on it. The two top teams facing off right away early. Do you think there will be any blowback on that? Because I'm not saying that a top quality team would want to snooze early on, but to go head-to-head like that early on, what do you think the reaction of that is going to be? I find that fascinating. I've never heard of it. It's interesting.
But what do you think the teams are going to think? Because Usually it's like we're slotted up here, let's get a laugher and move on and build something, and right away it's kind of like the NHL playoffs where it's like you're going and you've got a tough first-round opponent.
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