‘Good thing for fans’: Roughriders CEO reacts to CFL changes coming in 2026-27

Changes to Canadian football are coming, including field size and moving the goalposts. Jacob Carr has the details.

Big changes are coming to the Canadian Football League (CFL) over the next two years as the league aims to make the game “even more entertaining,” according to CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston.

Saskatchewan Roughriders CEO and president Craig Reynolds says he’s supportive of the league’s new vision.

“I think what we found today was a lot of the things, what makes the CFL unique, the majority of things, three down, 12 players a side, the wide field, unlimited motion, those are uniquely Canadian,” he told reporters Monday afternoon. “Today wasn’t about changing our game. It was around making a great game better.”

Johnston announced Monday that starting in 2026, the league will roll out modified rules for rouges, changes to team placement on the sidelines, in addition to 35 second play clocks.

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The rouge changes will mean teams will no longer be able to win games with a single off a missed field goal that sails through the end zone.

A single point will only be awarded if a returner fields a missed field goal, punt or kickoff in the end zone and either kneels or is tackled in the end zone trying to forward the ball.

Teams currently have 20 seconds to get a play off but that usually doesn’t begin until it’s blown in by an official. The rule change will mandate a 35-second automatic reset on the play clock.

In 2027, the goalposts at all CFL fields will be moving to the end of the reconfigured endzones, which will be shrinking to 15 yards from 20 yards.

The field length itself will be reduced in size from 110 yards to 100 yards. The field width will remain at 65 yards.

The changes, according to the league, are aimed at fostering a more aggressive and exciting form of play – trading field goals for touchdowns.

“Anytime you have an opportunity to score more touchdowns, and with all respect to field goals, I think it’s a good thing for fans,” Reynolds added.

“This is kind of the most exciting play we have. There’s a reason that Gainer drives around the field after touchdowns and not for field goals.”

As for the effect on leagues and players outside of the CFL, Reynolds says outreach will be ongoing.

“Those conversations have to take place,” he said. “I know the CFL had a plan to reach out to amateur football right before the announcement … I think one of the major reasons for that delay to 2027 was to allow for those conversations to take place.”

The new changes will likely have a trickle-down effect down through the U Sports ranks all the way down to the grassroots level of the Regina Minor Football League.

And not everyone is happy about the announcement, including Regina Thunder Head Coach Scott MacAulay.

“I’m kind of pissed off about it because I’m sitting there going that we’re losing that revenue that normally we would get from the Hilltop games which is important for our football club. So, if we didn’t go to Mosaic Stadium for our game against the Hilltops we would lose 40,000 dollars in revenue.”

MacAulay believes that the lone home game that the Thunder currently play at Mosaic Stadium against the rival Saskatoon Hilltops, will be jettisoned due to the new dimensions of the field.

The Thunder are currently the only CJFL team that play a home game in a professional stadium, and now that the dimensions are to be changed by 2027, it makes sense that all games be played on an even playing field, which would mean moving all Thunder games to Leibel Field.

As far as moving the goal posts, MacAulay also has mixed emotions on it, seeing the vision of the CFL to increase scoring but also thinking it will take out a part of what made the Canadian game unique.

“You know I always thought the kicking game was kind of an important part of the game we played. And it was kind of the fun part where there were a lot of field goals and there were a lot of points and returns and things like that. And I am a special teams guy by nature.”

With the news still being fresh, it’s safe to say the jury is still out on the type of impact these changes will have on the football landscape across Canada.