2027 CFL season
| 2027 CFL season | |
|---|---|
| Duration | May – October, 2027 |
| 114th Grey Cup | |
| Date | November 7, 2027 |
| Venue | Mosaic Stadium, Regina |
West 
EastThe 2027 CFL season is scheduled to be the 73rd season of modern professional Canadian football. Officially, it would be the 69th season of the Canadian Football League. Regina is scheduled to host the 114th Grey Cup on November 7, 2027.[1] The league announced that the season would begin on Victoria Day weekend, so the regular season would start on or about May 20 and end on or about October 11.[2] This will also be the first season to feature new field dimensions and a new playoff format.[2][3]
CFL news in 2027
Salary cap
According to the new collective bargaining agreement, the 2027 salary cap is scheduled to be at least $6,380,514, due to the revenue sharing increase from 2026.[4][5][6][7] Including non-football related services of $110,000, the total salary expenditure cap will be at or above $6,490,514.[4] This will be the fourth season that players will receive revenue sharing, which will be set at 28% this season.[5] The minimum player salary will be set at $75,000, which increases from the $70,000 minimum used from 2023 to 2026.[5][6]
Rule changes
On September 22, 2025, league commissioner Stewart Johnston announced that a series of significant rule changes would come into effect for this season.[8]
- Endline goalposts: The goal posts will move from the goal line to the end line.
- 15-yard end zones: To accommodate for the goal post changes, the endzones will be reduced from 20 yards deep to 15 yards. This will also ensure uniformity across the league as the Toronto Argonauts and Montreal Alouettes have had short end zones due to field limitations.
- 100-yard field: The field length will be reduced from 110 yards to 100 yards.
The field changes were widely condemned by fans of the league, who felt the changes were driven by profit, and the league was slowly becoming more "Americanized".[9]
Schedule changes
On April 28, 2026, the CFL announced that the 2027 season schedule would begin on Victoria Day weekend, which would be two weeks earlier than the previous earliest start in league history (June 4, 2026, in the 2026 CFL season).[2] This also results in many offseason activities moving up two weeks earlier, including the CFL Combine, 2027 CFL draft, and training camp.[2] The regular season would end on Thanksgiving weekend, potentially jeopardizing the Thanksgiving Day Classic which would host the final games of the season, if it continues to be played.[2]
The league also announced that the post-season would feature substantial changes with nine games being played over four weeks as opposed to the previous format of five games being played over three weeks.[2] In the first round of games, the teams finishing first and second in each division will play each other with the winners advancing to the third round, the Grey Cup Semi-Finals (No longer called division championships), and the losers advancing to the round two elimination games.[2] Also in the first round, the fifth placed team will play the eighth place team and the sixth place team will play the seventh place team with the winners advancing to the round two elimination games.[2] In the second round, the winners of the elimination games will advance to the third round in the Grey Cup Semi-Finals.[2] This results in eight of nine teams qualifying for the post-season while both Grey Cup participants will need at least two wins to qualify for the championship game.[2][10]
Playoff bracket
| Division Showdown and Play-in | Elimination round | Semi-finals | 114th Grey Cup | |||||||||||||||
| 1E | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2E | ||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | November 7 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1W | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2W | ||||||||||||||||||
Broadcasting
In Canada, the CFL's broadcast rights will expire after the 2026 CFL season, although the league had indicated a preference to continue working with TSN (in English) which have had exclusive rights since 2008.[11][12] The league's United States broadcast rights are also set to expire after 2026.[13]
On May 28, 2026, the CFL announced a six-year extension to Bell Media's contract beginning with the 2027 season, whilst also announcing a separate deal with DAZN to exclusively stream one weekly Saturday night game and two Saturday night playoff games on the platform.[14]
References
- ↑ "Saskatchewan awarded 114th Grey Cup". Canadian Football League. October 27, 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Coming in '27: A CFL season built for summer long weekends; CFL and CFLPA champion a new era of playoff football". Canadian Football League. April 28, 2026.
- ↑ "Tradition Meets Innovation: CFL announces major changes to the game". Canadian Football League. September 22, 2025.
- 1 2 "Collective bargaining agreement" (PDF). cfldb.ca. Retrieved October 27, 2024.
- 1 2 3 "Details of the CFL's new CBA: salary cap increases, ratio changes, and guaranteed contracts". 3DownNation. May 26, 2022.
- 1 2 "CFL commissioner Ambrosie feels new deal provides benefits for both CFL and players". The Globe and Mail. May 28, 2022.
- ↑ "2025 Salary cap increase driven by 2024 league revenue growth". Canadian Football League. February 5, 2025.
- ↑ "Tradition Meets Innovation: CFL announces major changes to the game". Canadian Football League. September 22, 2025.
- ↑ Hodge, John. "Have CFL teams lost season ticket holders due to rule changes?". 3DownNation. 3DownNation. Retrieved June 19, 2026.
- ↑ "Stewart Johnston: CFL fans will 'get past' eight teams making Grey Cup playoffs". 3DownNation. April 28, 2026.
- ↑ "Johnston officially begins tenure as commissioner of the CFL". TSN. April 24, 2025.
- ↑ "CFL sets start of 2026 season as self-imposed deadline for new broadcast deal". 3DownNation. January 14, 2026.
- ↑ "CFL unveils full 2025 American TV broadcast schedule on CBS Sports Network". 3DownNation. May 22, 2025.
- ↑ Naylor, Dave (May 28, 2026). "CFL announces a series of new broadcast agreements". TSN. Retrieved May 28, 2026.