Ryan Sullivan: New CFL rules give the league a fighting chance

I was employed by the CFL for four years, worked for the B.C. Lions for one and hosted a Canadian football show for five. I’ve also written and hosted betting content for Sports Interaction, Sports Betting Dime and the World Sports Network.

The biggest gripe CFL traditionalists appear to have about the new rule changes are that it somehow makes the league less Canadian — that it steers the game towards becoming a lighter version of the NFL.

Read more:

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• ‘Making a great game better’: Riders CEO approves CFL changes
• Jamie Nye: CFL flying close to the sun as league rolls out rule changes

Fans are upset and have expressed a lot of negative opinions on social media about the changes.

To this, I’d like to raise a very important question: How can you call yourself a fan or a loyalist of the league, if you’re willing to watch it bleed out and die?

That’s what happening to the CFL.

Seven of nine teams did not make money last year. Clearly, change is needed one way or another. Name a business that’s been resurrected with a “bleed to succeed” strategy.

Not easy, is it?

We can all agree the negatives of the changes are that it’s not tradition.

Fair point.

The overriding tradition of the last decade has led to a league that’s running on fumes and going into the red.

Should we keep moving forward with the same model? What’s that definition of insanity again?

If the league doesn’t pivot now, it likely goes under, or begs for a bailout from the government.

Now, let’s talk changes for 2026, which includes:

• Modifying the Rouge. A single point will no longer be awarded for a punt or kick out of the end zone. We laugh with the international media every time a kicker shanks one and the team wins the game. This rule, flat out, emphasizes higher accuracy and skill at the position. That’s a good thing.
  
• Introducing the 35-second play clock. This rule puts an emphasis on speeding up the game for the viewer while also impacting play calling and strategy.Yes, having three or four possessions in the final two minutes of a game may now be a thing of the past, but scoring as much as possible when you have the ball will now be paramount.Yes, it was before, but when you could potentially get the ball back three or four times in the dying minutes of a game, it takes away at least some added motivation during prior possessions because you know you’ll have multiple chances to come.This change is the most viewer-friendly update hands down. Look at baseball. They added a pitch clock and while it faced backlash initially. It has worked wonders for the game and the viewer.
• Modifying Bench Locations. In speaking with former Saskatchewan Roughrider and 2013 Grey Cup Champion Sam Hurl, this is his favourite change because it’s certainly the most player friendly. Now rather than sprinting 50 to 60 yards and getting winded, players have a much easier transition when substituting.

Changes for 2027 include:

• Shortening the field to 100 yards from 110 yards. Let’s face it, this combined with uprights to the back of the end zone, means less emphasis on a kicker-led offence. Prior to this, a kicker could come in at the 40 and boot one. That left 30 yards of field in between the opposing 40-yard line. That was the battle zone. As soon as you got it to the 40, you could bring in your leg. Now with a smaller field and deeper uprights, the prominence is on your quarterback to be the difference.

• Less field leads to more high-powered offense and higher scoring games. It means your team’s defense has to improve and it means your offensive front has to be stellar. This should lessen the amount of two and outs as well and make for a more competitive football game.

• Uprights to the back of the end zone. This change is the one the traditionalist hates the most. Albeit, if you’re sitting in Pil Country or in the end zone it’ll work against your sight lines a little.This adds to the emphasis of accuracy and skill to your kicker. It also adds to the importance of a high-powered offense.No longer can you get the ball to the 40 – as mentionedearlier – and bring in the leg. Your kicker might not be able to reach from that far out, so your QB, running back and wideouts now have to carry the load. This makes for far more entertaining football.
• Shortening the end zone to 15 yards. Right now, in the CFL red zone possessions lead to imminent scores. You can line up in a shotgun formation from the goal line.By shortening the end zone to 15 from 20 yards, you make it an absolute war zone in there. It’s harder to find space. It’s going to be more challenging to get separation, but above all you’re going to need to find new and more creative ways to score.This should light a fire under offensive coordinators league wide.

All in all, it still separates us from the American game and still provides more real estate for more scoring chances than the game down south.

If you truly care about football in Canada, you understand that the league’s current model is no longer sustainable. You don’t make major impact changes when everything is running smoothly.

The Canadian Football League was facing a no-win situation. Either bleed out or upset many of its loyal patrons. The latter of the two give the league a fighting chance at a brighter future.

— Ryan “Sully” Sullivan is an on-air host on our sister station Rock 102 in Saskatoon.