Hello all – after almost six months away, the CFL Beat makes its glorious return this week! I’m looking forward to another year of covering the ridiculous sport of Canadian football for all of you; I have sincerely missed my writing responsibilities this past little while. With the concert calendar looking slightly lighter during these next few months, I look forward to jumping back into things full swing. Without further ado, let’s get you all prepped and up to speed on what to expect from north of the 49th parallel this year in the world of football.

WELCOME (BACK) TO THE CFL!

The first-ever CFL Beat, from 2016, provides more specifics than what I will be listing below, but if you’re unfamiliar with the sport or are looking for a quick refresher, here are some of the most important things to know:

• The league was founded in 1958, though teams have competed for the Grey Cup, Canadian football’s top prize, since 1909.
• There are nine teams organized into two divisions, each playing an 18-game regular season. The division winners each get a bye into the second round of the playoffs.
• Among the most important rule differences between the NFL and CFL: only 3 downs, field is 110 yards long by 65 yards wide, each team plays 12 players a side instead of 11, defense starts 1 yard back from the line of scrimmage, kicks/punt returners get 5 yards of buffer zone to make a catch, missed field goals that leave the end zone are called rouges and are worth one point – they are hilarious when they occur. (You can check out the full list of rule differences in 2016’s welcoming article, or here on Wikipedia if you’re curious.)

Next week, I’ll be giving the preview for all of the East Division teams, followed by the West Division teams the week after. Week 1 of the regular season kicks off on Thursday, June 6th, with the Montreal Alouettes and Winnipeg Blue Bombers squaring off in a Grey Cup rematch at 8:30 PM EST at the newly-renamed Princess Auto Stadium (formerly IG Field).

The 111th Grey Cup is being hosted in Vancouver this year; the BC Lions last hosted this matchup in 2014, which featured the Calgary Stampeders defeating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats by a score of 20 to 16. The Lions have had some extensive regular season success these past couple of years, and despite some roster turnover, have the potential to become the first team to win the Grey Cup on home turf since the 2013 Saskatchewan Roughriders.

As for your favoUrite team? Well, just hang on for the previews coming out over the next two weeks! Hopefully you’ll be all up to speed very soon.

2024 POINTS OF INTEREST

• As part of the current CBA that was signed last season, the CFLPA will receive a portion of team revenue sharing for the first time ever – about 25% of the total revenue brought in. The total salary cap per team this year is about $5.585 million CAD, while the minimum player salary of $70K CAD remains unchanged from last season.
• Last year, new rules concerning the ratio of Canadian players to Americans on the field were implemented. As of 2023, teams are required to start eight Canadians out of 24 starters’ positions. However, one “nationalized American” – a CFL player from the States who has spent either three years with their current CFL team, or five total years in the league – is allowed to count towards the Canadian ratio. Additionally, one other “nationalized American” starter on both offence and defence can be subbed in for up to 49% of the snaps taken by a Canadian player. In addition to these roster ratio changes, teams that start more Canadians will receive additional second-round draft picks in each upcoming CFL draft.
• The CFL enjoyed a series of one-off Touchdown Atlantic games between Saskatchewan and Toronto out in beautiful Nova Scotia over the last two seasons, but with no progress being made on a stadium being commissioned in the Halifax area, those plans for a permanent franchise are once again on the back burner. This summer, the league will instead turn its attention to a Touchdown Pacific matchup in Victoria, BC, between the BC Lions and Ottawa REDBLACKS. Royal Athletic Park, a multi-purpose soccer, football and baseball stadium built in the early 1900s, will have temporary seating installed to boost it to 10,000, in line with similar-sized crowds the last two seasons out East. The Lions have been working hard to cultivate their fan base on Vancouver Island since Amar Doman bought the team two seasons ago, and hope to continue to make inroads to a relatively population base that lies just a short ferry ride away from Vancouver.
• The CFL has returned to a more balanced schedule after several seasons of dealing with the fallout surrounding travel during the Covid pandemic; for the last few seasons, there’s been a far greater emphasis placed on divisional rivalries, which meant that despite there only being nine teams in the CFL, not every team faced each other each year. With travel restrictions gone and attendance now mostly healthy once more, every team will return to playing a minimum of two games against each other, once at home and once on the road.
• The Edmonton Elks may be transitioning to private ownership for the first time in the franchise’s 75-year history; after several seasons of on-field ineptitude and rebuilding, and not to mention the business operations impact that Covid had on pro sports all over the world, the team’s board of directors may elect to transition the franchise away from community ownership in order to find some deeper, and more stable, pockets, in order to secure a better financial foothold for the team in the CFL. Nothing is pending yet, but a group of former CFL players led by Garrick Jones, including Damon Allen, Fred Stamps, and other former Edmonton standouts, is interested in acquiring the team.
• The Edmonton Elks signed a new radio broadcast deal in April to be the first pro sports team in North America to broadcast all their home games in both English and Punjabi; local Edmonton station My Radio 580 AM will host all nine games following a successful test run of one game last summer, when the Lions beat the Elks 27-0 on July 29th. The Elks will also have their Labour Day game broadcast in Blackfoot and Cree – two of the most prominent Indigenous languages of Alberta’s First Nations communities.
• The biggest scandal currently rocking the league, which the Toronto Argonauts have desperately been trying to sweep under the rug, is the conduct of reigning  Most Outstanding Player, QB Chad Kelly; according to several reports through TSN and other sources, a former strength and conditioning coach, an unnamed woman, is suing Kelly and the Argos for sexual harassment and wrongful dismissal. In the lawsuit, the coach claims that Kelly repeatedly tried to make romantic advances at her, which then proceeded to verbal abuse and threats in a variety of settings, including in the team facilities, team bus, and hotels. Additionally, when the coach reported her situation to GM Michael “Pinball” Clemons, he failed to take action, and instead of disciplining their star player, instead opted to not renew the coach’s contract. If the team is found liable for damages, that’s a serious violation of the Ontario Human Rights Code; were Chad Kelly a less talented, less famous and less important player for Toronto, I have no doubt the situation would be handled differently. As of late last week, Kelly’s been suspended a minimum of nine games under the league’s gender-based conduct policy, but I sincerely doubt this is going to be the last of this story.

2023 STANDINGS AND STATS

East Division Standings

West Division Standings

Passing Yards 

1. Adams, Jr., BC – 4769
2. Collaros, WPG – 4252
3. Maier, CGY – 4231

Passing TDs

1. Collaros, WPG – 33
2. Adams, Jr., BC – 31
3. Kelly, TOR – 23

Rushing Yards

1. Oliveira, WPG – 1534
2. Brown, EDM – 1141
3. Butler, HAM – 1116

Receiving Yards

1. White, HAM – 1269
2. Hatcher, BC – 1226
3. Schoen, WPG – 1222

Defensive Tackles

1. Awe, CGY – 140
2. Pickett, TOR – 125
3. Beverette, MTL – 109

Sacks

1. Betts, BC – 18
2. Carter, OTT – 12
3. Ceresna, EDM – 12

Interceptions

1. Houston, WPG – 7
2. Dandridge, OTT – 5
3. Judge, CGY – 5

Field Goals

1. Paredes, CGY – 52
2. Whyte, BC – 50
3. Castillo, WPG – 41

2024 PICK POOL

I will be running a pick pool again this season – it’s open to readers from anywhere in the world! If you’re interested in playing, just register here through the link below:

https://www.pooltracker.com/join.asp?poolid=231808

Congrats again to our 2023 winner, BC Dick, who led all contestants with 63 points last year – in our largest and most competitive field to date! I hope to see the numbers swell even further once again in this coming year. Maybe this will be the year where I finally take home a title…

2023 Pool Results

And with that, tune in next week to check out previews of the East Division teams – Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Hamilton. Maestro out!