 "Canadian football lovers say no to NFL-style changes to CFL: 'Don't like Americanization of our game'")
Surging anti-America sentiments in Canada have reached the Canadian Football League (CFL) where certain changes in rules for the next two seasons have not gone down well with traditionalists who argue that such tweaks would lead to “Americanization of our game”.
CFL presented the rule changes for the 2026 and 2027 seasons of the league in September. The changes in rules include reducing the length of the Canadian field, move the goalposts to the back of the end zone, and tweak other elements of the game. The rule changes are aimed at attracting new fans but could alienate the current ones.
CFL guilty of being ’tone-deaf’
“Everyone who supports this league was blindsided by these substantial rule changes without any consultation with the fans or the players,” Patrick Land, who moderates a Facebook group against the changes, told Reuters.
“Considering the current political climate with the USA, the CFL is guilty of bad timing and being tone-deaf to what it means to be Canadian. We don’t like the idea of the Americanization of our game,” he added.
Canada has seen a rise in anti-American sentiments after the US President Donald Trump referred to the country as its “51st state” earlier this year. Ice hockey games in Canada have seen the national anthem of the United States being booed. Recently at the Major League Baseball (MLB), Canadian fans rallied to support Toronto Blue Jays who made it to the World Series.
The rule changes in the Canadian football are being seen as an attempt to reduce its distinctiveness and align it closer to the more popular American version of it.
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View AllHow is CFL different from NFL?
Canada’s football field is longer and wider than that in the United States with the goalposts being at the front of the end zone rather than at the back. The end zones are also larger in Canada. There are 12 players per side in Canada, one more than in the US.
Among the most distinctive feature of Canadian football is that it has only three downs compared to the American four downs, forcing teams to be more aggressive.
CFL Commissioner Stewart Johnston said that despite the rule changes, the overall game remains Canadian.
“I did not do enough to emphasize something very important: our unwavering commitment to the Canadian game. So let me be clear. We are three downs, 12 players, unlimited motion, 65 yards wide. And huge end zones,” Johnston was quoted as saying by Reuters.
According to Reuters, an Angus Reid survey published on Tuesday showed that half of regular fans and three-quarters of hardcore CFL fans did not like the changes. The pollster warned that in its aim to woo new fans, the league risks losing its current fanbase.
Grey Cup, the final of the CFL, takes place Sunday, November 16 between Montreal Allouttes and Saskatchewan Roughriders.
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