2026 CFL season

2026 CFL season
DurationJune 4 – October 24, 2026
113th Grey Cup
DateNovember 15, 2026
VenueMcMahon Stadium, Calgary
CFL seasons
Locations of the active CFL teams West East

The 2026 CFL season is scheduled to be the 72nd season of modern professional Canadian football. Officially, it would be the 68th season of the Canadian Football League. Calgary is scheduled to host the 113th Grey Cup on November 15, 2026.[1] The regular season will start on June 4 and end on October 24.[2][3]

CFL news in 2026

Salary cap

According to the new collective bargaining agreement, the 2026 salary cap was scheduled to be at least $6,162,365, largely as a result of the revenue sharing increase from 2025.[4][2][5][6] Including non-football related services of $110,000, the total salary expenditure cap was to be at or above $6,272,365.[4] This will be the third season that players will receive revenue sharing, which will be set at 27% this season.[2] On January 23, the CFL and CFLPA announced the cap will be $6,280,514 ($139,567 per active roster spot). Under the revenue share formula in the collective agreement, the CFLPA elected to allocate $50,000 per club preseason veteran bonus payment and $218,149 increase in each clubs salary cap. The minimum player salary was set at $70,000, which remains unchanged since 2023.[2][5]

Rule changes

On September 22, 2025, league commissioner Stewart Johnston announced that a series of significant rule changes would come into effect for the 2026 season.[7]

  • Modified rouge: A single will no longer be awarded if it is kicked past the dead line or through the side of the endzone. A single can only be scored if a punt, field goal, or kickoff settles in the end zone, and the returner fails to take it out or takes a knee in the end zone.
  • 35-second play clock: Teams will have 35 seconds to begin the next play after the previous play is whistled dead. Previously, following a play, the referees placed the ball and a 20-second play clock was initiated by an official, leading to inconsistencies based on the officiating team.
  • Opposite-field team benches: To facilitate the play clock change, all teams will be required to have their bench areas on opposite sidelines of the field, reducing the distance required for substitutions. In the 2025 season, the BC Lions and all East Division teams had team benches side-by-side on one side of the field.

Relocated games

The home stadiums of the BC Lions and Toronto Argonauts are scheduled to host 2026 FIFA World Cup games from June 12, 2026, to July 7, 2026, resulting in those stadiums being unavailable for most of June and July.[8]

On August 15, 2025, it was announced that the Argonauts would play one home game in each of Hamilton Stadium against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Mosaic Stadium against the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Princess Auto Stadium against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers while the World Cup is being played.[8] These games are scheduled to be played in the first half of the season.[8] The team's remaining six home games are scheduled toward the second half of the season.[9] The Argonauts will also play their preseason game in Guelph at Alumni Stadium for the fifth season in a row.[10]

With the Roughriders hosting ten regular season home games, the team announced on August 15, 2025, that they would play this season's home pre-season game in Saskatoon at Griffiths Stadium.[11]

On September 26, 2025, the Lions announced that they would play their first two regular season home games in Kelowna at the Apple Bowl with an expanded capacity of 17,500 seats.[12] The Lions also announced that their pre-season game would be played in Langford at Starlight Stadium for the second consecutive season.[12]

Coaching changes

Team 2025 HC 2026 HC Comments
Ottawa Redblacks Bob Dyce Ryan Dinwiddie Bob Dyce served as head coach of the Redblacks since being named interim head coach on October 1, 2022.[13] While he led the team to the playoffs in 2024, the team disappointed the next season with a 4–14 record and Dyce was fired at the end of the season.[14] He finished his tenure with Ottawa with an 18–39–1 record.[14] After receiving permission to speak with Toronto Argonauts head coach, Ryan Dinwiddie, he was named both head coach and general manager of the Redblacks on November 5, 2025.[15]
Toronto Argonauts Ryan Dinwiddie Mike Miller Dinwiddie was the head coach of the Argonauts from 2021 to 2025 where he had a 51–35 record and led the franchise to two Grey Cup victories.[15] After a difficult 2025 season where the team had a 5–13 record, he was approached by the Ottawa Redblacks and became their head coach and general manager.[15] The team's quarterbacks coach, Mike Miller, was named as his replacement on December 2, 2025.[16]

Player movement

Free agency

The 2026 free agency period will officially begin on Tuesday, February 10, 2026, at 12:00 p.m. ET.[17] Pending free agents and teams are able to negotiate offers for one week starting Sunday, February 1, 2026, and ending Sunday, February 8, 2026.[18] All formal offers to a player during this time are sent to both the league and the players union and cannot be rescinded.[18][19]

Broadcasting

In Canada, this is the final year of the league's exclusive contract with TSN (in English) and RDS (in French).[20][21] Games will be broadcast in the United States by CBS Sports Network with a deal also set to expire after this season.[22] Johnston stated in January 2026 that the league was seeking to finalize an extension with TSN prior to the start of the 2026 season, and that the league refused to consider any competitors' offers.[23]

Outside of North America, the league's streaming platform, CFL+, will stream all regular season games for free (along with games not carried by CBS Sports Network in the United States).[24] Most pre-season games will be streamed worldwide for free on CFL+.[24] Radio broadcast rights belong to team's local stations and SiriusXM.[24]

References

  1. ^ "Saddle Up For 113th Grey Cup In Calgary". Canadian Football League. November 8, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d "Details of the CFL's new CBA: salary cap increases, ratio changes, and guaranteed contracts". 3DownNation. May 26, 2022.
  3. ^ "CFL releases 2026 schedule with kickoff set for June 4". TSN. December 9, 2025. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  4. ^ a b "Collective bargaining agreement" (PDF). cfldb.ca. Retrieved October 27, 2024.
  5. ^ a b "CFL commissioner Ambrosie feels new deal provides benefits for both CFL and players". The Globe and Mail. May 28, 2022.
  6. ^ "2025 Salary cap increase driven by 2024 league revenue growth". Canadian Football League. February 5, 2025.
  7. ^ "Tradition Meets Innovation: CFL announces major changes to the game". Canadian Football League. September 22, 2025.
  8. ^ a b c "Argos, Lions to play select home games away from BMO Field, BC Place Stadium in 2026". Canadian Football League. August 15, 2025.
  9. ^ "Toronto Argonauts to play three extra away games during 2026 FIFA World Cup". 3DownNation. August 15, 2025.
  10. ^ "Argos Announce 2026 Schedule". Toronto Argonauts. December 9, 2025.
  11. ^ "Roughriders To Play 2026 Pre-season Game In Saskatoon". Saskatchewan Roughriders. August 15, 2025.
  12. ^ a b "Lions to play Kelowna home games for start of 2026 regular season". Canadian Football League. September 26, 2025.
  13. ^ "Redblacks part ways with head coach Paul LaPolice". Ottawa Redblacks. October 1, 2022.
  14. ^ a b "Redblacks relieve Bob Dyce of head coaching duties". Ottawa Redblacks. October 25, 2025.
  15. ^ a b c "Ryan Dinwiddie named head coach and general manager of the Ottawa Redblacks". Canadian Football League. November 5, 2025.
  16. ^ "Toronto Argonauts Appoint Mike Miller as Team's New Head Coach". Toronto Argonauts. December 2, 2025.
  17. ^ "Official 2026 Free Agent Tracker". Canadian Football League. November 28, 2025.
  18. ^ a b "Negotiating window a new feature of 2020 free agency". Canadian Football League. January 27, 2020.
  19. ^ Dunk, Justin (January 27, 2020). "Details for the CFL's new negotiating window prior to free agency". 3DownNation.
  20. ^ "Johnston officially begins tenure as commissioner of the CFL". TSN. April 24, 2025.
  21. ^ "CFL and TSN extend rights on long-term deal". The Province. September 23, 2025.
  22. ^ "CFL unveils full 2025 American TV broadcast schedule on CBS Sports Network". 3DownNation. May 22, 2025.
  23. ^ Hodge, John (January 14, 2026). "CFL sets start of 2026 season as self-imposed deadline for new broadcast deal". 3DownNation. Retrieved January 17, 2026.
  24. ^ a b c "Where to Watch: 2025 CFL Broadcast Information". CFL.ca. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_CFL_season