OttawaSome are welcoming the new rules, while others warn they threaten the unique elements that make Canadian football special.Some see the new rules as innovative, while others say they risk turning the Canadian league into the NFLCBC News · Posted: Sep 25, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours agoCFL Commissioner Stewart Johnston unveiled the changes Monday as part of the league’s two-part plan to improve its game and make it more entertaining for fans. (John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images via Reuters)Changes being introduced by the CFL are drawing mixed reaction from football fans, players and coaches in Ottawa, with some welcoming the new rules and others warning they threaten the unique elements that make the Canadian game special.CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston unveiled the changes Monday as part of the league’s two-part plan to improve the game and make it more entertaining for fans.Starting next season, teams will no longer be able to win games with a “rouge” — a single point gained off a kick that clears the end zone. More changes will come in 2027 when the field will be shortened from 110 yards to 100, and the end zones will be reduced from 20 yards to 15. The goalposts will also move from the goal line to the back of the reconfigured end zone.Johnston said the changes will lead to higher scores and a better fan experience.”This is going to create more touchdowns, more touchdowns creates more highlights and highlights drive through all forms of media,” he said during a news conference. “And that does drive fandom.”Corey Grant, head coach for the Carleton Ravens football team and a former player in the CFL, said he’s open to innovation and wants to see how the changes will affect the game. (Michel Aspirot/CBC)Players appear divided on the changes, however: B.C. Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke called them “garbage,” while Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell embraced the new rules as a way of “modernizing the game.”‘Too much like the NFL’Anastasio Deller, a Grade 12 student at St. Mathew High School in Orléans and quarterback for the St. Matthew Tigers, worried the game could lose its unique Canadian character once the new rules are in place. “Up here in Canada, we’re known for our CFL football. We’re known to have these crazier plays, these bigger fields, bigger balls, everything like that, so I feel like it’s kind of taken away our Canadian pride from the game,” he said.”It’s still football, but I think it’s a little bit too much like the NFL now.”Deller’s teammate Tristian Plante, a middle linebacker, said he’s a fan of the rouge and doesn’t understand the point of getting rid of it, but he welcomes some of the changes.”Honestly, I like a bit of change,” he said. “[It] makes it a bit harder, a little more of a challenge for everyone.”Corey Grant, head coach of the Carleton Ravens football team and a former CFL player, called the changes “shocking” because the current rules have been around for so long, but also said he’s open to innovation.”The rules have been the rules and it’s so uniquely Canadian, but when you see the changes you see, OK we’re trying to get innovative and move with the times and change things up,” he said.On Monday afternoon, U Sports, the national governing body for university athletics in Canada, issued a statement saying it will begin engaging with its members to determine the ramifications of the CFL changes.”We’re not worried about what they’re doing in the pros, but we’re worried about what can make our game better and making sure we’re getting fans out there and are getting our support here,” Grant said.CBC News contacted the Ottawa Redblacks for comment but the team said no players were available.With files from David Fraser
CFL changes prompt mixed reaction among players, coaches in Ottawa
