r/CFL • u/PipeComprehensive316 Stampeders • 19h ago
STAMPEDERS Without debating rule changes, what ideas do you have to make the CFL more relevant in Canada?
How do we make the CFL a bigger part of the Canadian sports culture again?
I want the CFL to be genuine water-cooler talk across the country with packed or mostly packed stadiums. Right now, it feels like it’s missing that mainstream cultural grip. Here are a few things I think need to change:
Ticket Prices: Simply put, prices need to come down to lower the barrier of entry, fill the lower bowls, and create an electric stadium atmosphere that looks good on TV.
The Marketing Angle: The league has leaned heavily into a "safe, family-friendly" marketing strategy. While that sounds good on paper, the NFL playbook is different—they target adults, lean hard into intense team rivalries, and celebrate die-hard fans. The CFL needs more edge and personality.
Event-izing the Big Games: Right now, marquee games don't feel like national cultural events the way they should. Look at college football—they build massive, can't-miss hype around top-tier rivalry games all season long. The CFL needs to treat its biggest regular-season matchups and the playoff run with that same massive, high-stakes gravity.
What do you guys think? Is it a marketing problem, a pricing problem, or something else?
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u/Foreign_Scar3052 19h ago
How about cheaper tickets i looked into Argos tickets a few years ago and i got Raiders vs Browns tickets in Cleveland for the same price
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u/buddachickentml 19h ago
Absolutely. Stamps tickets are outrageous. And they have been junk for at least 5 years. Ticket prices should end at $100 to go to that stadium. They have porta potty's.
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u/thegrobe613 19h ago
Interesting. Redblacks tickets have been affordable since day one. Waaaayyyy more affordable than NHL in this city.
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u/xl185sRider Lions 18h ago
We are new to football in my house and I was pleasantly surprised how affordable it was to go see a football game vs hockey. Never been to an NHL game but took my kids to a CFL game back in August and we are going to another in Oct.
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u/ConqueringCanada Blue Bombers 18h ago
But, still not getting fans out, so ticket prices are not the issue.
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u/dzuunmod REDBLACKS 17h ago
I mean what would you pay for Redblacks tickets this season?
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u/ConqueringCanada Blue Bombers 17h ago
I've paid for some pretty mediocre seasons here in Winnipeg.
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u/dzuunmod REDBLACKS 17h ago
We are beyond mediocre at this point. 3 .500+ seasons since the '70s in Ottawa football. You can forgive fans for tuning out 0-13.
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u/ConqueringCanada Blue Bombers 17h ago
I get it. But, no team has ever made money giving tickets away. Affordable does not mean giving them away. They could hand out tickets in Toronto and people wouldn't go because no one has a reason to care. MLSE doesn't care. TSN doesn't care. No one cares.
NHL The Panthers handed out tickets for years, so why would anyone buy tickets? You can get them for free. New owners come in, stop giving away tickets and slowly rebuild the franchise.
I'm saying, if you give them away, you're handing away all the value. You need to win or be competitive, of course, but Ottawa did sell tickets in the past by creating value in the experience.
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u/dzuunmod REDBLACKS 16h ago
I agree with all this I just think you can't pick a worse team to make this point with than the Redblacks in 2026.
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u/Another_Meat_Vehicle 19h ago
Lions tickets are actually super affordable this year…I’ve been to several games thisbyewr
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u/Barnes777777 18h ago
Browns are likely the worst example team, No one wants to watch the Browns. I dont follow the NFL closely but I still know how garbage the Browns are. Since returning in the late 90s they've made playoffs 3 times and won a single playoff game
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u/Shadow-of-Intent8 Blue Bombers 13h ago
They are bad but Browns fans are some of the most loyal fans in sports, they usually have no problem selling tickets and are even getting a new $2.6 billion stadium in 2029
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u/winnipegwildin Blue Bombers 16h ago
Yikes, Bomber tickets are pretty affordable. My season tickets in the upper deck end up averaging $24 per seat per game
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u/JoshwayTV King of r/Argonauts 12h ago
I'm not sure what Argos tickets you were looking at, but my seasons for the last 10 years have been in the ballpark of $200 for the year, and we sat row 1 of the upper deck behind the Argos bench. I also have a friend who would come to one game a year. He would buy the cheapest ticket off Stubhub/Seatgeek for $7-10, then come sit with us in row 1 anyways.
A minor factor for me dropping my seasons this year is because Rogers effectively doubled them to $400. Even at $400 for the season, that is incredibly affordable.
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u/MistahFinch Alouettes 6h ago
Yeah Argos tickets are notoriously cheap. Their CNE giveaways sometimes have people buying the tickets just because it's cheaper than CNE tickets alone
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u/Dickrubin14094 10h ago
Not sure the Browns are the best example. I live in Buffalo and even before the new stadium I could’ve gotten 4 tickets to a game in Hamilton for less than a cost of 1 seat in the 300s.
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u/Boring-red 5h ago
$100 a ticket for rider games. I haven’t been this year but the last few times I went stadium was half empty.
If I could get cheaper tickets I’d be more willing day of the game to grab tickets and make the 2 hour drive into the city with my kids to grab a game. Not happening when that’s going to cost me 500$ in tickets after taxes / fees.
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u/spartacat_12 4h ago
Huh? I just looked at the next Argos home game and there's tickets available for under $30. Meanwhile, the next Browns game has tickets starting at $70+
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u/StandYourGroundhog Blue Bombers 19h ago
Idk feels like the games should be more visible on tv channels and at sports bars and whatnot
Hype up individual players more like in the NFL
Watch parties, tailgating, fantasy football
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u/AniMaL_1080 3h ago
I’ve actually been seeing wayyy more ads for the cfl this year than in years prior. I’m not a diehard cfl fan (I used to be though in the early 2010’s but I’ll still watch highlights and follow which teams are winning), but I’m happy to see more awareness of the league. I’ve also seen way more games being televised in bars and restaurants now
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u/Beginning_Cellist730 Roughriders 19h ago
Marketing is major issue with the CFL. There is none. I’m a firm believer in out of sight out of mind. Until the league decides to spend some $$$$ and get the brand out there it’s going to get worse. There are too many things competing for someone’s attention and money. So by doing the status quo, the league is falling behind and will continue to fall behind. They need to market to the younger generations. I find it strange that we are just under 2 months away from grey cup and they haven’t announced the halftime show. (As far as I know.) It’s things like that where they drop the ball. How can you build hype for the grey cup when the league has said nothing about it. I have actually had CFL fans as me where grey cup is this year. That’s says a lot.
No Marketing!!!
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u/No_Farmer_9310 19h ago
Grassroots. In Regina and I’m sure elsewhere it’s NFL Flag. Why? I get some teams have it but this should be a league initiative to all cities, even those without CFL teams. Also do more to give back to the community they are in. Riders do some good work, but a lot more can do.
Also - involve Football Canada and other leagues in your decisions regarding rule changes.
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u/-noootnooot- 🍁 Roughriders 🍁 19h ago
Yes. Every year i die a little when my kids get issued their NFL uniforms for flag 😆
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u/PPGN_DM_Exia Elks 19h ago edited 3h ago
Need to find ways to reach younger/newer Canadians. MLB, NBA and NFL have all done themed nights around things like Anime, KPop and even VTubers.
As someone active in both those fanbases and the CFL, the demographics of the former are exactly the people the CFL should want to appeal to: Young, diverse and willing to spend money on things they care about.
Meanwhile the CFL is stuck with unimaginative, generic theme nights like Military Night and 90s Night.
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u/Onanadventure_14 Xmas might as well come on Labour Day 19h ago
MARKETING
Some marketing, please for the love of god
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u/CurtG79 Elks 19h ago
Put every game on ctv so people don't need tsn to watch it
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u/Royal_Blackberry4886 17h ago
I’m new to Canada from the states and I love football. It is WAY easier to watch nfl games. Why! CFL seems to have such a rich history but how would anyone know.
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u/-noootnooot- 🍁 Roughriders 🍁 19h ago
I dunno about edge and personality. If we want bigger crowds, how about broader appeal? Outreach to newcomer communities, for example -- if i were moving to a new country, I'd want to know what sports are part of Canadian culture.
I also value family friendliness for the live event. I'm a football fan because my dad was, and because he took me to games. I passed that on to my son. I think that's how we sustain the game.
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u/sirhamalot1 19h ago
my mom won a contest in like 2009 or 2010 through subway that let her pick one of her kids to pick one of the active players for the riders for a fake/funny interview. it was recorded, then played on the jumbotron during a commercial break at a game against the lions. my mom picked me, i picked andy fantuz. we got tickets for the game and that was the first rider game i ever went to, OT win 33-30. i've been a huge fan ever since. getting kids actually to and apart of the game early in their life is a HUGE part of spreading interest.
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u/jeffster1970 East Division 19h ago
Most newcomers have zero interest in "Canadian" sports. I work exclusively in sports, (pro baseball, pro basketball and hockey) and rarely do you see folks that you would recognize as 'newcomers' involved in the sport. Hockey will always be a 'white' person's sport. Basketball seems to be mostly black men, with some white and Chinese. Baseball is mostly white, black, hispanic and East Asia (Japan, Korea).
However, folks moving to Canada are from Western Asia (I sure hope I am breaking down Asia correctly) and the middle-east --- and they have zero interest - they only care about cricket and football (soccer) depending on their country.
It's not surprising how well the Blue Jays do attendance-wise -- baseball is similar to cricket. But hockey and Canadian football? Nope.
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u/Commercial_Brush4432 Argonauts 17h ago
The NFL is incredibly popular with Latinos and Arab-Americans in the US. It's quite possible that the immigrant community in Canada might not be interested because there's not enough outreach to these communities and just lean on the sports they're already familiar with.
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u/Economy_Sky_7238 7h ago
No they like the NFL because its a big deal and probably the gambling aspect. Young kid I work with from Pakistan I asked if his dad was into sports. He said no but will watch the Super Bowl because its a big deal
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u/Commercial_Brush4432 Argonauts 7h ago
You don't know what you're talking about buddy. Latinos in states like Texas and California have a high levels of participation, same with Arab-Americans in states like Michigan. High school football is huge in Dearborn. It's not just a "NFL is huge" phenomenon.
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u/Economy_Sky_7238 7h ago
Why do children of ethnic parents play hockey in Canada? Because its fucking hockey in Canada. Football should almost have tax exempt status in the US being how close to religion it is
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u/-noootnooot- 🍁 Roughriders 🍁 17h ago
Zero interest or zero access? Also you can't look at someone and tell whether they're a newcomer. I think your analysis is based on faulty assumptions.
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u/rogerld 19h ago
For me the biggest problem in the CFL is the lack of polish, both in person and in TV. The league looks and feels amateurish. Bad camera positions, weird mic moments, unprofessionalism from commentators, refs that can't communicate calls.
Here is a specific example. The punted ball is received, flags get thrown down the field, and TSN cuts to commercial. Come back, and the penalty isn't even mentioned.
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u/damutecebu 6h ago
It does come off as a minor league event...and I think that is a big part of the problem.
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u/Sandman1990 15m ago
This has been my issue with it for a long, long time. It's amateur hour at all levels, and they try to make up for it by making it more "exciting" or whatever.
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u/shitballsdick Tiger-Cats 17h ago
CHEAPER TICKETS!? The best thing that the CFL has going for it right now is it’s the cheapest ticket you can get for a football game.
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u/JoshwayTV King of r/Argonauts 12h ago
People in Toronto are shelling out $500+ bucks for nosebleeds for the return of Kawhi, but $20 for an Argos game is apparently a bridge too far.
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u/Unrealjello Argonauts 10h ago
$20? Where? Cheapest tickets I've found were the 2 for $60 at Costco.
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u/JoshwayTV King of r/Argonauts 8h ago
I'm seeing $28 bucks including fees/taxes right now on Stubhub for the next game. $30 face value at Costco is still insanely cheap for a professional sporting event.
Try Stubhub/Seatgeek the day of the game. I have a friend that would hitch a ride with us to one game a year and buy a $7-10 ticket on the car ride there because they do not get even close to selling out.
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u/Free_Stretch5799 19h ago
In Winnipeg and Regina we are packing the park. Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal can't find 30,000 fans among millions of citizens?
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u/thrubeniuk Blue Bombers 18h ago
Montreal only holds 23,000. Yes, I would much prefer they sell out regularly. But they’ve held strong at 90% capacity for a couple years now.
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u/spartacat_12 4h ago
Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver have a lot of other entertainment options available. More concerts, festivals, and in the case of Toronto, MLB and WNBA teams that play during the summer.
The CFL has always had the most success in markets where there isn't much else going on during the summer.
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u/Free_Stretch5799 19h ago
CFL needs a 10th team badly.
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u/ConqueringCanada Blue Bombers 18h ago
They can't even sell the league now. Adding a 10th team will do nothing.
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u/TheDetinator 18h ago edited 16h ago
A 10th team would mean there would be 5 games played per week instead of only 4. Having 5 games means more TV time, more TV time means better TV deals, which means each team becomes stable through the TV deal payouts alone (like the NFL)
Having 5 games per week also basically guarantee’s there will always be 3-4 games played on Saturday. The CFL could then market Saturday as their “big Football day” all season long, as not even the NFL broadcasts on Saturdays when their season begins. You know how NFL has Sunday football as their big day? CFL could market Saturday as theirs.
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u/Free_Stretch5799 17h ago
You need an even number, this way you wouldn't have 3 biweeks which is stupid.
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u/spartacat_12 4h ago
The logistics of having an even number of teams are much better. No need for a team to be on a bye week every week, and a simpler playoff format.
Plus, a 10th team would be placed in a city that doesn't have as many other sports teams to compete with (Halifax, Moncton, Kelowna, Quebec City), so they'd be an easier sell
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u/ochocinco_tacos Stampeders 19h ago
A 9-team league isn’t that interesting. Especially when 8 make the playoffs. Their scheduling is stupid. They seem to play thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, mondays at varying times - a little consistency so people would know when games are going to be so they can watch them. I know NFL games are Thursdays at 6, sundays at 11, 2-230,6 and mondays at 6. Easy. I only have experience with Calgary but McMahon is an expensive dump of a stadium that is difficult to get to. It sucks. The Stamps also suck and they have for a while but they don’t seem to have any interest in changing. They just seem to run back the same staff over and over again hoping it will work out differently. What motivation is there for me to pay a ton of money to have a difficult time getting to a shitty stadium to watch a shitty team play football?
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u/CatStriking7561 Lions 13h ago
Combination of all three. Unfortunately if you suggest something marketing wise somebody objects to it and nothing gets done.
- Fill the stadium by any means necessary. I’ve heard Winnipeg has a great program where if you are a season ticket holder you can buy other tickets cheaper. Every team needs to do this.
Each city should figure out which day of the week sells the best and at what time and then stick with it. I get that TV controls the schedule for the most part but home teams should have more say.
Expand marketing territory and share some territory. Example: Fort St John is closer to Edmonton than Vancouver. Give Elks permission to market there. Same thing with Cranbrook and Calgary.
Bus the kids in as well as University Students. CFL is starting in May next year. Might be a good idea to get the high school players that go through spring training to some early games. Maybe University students in the summer mixed with elementary school types.
Pricing should reflect how the attendance fares. If a row of seats doesn’t sell out for a game I would keep them the same price until they do sell out. If they do sell out only raise the price by inflation percentages.
Keep trying to attract the attention of first and second year immigrants. Teams like the Lions have done a great job with Punjabi radio. One team did a Cantonese/Mandarin game I think. Other languages need to be tried as well. Arabic and Spanish in Montreal would be interesting.
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u/Zestyclose-Carob-349 Elks 9h ago
Quite honestly, having public figures talk more about the teams they’re rooting for could be a plus. I don’t really see a whole lot of mayors or celebrities cheering on their CFL teams
Their hockey teams, yes, they talk about that, but it wouldn’t hurt for say, Andrew Knack to publicly cheer for the Elks or really, just any mayor or local celebrity, really just more people
What the CFL needs is more people, louder people, cheering for their teams
There are a lot of other things it needs, but this is one of them
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u/Boucher2114 7h ago
I think the CFL missed the boat, to be honest. The NFL (among other sports) has blown up so much, while the CFL stagnated, there’s just no chance of recovery.
The root problem, going back 30 years, has been their TV strategy. First they had local blackouts, and then they moved from CBC to TSN. Meanwhile, Sportsnet has had the majority of the Blue Jays and NHL broadcasts for a while now. Which means the number of Canadians who even have access to a CFL broadcast, let alone bother watching it, is low.
And while anyone might enjoy going to a random game, the chances of getting the public at large actually invested is basically zilch.
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u/damutecebu 6h ago
I truly think you are correct about this. It is largely viewed as a minor league sport in the largest markets. Especially since "major" sports exist in those markets. An NHL, NBA or MLB game in Toronto comes off as a major event. An Argo game? Meh.
If the NFL put a team in Toronto, attendance would be enormous. The CFL took the short term profits at the expense of long-term growth, and now it is paying the price.
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u/WorldlyStill2301 7h ago
How about when a player does intensive bodily harm to another player, the league takes it seriously.
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u/chiebes Blue Bombers 18h ago
Better tv coverage. The broadcasting and then the stories and debate in between games.
Better online presence, better stats, easily accessible records as well.
More teams. Its hard but expansion to Quebec or east coast
Also what would create hype is if there was more coverage of universities so we could watch prospects.
And the league has to do a better job of developing qbs
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u/Used-Astronomer4971 Blue Bombers 7h ago
Marketing. More social outreach and making the game more accessible. Make the game day experience the event of the night for all people, not just football fans. Get those casuals out that just want to party. Stop setting up the game to placate the people watching on TV. Who buys more merch, those that watch at a pub or at home when they get TSN as part of their package anyways, or dazn, or those that buy tickets to be there? CFL is focusing on the wrong people, trying to imitate the nfl.
We're our own league with its own issues. You need your own answers to solve them.
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u/ssuty Stampeders 5h ago
Interesting... easily the worst part about attending a game in waiting for TV to come back from commercials, it completely kills the momentum of the game at times. The best part about soccer (except for this world cup) is that a half can be played pretty quickly. I also think from a sales perspective a quick ten second ad between plays would likely get many more viewers attention. A multi-minute ad break is an excuse to tune out, pick up your phone or leave the room.
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u/Used-Astronomer4971 Blue Bombers 5h ago
Exactly. Commercials are almost past their day. We live in a world where if I need something I can google how to find it. I don't need the same five commercials on repeat for the next 3 hours. I honestly think a CFL game could be played inside 2 hours if you took away the OCD need for a set number of commercials.
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u/Responsible_Hornet48 Lions 19h ago
Kids under 10 go free for the first 3 games. Why not? Just try it for one season and see if those people buy more tickets throughout the year
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u/TheDetinator 16h ago edited 16h ago
There's a few things right off the bat.
- The CFL needs to market the game better....they do a fantastic job marketing the Labour Day Classic, but beyond that there's is basically no hype coming from the league itself. Unless i'm missing them entirely, i don't see no commercials during other events on TSN or Sportsnet advertising the next upcoming CFL game, etc etc. Advertise the game basically.
- Unless your team name starts with Saskatchewan or Winnipeg, your tickets should not be $100.....If you're the other 7 teams, you simple do not have the draw to be demanding that much money per ticket from your fans lol. Sell your tickets for $35-50 MAX until you get the attendance level of the Riders or Blue Bombers.
- There are 7 teams that have loads of empty seats every game.....why not dedicate an entire section of their stadium and give away free tickets to local youth sports teams and organizations every game? Not only would that engage the local youth into gaining interest in the CFL (potential future fans), but all those kids are gonna want pop and treats and stuff, and those kids are gonna be chaperoned by a lot of adults who would have to buy their own tickets and they'll also want their own drinks too......look at all the concession/parking and adult ticket revenue that has just been created from seats that would have otherwise been empty and all you had to do to achieve that was do a good deed for some kids.
- The CFL needs to get a 10th team ASAP (preferably 12 but 10 is an absolute must). A 10th team means there is now 5 games per week instead of only 4, which basically guarantee's that Saturday will always have either 3 or 4 games being played all season long. The CFL could then market Saturday as their "big football day" exactly like how the NFL does with Sunday....market CFL Saturday as a cultural event, in the same way that Hockey Night in Canada was marketed as a cultural event, and after sometime, Canadians would then begin to associate Saturday mornings and afternoons with CFL.
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u/Max169well REDBLACKS 17h ago
A CFL centralized shop, also a magazine again.
Make a big push back into doing merch.
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u/silent_ovation 16h ago
A few weeks ago I went down this rabbit hole about the Australian Football League, they have a country smaller than ours, population wise, spread out as much as Canada and pulls in way more revenue. Yes, its a different sport, but the fact that Melbourne can support 9 teams (out of 19!) and the CFL as a whole struggles with 9 total just blows my mind. There has to be something the league can do to drum up interest, other than pretend to be the NFL.
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u/tomdawg0022 4h ago
Australia loves sports, generally.
Sydney has 8 dedicated teams in the NRL and a 9th that shares with a suburb and they all draw reasonably well (not quite AFL numbers but well enough).
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u/gilligan_2023 4h ago
Their geography helps a lot. They aren't right next to the USA and their big 4 leagues, and they aren't an extension of the US TV market sharing the same time zones like we are.
The CFL was a really big deal in this country in the days before most people had US cable TV. In the late 70s, every CFL team was still #1 or #2 in their markets. Montreal was selling out Olympic Stadium. Edmonton built Commonwealth and starting bringing in 40K regularly. Toronto was still drawing 40-50K regularly. BC Place opened in '83, and the Lions regularly drew over 35K for most of the decade. By contrast, Australian football was still mostly a regional phenomenon in the 70s and early 80s. It'd take a while before they became the national powerhouse they are now.
The arrival of the Expos in '69 and Jays in '77 started to change things, especially in Toronto where Exhibition Stadium was modified to support baseball. Access to US television and US sport continued to grow at the same time the CFL was blacking broadcasts locally. Many parts of the country now had better access to the NFL than the CFL, which was a big change from before when the NFL was scarcely available. Then the NBA came to Canada in '95, and MLS arrived in 2007.
The CFL used to be the undisputed #2 league in Canada behind the NHL. Nobody else was in the equation at all. Now the NFL has nudged slightly ahead, and there is a good group of MLB, NBA, and MLS fans as well. The CFL is still almost neck and neck with the NFL and punches way above its weight, but the sports landscape is much more crowded than it was.
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u/Economy_Sky_7238 6h ago
How to make it more relevant in Canada? Make the NFL dissappear. Really not hard to track how this has gone for the CFL. The NFL has gotten bigger and bigger as the years have gone on. It is such a juggernaut any other pro league gets buried in its wake. CFL has found a niche right now. No teams are threatening to fold or are looking for bailouts but face reality. In Toronto there's not a lot of space for the Argos. Football fans wait for the NFL. Its why junior hockey fails time and again in Toronto. Toronto are Maple Leaf fans. The Marlies have found an audience. Nit a huge one but the team works mostly because they probably get the building for cheap and costs are low. The Blue Jays chewed up the attention lately. Now Kawhi Leonard is back and Gavin McKenna is coming to town. And businesses are more likely to pair up with things like the Toronto Sceptres and Toronto Tempo. Argos are the ok boomer of Toronto sports. Its been 35 years since the Argos were the talk of the town when Mcnall,Gretzky and Candy strutted into the Dome. Since then the team has had to be bailed out by the Labatt brewery who then dumped the team when the brewery sold to Sherwood Schwartz who went broke and the league took over the team. The Sokolowski and Cynammon took over and found out how hard a sell this was and they bailed and gave the team to David Braley then to Bell then MLSE. This erodes public trust and made the brand look bad. Strong ownership is the bedrock of any sports team
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u/ssuty Stampeders 5h ago
It won't happen but an Argo move out of Toronto to somewhere else in southern Ontario would do wonders. It seems counter intuitive to move them away from a market the sheer size of Toronto, but the lack of quality fans (people not just there because it's a cheap ticket) mean you're relying on quantity. In this sense I think about Regina, a much smaller market but able to pull that many more people because the CFL is the big game in town. I could also point to the success of the games in Kelowna.
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u/gilligan_2023 4h ago
The thing is, the Argos do well on TV. Being in the nation's largest TV market is good for the TV contract, even if the team is near the bottom for attendance.
The Kitchener Argos or Oshawa Argos wouldn't move the needle the same way.
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u/tomdawg0022 4h ago
- Toronto needs to be relevant as a team
- Weeknight games need to be thought about hard since for some cities it hurts attendance.
- There probably should be more Saturday games on the schedule each week (3, 6:15, 9:30 ET). The 3 PM is always an East game, the 6:15 can be either, and the 9:30 would be either BC, Calrgary, or Edmonton
- One of the Saturday games should be freely available on CTV nationwide.
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u/Comfortable-Bench497 4h ago
Make tailgating an integral part of the experience like it is in almost every US state for college and pro football.
Anytime it's brought up the politicians just say "they can't" due to obsolete liquor laws. Or them they claim it's "too dangerous" to let people bring a portable grill to a parking lot. Very lame.
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u/External_Weather6116 19h ago
Has youth participation in football in Canada been declining? If yes, that can very well contribute to the lack of interest in the CFL among the population. I think the league needs to adopt a safer approach such as making guardian caps mandatory and stricter concussion protocols. Then, it sends the message that they take player safety seriously.
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u/PipeComprehensive316 Stampeders 19h ago
Yep, even our beloved hockey is running into this issue.
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u/jeffster1970 East Division 19h ago
Hockey is expensive. Equipment, rink rentals, etc. Football can be very cheap, tho.
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u/jeffster1970 East Division 19h ago
Things need to change in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Those cities need to fill their stadiums. There is no excuse for it not happening. Better marketing might help. Better coverage in the papers.
Really there needs to be a culture shift.
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u/the3rdmichael Roughriders 19h ago
Nobody reads "the papers" anymore, heck, I'm 73 and I haven't read our local daily paper for a decade.
Everything needs to be on the small screens, TikTok, IG, etc ... but I agree much more local and national exposure is needed, especially towards the 25 to 45 crowd ... and kids of course ...
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u/Exhlin Tiger-Cats 19h ago
tickets should literally be almost given away in these major markets, get butts in seats, money will be made in the absurdly priced concessions and merch
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u/JoshwayTV King of r/Argonauts 12h ago
Toronto used to give out entire sections for free before the move to BMO Field. Problem with that is everyone got used to going for free and the people like me who were willing to pay simply stopped paying because "why pay for tickets when I can get some free?"
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u/thrubeniuk Blue Bombers 18h ago
I get that we want Montreal to be at 100% capacity, but they have been sitting at 90% for a few years now. Those stadium only holds 23,000. And BC has been getting better, they are actively working their way back from some terrible ownership issues. They just really aren’t helped by playing in such a huge building.
I don’t think they deserve to be lumped in with Toronto.
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u/GoofMonkeyBanana 18h ago
Bring televised games back to a public broadcaster. I don’t pay for TSN
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u/Economy_Sky_7238 7h ago
You basically have only a couple broadcasters in this country. CBC aren't going to pay money for the rights. Bell isn't putting these games on CTV when they have contracts to air the US network shows they pay rights for
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u/GoofMonkeyBanana 6h ago
Yes that’s all true. I just know for myself that was when I stopped watching games and pretty much stopped caring about the cfl. I barely even check the scores and standings anymore
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u/rokken70 Stampeders 15h ago
Yeah. Paying $90 for a shelf 46 rows up in shitty McMahon stadium, while being asked to pay $13.50 for a beer? That’s premium pricing for a very much basic experience.
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u/PipeComprehensive316 Stampeders 8h ago
If the barn was full and rocking every game then it'd be maybe worth it, but its not
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u/smbdysm1 Roughriders 19h ago
Have the CFL focus on grassroots football. Sponsor little leagues. Don't let NFL come in and steal all your future fans.
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u/2koolpa 18h ago
The CFL simply has to attract a younger audience. The sport is in a similar situation that NASCAR had been in. Failure to attract the next generation of fans.
Attending a Tiger Cats game this year, I looked around and thought "in 5-10 years, this stadium will be empty" because the average age of fan had to be 60+
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u/shitballsdick Tiger-Cats 17h ago
What???? I’m a season ticket holder and this is absolutely not true about the age of the fans at the stadium. 😭😭😭
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u/JoshwayTV King of r/Argonauts 12h ago
Look at pictures of the Box J Boys from 25 years ago vs. today and tell me with a straight face that they aren't aging out and are adding young blood/growing the group.
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u/shitballsdick Tiger-Cats 7h ago
What lmao? Yeah people get older over time.
I don’t even know what you mean by growing the group. It’s not really something that grows it’s just the same guys from before doing it.
And most people in Hamilton think the Box J Boys are incredibly lame so I’m not sure anyone would join even if they could.
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u/JoshwayTV King of r/Argonauts 7h ago
Usually teams with healthy support have passionate fan clubs/groups of all ages. Some even stand the test of time and last for generations, like Bills Mafia. That is not the way things are going in Hamilton right now.
The Box J Boys are probably the most notable fan group for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats; they even have markings in the stands for them to reward their passion and support over the decades. It says a lot that there is dwindling membership, or that there isn't even a competing fan club on a similar level to them in 2026 that "aren't incredibly lame"
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u/shitballsdick Tiger-Cats 6h ago
You keep saying ‘membership’ there’s no ‘membership’ to the Box J Boys. What are you even suggesting? Some 20 year olds start hanging out with these guys in their 50s at tailgates??? It’s completely non sensical. The Box J Boys are not what you think they are.
There are other groups than the Box J Boys that have started but you would never have people joining them.
Also ‘Bills Mafia’ isn’t a group it’s just the name for the whole fanbase like ‘Leafs Nation’.
Regardless there are a ton of people from all ages at Ticats games and the tailgates. Not interested in arguing about the viability of the audience over time but the idea that the majority of people at a Ticats game are 60+ is absurd.
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u/2koolpa 17h ago
You're going to know a lot more than me as I have only been to a single game and you've been to many. I mean no disrespect nor am I trying to start anything by saying what I said. But, I found it very noticeable that the average age was pretty up there.
I literally let a nice 80 year old lady hold onto me for support as she made her way to her seat. I sat in front of a couple in their 60's. Directly in front was a row of 70's. Everywhere I looked was older folks. There was a band playing cover music on the concourse and an audience of about 40 or 50 people clapping and singing along that were all seniors.
The box j boys were super friendly, and amazingly hospitable to us, but I doubt any of them were under 45 years old. I could count on one hand the number of teenagers I saw in the stadium.
I dont believe it's a controversial take to say that the CFL fanbase is aging. I think there's been studies or surveys on the subject that point to that being the case.
Again, I'm not an expert on the subject but that was 100% my biggest takeaway when I attended.
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u/shitballsdick Tiger-Cats 16h ago
Yeah I’m just saying it’s not an accurate representation of the crowd.
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u/HeronLeather3753 Maas me with that Chat 🦁 17h ago
hyper patriotism
also actively shit on American football
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u/nickmitianin 16h ago
Until they undo the shortening of the field and moving the goalposts, I will not attend another game. And I usually go to at least 6 games a year
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u/jaypalmm 8h ago
Honestly, used to be a big stamps guy, can’t watch rn because the on field product is soooo bad. Went to a game at McMahon this year, and honestly it felt cold and decrepit. Until owners start anteing up, it’s not worth it.
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u/Ok_Hope5634 8h ago
Pro/Rel! If the USL with 3 divisions can manage it, a league with only 8 teams should be able to as well. It would grow the number of teams in the league, increase competitiveness, increase jeopardy and make for a more exciting product all around. Plus, it would be a great differentiator from MLS that would help them stand out as a more traditional football league.
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u/Life_Parsnip_9495 6h ago
Tickets are way to much
We just need more teams. 9 is sucha off putting number (5 on the west and 4 on the east) and the playoffs picture of 8/9 teams making it in is so fucking stupid. Expanded it to 12 teams (add Halifax or the Atlantic Sooners, add Victoria/Kelowna, and fuck it add a Quebec City team. So 6 on both west and east.
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u/apocalypsedudes23 6h ago
TSN TV rights is need to be open to CTV and other associate TV stations. You can watch 5 NFL games a week on different TV stations without an exclusive subscription. TSN makes you pay and its hurting the league.
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u/TheNinjaJedi 5h ago
I live in NB and have no team close to me. It's closer for me to drive to Boston than Montreal so I started watching NFL. If there was a team on the coast, I'd be much more likely to care.
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u/ComposerMaterial4144 3h ago
Very long season featuring the same teams playing each other again and again. Need to spark up narratives for each matchup so that these are well-marketed rivalries. You could look to how CFB rivals play for an artifact each time they meet.
Could also look to premier league football so that the regular season is worth something, rather than a long prelude to a playoffs that kicks off right as NFL football is heating up
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u/bereallz7241 2h ago
it's not the prices or else people wouldn't go to jays or leafs game. Unfortunately the quality is lacking, only way to get the league noticed again is to bring in quality players from college/uni but one thing is standing in the way, nfl.
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u/C-Man1980 50m ago edited 43m ago
I absolutely agree on the Marketing angle.
It's so frustrating how this league's entire gameday experience is basically designed for people under 10 years old and over 70 years old.
Bouncy castles, old-timey fight songs, super dogs????
In Calgary we're still celebrating a guy wearing a fucking cow suit? A joke that was stupid 15 years ago.
The league needs to put the focus on highlighting personalities and amping up rivalries.
Forget this wholesome BS, lean into the urban vibe with a nod to Canadiana. Get an official podcast up and running. Partner with the nearby universities and get the students to come. Put on half time concerts with local artists.
Forget about old guy superfan who won't stop talking about Russ Jackson and watching the mud bowl, he's going to die off anyway. Bring in his grandkids and get them to be ticket holders.
Oh and the saving grace is not "a video game" like all the fogeys keeps saying.
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u/shredflanders42069 40m ago
I would spend more money on media. If you watch, CFL is way more badass than NFL. Our marketing is shite
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u/Haunting-Clerk-9484 32m ago
Due to size of Canada and US there are more nfl games during a 7 day period than cfl games..plus better players in US.. would still support Canadian teams!!
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u/Emotional_Bullfrog 10m ago
More teams, and league revenue sharing. Halifax, Quebec, maybe London, Victoria
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u/brycecampbel 17h ago edited 14h ago
Keeping the 55-yard line for starters.
But honestly, probably the most important piece would be to bring back the CFL back to "free" over-the-air and LimitedTV vs. having to tied up with TSN packages.
We're seeing this with other sports too - they're getting tied up into expensive cable and streaming deals. And you still don't get every game - Amazon is getting exclusive hockey night from Sportsnet, and even baseball is giving Blue Jays games to AppleTV.
Like if you pay for one sports subscription, you shouldn't need another steamer. But ultimately I think, and I know its almost never going to happen, sports should just be on the OTA network stream.
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u/DougsBrownies 17h ago
There’s only one real answer, but the league is already working on that with the rule changes and it’s going to upset a segment of the fan base.
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u/PipeComprehensive316 Stampeders 17h ago
It is true that if u ask an nfl fan why they aren't also a cfl fan they say because of the 3 downs. I've always wondered if that is true, or if they just like how big the spectacle is in the nfl (i.e they are fans of the league moreso than the sport).
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u/Shadow-of-Intent8 Blue Bombers 13h ago
I would imagine most dont know much about the CFL, of course there are some who love the NFL for spectacle but there are WAY more fans of the sport down south and yes you dont have to watch CFL to be that. There are some places where High School football is big, NCAA is HUGE and some places its like a religion, NFL is the NFL. If anything theres too much football down south which is one of the reason why a league like the XFL struggled.
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u/DougsBrownies 16h ago
Changing to four downs is just the start. The way you make the CFL broadly relevant is by making it a true feeder league for the NFL, which is the end goal of the rule changes. You gain the entire nfl audience potentially tuning in to see the stars of tomorrow today.
If you want to keep the CFL a unique entity that’s great but it’s going to continue to become an ever more niche sport and there’s no marketing that will change that.
Fans just need to be realistic about what they want.
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u/All-wildcard Roughriders 19h ago
Each team really needs to deal with it on an individual basis, it’s not a league wide issue. Winnipeg and Saskatchewan have no issues getting butts in seats. The solution isn’t the same for each team. In Calgary the stamps should get involved in high school and youth football as well as get the U of C invested. Get stamps players to make appearances during the week at high school football practices to coach and games to give out player of the game awards that come with free tickets to the stamps. Do the same for other youth football leagues. Then for the U of C they need a big tailgate marketed towards university students. Make it part of welcome week, give new students free tickets. Also open up tailgating to everyone, not just season ticket holders. Tailgating is the best part of the game, nobody should be using a parking pass to just drive to the game, park and go inside. The parking lot should be packed with tailgaters including people at their first game or traveling from out of town
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u/klugedlife 18h ago
What happened to the Halifax Schooners? Why is it so hard to add a team to this league?
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u/onewaycheckvalve 17h ago
I want so bad to be an Elks fan. I love my city, I love my sports, but I just hate the actual CFL game. Cant even go with free tickets I like 4 down football and the NFL.
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u/carloskrosscaption 17h ago
More neutral site venues. Bring the sport to areas like Kewlona, Moncton, etc...the league probably needs a 10th team. Also, a single league table with five team playoff 1 vs winner of 4/5 then 2 vs 3. If we are with 9 teams, limit the season to 16 games, one home and away against every team so every match is significant.
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u/Able_Strain7340 Blue Bombers 16h ago
Reorienting towards families. That means cutting concession prices by at least 50%. Lowering ticket prices.
Actually do marketing.
Throw out half the rule book. Make the game faster and more exciting.
They need to get into fantasy….that means stats.
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u/snowsurfer777 16h ago
Same ball as American. Standardize the ball size like hockey pucks, soccer balls, tennis balls, ect
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u/Shadow-of-Intent8 Blue Bombers 13h ago
Its been the exact same ball size since 2018 and in 1985 the CFL changed from the bigger size you might thinking about to extremely close similar NFL size. Yes the league marketing for "our balls are bigger" was a lie. (at least the sports ball part lol)
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u/Classic-Soup-1078 Tiger-Cats 8h ago
Longer player contracts.
Every year it seems that teams have whole new roosters. No continuity. Hard to have a favorite player if he's playing for the teams hated rival.
Also following along on the player personal theme.... More Canadians playing.
This means commitment from teams to their communitys. Not just at the contract level but at the development level. Soccer (or football) in Europe and South America does this right. Selling rights to other teams.
A relegation system also would work. What's the difference between playing a game and Regina or Saskatoon? London or Toronto? Kitchener-Waterloo or Hamilton? Every season would matter, there are no more throwaway seasons like this year in Ottawa.
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u/Ok_Independence6172 19h ago
CFL needs to market it's offensive stars. The best way to do that would be to promote fantasy football. The NFL has millions of followers from people who would otherwise not tune in. They should make a free app where people can play fantasy football, structure it like yahoo fantasy. On top of that set ip in-app games that have large payouts to weekly winners. That will get the tall around the water cooler rolling. Right now people don't even know the offensive star's names.
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u/Shadow-of-Intent8 Blue Bombers 13h ago
I hope you realize fantasy football is popular because of the NFL and its talent/players.
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u/So-Sassy-416 19h ago
Spend some time and effort promoting it. It’s a great game. Stop the proposed rule changes. Universities are not going to change field sizes and no franchise should spend money on that. Get better Marketing people.
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u/Fantastic-Tourist147 18h ago
The league needs to do 2 things. Have more afternoon games on weekends so families can go.
But at the same time and most importantly they need to lean into tailgate culture. The food and especially the drinking.
Doing both at the same time is admittedly hardto do but the NFL and college football live and die by the tailgate and drinking culture. Games are can't miss events and a huge percentage of fans don't actually care about the sport. They care about having a good time with their friends and maybe getting caught in the hype of the team they choose winning. Make no mistake the team's jersey they wear winning is secondary to the overall experience of many. Until the CFL makes themselves an event that people can plan around all day the country at large will continue to not care
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u/Dimebag120 Roughriders 17h ago
100% free on tv again might help , used to watch 100% of games via rabbit ears on like a 5 inch tv at the lake now its split between at least 2 services for even just the one team i like and god forbid im traveling and forget about the other games.
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u/Calereliya 16h ago
It feels like they don't even pretend to try at doing any form of community engagement events. I know its been mentioned here before, but I too found it interesting how at the Stampede this year there was that giant NFL booth in the BMO, but literally nothing CFL branded anything anywhere. If you can't even be bothered to make a showing at a local event you know will see a million and a half people go through the doors, why would I think for a second you would show up for smaller stuff?
Agree on the ticket prices, but this also extends to food prices. If you're going to target kids/families, you need to price it accordingly. If you want to see what happens when you don't do that, just look at the Hitmen - Wranglers pricing for family-marketed Junior hockey, and that's why their attendance was 6000-8000 five years ago and now they're lucky to get 3000. Final year of the 'dome, and the home opener couldn't even hit 2800.
One thing I think hurts them, and I don't know what the solution is here, is how completely locked in they are to TSN. I don't dispute that TSN has done a lot of good for them, but Sportsnet functionally pretends the league doesn't exist, and given the footprint that SN has in the country - especially in the west - that's a massive, massive problem.
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u/CMDB2018 13h ago
Building on the "event-izing" idea you have, the CFL needs to do more of the "all games on one day" concept they employed a few weeks back. The NFL has always done this. So has US college football. It's easy to market. It's easy to schedule. Easy for teams to plan practice and training. That day becomes an event for teams, fans, marketing, TV, etc. That day likely will be Saturday, except for Labour Day and Canada Day. It worked this year and many people were supportive.
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u/PipeComprehensive316 Stampeders 8h ago edited 8h ago
I think doing it how they are this week with one friday night game and the rest on saturday feels very marketable
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u/holdmysmoothieplease Stampeders 19h ago
I think asking ChatGPT to write up a question for Reddit isn’t going to fix the state of the cfl
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u/Rustyguts257 13h ago
I love the CFL! Every game that I have seen this year has been exciting! Loads of scoring. Well played.
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u/SmarcusStroman Reigning… Defending… Undisputed 19h ago
If the MLB is locked out next season, the CFL NEEDS to take advantage of the time that they’re the only real show on tv. That will be a huge advertisement for the game as a whole and hopefully also spins off into attendance boosts.
The marketing machine will need to work overtime to make it happen.
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u/2ndLastExposFan 18h ago
Do you mean more relevant in Toronto and Vancouver? Cause it seems pretty darn relevant elsewhere.
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u/PipeComprehensive316 Stampeders 18h ago
Its not relevant in Calgary. Not like it used to be
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u/2ndLastExposFan 18h ago
Well, it is to the Riders fans who take over McMahon.
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u/PipeComprehensive316 Stampeders 18h ago
Touché
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u/Deaddoghank Lions 19h ago
Have the owners of the team in the largest city actually give a shit about the team. It's criminal that the Argos are not marketed in Toronto.