2023 CFL season

The 2023 CFL season is scheduled to be the 69th season of modern professional Canadian football. Officially, it will be the 65th season of the Canadian Football League. Hamilton is scheduled to host the 110th Grey Cup on November 19, 2023.[1] The regular season will start on June 8, 2023 and it will end on October 28, 2023.[2]

2023 CFL season
DurationJune 8, 2023 – October 28, 2023
110th Grey Cup
DateNovember 19, 2023
VenueTim Hortons Field, Hamilton
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Canadian Football League team locations: West, East

CFL news in 2023

Salary cap

According to the new collective bargaining agreement, the 2023 salary cap will be set at $5,450,000 (average $121,111 per active roster spot) [3][4] As per the agreement, the cap is fixed and will not vary with league revenue performance until 2024.[3] The minimum player salary will be set at $71,000.

Starter ratio

Beginning this season, teams will be required to start eight National players as opposed to just seven in years prior.[3] However, one of those players can be a "Nationalized American" player that has spent three years with the same team or five years in the CFL.[3] Teams can also have one more Nationalized American on offence and one on defence substitute up to 49% of the snaps for a National player.[3][4]

Scheduling

During the commissioner's state of the league address on November 18, 2022, it was announced that the playoff games (Division Semi-Final and Division Final games) would be moved from Sundays to Saturdays while the 110th Grey Cup game would remain on Sunday.[5] It will be the first time that the playoffs were held on Saturdays since the 2008 CFL season.[6] The Touchdown Atlantic series continues with the Toronto Argonauts hosting the Saskatchewan Roughriders at Huskies Stadium (Saint Mary’s University) in Halifax, Nova Scotia on Saturday, July 29, 2023.[7] This will be the first regular season game held in Halifax after the city hosted a pre-season match in 2005.

In the most recent collective bargaining agreement, the league had the option of moving this season's schedule by up to 30 days earlier.[3] However, the league decided to keep the dates consistent with previous years when the 2023 schedule was released on December 13, 2022, and it was revealed that the season opening game would take place on June 8, 2023.[2]

Rule changes

On May 8, 2023 the league announced a series of minor rule changes which focused on improving, "health and safety and to making refinements to certain nuances in the game".[8]

  • The requirement for the ball to be touched prior to ruling a rouge on a kickoff has been removed
  • A safety has been added to the options for holding in the team’s own goal area
  • The defensive formation has been restricted on kick plays
  • Avoidable contact with an official
  • Move the drive start position up five yards in additional scenarios
  • Teams cannot have players wear 0 and 00

Health and safety

On May 16, 2023 the league announced new health and safety measures:[9]

  • Guardian caps - defensive linemen, running backs and linebackers will be required to wear a guardian cap during training camps and contact practices during the regular season.
  • Medical tents - teams will have collapsible medical tents on the sidelines to allow players to be medically assessed during the game.
  • Pre-game medical meeting - medical personnel, security, venue staff, and game presentation departments will have a meeting before each game to align on the medical processes should there be any issues during the game.
  • Medical staff training - staff from all nine clubs gathered in the off-season to complete additional advanced professional development courses.
  • Research - the league is continuing to partner with universities across the country to better understand equipment and technologies in the prevention and rehabilitation of injuries.

Coaching changes
Team 2022 HC 2022 Interim HC 2023 HC Comments
Montreal Alouettes Khari Jones Danny Maciocia (GM) Jason Maas Khari Jones had been the head coach and offensive coordinator of the Alouettes since 2019, however, after a slow start to the 2022 season he was relieved of his duties. General Manager Danny Maciocia took over the head coaching duties.[10] Jones won 18 games and lost 18 games in three seasons. For the remainder of the season Maciocia helped guide the Alouettes to a 8-6 record and a playoff berth. Maas was hired by Montreal on December 17, 2022.[11] Maas had previously served as the offensive coordinator for Ottawa, Edmonton and Saskatchewan and was the head coach in Edmonton for four seasons (39-33).
Ottawa Redblacks Paul LaPolice Bob Dyce LaPolice had served as the Redblacks' head coach for two seasons, winning only six games and losing 22. He was relieved of his duties on October 1, 2022.[12] Long time assistant coach Bob Dyce was granted the role of interim head coach, a position which was made permanent on December 2, 2022.[13] Dyce had been with the Redblacks since 2016 and served as the interim head coach in Saskatchewan during the 2015 season, winning three of nine contests.

Player movement

Free agency

The 2023 free agency period officially began on Tuesday, February 14, 2023, at 12:00 p.m. ET.[14] Pending free agents and teams were able to negotiate offers for one week starting Sunday, February 5, 2023, and ending Sunday, February 12, 2023.[15] All formal offers to a player during this time were sent to both the league and the players union and could not be rescinded.[15][16]

Broadcasting

The CFL will continue to be broadcast on TSN and RDS across all platforms in Canada as part of their current contract.[17] The broadcast rights are reported to have been extended through 2025.[18] In late April 2023 the CFL announced a new partnership with CBS Sports Network who will broadcast 34 games in the United States.[19] The deal is reportedly worth $1 million dollars per year, with each team receiving around $100,000 in compensation. The deal replaces the former partnership with ESPN.[20]

References
  1. "Full house for 2021 Grey Cup; Hamilton awarded 2023 game". Canadian Football League. October 14, 2021.
  2. "2023 Schedule". Canadian Football League. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  3. "Details of the CFL's new CBA: salary cap increases, ratio changes, and guaranteed contracts". 3DownNation. May 26, 2022.
  4. "CFL commissioner Ambrosie feels new deal provides benefits for both CFL and players". The Globe and Mail. May 28, 2022.
  5. @dponticelliTV (November 18, 2022). "#CFL Commissioner says 2023 Eastern and Western semis & finals will be played on Saturdays. #GreyCup game remains on Sunday" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. "2008 Schedule". Canadian Football League. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
  7. "Touchdown Atlantic returns in 2023". CFL.ca. 2022-12-20. Retrieved 2022-12-20.
  8. "Rules receive fine-tuning for 2023 season". CFL.ca. 2023-05-08. Retrieved 2023-05-08.
  9. "New health and safety measures introduced to further safeguard players". CFL.ca. 2023-05-16. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
  10. "Danny Maciocia, Noel Thorpe replace Khari Jones, Barron Miles". Montreal Alouettes. 2022-07-06. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  11. "Welcome Jason!". Montreal Alouettes. 2022-12-17. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  12. "REDBLACKS part ways with Head Coach Paul LaPolice". Ottawa REDBLACKS. 2022-10-01. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  13. Press, The Canadian (2022-12-02). "Ottawa Redblacks hire Bob Dyce as head coach". TSN. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  14. "Free agency opens February 14". Canadian Football League. December 1, 2022.
  15. "Negotiating window a new feature of 2020 free agency". Canadian Football League. January 27, 2020.
  16. Dunk, Justin (January 27, 2020). "Details for the CFL's new negotiating window prior to free agency". 3DownNation.
  17. "CFL and TSN extend rights on long-term deal". TSN. November 21, 2019.
  18. Barnes, Dan (September 6, 2019). "BARNES: CFL agrees to new six-year TV deal with TSN". Toronto Sun.
  19. "New This Season: The CFL on CBS Sports Network". CFL.ca. 2023-04-27. Retrieved 2023-05-08.
  20. Gasson, Joel (2023-04-29). "The CFL's new American TV deal with CBS is an interesting risk/reward proposition". 3DownNation. Retrieved 2023-05-08.
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