CFL overtime changes, end of CFL games discussed at CFL Winter Meetings

From changes to overtime to keeping the final three minutes of CFL games as they are, plenty of topics are being discussed during the league’s winter meetings.

Coaches, general managers and league staff are in Calgary for the annual winter meetings, where things such as rule changes and other league business are discussed.

After team representatives spoke earlier in the week, CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston spoke with media on Wednesday to reveal some of the recommendations which will head to the board of governors for approval.

“The first two days were with the rules committee, and we aligned on a few key on-field priorities. We want to improve the game by increasing entertainment, enhancing game flow, and, of course, focus on supporting the health and safety of our players,” Johnston said.

Final three minutes will remain the same

One of the big changes coming to the CFL in 2026 will be the introduction of a 35-second running play clock. This is different from the current 20-second play clock that needs to be whistled in by the referees.

With how exciting the final three minutes of CFL games can be, one of the main questions that needed to be answered was how that could affect it.

Johnston said the solution at this point is to keep the final three minutes as it currently is, but ask their officials to run it as efficiently as possible.

“There was a lot of consistency in the philosophy of ‘No lead is safe.’ That was across the board. That was our intention coming in as well. So as we thought about opportunities to ensure that philosophy is upheld, we did think of hybrid models or different ways, just to make sure that that could happen, including keeping a 35-second automatic clock consistent,” Johnston said.

“The final three minutes are very specific and unique, that we (keep doing what) we are doing now, but perhaps adding a layer of urgency onto our officials to blow plays in faster and get more plays in in the last three minutes.”

Overtime changes

Ties could soon be no more in the CFL. While there haven’t been a lot of ties in recent seasons—the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Ottawa Redblacks tied in 2024—it was something they wanted to avoid happening again.

“It’s just one of many topics. I hope everyone recognizes that what I’m talking about today and some of these key areas are just some of many. This was one, and everyone said, ‘Hey, none of us like ties. Is there a format that can solve that, knowing that this might be four in every 15 years, or four in every 10, however it may be.'”

The new rules would keep the current two mini-game format in the regular season, but if there’s no winner decided by the end of those, each team will run a play from the three-yard line to try and score a touchdown. That will continue until a winner is decided.

CFL and the Olympics

The CFL board of governors have voted to allow its players to participate in the 2028 Olympics, but there are discussions around what that would mean for the league. The Summer Olympics run during the CFL season.

“We had a very good discussion on the various aspects of that, including maximizing our CFL participation—players that need time to attend camps, adjust to flag football and the team practice and how many players per CFL team do we think is the right number? How is the schedule going to work? We will be in midseason while that tournament takes place in July of 2028,” Johnston said.

“We had a great discussion, talked about a number of options. We are going to pull those together and expect them by before the start of the 2026 season. Once we have further rules committee meetings, further management council meetings, and ultimately our board meeting in March, we expect before the 2026 season starts, we’ll have a number of those details ironed out.

“I think if I was going to say where we are leaning, particularly for the 2028 schedule, it’s that we’ll play through the Olympics. So we will talk that through again. But if there was a leaning right now from the room and certainly from the league office, it’s let’s play right through and manage our clubs and our players accordingly.”

CFL playoff format

The current playoff format was something brought up during the meetings, according to Johnston. Currently, the top three teams from each division make the playoffs. There is a cross-over rule where if the fourth-place team in one division has a better record than the third-place team in another, they would cross over to the other division and make the playoffs instead.

“We talked about our playoff format, and just how the Grey Cup is the single biggest annual championship in our country and if there was one area we were focused on, it’s how do we have our single biggest championship where a team can possibly win only one game and make it to that championship?” Johnston said. “Can that be solved? We have a very unique situation at the CFL where we have only nine teams, so we want to balance a playoff structure and format against making sure our regular season is meaningful.”

He said more would be said about the playoff format in the future.

Johnston wants to see 10th CFL team by 2030

While it wasn’t something that was discussed at the winter meetings, league expansion was brought up. It’s been something that Johnston has discussed since taking over the role as commissioner.

“Bullish? Yes. Motivated? Yes, but no timelines. It’s a significant process,” Johnston said. “I think most who’ve been following the league have known that we would love to get to a 10th team. I’m no different. Stadium issues continue to be the number one problem to solve. I think there are a couple of areas across the country where there’s some opportunity.

“We certainly continue to receive a significant amount of inbound interest from individuals who are interested in being a part of our league.”

While there is no timeline, Johnston did mention he would like to see another team in the league by 2030.