3 takeaways from Commissioner Johnston’s Winter Meetings availability

CALGARY — The CFL’s Winter Meetings in Calgary offered an early glimpse into the league’s priorities as it looks ahead to the 2026 season and beyond.

Commissioner Stewart Johnston’s availability touched on several key topics, including the possibility of eliminating regular season tie games, and the growing logistical framework around CFL player participation in the 2028 Olympics.

Across those discussions, a common thread emerged: collaboration. Johnston repeatedly emphasized the role of teams, the CFLPA, officials, and league leadership in shaping decisions that balance entertainment, competitive integrity, and player welfare.

Here are three takeaways that stood out from Johnston’s comments.

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1. LAST THREE MINUTES REMAIN THE SAME

Johnston explained that early discussions in Calgary were centred on collaboration and alignment, particularly through the Rules Committee. The focus was on identifying on-field priorities that enhance the viewing experience without compromising player well-being. It reflects an understanding that the CFL’s long-term success depends on both the quality and pace of the game.

The final three minutes remain a cornerstone of CFL gameplay. The league proposed to the Rules Committee that the timing structure stay unchanged.

In addition, the league proposed to the committee that the scrimmage line be set at the 40-yard line when the ball goes out of the end zone, hits the goalposts, or a single is scored.

Following consultation and a vote, a formal recommendation has been submitted for the Board of Governors’ review.

“We talked over a number of options, but the proposal that resonated the most was, let’s keep the rules as they are currently for the last three minutes,” said the Commissioner. “There’s some slight tweaks in there, but really is keep the rules as is for the last three minutes and then we are going to encourage our officials to make sure that they are running those last three minutes as efficiently as possible when they blow in the clock.”

“The collaboration amongst the teams, the CFLPA, the officials, and league personnel is essential as we look ahead to the 2026 season,” said Johnston. “The first two days were really with the Rules Committee, and we aligned on a few key on-field priorities. We want to improve the game by increasing entertainment. We want to enhance game flow and, of course, focus on supporting the health and safety of our players.”

2. NEW FORMAT FOR REGULAR SEASON TIES AND OVERTIME IS ON THE TABLE

While tie games remain rare in the CFL, Johnston acknowledged they were a point of discussion during the Winter Meetings. The league is now considering a specific adjustment that would preserve the current overtime structure while ensuring a definitive outcome. The proposal would apply only to the regular season and reflects an effort to align competitive outcomes with fan expectations.

“One piece that we talked about was an occurrence that doesn’t happen that often, and that’s a tie game,” Johnston said. “It’s probably only a handful of times over the last many years we’ve ended up in a tie. But no one likes a tie. So how can we eliminate tie games? We’re going to keep the same overtime format that we currently have, and I’m talking about regular season only here. Then, if there is a tie at the end of the mini-games, we will go to alternating two-point conversions from the three-yard line until there is a winner.”

3. OLYMPIC PARTICIPATION DISCUSSIONS ARE SHITFING TOWARDS EXECUTION

The 2028 Olympics were also a significant topic in Calgary, following the board’s unanimous approval for CFL players to participate in flag football. Johnston outlined the complexity of the planning process, including player availability, team limits, scheduling considerations, and the reality that the Olympics will take place mid-season. While final decisions remain ahead, the league appears to be leaning toward playing through the Olympic tournament.

“We also talked about the Olympics,” said Johnston. “I announced back at Grey Cup that the board has unanimously approved our players being available to participate in the Olympics in 2028. That, of course, comes with a lot of lead-up to that. We had a very good discussion on the various aspects of that, including maximizing our CFL participation, players needing time to attend camps, adjust to flag football, and team practice, and certainly how many players per CFL team we think is the right number. How the schedule is going to work, we of course will be mid-season while that tournament takes place in July of 2028. We had a great discussion and talked about a number of options. We are going to pull those together and expect that 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 will have a number of those details ironed out. If I was going to say where we are leaning, particularly for the 2028 schedule, it’s that we’ll play through the Olympics. We will talk that through again. But if there was a leaning right now from the room and certainly from the league office, is let’s play right through and manage our clubs and our players accordingly.”