A shortened field and restricting how single points are awarded are among the significant changes coming to the CFL

The league unveiled a two-part plan Monday that will be phased in over two years and not only alter the way the game is played but also how it looks.

“This is all about making our great game even more entertaining,” CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston said in a statement. “We are trading field goals for touchdowns, while improving fan experience in stadiums and at home.

“These changes are the most significant in decades. We are retaining the unique elements upon which our traditions stand, but innovating where change is needed to evolve our world-class game.”

Starting next season, teams will no longer be able to win games with a single off a missed field goal that sails through the end zone. No points will be awarded for errant field goals, punts or kickoffs that go through the end zone — either in the air or via a bounce.

If a returner fields a missed field goal, punt or kickoff in the end zone and either kneels or is tackled in the end zone trying to forward the ball, a single will be awarded.

Also, there will be a 35-second automatic reset on the play clock. Teams currently have 20 seconds to get a play off but that usually doesn’t begin until it’s blown in by an official, who usually does so once the 10-yard chains are set and player substitutions have been made.

Next year, once a play is dead, the 35-second clock will begin.

In keeping with that, each CFL stadium in 2026 will have team benches on opposite sides of the field to facilitate substitutions.

Currently both benches are on the same side of the field.

Then, in 2027, CFL fields will be modified. They’ll be reduced from 110 yards to 100 yards, end zones will go from 20 yards to 15 yard and goalposts will be moved from the goal-line to the back of the reconfigured end zones.

Those modifications will make CFL fields look very similar to those in the NFL however the Canadian playing surfaces will remain 65 yards wide as opposed to 53 yards for those south of the border.

The aims of the on-field changes are to increase the number of touchdowns scored in CFL games and improve game flow.

In a statement, the CFL said that by moving the goalposts back, there will be a projected 10 per cent increase in end-zone completions and 60 more touchdowns scored per season.

Despite the multiple rule changes announced on Monday, a shift from three-down football to four-down football doesn’t appear to be coming over the next two seasons.

But Johnston isn’t ready to guarantee that change will never happen.

“I don’t offer guarantees (about staying with three downs permanently),” Johnston told 3DownNation in Toronto on Monday. “I don’t say the word ‘never.’

“I will alleviate (fan anxiety) by saying … we truly believe in 2027, when these changes are fully in effect, we will have opened up the canvas of our game — our playing field — to the incredible entertainment value that’s already there, and that includes three downs, 12 players, 65-yard wide field, waggle, yard off the ball, no yards, all of that.”

The CFL rules committee — which consists of Johnston, league head coaches and officials, as well as the CFL Players’ Association — will evaluate the nuances of rules impacted by these changes this off-season.

“I think you’re going to hear a lot from myself and the league with exciting announcements over the next coming weeks and months. We’re not focused on rules — of course, we have a rules committee, and it will annually look to tweak and improve our game, but we have a lot of other exciting announcements we’re working on and that’s our focus,” Johnston said to 3DownNation.

— With files from Sportsnet Staff