{"id":167354,"date":"2025-09-25T01:39:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T01:39:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/167354\/"},"modified":"2025-09-25T01:39:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T01:39:07","slug":"local-cfl-fans-question-loyalty-selling-season-tickets-in-light-of-new-rules-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/167354\/","title":{"rendered":"Local CFL fans question loyalty, selling season tickets in light of new rules changes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following the Canadian Football League\u2019s (CFL) future rule changes announcement, some members of a local super-fan group were ready to give up their Hamilton Tiger-Cats season tickets in protest.<\/p>\n

Those in opposition to the changes are afraid that they are a signal that their game will lose its uniqueness, and look \u201cmore American.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people who play football, who have football knowledge, were not consulted about this,\u201d said Nathan Rourke, Quarterback of the B.C. Lions. \u201cPlayers weren\u2019t consulted, coaches, management \u2014 nobody was consulted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is about modernizing the game,\u201d said Bo Levi Mitchell, Quarterback of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. \u201cWhat can we do to put a better product on the field? A product people want to watch that\u2019s faster paced.\u201d<\/p>\n

The CFL announced changes to its rulebook, set to take effect in 2026 and 2027.<\/p>\n

Things like putting teams on opposite sides of the field, or changes to the single point rouge rule.<\/p>\n

But some of the changes have some fans questioning their loyalty and season ticket holder status.<\/p>\n

One super-fan says the changes relating to shortening the end zone and moving the goal posts from the goal line to the back, is making the game look too much like the National Football League (NFL) south of the border.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have the field goal, uprights above the goal line, you have the 55 yard line \u2014 those are unique,\u201d said Angelo Messina, a founding member of the Box J Boys super-fan group. \u201cYou have schools, universities, high schools that all have the fields designed for the CFL.\u201d<\/p>\n

WATCH MORE:\u00a0CFL announces major changes to the game, including 100-yard fields<\/a><\/p>\n

The Box J Boys is a CFL super-fan group 30 years in the making, dedicated to supporting the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.<\/p>\n

One of its members reached out to CHCH News, claiming the group is considering revoking their season ticket holder status as a \u201clast resort protest\u201d to the CFL rule changes.<\/p>\n

Another member spoke with CHCH News Wednesday, saying the group still loves the Ticats, but says the game doesn\u2019t need to change.<\/p>\n

\u201cCFL fans are passionate about the game,\u201d said Messina. \u201cIt\u2019s becoming more exciting than basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Concerned Fans of the CFL (CFCF) are calling on fans across the league \u2014 to any game they attend in person \u2014 in protest of these CFL rule changes, if they do wear league gear, they\u2019re asking fans to block out the logo.<\/p>\n

The group formed just after the news broke, and has over 1,600 signatures on a petition that they are circulating online.<\/p>\n

They believe the CFL is a grassroots league that can stand on its own merits without needing to tailor itself to the NFL.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to have a blackout effort in the stands, or take the logos on their shirts and black those out instead, just to show the league again, very visibly in the stands, these changes are going to have ramifications,\u201d said Mathew Campbell, the leader of the CFCF.<\/p>\n

The next game for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats is this Saturday against the Blue Bombers in Winnipeg.<\/p>\n

WATCH MORE: CFL\u2019s bold new rules examined with 3DownNation\u2019s Justin Dunk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Following the Canadian Football League\u2019s (CFL) future rule changes announcement, some members of a local super-fan group were…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":167355,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-167354","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-canadian-football-league","11":"tag-canadianfootballleague","12":"tag-cfl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167354\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}