{"id":168446,"date":"2025-09-25T13:22:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T13:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/168446\/"},"modified":"2025-09-25T13:22:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T13:22:11","slug":"cfl-commissioner-stewart-johnston-says-end-to-divisional-playoff-format-exactly-the-type-of-thing-he-wants-to-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/168446\/","title":{"rendered":"CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston says end to divisional playoff format ‘exactly the type of thing’ he wants to review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Courtesy: Thomas Skrlj\/CFL.<\/p>\n

The CFL has already made sweeping changes to the way the game will be played<\/a> going forward, and the league\u2019s playoff model could be next on the docket.<\/p>\n

In an appearance on 620 CKRM\u2019s The SportsCage this week<\/a>, commissioner Stewart Johnston said he is open to evaluating whether the league\u2019s current divisional structure offers the best format for postseason play.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would suggest that\u2019s exactly the type of thing I would want to review,\u201d Johnston shared. \u201cI\u2019m not offering an opinion on that, and I\u2019m not offering a direction on that, so let\u2019s just be clear. But that is exactly the type of thing that I want to review, to say, \u2018What makes sense?’\u201d<\/p>\n

Six of the nine teams in the CFL currently qualify for the postseason, though those slots are dictated by teams\u2019 standings in their respective divisions rather than their overall record. While the league implements a crossover rule to allow for the fourth-place team in either division to compete in the playoffs if they have a better record than the third-place team in the opposite division, discrepancies still regularly occur that deny teams with better records home games or playoff qualification due to the unequal strength of the divisions.<\/p>\n

Most recently, the Calgary Stampeders were given the short end of the stick in 2022 when they finished third in the West Division with a record of 12-6 and were forced to play on the road despite having a better record than any team in the East Division. In 2018, the Edmonton Football Team missed the playoffs entirely with a 9-9 record that saw them finish fifth in the West, while the 8-10 Ottawa Redblacks hosted a playoff game as the second seed in the East.<\/p>\n

Though the league has traditionally split itself in half regionally in order to ensure more of the country has a vested interest in the eventual Grey Cup matchup, critics have long argued that the playoff format is nonsensical in a small league where everyone plays everyone else multiple times. Those are exactly the types of idiosyncrasies that Johnston wants to thoroughly interrogate during his tenure.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know the staff at the CFL league office are tired of me saying, \u2018Please don\u2019t do things just because we\u2019ve always done them.\u2019 Question everything, and then ultimately support why we currently do it with an argument, and then let\u2019s move on,\u201d he explained. \u201c(The playoff format) would be a great example. I will question that, and we might find this is the best system and let\u2019s move on, or maybe we\u2019ll offer a change, but that would fall right in the wheelhouse of things I\u2019m excited to look at.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnston has already rocked the boat more than any of his recent predecessors, announcing the rollout of several significant structural changes to the game<\/a> that will take place over the next two years. Among them is a modification of the rouge to prevent victory by missed field goal, an alteration of the league\u2019s play clock, a shortening of the field and end zone, and the relocation of the goalposts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While it is clear that he isn\u2019t done challenging the status quo<\/a>, consideration of future changes, like those to the playoffs, will have to wait a bit<\/a>. The former TSN executive says he emptied his quiver with this latest wave of moves and that every arrow found its target with the CFL board of governors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an easy and a quick one \u2014 no, there weren\u2019t,\u201d he said when asked if any potential changes were cut in the voting room. \u201cThis was the exact package that we put in front of the board of governors and and the reaction was overwhelmingly enthusiastic.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Courtesy: Thomas Skrlj\/CFL. The CFL has already made sweeping changes to the way the game will be played…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":168447,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-168446","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\/168446","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=168446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}