“We will play CFL football in 2021," Canadian Football League commissioner Randy Ambrosie said Wednesday.
The CFL sat out the 2020 season, originally delaying until September before finally canceling entirely in August.
A typical CFL season begins in mid-June and runs through American Thanksgiving weekend, but the 2021 campaign will be shortened and delayed.
“Our revised target date to start our regular season is August 5. To facilitate a 14-game season, for our players, fans and partners, we are re-scheduling the Grey Cup to December 12 in Hamilton, Ontario," Ambrosie said.
“I say ‘target date’ because our plans are subject to the state of COVID-19 across the country. A so-called ‘third wave’ in some provinces is forcing us today to postpone the start of our regular season, which had been scheduled for June 10."
Case loads have been consistently lower in Canada than the United States throughout the pandemic, until recently. Canada right now averages 22.9 cases per 100,000 residents over the last seven days, putting them above the United States (19.4 per 100k) for the first time since the pandemic began. Our northern neighbors are also behind our vaccine rollout, with 25.7 percent of their population receiving at least one dose compared to our 40.5 percent.
Because of this, Ontario -- Canada's most populace province and home to the Toronto Argonauts, Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Ottawa Redblacks -- is currently under one of the world's strictest lockdowns.
All this to say, the CFL's 2021 season is written in pencil compared to the NFL's and college football's pen. Their season is dependent upon approval from the nation's various public health authorities, although Ambrosie says the league fully plans on playing this year.
“The CFL depends on ticket revenue more than other professional sports leagues in North America. Fans in the stands account for at least half of our revenue. Our clubs already stand to suffer substantial financial losses this year. Playing without fans in the stands would dramatically increase those losses.
“We are prepared to be creative as well as prudent. For example, if we are unable to host fans in the East because of COVID-19, we are prepared to start play in the West, provided eastern teams can return to their home provinces, and play in front of their fans, later in the season.
“And we have contingency plans in place, should factors beyond our control delay the start of our season beyond August 5. The bottom line is we are optimistic we will have a season in 2021, culminating in a great Grey Cup," he said.
Following a year in which the virus forced both their closures, the CFL announced last month it is exploring collaboration options with the 3.0 version of the XFL.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.