Elks president says CFL changes will help the game grow

The Canadian Football League is making changes, including smaller end zones and pushed back uprights in an effort to make the game more exciting.

Edmonton Elks president and CEO Chris Morris says he’s excited for the big changes coming to the Canadian Football League (CFL).

The league says structural changes to the game will start in 2027. Changes include moving the goalposts to the back of the end zones, which will be shortened from 20 yards to 15 yards.

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The field will also be cut from 110 yards to 100 yards. The width of the field will stay the same.

Changes to the rouge point, a new 35-second play clock and benches on opposite sides of the field will be seen next season.

Morris said the changes will be good for the growth of the game.

“Anytime there is a change of this magnitude there are going to be people who are unsettled,” Morris told CTV News Edmonton. “I think it’s important to give this a chance and see where it goes.”

The CFL said changes to the game will make it more entertaining to fans with an estimated 60 more touchdowns scored per season.

Morris equated the CFL’s changes to that of the Major Baseball League where pitchers are now timed.

“Changes like this are inevitable if you want your game to grow,” said Morris, adding that the CFL commissioner and board of directors are looking to do just that. “They want it to be bigger than it is.”

Reid Wilkins, host of the Reid Wilkins Show with Jay Milne on Edmonton Sports Talk, said he was a bit apprehensive to the changes at first.

“As I took more time to think about why they’re doing it, it made more sense to me,” said Wilkins.

Many anticipated the new regulations would be to Americanize the game, but Canadian playing surfaces will remain 65 yards wide as opposed to 53 yards in the states. Three downs will also remain as opposed to four.

“They still want to celebrate what makes the game unique, what makes it the CFL,” said Wilkins. “If it makes the Canadian game more exciting … then go for it.”

With files from the Canadian Press