2023 CFL season

The 2023 CFL season was the 69th season of modern professional Canadian football. Officially, it was the 65th season of the Canadian Football League. Hamilton hosted the 110th Grey Cup on November 19. The regular season began on June 8, and ended on October 28, with 18 games played per team over 21 weeks.

League business

Salary cap

According to the new collective bargaining agreement, the 2023 salary cap is set at $5,450,000 (average $121,111 per active roster spot) As per the agreement, the cap is fixed and will not vary with league revenue performance until 2024. The minimum player salary is set at $70,000.

Starter ratio

Beginning this season, teams are required to start eight National players as opposed to just seven in years prior. However, one of those players can be a "Nationalized American" player that has spent three years with the same team or five years in the CFL. Originally, the league was planning to allow teams to also have one more Nationalized American on offence and one on defence substitute up to 49% of the snaps for a National player; however, this was later changed as the total number of snaps in game cannot be accurately determined during a game. Instead, teams must indicate the designated Nationalized Americans and the designated Nationals that that player may replace for a maximum of 23 plays.

Scheduling

During his commissioner's state of the league address on November 18, 2022, Randy Ambrosie announced that the playoff games (Division Semi-Final and Division Final games) would be moved from Sundays to Saturdays, while the 110th Grey Cup game would remain on Sunday. They will be the first playoff games on Saturdays since the 2008 CFL season. The Touchdown Atlantic series continued with the Toronto Argonauts hosting the Saskatchewan Roughriders at Huskies Stadium (Saint Mary’s University) in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Saturday, July 29. This was the first regular season game held in Halifax after the city hosted a pre-season match in 2005.

In the most recent collective bargaining agreement, the league had the option of moving this season's schedule by up to 30 days earlier. However, the league decided to keep the dates consistent with previous years when the 2023 schedule was released on December 13, 2022, with the season opening game on June 8.

Partnership with Genius Sports

During the off-season the league and Genius Sports launched a new fantasy platform called 'CFL Gamezone'. In May 2023, before the pre-season, the CFL announced that it would be transitioning its stats tracking platform from New Jersey-based firm SharpHat to Genius Sports, called 'CFL LiveStats'. As the league schedule moved through the pre-season and into the regular season, the launch of the new stat tracking platform was delayed. There was no live data during games, player profiles were blank, and season/game stats were only available for download as a PDF file type. On June 22, 2023, Commissioner Randy Ambrosie addressed this issue asking for patience from fans as the league transitions. The state of the stat tracking platform and the commissioner's response were criticized by fans and the media. As of late July 2023, CFL LiveStats was not operational.

Rule changes

On May 8, the league announced a series of minor rule changes which focused on improving "health and safety and to making refinements to certain nuances in the game."

• The requirement for the ball to be touched prior to ruling a rouge on a kickoff has been removed
• A safety has been added to the options for a holding penalty in the team’s own goal area
• The defensive formation has been restricted on kick plays
• Avoidable contact with an official
• Move the drive start position up five yards in additional scenarios
• Teams cannot have two players wearing 0 and 00

Health and safety

On May 16, the league announced new health and safety measures:

• Guardian caps – defensive linemen, running backs and linebackers will be required to wear a guardian cap during training camps and contact practices during the regular season.
• Medical tents – teams will have collapsible medical tents on the sidelines to allow players to be medically assessed during the game.
• Pre-game medical meeting – medical personnel, security, venue staff, and game presentation departments will have a meeting before each game to align on the medical processes should there be any issues during the game.
• Medical staff training – staff from all nine clubs gathered in the off-season to complete additional advanced professional development courses.
• Research – the league is continuing to partner with universities across the country to better understand equipment and technologies in the prevention and rehabilitation of injuries.

Coaching changes

Player movement

Free agency

The 2023 free agency period officially began on February 14 at noon ET. Pending free agents and teams were able to negotiate offers for one week starting February 5 and ending February 12. All formal offers to a player during this time were sent to both the league and the players union and could not be rescinded.

Regular season

Standings

The top three teams in each division advance to the playoffs, with the division winners receiving a bye to the division finals and home-field advantage for the game. The second and third place teams in each division will compete in a division semi-final to advance to the division final with the 2nd place teams in each division receiving home-field advantage. The CFL additionally employs a "crossover rule" where, if the fourth place team in one division has a better record than the third place team in the other division, the former qualifies for the playoffs, while the latter does not.

Postseason

The Grey Cup was played at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ontario, on November 19. The Montreal Alouettes upset the favoured Winnipeg Blue Bombers 28–24, to win their first Grey Cup since 2010.

Playoff bracket

Broadcasting

The CFL continues to be broadcast on TSN and RDS across all platforms in Canada as part of their current contract. The broadcast rights were reported to have been extended through 2025. In late April, the CFL announced a new partnership with CBS Sports Network, who will broadcast 34 games in the United States. The deal was reportedly worth $1 million dollars per year, with each team receiving around $100,000 in compensation. The deal replaced the former partnership with ESPN. The CFL livestreamed all games in the United States not broadcast by CBS on their own platform, dubbed CFL+, for free. A small number of preseason games were broadcast on TSN and RDS; the remainder of the normally un-broadcast preseason games (as well as all international broadcasts of the preseason games) were shown for free on a league-operated streaming platform called CFL Preseason Live.

Award winners

CFL Honour Roll

Pro Football Focus

3DownNation Best of the Week

2023 CFL All-Stars

Special teams

• K – Sean Whyte, BC Lions
• P – Richie Leone, Ottawa Redblacks
• ST – Javon Leake, Toronto Argonauts

Source

2023 CFL Western All-Stars

Special teams

• K – Sean Whyte, BC Lions
• P – Adam Korsak, Saskatchewan Roughriders
• ST – Mario Alford, Saskatchewan Roughriders

Source

2023 CFL Eastern All-Stars

Special teams

• K – Boris Bede, Toronto Argonauts
• P – Richie Leone, Ottawa Redblacks
• ST – Javon Leake, Toronto Argonauts

Source

2023 CFL Awards

• Tom Pate Memorial Award – Brett Lauther (K), Saskatchewan Roughriders
• Jake Gaudaur Veterans' Trophy – Brayden Lenius (WR), Saskatchewan Roughriders
• Commissioner's Award – Bob Young, Hamilton Tiger-Cats owner
• Hugh Campbell Distinguished Leadership Award – George Hopkins, Calgary Stampeders equipment manager
• Jane Mawby Tribute Award - Laurence Pontbriand, League Office's Senior Manager of Football & Officiating Developement

References