Last month many were shocked to hear the news that the CFL and XFL were officially looking at alignment possibilities. At the time of this writing, there still isn’t a lot of details on what the two leagues are cooking up. That being said, many CFL insiders seem to believe that a merger is in motion. With the XFL on the sidelines for 2021 and possibly 2022, there’s a lot of new eyes on the CFL. Many of those new eyes, at well as longtime CFL fans have been asking if the 2021 season will start on time.
According to Arash Madani of Sportsnet, the CFL will confirm that the 2021 season will be postponed on April 19th.
April 19 is scheduled as the date the #CFL "officially" confirms the 2021 season won't start on time.
Wouldn't expect all elements with other parties to be fully completed by then. As I reported on @DTonSC April 1, the league + federal gov't continue talks on funding for 2021. https://t.co/aeIDjbpzj7
— Arash Madani (@ArashMadani) April 11, 2021
As it stand now, the season is set to kickoff June 10, with the Grey Cup scheduled for November 21 in Hamilton. The CFL recently proposed an on-time start to the CFLPA, but in return they were asking for a 20% pay cut for players if there are no fans in attendance. Some territories are moving towards having fans, others are still working through legislation.
Last week the CFL sent a letter to its players encouraging them to “not make changes that would effect current income streams” or “risk employment”.
With so many open questions in the air on both sides of the border, it looks like we’ll finally start getting answers. Maybe not as many as we liked, but at least the big one: When will the CFL hit the field in 2021?
The CFL draft is scheduled to take place May 4th, so there’s something to keep the Canadian fans busy in the meantime. Alternatively, The Spring League is retuning May 6th on FOX. It’s always good to have options.
When do you think the CFL will return to play? Will you be tuning into the CFL when it does kickoff? Let us know down in the comments below or join the conversation on Discord.
