CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston won't say 'never' to four-down football

Despite announcing numerous “significant changes to the game” on Monday, the CFL doesn't plan on shifting away from its signature three-down football.

At least for now.

Shortly after announcing sweeping rule changes for the 2026 and 2027 seasons, CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston wasn't ready to say that the league will never shift to four-down football.

“I don’t offer guarantees (about staying with three downs permanently),” Johnston said to 3DownNation's Justin Dunk in Toronto on Monday. “I don’t say the word ‘never.'”

Earlier on Monday, Johnston unveiled the league's two-part plan to improve its game and make it more entertaining for fans. A shortened field and restricting how single points are awarded highlight the changes that will be phased in over two years and not only alter the way the game is played but also how it looks.

In 2027, CFL fields will be modified. They'll be reduced from 110 yards to 100 yards, end zones will go from 20 yards to 15 yards and goalposts will be moved from the goal-line to the back of the reconfigured end zones.

Those modifications will make CFL fields look very similar to those in the NFL, however, the Canadian playing surfaces will remain 65 yards wide as opposed to 53 yards for those south of the border. Johnston said the changes aren't a sign of the CFL potentially returning to the United States or trying to Americanize its game.

“I will alleviate (fan anxiety) by saying … we truly believe in 2027, when these changes are fully in effect, we will have opened up the canvas of our game — our playing field — to the incredible entertainment value that’s already there, and that includes three downs, 12 players, 65-yard wide field, waggle, yard off the ball, no yards, all of that,” Johnston said to Dunk.

“That’s what we’re trying to expose and we think that these new field dimensions — and, in particular, taking those huge metal obstructions out of the visual of our most important area on the field, the end zones — I think it’s going to be so amazing for the game that we have. I never say never because this world moves fast. Some folks have asked me, ‘Why are you moving so fast?’ It’s because the world moves fast. We’ve gotta work at pace, work with urgency, and achieve the goals we want to achieve.”

— With files from the Canadian Press

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