Good news, CFL fans: the 2021 regular season is fast approaching. According to TSN’s Dave Naylor, the CFL will begin their season on August 5. Each team will play fourteen games, and the Grey Cup is scheduled for December 12. The championship game will be played in Hamilton. Randy Ambrosie, the commissioner of the CFL, indicated that it “is an exciting day for Canadian football and for Canada itself.”
By K. Joudry
The news is still fresh, so fans will likely have plenty of questions. Many are likely wondering whether they’ll be able to attend games.
Currently, fans in Ontario won’t be able to attend games. Naylor explains that fan attendance is expected, “but only if you live in Alberta, Manitoba or Saskatchewan for the first few weeks as the league has developed a schedule exclusively based to the places where its received the greatest assurance that fans will be allowed in the stands. By late August we’ll see games return to cites in Eastern Canada. The league is hoping no games will have to be played with less than 35 per cent capacity, with that ramping up over the course of the year to Grey Cup.”
However, Ambrosie indicated that the league is working toward a solution for fan attendance across the nation: “And while the outlook for fans in the stands varies from province to province, we are confident that process is also on the right track.”
The commissioner also added that fan attendance largely depends on vaccines: “The public health officials in every province keep telling us that as long as the vaccination rate keeps climbing, and the number of cases of COVID-19 is contained or goes down, the more life will get back to normal, including full capacities in our stadiums.”
Fans who are looking to access CFL games but who can’t attend in-person will be able to watch on TSN.
The Ottawa Redblacks begin their season on the road against the Edmonton Elks. The game is scheduled for Saturday, August 7 at 10 p.m. ET. Keep in mind that there is no preseason and that the season has been reduced to 14 games. In other words, every game takes on added significance.
Fans can find full details about Ottawa’s schedule on the team’s official website.
In the meantime, fans can simply enjoy the hope and excitement that comes from knowing Canadian football will soon return.
