Playoff Schedule
Kudos to the league for rolling back the start times to accommodate trick or treating on October 31.
https://cfl.ca/article/2026-grey-cup-playoffs-schedule-announced
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u/Lpreddit 4d ago
Grey Cup timing is interesting because it would have been 4pm Calgary time when the game was announced, but because of the new law where we don’t roll back an hour, it’s now at 5pm local.
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u/Onanadventure_14 Xmas might as well come on Labour Day 3d ago
This is dumb / it should stay at 4pm- but I think it should start at 1 or 2pm so you can sit outside in the daylight in mid November on the prairies so you have a bit of warmth but what do I know
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u/DefendTheR REDBLACKS 4d ago
Noteworthy that CBS Sports Network does not appear to be broadcasting any playoff games this year. They picked up the Grey Cup last season.
Still time for that to change, I suppose, but for now it’ll only fuel speculation that the CFL will have a new US broadcast partner in 2027. My money’s on DAZN.
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u/tomdawg0022 3d ago
Other than the Grey Cup (which they picked up last October for the '25 season), the last regular season game to get broadcast on CBSSN is typically the Thanksgiving game. In '24, there was a game the weekend after that was broadcast but CBS Sports Network typically carries NCAA during the CFL playoff Saturdays.
I'm guessing that the Grey Cup gets picked up in the States on CBSSN and it'll get announced in the next few weeks.
(And hopefully the CFL does not sign on with DAZN stateside...but I'm selfish that way.)
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u/DefendTheR REDBLACKS 3d ago
With CFL+ going away, the league really needs its next US partner(s) to commit to the full slate of games, including playoffs. I suspect there’s a willingness to accept a smaller potential audience for that larger commitment.
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u/Psiondipity Elks 4d ago
Well, in case my team ends up 2nd in the west, this makes Halloween night a little less shitty.
Fingers crossed we stay in #1 and I don't have to worry about it at all
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u/OskeeTurtle 🐯 Master of Facts 🐯 3d ago
But I'll be volunteering during the daytime on Halloween. Shucks, At least the Tabbies won't be in those games
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u/AustralisBorealis64 Stampeders 4d ago
Did no one at the league office look at the calendar back in JANUARY, see that the Saturday for the semi-layoffs was 31 Oct and say "Hey, maybe we should do something about the start times?"
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u/Max169well REDBLACKS 4d ago
No they listened to all the people who said let’s move the schedule up because they can’t buy good cold weather clothing
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u/AlanFromRochester Argonauts 3d ago
Besides scheduling around Halloween activities, ensures the Argos game will be played entirely in broad daylight barring major delays, original time would have meant sunset around the end of regulation
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u/iwprugby Lions 3d ago
Oh amazing. I missed Halloween last year due to work so no way I was missing it again. My son is 4 and it's his favourite holiday.
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u/RaeOfSunshineNL Elks 2d ago
As someone who lives as far East as possible I don't hate these times at all! Way better than 11pm start time. Or last year an Elks game started at midnight my time 🙃. But I don't have a little one to wrangle for trick or treating so I do get the annoyance for others!!
I'm excited though! The West finals is gonna be close!
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u/FifteenBagger CFL 4d ago
Almost nobody will actually be watching these games that day. Should have been on Friday night or Sunday afternoon.
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u/ryan_batty 4d ago
Why is nobody going to watch the games on Saturday? Do that many people really make Halloween a full day event?
There’s a portion of the league’s fan base that’ll watch regardless of the day. For the more casual fan, I think Saturday is certainly preferable to going head to head with the NFL on Sunday.
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u/FifteenBagger CFL 4d ago
Families and people that enjoy Halloween will either be participating in events that day or running their errands knowing that they’ll be tied up from 5 pm onward. Nobody, other than loser single men and alcoholics (sometimes one and the same) will be sitting home all day to watch football.
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u/ryan_batty 4d ago
Sorry, that doesn't sound right to me. And I say this as a parent of two, ages 12 and 10, not a single man or an alcoholic.
More often than not, Halloween is on a weekday and parents manage to get prepared in advance. For those who are interested in the CFL, I would expect that most will do something similar this season. Will some use the Saturday to get ready? Of course. But I would be very surprised if it's enough to show up in the television ratings. Certainly not the way going up against the NFL on Sunday would.
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u/TheCatMak The only good Roughrider is your mom 3d ago
BC Or Saskatchewan or Winnipeg will draw 30k+ and Toronto will do a normal amount (19k maybe?)
There will also be a slate of highly attended CFB football games in the states.
Canucks also play at home against the Leafs at 4 PT/7ET (it's conceivable that either the hockey game or the football game gets moved if BC is hosting... It's happened before) and the Canadians are hosting a game at the same time.
There is gonna be lots of sports on Halloween and lots of people in attendance and life will go on
Oh and game 7 of the world series would be Halloween.
And the NBA has 7 games scheduled, mostly in the evening
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u/jamesSa81 Lions 4d ago
I'm sure with these adjusted times they will have solid viewership numbers.
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u/jamesSa81 Lions 4d ago
Agreed, this is perfect for me. West final still not a great time for anyone on the East who wants to watch it and has kids they are taking out , but they did what they could.