Player safety: CFL schedule stretched over additional week to increase rest
TORONTO — The Canadian Football League season will be spread over an additional week next year in an effort to promote player safety.
The league announced its schedule on Thursday, two months earlier than last year. The season kicks off a week earlier on June 14, when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers host Edmonton.
The schedule stretches the regular-season over 21 weeks rather than 20 to reduce the number of short turnarounds. No team will have to play three games in 11 days, something that had been part of every schedule dating back to 2005. The number of games to be played on less than a full week’s rest has been cut to 44, down from 51 last year and 54 the year before.
The number of games played on five days rest has been cut from 21 last year to 15 this year, a 29 per cent decrease. And every team will get three bye weeks instead of two, reducing the number of consecutive weeks a team must play.