Despite calling himself a “pretty traditionalist CFL guy,” Winnipeg Blue Bombers president and CEO Wade Miller likes the changes the league will be making to its rules and field dimensions over the next two years.
“This is an evolution of the game and a positive step forward for our league, and we look forward to these changes that are going to deliver great excitement and big plays and entertainment every time that ball is snapped,” Miller told 3DownNation via telephone.
“I’ve never been a big fan of rewarding a rouge point for a missed play. Getting more plays in with a 35-second clock, I think that’s fantastic. I think there’s going to be more opportunities for touchdowns, a bigger opportunity for coaches that are going to have to take more risks and be more aggressive in the middle of the field.”
Announced on Monday, the league is modifying the rouge, implementing a 35-second play clock, and requiring team benches to be on opposite sides of the field for 2026. For 2027, the goalposts will be moved to the back of the end zones with the field dimensions shrinking to 100 yards in length, plus two 15-yard end zones.
The CFL’s board of governors is comprised of commissioner Stewart Johnston, chair Scott Banda, and vice-chair Bob Young, along with up to three representatives for each team. Miller is one of three representatives for the Blue Bombers alongside Scott Sissons, the chair of the Winnipeg Football Club board of directors, and Mike Pyle, the past chair.
Sissons is the team’s lead governor, giving him voting rights at the league level. Johnston indicated in a press conference in Toronto on Monday that the board of governors voted unanimously in favour of these changes.
“Our commissioner came with a great plan and now we’re going to execute on this plan,” said Miller. “Us having conversations about always making our game better and improving it is something that we’ve always done and this was something important to all of us — here’s the evolution of it.”
There’s been speculation that the CFL is shortening its field as a way to potentially play games in international soccer or four-down football stadiums. Miller denied that this was the impetus for the change and said there’s been no discussion about putting an expansion team somewhere in the United States.
“It all goes to the fandom — that drives revenue — and creating a game that is exciting in the stadium, to watch on TV, and making the game even more exciting,” said Miller. “The field’s still 65 yards wide, there’s still 12 players on the field. We still have all the great motion, all those parts of it. A few years back, we adjusted where we started with the ball and different things like that. These are the next steps of creating some more ways to improve and evolve our game.”
Monday’s announcement from the CFL was accompanied by handwringing from the U Sports community. The organization released a statement indicating it will engage with stakeholders over the coming weeks and months “to determine the ramifications for U Sports football, and the best course of action.”
The Blue Bombers play on campus at the University of Manitoba where they share Princess Auto Stadium with the Bisons, who improved to 2-2 on the weekend with a 34-7 win over the Alberta Golden Bears. The venue is also used by Valour FC, Winnipeg’s soccer club that plays in the Canadian Premier League.
According to Miller, the stadium will be able to host CFL, U Sports, and soccer games with no issues, even if U Sports chooses not to adopt the league’s new field dimensions. There are no stitched-in lines on the new stadium turf. Everything is painted.
“This will not impact university sports at all,” said Miller, who played collegiately for the Bisons before an 11-year CFL career with the Blue Bombers. “This is very easy for us to do. It’s just putting in another set of goalposts — a base that could be converted back and forth very easily. We pull it out for soccer all the time. This is not a big change to facilities.”
When asked what he’d say to traditionalists who threaten not to renew their season tickets over these incoming changes, Miller petitioned for them to give these new rules a chance.
“I would say, ‘I want you to see it, I want you to be a part of it. Let’s see it together, and then make your decision after a year and decide if it’s not for you.'”
