The Canadian Football League has discussed its regular season schedule for 2028 when the Summer Olympics take place in Los Angeles.
“If I was going to say where we are leaning, particularly for the 2028 schedule, it’s that we’ll play through the Olympics. We will talk that through again, but if there was a leaning right now from the room and certainly from the league office, it’s let’s play right through and manage our clubs and our players accordingly,” CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston said from the league’s winter meetings in Calgary.
“We have more conversations to have with the Players’ Association. That timing is dependent on how those conversations go. I know in speaking with the Players’ Association, they also are motivated because the players do want to be a part of this if they can be. My hope is that we will have if not all details settled, at least the ones that we have control over, prior to the start of this season.”
The opening ceremony for the 2028 Olympics is set for July 14 and the event will run through July 30, which coincides with the backend of the CFL’s second regular-season month. With the crossover in the three-down league schedule, there are logistics to work out, especially after the board of governors unanimously approved players being available to participate in the Olympics.
“That, of course, comes with a lot of lead up. We had a very good discussion on the various aspects, including maximizing CFL participation. Players need time to attend camps, adjust to flag football, and practice. How many players per CFL team do we think is the right number? How the schedule is going to work? We will be in midseason while that tournament takes place in July of 2028,” Johnson said.
“We had a great discussion, talked about a number of options. We are going to pull those together once we have further rules committee meetings, further management council meetings, and ultimately our board meeting in March. We expect before the 2026 season starts, we’ll have a number of those details ironed out.”
Flag football will make its Olympic debut at LA28 with a six-team tournament, featuring 10-player rosters and five-on-five play at Exposition Park Stadium. The Summer Games flag football men’s and women’s tournaments will take place from July 15-22.
For what it’s worth, reigning CFL Most Outstanding Player Nathan Rourke was uncertain if he’s the best quarterback for Canada’s flag football team. It seems as though he could be the top choice, which might mean the B.C. Lions playing meaningful games without the team’s starting QB.
