Halford & Brough in the Morning - CFL Commissioner Stewart Johnston On The Controversial Rule Changes

Episode Date: September 23, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason discuss the latest Canucks news with radio commentator Brendan Batchelor (1:10), plus they're joined by CFL Commissioner Stewart Johnston (24:33) in the wake of the sweeping rule changes that were announced for the league yesterday. This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

It's his friend and Bachelor, Bachelor, Bachelor, Life from Rogers Arena, Collin' Canucks Games. It's his friend and Bachelor, Bachelor, Bachelor. 7.02 on a Tuesday, happy Tuesday, everybody, Halford and Brough, Sportsnet, 650. Halford in Brough for the morning is brought to by Sands and Associates. score a debt freedom hat trick. No more interest, much lower payments, and financial peace of mind. Visit them online at sands dash trustee.com.

We are now in hour two of the program. Brendan Batchelor, play-by-play of voice of the Vancouver Canucks is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off hour two. Hour two is Bradshaw. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at jason. down mortgage. We are coming to you live from the Kintech studio, Kintech footwear and orthotics, working together with you in step. Our next guest comes here to see the Power West Industries hotline. It's Brendan Batchler here on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. What up,

batch? Good morning. How are you guys? We're good. Thanks taking time to do this. As always, we appreciate it. I wanted to start not necessarily with a player-by-player breakdown of what we saw on Sunday, but I know he did the behind-the-bench chat with Adam Foot prior to the game and then you got to see some of his ideas executed. I know it's early days. I know you've really only had the training camp scrimmage and then one game to look at it, but are you getting a clearer picture

of what Adam Foot hockey might look like this season? Yeah, I think so, and I think it's a lot more aggressive than I was expecting, right? Like I spent a lot of the summer, and this shows you what I know, talking about how they've got solid goaltending and they've built out their defensive depth and they might be a low event team,

but, you know, because of their scoring issues in the past, you could understand why they'd want to play that way to try and win games. And on day one, a training camp, we see, like, the fourth man in the rush as a D man in pretty much every drill and a lot of emphasis being placed on that. So, in fact, I think they're going to be a lot more high event than we expect it, where they, you know, Adam Foote's approach to it anyways, they need to find a way to score more goals,

they need to get the defense more involved in the offense. and I think we've seen some of that. I don't want to read too much into what happened Sunday in Seattle because it's done an NHL roster. And, you know, so there were some moments where, you know, you see a guy like Victor Mancini jump up in the play and carry the puck through the neutral zone. And, you know, although ultimately I don't think he'll end up being on the team,

that's maybe kind of some of the stuff they're looking for from their defensemen to be more proactive. And Randip and I spoke to Marcus Pedersen at training camp and he said, yeah, it's not just like telling Hughes and Hironic that they've got the green light. We all sort of have the green light and we all have to, you know, contribute and try to be involved in the offense. So, you know, more aggressive than I was expecting them to be. And also more aggressive defensively, too, like a lot more puck pressure than we've seen in the past. So I think it's going to be fascinating to see how it plays out because we all know how much emphasis there was on the rush last year at training camp.

And we know what happened early in the season and how Rick Tuckett kind of had. to abandon that because of the goals and chances they were giving up the other way as a result. So I'll be interested to see if a guy like Adam Foote, former, you know, top-level defensemen in the NHL, if the way he wants to approach trying to create more offense does so without it costing them on the defensive side of the puck. Because I think, you know, in the last few years, not just under Rick Tocket, every time we've seen this team try to open it up, it hasn't really worked for them. into fire wagon hockey, which I think with their offensive personnel there, they're not really capable of playing. But could it be different this year? Yeah, I think there's a possibility of that and we'll gain a greater understanding of what that looks like as we get through the preseason

and see some more representative rosters of what we're likely going to see on night one in the regular season. I wonder if any of the players had any input on how the Canucks are going to play. We heard about that famous meeting, an off-season meeting with Adam Foote, Quinn Hughes, Thatcher Demko, and Elias Pedersen. And Demko might not have been advocating for more firewagon hockey. But I do wonder if Hughes and maybe a guy like Pedersen were like, yeah, let's open it up a little bit.

Yeah, and it sounds like Adam Foote has included his leadership group in a lot of the things that he's trying to implement. here coming in as the head coach and trying to empower that group. So it wouldn't surprise me if, you know, certainly players like Quinn Hughes and Elias Pedersen are offensively capable and, you know, are guys that would suit that style of hockey. And it's not necessarily them that I'm concerned about in that regard, right?

Like, we know Quinn Hughes can jump up in the play and create offense. We see him do it all the time and he's very effective at it. it's what does that look on the second line or the third line or the second defensive pairing or the third defensive pairing in in terms of you know yes you can be aggressive and you can try to create but what do you give up the other way and one thing we always talk about with this team it seems like is puck management and again small sample size not a very experienced NHL roster in Seattle the other night but there were turnovers that led to odd man rushes throughout that game now you know, it's very possible that you get this NHL group together, you get them all bought in, you get them on the same page, and they can have an understanding of reading the play in terms of when is okay for me to jump and when do I need to be conservative and make sure I'm, you know, above the puck

and preventing some of these potential odd man rush opportunities the other way. But that is the risk when you play this way, and ultimately it's going to be up to Adam foot and up to this group of players to ensure that an increased aggressiveness offensively doesn't come at the expense of chances the other way. And, you know, I think Foot talked a really good game about needing to be adaptable and needing to be able to sort of adjust the way you play to not just who you play, but situations in games.

So, you know, ultimately, we're going to see how that plays out, and it's going to be interesting to follow and critique. And I think, you know, a large part of the early season is going to be looking at the way the team's trying to play. And if they have early success, then great. And they can build off that and have confidence. And if not, then it's something that will analyze quite a lot, I'm sure. When do you think we'll see Alias Pedersen in the preseason? And also when you look back at training camp, how did he look?

I know they had a scrimmage up there. Did he stand out at all? Yeah, you know, I think the way I described what we needed to see from him in training camp was signs of life, right? So he's not going to come in and be back to Peek Patterson on day one of training camp, but you need to see, you know, that he's put the work in the offseason. You need to see that, you know, he's excited to be there and trying to be diligent in drills and scrimmages. And I thought he was that. You know, the play that jumps out to me in the scrimmage was when the other team,

had the goal he pulled. He hustled in on the forecheck and forced a turnover to set Brock Besser up for the empty net goal. And, you know, that's something you like to see for him. As far as when he gets into the preseason, you know, I'm not sure if he's a guy that would play tomorrow in Abbotsford or not. I know they advertised some people that are going to play in that game. I don't believe he was one of those guys, though. So we'll have to wait and see if that happens. But you would imagine for the top guys that probably want to get at least. two or three preseason games in before the start of the regular season. So maybe it's more likely that fans will get a chance to see him on home ice at Rogers Arena later in the week or next week. But yeah, that's what I would sort of expect.

I guess there's maybe a chance that he would play at Abbotsford, even though he wasn't advertised. And then if not, look to the Friday game as a likely preseason debut for Pedersen, I would imagine, just speculating. Um, just for the record, the guys that have been advertised to play tomorrow in Abbotsford are Tyler Myers, Thatcher Demko, Connor Garland, Marcus Petterson, Niels Holglander, and Philip Heedle. And I only want to add Heedle because, and I actually want to talk about him a little bit, it, he played in Seattle, uh, in the first preseason game. I guess they're really trying to figure out what this guy is for them because, he's such an important part of the team because if he's good, that's awesome.

They got their second line center. If he's not the answer there, well, they got to make a trade or they're just going to be in trouble. Yeah, and I think it is very interesting that he's slated to play the first two preseason games. That probably means that he's going to get into at least four because oftentimes we see like the last preseason. in-game or two are more about getting your roster together and building chemistry and trying to set your lines and maybe there's one or two battles at the bottom of the lineup in terms of guys who are in or out. But for the most part, you know, that's kind of how coaches run the preseason. Obviously, Adam Foote could run it differently than, you know, Rick Talkett

or coaches in the past have. But, yeah, you know, Heedle is an incredibly important player on this team. You know, we spent so much time talking about Elias Pedersen. and not to say the Pedersen's not important. He's very important. But the current lack of depth at center means that Philip Heel has to come in and be a guy that they can rely on to play big minutes, to produce offensively,

to be a guy that can be in the lineup consistently. And so I could absolutely understand wanting to play him a lot early in the preseason, wanting to get him going, wanting to get him feeling comfortable back in the lineup after the amount of time he's missed over the last couple of years. And ultimately, I guess, to test his ability to stay healthy and stay in the lineup. And, you know, not that you're throwing him out there because you want him to get hurt in the preseason,

but you need to know that this guy can, you know, A, understand the areas and situations he has to put himself in to make sure that he doesn't get hurt again, but also that, you know, he can withstand a little bit of physical contact without, you know, without getting hurt again and coming out of the lineup. So, you know, as much as Pedersen's important, Heedl's probably a close second in that forward group because without him, you're looking at a second line center of Atu, Ratu, or Teddy Blugher, or I guess Braden Coots, but I don't know if it's fair to throw the kid into that

situation at 18 years old. So, you know, it's something that, you know, Jim Rutherford said in the press conference last week that, you know, Patrick's got a lot of work to do, right? you know, we're still trying to find a center and Patrick Galvin said we're open for business. So, you know, if an opportunity arises for them to add a center, I think they're going to be very aggressive in doing so. But the fact that they haven't yet means that there's a lot of pressure

on the guys who are going to play center for this team to prove that they can do so in the roles that are being assigned to them and also to prove that they can stay healthy. And that's something that, you know, Philippeal is going to be tested on through the preseason and into the regular season. as well. Batch, what do you think of the comparisons?

I've heard a few of them. Braden Coots, a young Bo Horvad. I can see it, certainly. You know, I think I would be wary of making those comparisons yet, just because the kid's so young, he's played one preseason game. I know people get excited about young players in Vancouver, and I'm not trying to take away any of that excitement. But generally speaking, I think,

think if Brayden Coots makes this team in terms of playing a full season with the Canarks, you know, if he hangs around and gets his nine games or whatever and then they send him back to Junior, that's fine, especially if he earns it through the preseason. But, you know, if he stays in Vancouver beyond the nine games, I think that's maybe more of a reflection of the lack of center ice depth with this team than it is a reflection of Braden Coots. And not trying to take anything away from the kid, I thought he looked great in Seattle the other night. I think he's a very exciting prospect for this team. And, you know, for a team right now that lacks center depth to have a guy like that in the pipeline, uh, is very encouraging and very

exciting. But I would be very wary about bringing this player along quickly. And, um, you know, all of that said, yeah, I think there's a Bo Horvac comparison there. I think he's a guy that has a 200 foot game to him. So he's not just, you know, all offense. He's a, a young guy who we talk to in Penticton and he's already very mature for his age, right? Like no nerves coming on and doing an interview with us and was very thoughtful and spoke very well, I thought. And he shows that confidence out on the ice too. He's had a chance to play with Baines and Sherwood to this point.

So they put him with some veteran experienced professional hockey players. And those will all be good things for him to build his confidence. Ultimately, we'll see how things go for him the next week as things ramp up more in the preseason and more NHLers. get into these games. But yeah, I think he has a very bright future for this team. I just think it would be best for both him and the team if that future is in the future and not in the present. But I'm totally willing to be proven wrong if he, you know, comes in and knocks the door down here at camp and proves that he's ready to be an NHL. I mean, part of the training camp

is falling, and preseason, to be fair, is falling for these sorts of stories is you always get intrigued by the guys that are playing and then training camp ends and everything goes back to normal. That being said, I do want to add, let's stay on the young players' conversation here. There were a bunch of young defensemen who got to play on Sunday in Seattle. It was a, you know, a blue line bereft of NHLers. Which of the young defensemen that maybe have a chance of cracking this roster stood out for you the most, again, in a singular instance, that one game against Seattle? Yeah, I think it was Mancini that stood out the most. Yeah. But he stood out for for good reasons and for bad reasons.

And I think when you heard Adam Foote talk about him after the game and, you know, essentially say, yeah, you know, he was really good. You can see he's powerful. He scored the goal. But then he got a little bit excited and we got to clean up some of his stuff in the neutral zone. I think that's, that's, you know, pretty telling in terms of, yeah, he, you know, I noticed him. He was on the puck all the time. He scored the goal.

He was very involved. But maybe a little bit too high event for what they're looking for from a guy on their third pairing. So, you know, first game of the preseason, not a full NHL roster against you. I think, you know, in terms of what they're looking for, you probably look at Elias Patterson and say, you know, it wasn't a loud game for him. He was pretty quiet. But if you're going to be a third-parent guy night in and night out, there's a lot of nights where they need your game to be quiet. They need you to just be reliable and responsible and make the right play and not get caught and not turn the puck over and not, you know, be in bad situations. So, Mancini is certainly the most noticeable, but in terms of who had the best audition

from the young defenseman with eyes towards making the team and playing a regular shift in the regular season, probably Elias Pedersen for me. Where are the Canucks at with Jonathan Lecker-Macky right now? Yeah, I think it's going to be fascinating to see where he is at practice today because, you know, coming into camp, he was given the opportunity to play on that heedel line. Um, you know, I think it was sat asked me about it last week when I was on with those guys. And I said, yeah, that's a really good opportunity for him, but he has to make the most of that opportunity.

And if he doesn't, then they will move on. But if a young player like Jonathan Leckermackie could come into camp, could prove that he could be a second line winger, could bump Connor to Garland down to a third line role that, yeah, that would be amazing. That would be a best case scenario because the conducts have had the most success in recent years when they've had a play driving third line and Connor Garland was a big part of driving play on that third line. So I understand why you want to look at it, but yet I don't think Leckermackie's ready for

that moment. And I think we saw that based on the fact that he was demoted down the lineup in place of Chase Stillman in the third period of the preseason game the other night. Now, again, maybe we're reading too much into that. And that's why I'll be interested to see what the lines look like today at practice, right? is Lecker Mackey on a Joseph LeBate Nealz-Oam online that looks more like, you know, something we'll see at Abbotsford, or does he get a chance to go back up with Hedel and Kane and see if he can, you know, sort of bounce back from the performance the other night

against the Cracken. But ultimately, I think, you know, the best thing for this player is probably still to go down to the HL, to continue to build out his 200-foot game, to play big minutes, to run a power play to gain some confidence, maybe to get some extra work in off the ice to gain some strength too, because the shortened offseason with Abbotsford winning the Calder Cup probably didn't help him in terms of some of the things that he needs to work on to get stronger and to be in every night NHL player. But ultimately, yeah, the opportunity has been there for him, whether it continues to be there for him coming out of that first preseason game remains to be seen.

Okay, the connects are going to practice out at UBC today. Now, Batch, group A practices at 1030, Group B is at noon, and both sessions will take place on Rink C. Yes, I read that. I'm well informed, I'm ready to go. I'm going to, you know, out here in Port Coquitlam, I basically have to hop in my car after I'm done with you guys in order to get to UBC in time for practice,

so I'll be on the road momentarily. Group A, Group B, Rinksey. Got it? Got it. All right, Bax. Thanks, buddy. Have a good one, bud. Thanks, boys.

Have a good one. Brendan Batchelor, play-by-play voice of the Vancouver Canucks here on the Halford and Brough show on SportsNet, 650. Yeah, that's the practice schedule for today. And a reminder, the Canucks are back in action tomorrow night, Wednesday night, 7 o'clock from the Abbotsford Center. It'll be the Canucks and it'll be the Calgary films. I wonder, Laddie, if Jonathan Huberto will feel like taking part in the game tomorrow. why would you say that so laddie brought this up at the break

there was a little video clip that went viral over the weekend I guess Jonathan Huberto didn't participate in one of the flames skates and then he met with the media the next day and then you know media asked questions like are you hurt is everything okay and he was like

just didn't really feel like skating that's a veteran confidence yeah I just woke up didn't feel like skating I'm not making it up That's exactly what he said I just didn't feel like it Yeah yeah I appreciate the honesty

How much is he owed again? 10.5 million dollars Oh wow Can we can we do that? Yeah Can we just texting Canada Like I woke up It was pretty early

Getting getting darker and darker Didn't feel like it Not feeling it today I've decided 430 wakeups Not for me Yeah And I as a as a as a an older member of the media now

I have to be mindful of that I have to be mindful of my recovery and if I wake up and I'm just not feeling it like it's more it's less about me it's more about the team for sure you know like I do wonder though I do wonder when and I don't know if you're already there I'm still of

like I'm in that grind set you know it's like you got to go you got to show up but you got to take care of your body too see that that is you get older you start to realize like even the calm and cold could kill you would Andrew Lutz? What did Andrew Latsy yesterday? You can't grind through everything.

You can't grind through everything. At a certain point, like you can't hard work everything away. Yeah. And at a certain point, yeah. Like, I just kind of been the story of our careers, right? It's just the hard work. You just show up. Like, you know, yeah, yes, yes, a lot of naps.

Yeah. A lot of naps. I have long said that your best ability is availability. You got to be there. You got to get out of the tub, right? You can't be like Vueytec, Volskiy and Juntzzi. Tortorale. You got to get out of the tub. Oh, by the way, that reminds me, I can't make the meeting today. I have a nap. Okay. But aside from that, like, I have a bath schedule.

But, you know, the reason I bring up the age thing is that this is, this is, you were no NHL or would. But there is a certain point in your NHL career where you're like, yeah, I'm not doing that today. And then everyone laughs and claps. Good for you, Jonathan. It is, it's a nice point to hit in your career. The problem is you can't do it without, like, you know, and I think it's mostly just like the usual internet comments underneath and you brought one up you're like how much is this guy making

as if there's any correlation but he's obviously it's one day and it's at the beginning of training camp where nobody cares but optics matter that's always going to hang in the balance I like the one guy that like hates his job and he's like I'll go to work every day because I have to

I was like oh that sucks for you anyway big interview coming up the CFL Commissioner the day after announcing some very big changes to the CFL rules and rules that have these changes have been very polarizing and Stuart Johnston the commissioner of the CFL has actually agreed to come on our show and talk about them we've talked to Commissioner Johnston before but that was when he was fresh face the new Commissioner. Now he is very much under the gun and his guidance is going to be monitored after

these announcements and he's got some explaining to do. So explain on the other side of Halford and Brough on SportsNet 650. Before we go to break, I need to tell you about Jan Pro from warehouses to washrooms and everywhere in between Janpro keeps workplaces tidy, clean, and disinfected for a free quote. Visit them online at janpro.ca. Hey, it's Big Nazar. Have your say and join me on the people's show with big takes and even bigger bets, weekdays 3 to 4 on Sportsnet 650, or wherever you get to podcast. Our game must continue to evolve and modernize for our players, our fans, and our partners. Today, we announce a significant step towards achieving our vision for the future of the CFL.

732 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. Halford Brough of the morning is brought to by Sands and Associates. Only a licensed insolvency trustee can cut your debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees. To learn how, visit sands dash trustee.com. We are in our two of the program. We're at the midway point of the show. That voice you just heard, that of CFL Commissioner Stuart Johnson.

Stuart Johnson's going to join us in just a moment here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet, 650. The hour two of this program is brought to by Jason Hominock at jason.orgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at Jason. DotMorgage. To the Power West Industries Hotline, we go. Our next guest is the commissioner of the Canadian Football League.

Stuart Johnson, here now live on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Good morning. Stuart, how are you? Good morning. I'm doing great things. How are you? We're good. Thank you for taking the time to do this.

Let's start with the big picture question about the changes announced yesterday to the Canadian Football League. What were the main ideas, Stuart, behind these changes? Well, I think we were looking to really focus on the entertainment value of our game. We've got such a fabulous game. The CFL brand of football is amazing. And we're having a wonderful season. Scoring is up, and we've had some outstanding finishes. And for me, when things are going well, is exactly when you.

think, how can we expose this even more? And so the spark really came from, I would say the one change that really sparked almost all of them was moving the uprights to the back of the end zone. And what that will do to allow, A, a better presentation of our game by taking an obstruction out of the middle of our most important part of the field, but also we think encourage a lot more throwing across the middle because all our data shows us that 80% of all passes into the end zone are to the sides and only 20% are over the middle. And we want to encourage more, more opportunity to score touchdowns. Have you reached out to Nathan Rourke at all? I'm curious

what you thought about his comments yesterday. And I guess the other question that you can touch Sean, if you would, is why didn't you consult the players with this stuff? Well, I'll start by saying, Nathan Rourke is a top superstar in our league and an important voice in our league. And on a personal note, you know, well before I came into this position, I was just a fan. I was a fan his first time around in the league. And when he went down south, I was almost obsessed with cheering him on from afar, hoping he'd get that opportunity to shine like I was absolutely certain he would. And then, of course, I certainly love having them back in the league

and having a historic season like he is. So it's important for me to really reach out to Nathan because I think we should chat. like he was responding in the moment he is absolutely entitled to his opinion um i think some of the things may you know maybe there's some misunderstandings i do wonder you know some of the reaction that seems to be focused on hey is this a step towards americanizing our game and um i got to say i was taken a little aback by that uh and and in in second thought i guess i shouldn't have been but the reason I was taken aback is because nothing could have been

further from our thoughts as we worked through this. We actually don't think there's anything here that points to an Americanization of our game. The only, only thing that's the same is uprights at the back. And that's it.

Our field will be 33% bigger than an NFL-sized field. And all those amazing rules that keep our, that are definers, I would think of our game, number of downs, width of the field, 12 players,

motion, yard off the ball, all of that's there. So I, you know, I was taken aback and maybe part of that was kind of leaking into some thought process with Nathan just in the first reaction. And, you know, I also would say

that I get it. As someone who's been a fan of this league before he was commissioner of this league, I was also one of those fans who put my shoulders back and defended the CFL on any type of comparison against the NFL and that sort of thing. And so I get it. We all have, I think, a little bit of history in that, all of us who've been fans of the league. And I think that bubbled up a little bit. So why weren't the players consulted on these rule changes?

And who was consulted? Well, we had a team of a number of football operations experts, people who've been around involved with this league for an awful long time. We had stats. We had data analytics. We had communications in PR and we had some other operations folks from the team that they're more involved in scheduling and such. So it was a tight group, but it was all the right expertise. to work through the proposals and understand what it is our recommendations would be. And you can imagine that on topics like this, we've seen the reaction in the last 48 hours. They're pretty sensitive. They're pretty sensational.

And when you expand the circle too large, obviously there's more chance for just to get out in a lot of discussion that happens before you've even come to what you're recommending, let alone a decision. So we felt very strong that we had the right minds in the room, working through it, doing the analysis, all the background work, and then ultimately recommending it to our Board of Governors and the board unanimously approved these changes with absolute enthusiasm. I think there's a lot of skepticism about intentions

and whether that's fair or not to you, I'm not really here to say, but I can tell you in our text inbox, there's a lot of people that are worried that this league is at some point not going to be uniquely Canadian. And I'm just wondering if you could speak a little bit more about that and maybe touch on the partnership between MLSC

and the Buffalo Bills that came out a couple of weeks ago. And maybe just a little bit more on MLSC because I think there's maybe there's some paranoia about that group because, you know, people hear that they want the NFL at MLSC. They've already got the NBA, the NHL, et cetera. I know I'm throwing a lot at you here, but I'm sure it's nothing you can't handle. Well, thank you. And no problem. I'll try. If I miss any pieces, let me just point me back to them.

But I'll try and take those one at a time. first off I get it you said skepticism you also said you know something along the lines of fear I think there is some some fear and and I get it I understand it I hope I can reassure your listeners

and CFL fans across the country that not there were no other rules that were under consideration as we worked through this this was it this is the package we are super excited about other things we're working on. Some of them are little, you know, grind away bit by bit ideas.

Some are a little bit larger, but they aren't about the rules. And there is not one percent of my brain that is looking at other rules or affecting what I think is the Canadian uniqueness of our game. That's it. This is it. It's all we were considering, and we're moving forward. We hope we've got lots of exciting announcements coming, but they aren't about that. That is not our focus.

It's not in anyone's intention. And so, you know, I'll leave it at that. And then MLSC's announcement with the bills was absolutely, of course, unrelated to us. Timing was close, but unrelated. And I think MLSC's done a great job in describing that relationship is, you know, the Buffalo bills through NFL policy have the GTA, the Greater Toronto area, as an international market that they are encouraged to market too. And they're excited by that.

And there's nothing to stop the Buffalo bills from coming into Toronto and a market that's significantly bigger than Buffalo and looking to grow the game of football and grow fandom for the Buffalo Bills. And I think MLSC has done an outstanding job in describing, hey, the Buffalo Bills are coming in to market football. Why not do it together instead of perhaps in a competitive fashion?

So, you know, now it's bills and Argos marketing clinics to youth in Toronto. And frankly, I'm so interested in growing the game of football at the youth level and so excited about the growth and explosion of popularity of flag football. The more partners we have

focused on that, the better. I just want as many footballs in the hands of young people because they will fall in love with the sport and then they will fall in love with CFL. We're speaking to CFL Commissioner Stuart Johnson here on the Halford & Brough Show

on SportsNet 650. Stuart, you mentioned timing there. I am curious. Why did you guys decided the CFL that the timing to do this announcement was now, as in yesterday, or a month away from the end of the regular season. There's players and coaches that are focused right now on the playoffs, which will start on November 1st and jockeying for those playoffs. Why did you guys decide the timing was right for now to make this announcement? We were working on this for, we've been working on this for a number of months. And we got it in front of the board. The board

approved it unanimously. And at that point, you would decide why would we sit on it? This is a decision that has been made. It's been well thought through. It's been measured and thoughtful. We're excited, extremely excited about where it can go. And we have some major infrastructure projects in front of us as we consider moving goalposts, building footings, working with our turf, giving a year and a half's notice to start working on that seemed appropriate. It also allows amateur football a year and a half to think about what it is

that we've done at the professional level and whether it's something they want to emulate at the amateur level and we felt that was a reasonable time to give with a year and a half before we start. So a number of reasons and frankly we're working on a lot of things at the league office

and this isn't the last you're going to hear from us. It is we here here to elevate and expose our game and enshrine the CFL as a major league professional sports property in North America and that's what we're going for and that's the you know that that's what you're going to hear from us um I'm curious in in your listening tour how do you get more younger fans of of the game because there's a

demographics challenge there and the NFL is a big monster and uh you know there's a lot of young kids who like the NFL, but they don't necessarily follow the CFL in Canada. I'm sure these rule changes are part of it, but there's got to be more, right? There's no one single answer to that question. These rule changes are intended to elevate the entertainment value of the CFL. We think more touchdowns are going to be scored, where they're going to be scored on an unobstructed viewpoint, and the touchdowns are some of our greatest highlights or interceptions in the end zone

are some of our greatest highlights to share through social and push out and gain recognition and win the fight in the attention economy. So we think that's going to be a help, but certainly not the full and complete answer. It's multi-part. It is how are we positioning our league

from a marketing promotion standpoint? How are we working on our in-stadium experience? what is our what is the tailgating that that's that's being put in place in and around our stadiums what is the what areas are we how are we growing the game of football with with the youth so that they when they get to learn the game play the game and fall in love with the game that will translate them wanting to watch and come to a game it's all all of those things together there's there's no one answer this is a big job in front of us and i i'm incredibly excited because We have the nucleus to win this. It's called the Canadian Football League. This is, we have it. We just, you know, we got to take all those steps and execute well to get us there. Keith Pelley was kind of hinting on this, hinting at this idea on a radio program yesterday.

And he was talking about how there's kind of three buckets of fans. There's the hardcore fans. There's the bandwagon jumpers. And then there's the people that go to the games. just to be seen because it's the cool thing to do. There are some markets in the CFL where the CFL is a cool thing, but I know it's not in BC and it's not in Toronto. And for those people that are listening and saying,

hey, I think it's cool, I think I'm cool. You know, the definition of the cool factor would be when the Canucks are good and people go just to be because it's like the cool thing to do and you want to be seen at these games and it's a status thing. How can you get the CFL to that point? Is that something that you focus on? Well, I don't know if I'm focused very specifically on status seekers who would find, you know, find it just a cool to be seen. I certainly want everyone to think our sport is cool.

I do. And I think there are definitely significant number of fans in both of those markets who'd say, hey, we feel like we're a cool. and we do love the game and we have a great time at the stadium. When I think about Vancouver and what Amar has done there with Dwayne, I mean, I'm so impressed the investment they put in. They have created a really nice experience outside. The stadium feels great when you're there. So look, I think it's one step at a time,

but I really like the steps that have been taken. Yeah, no, Amar Dolman, for the record, has done an unbelievable job. the Snoop Dog concert was a lot of fun and one of the funniest things I've ever seen also. And he's got a great arm. I couldn't believe in throwing those football. He's a football guy. He's a football guy.

Yeah, he threw to the upper deck. That was pretty impressive. It was. Why were you unwilling to guarantee that the CFL will never go to four downs? Those are absolute terms, right? Guarantee and never. I just don't speak,

that way. But what I can say is that I have, I and we have no intention of even thinking about that, let alone enacting anything on that. So it is, it is, I just, if I could reassure everyone that these changes were simply making the canvas that we play on, which is 33% bigger than an NFL size field, that much more open for the great CFL game that we have, that's what we are aiming to achieve and we're excited and think that's what we will achieve.

It's taking our CFL game that is so entertaining and allowing it to be exposed in an even cooler fashion. And then from there, again, I'm working on other parts of the business. So I don't know anyone who can say absolutely. in this world, in any industry. Do I think it's going to happen? Absolutely not. I don't see that happening.

I just don't speak in absolutes. Are you and the Board of Governors surprised by the response, good, bad, and otherwise that you've gotten? Or was this pretty much what you expected? I think this is probably what we expected. We expected a number of folks who kind of watch that video we put out and said, oh, yeah, that seems logical. That's, you know, there's a lot of common sense there.

And then a lot of folks, you know, who struggle, who just struggle with the concepts or didn't like them, which is their opinion. And that's fine. What we tried to do in my words, but who cares about listening to me. But if you watch that four-minute video, we really tried to walk through the logic and the background that led to the decisions and hope that people, and recognize that's just what it was. And change, you know, change, there's no human being that's comfortable with change. Not maybe babies with a wet diaper. They like change.

Yeah. But outside of that, nobody. So I totally get, you know, it's going to take some time to digest. And I'm here to talk to you and talk to any fans and talk about exactly what I've said today and what I said yesterday and what that video says is this is about the entertainment value of the game. Stuart, this was great. Thank you very much for taking the time to do this today. We really appreciate

I know it's been a busy last 48 hours and it sounds like there's going to be some busy hours ahead as well. So the next time you have a major announcement feel free to do it on our show. We're always here. Sounds good. We'll do. Thanks. Appreciate it. That's Stuart Johnson, Commissioner of the Canadian Football League here on the Halford and Brough Show on SportsNet

650. So we may, I actually cut it a little bit short because we may as well address a couple things here. One, I do not think in our time at SportsNet 650, not a CFL rights holder, not a station or an entity that talks about the Canadian Football League a lot. I don't think we've ever spoken as much

CFL in a singular show before and we have never, I can guarantee it, received as much feedback as we have this morning. The Dunbar Lumber text message in basket at 650, 650 is jammed, loaded, continual waterfall of text coming in about these rule changes.

On one hand, I say, that's amazing for the league. In the no bad publicity vein, this conversation has absolutely helped and amplified the Canadian Football League. That being said, there are a lot of angry people. There are a lot of angry people. I think a lot of it is misguided. I think a lot of you out there right now with the geopolitical climate and your concerns and fears and worries about being Americanized have really projected that onto this. Now, maybe we're just being naive.

Maybe I think that this really is about the entertainment value of the league and trying to make the on-field product better. And it's not the first step down a slippery slope of, well, now we're the NFL junior. I believe that. But there's a ton of skepticism right now out there that that's what's happening. Okay. So those of you that have been listening to this show for a while know that we're not a show that just agrees with authority, agrees with commissioners just because they're the commissioner. The previous CFL Commissioner, I had some interviews that were a little testy with, and I wasn't afraid to tell him that I don't agree with his ideas.

So I just wanted to throw that out there because, you know, I do think about these things and I do have opinions on these things, and I'm not afraid to share my opinion just because someone disagrees with me if they're in a position of power. I'm okay with these changes. I really don't see this as a slippery slope situation. Why do you hate Canada? Where you're getting closer to the American game or trying to become the American game.

I think that the commissioner has a very strong broadcast background. And a lot of these people in broadcasting see the game very, you know, it's all visual. right? And I think for example the field goals being in the end zone for a broadcaster it's a bit of an end it's a bit of an eyesore to have that and he's talking about like you know even being in the stadium and there are sometimes where you have to kind of like crane your neck around the goalposts in order to see the

play he doesn't want that I think this is about making it cleaner for the broadcast and not like, hey, why does that end zone look different than the other end zone? And like that doesn't look good. Let me jump in here. Okay. So there was a play in BC this year that went viral. It was the Robert Carter Jr. pick against the Thai cats, right?

Remember that one? The amazing one-handed grab that he made in the end zone? I have talked to enough people. Actually, they referenced this in the rule change layout yesterday. There are a lot of people that said the league. was furious because there were multiple camera angles where the catch of the year was impeded by the goalposts. And if you look at the stills that they put out at CFL.ca.

It's very interesting. There's this amazing play that you should be splashing over every platform, web, social, or otherwise. And the big, dumb goalposts in front of it. And several camera angles were impeded by the goalposts. That is, folks, the most clear-cut, straightforward example of what he's talking about moving an impediment an impediment whatever you want to call it but also with real time examples and this isn't just something that they

dreamed up and they can't point like part of the ambrose experience was pointing to a bunch of pie in the sky ideas that were never based in reality yes this is very much like this was a play that you guys in bc will remember yeah and it's the kind of play that gets you and I, whether you think this is important or not, it gets you on ESPN or on Sunday night football or like, look what's happening. Or on sports net. Or whatever.

And there's something to be said for it. You can disagree with it. But it's based around real life, real time experiences that the league saw and said, that's a problem with our entertainment product that we need to fix. They didn't look at the Robert Carter Jr. pick and say, how can we Americanize this more?

How can we make this less Canadian? So for the record, we asked to have Nathan Rourke on the show today, and the BC line said, no. But we do have. But we're going to try next week. Okay. And I will try every week until they say yes. And you know what?

I will be curious. He ain't talking again about the rules. I will be curious to see if anything comes out about a conversation between the commissioner and Nathan Rourke. because I asked him if he'd spoken to him. He didn't say yes or no, but he suggested that I think I need to have a conversation with Nathan Rourke, and I think he does. So maybe by the time we do have Nathan Rourke on the show,

they will have a conversation and maybe Nathan Rourke will, I don't know, rethink or not rethink his opinions. Ryan Rigg-Baden, the general manager of the BC lines, is coming up next to chat on the Halford, Rob show on Sportsnet 650. Before we go to break, I need to tell you about, oh, that's right, the BC Lions. It's another season of hard hits, heated rivalries, and goalposts in the end zone.

Also nonstop entertainment. For tickets, visit BCLions.com and get ready to roar as one.