2017 CFL season
The 2017 CFL season will be the 64th season of modern Canadian professional football. Officially, it is the 60th season of the league. Ottawa is scheduled to host the 105th Grey Cup on November 26. If the usual pattern of a 20-week regular season plus three weeks of playoffs (including the Grey Cup) holds, the season will start on or about June 22, 2017.
CFL News in 2017
Salary cap
According to the new collective bargaining agreement, the 2017 salary cap will be set at $5,150,000. As per the agreement, the cap is fixed and will not vary with league revenue performance. The minimum team salary will be set at $4,550,000 with individual minimum salaries set at $53,000.[1]
Saskatchewan Roughriders new stadium
After spending 95 years at the site of their old stadium, Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field, the Saskatchewan Roughriders will be moving into a brand new facility, also called Mosaic Stadium, for the 2017 season. The stadium will have a fixed seating capacity of approximately 33,000 that is expandable to 40,000 for special events like the Grey Cup. The design of the stadium was unveiled on May 22, 2014 with the official groundbreaking ceremony being held on June 16, 2014.[2][3] Mosaic Stadium was declared "substantially completed" on August 31, 2016 and a test event featuring a football game between the Regina Rams and Saskatchewan Huskies was held on October 1, 2016.[4][5] The stadium was built for approximately $278 million with the city of Regina providing $73 million, the Saskatchewan provincial government providing a grant of $80 million and a loan of $100 million, and the Roughriders paying the rest.[6] Unlike stadium delays in Winnipeg and Hamilton, Saskatchewan will almost certainly meet its planned opening date of June 2017, seeing that test events have already been successfully held.
Front office changes
On November 7, 2016, the Montreal Alouettes released their 21-year general manager and sometime Vice-President and head coach Jim Popp after two disappointing seasons in a row. Popp joined the then brand-new Baltimore Stallions organization in 1994, and contributed to the revived Montreal team's current three Grey Cup championships and eight East Division titles over his tenure as general manager.[7]
References
Canadian football portal