| Date | Game | Time | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| May 27 | Toronto @ Ottawa* | 7:30p | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| May 27 | Edmonton @ Winnipeg | 8:30p | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| May 28 | BC @ Calgary | 4p | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| May 28 | Montréal @ Hamilton | 7p | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| May 31 | Winnipeg @ Saskatchewan* | 8:30p | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| June 3 | Ottawa @ Montréal* | 7p | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| June 3 | Hamilton @ Toronto | 7:30p | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| June 3 | Calgary @ Edmonton | 9p | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| June 3 | Saskatchewan @ BC* | 10p | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| All times Eastern. * TSN broadcasts should be available on ESPN+. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2022 CFL preseason was supposed to be a return to normal. There was no 2020 season. The 2021 season started late without a preseason. The play on the field suffered as a result.
The brief strike, the first for the league since 1974, made fans feel uncomfortable about talking about football until a settlement was reached with the CFL and CFLPA.
We have a relatively normal 2022 CFL preseason, though the Winnipeg vs. Saskatchewan game, set up for the end of the long weekend, gets pushed back a week to a Tuesday night.
We almost feel like we have to explain the CFL version of a preseason schedule. The league hasn't had preseason games since 2019. So long ago.
Each team plays 2 preseason games: home and road. Games reside within the division so no crossovers.
This should come as a shock: not every preseason game is televised. The CFL approach feels very different if you are used to the NFL approach.
The recent pattern has been to give all the TSN crews a chance to do a single game. The TSN games should be on ESPN+ in the States. The Winnipeg-Saskatchewan game was scheduled to be televised.
The CFL contract with TSN and RDS likely doesn't allow for local channels to produce the other preseason games.
For the first time in awhile, the Toronto Argonauts home preseason game is at night. The Argos are training at the University of Guelph and will play the Tiger-Cats in Guelph. You might recall that Hamilton played its home games in Guelph in 2013 while Tim Hortons Field was under construction.
The Argos had played recent home preseason games at Varsity Stadium at the University of Toronto in the daytime at 11 am. Varsity Stadium has hosted more Grey Cup games than any other structure in Canada.
If I lived in Toronto, I would have found a way to sit at Varsity Stadium and watch a 11 am Toronto Argonauts preseason game. The Boston Red Sox play a 11 am baseball game on Patriots Day. That would be so cool.
The CFL should make a Victoria Day game part of the preseason in future years. The prairie teams were scheduled for Victoria Day, which is Monday. Quite a few people who bought tickets for that game will need their money back, given the rescheduling.
2019 CFL preseason schedule
CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage
If you checked the CFL preseason schedule some time ago, there are changes from last month.
The regular season is scheduled to start June 9. Let's hope for a relatively uneventful CFL season where the excitement is only on the field.
logo credit: TSN/CFL
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