What Might the XFL-CFL Merger Mean for Canadian Football?  

What Might the XFL-CFL Merger Mean for Canadian Football? 

Rumours were confirmed by XFL owner Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson that a merger, or at least a partnership, with the CFL was being discussed. The early assumption is that the major motivation behind the merger is mutual stability. It would enable the leagues to pool together resources, share each other’s foundation. The growth potential is another area which has sparked some debate by fans of both leagues. The CFL has a long heritage and wants to grow its international profile, so a merger or partnership with XFL – a sports brand which is known as one of the more innovative in the market because of their willingness to experiment with rule changes to achieve their goals – could put them on the path towards their long-term vision.  

CFL Change 

Whether the talks are about a partnership or merger is important to the immediate image of both the XFL and CFL. A merger changes both leagues and makes them a single product, a single entity. A partnership, however, would likely see both keep their leagues as they are, in essence, but the partnership would introduce policies to ensure financial support for both, as well as the sharing of knowledge for how best to get the most out of the on-field sport. However, either way, it looks like the CFL is set to change more than the XFL will. 

CFL fans are worried about this potential change. The league and the Canadian football variant has deep traditions which make it stand apart from American football. It’s its own thing. Change, dramatic or subtle, will always face resistance, especially when the product is entrenched in an identity.  

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What Could Change? 

Losing the Canadian-ness of the CFL means a couple of things. Canadian football’s on-field play and appearance differs in obvious and key ways. The field and team size are different, for instance. The CFL has bigger fields and bigger teams. A team is required to move the ball 10 yards in three downs in the CFL, rather than four. The timer for a play to commence is shorter too. Players behind the ball on offense can be in motion before a snap in the CFL and there’s no fair catches. 

In essence, the CFL plays faster and more aggressively than American football due to time constraints. The XFL itself has dabbled in speeding up play and generating more action on the field, so it could be that the XFL takes on more from the CFL than vice versa. However, the CFL will still make concessions. After they’ve continually lost out on talent to American leagues, namely the XFL last season, the upside is that better talent, due to the ability for franchises to offer higher salaries, could see Canadian fans watching stars play from their team.