Would CFL Representation in Madden Video Games Series Help the League?

The Canadian Football League (CFL) is the top tier of men’s professional football (not soccer) in Canada, and the upcoming 2025 season is scheduled to get underway on June 6 when the Saskatchewan Roughriders take on the Ottawa Redblacks at the Mosaic Stadium. 

The question being asked here is, would a better representation of the CFL in Madden video games help the league grow and raise its global profile? Let’s dive straight in to find out. 

Is it possible to play Canadian Football League (CFL) teams in the Madden video games?

Yes. PlayStation 5 users with the Madden 25 sports simulation video game can now play CFL football teams. In other words, PS5 players can go against teams like the Toronto Argonauts (the current reigning champions), the Ottawa Redblacks (who drafted Nick Mardner in last year’s draft), the Hamilton Tiger-Cars, and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. 

According to reports, discussions did take place about a Canadian Football League mode for NCAA Football between an EA executive and the CFL commissioner, but nothing ever materialized.

However, Madden 25 only includes a Team Builder gameplay feature, which essentially lets players customize their own team’s roster, field, uniforms, program, and brand.

This begs the question, would better representation in the Madden video games help the CFL grow? The short answer is yes: decent representation in the world’s most popular American football video game series would have a significant impact on helping the CFL grow. 

How would better representation in Madden video games help the CFL grow?

If the CFL had a standalone game dedicated to this league, its direct competitor would be the Madden video games, and the games probably wouldn’t stand a chance. 

Therefore, from a business point of view, it makes much better sense for the CFL to collaborate with EA to seek better representation via the Madden video games. 

Having a dedicated game mode with full CFL teams, players, brands, stadiums, fields, and so on in such a successful football video game would dramatically increase visibility and help the league appeal to newer, younger audiences. 

It would help generate more interest in the CFL but take nothing away from the National Football League (NFL). 

How could the iGaming sector help the CFL grow?

A CFL-themed online slot machine developed by a top-tier, market-leading software provider would also help the league tap into new audiences. For example, people resident in Canada searching for new online casino sites by category to play feature-rich online slots who aren’t familiar with the Canadian Football League would now have exposure to the league and might be more inclined to learn more about it. 

Similarly, if online sportsbooks had more betting markets (pre-match and in-play betting markets) available with more highly competitive odds, and if they decided to live-stream those CFL matches, it would give massive exposure to the league. 

How else would better representation in the Madden video games help the CFL?

Here are some of the main reasons why either a high-quality CFL video game from a major gaming company or better representation in the Madden video games from EA would help boost the league’s popularity and potentially help increase revenue:

• Better representation in the Madden video games would increase the CFL’s visibility and exposure 
• Increased visibility could attract newer, younger fans and generate more interest in the league
• Existing fans of the Canadian Football League who enjoy playing Madden video games would benefit from increased engagement in the video game AND their favorite football league
• There could even be a niche sector in eSports to have a professional CFL video game league/tournament/competition, further boosting exposure, attracting attention, and shining a light on the league
• It could also act as an education tool to teach players who aren’t familiar with the CFL pretty much everything there is to know about it, such as gameplay mechanics, CFL rules, teams, players, venues, and so on, which would be a great way to ease new fans into the league

Why not just make a dedicated CFL video game?

Making a video game dedicated entirely to the CFL wouldn’t make sense. The main reason for this is that, compared to the NFL, the CFL fan base is much smaller. 

In other words, developers would have to justify the costs associated with making a high-end CFL video game and already consider that it would be nowhere near as successful as the Madden video game franchise. It would struggle to compete against Madden NFL games, which already have a huge and loyal fan base. 

Even if the marketing strategies to reach potential players in Canada and across the globe were successful, estimated sales of such a game would be too low to make it worth producing in the first place. 

The best strategy to help grow the CFL’s profile at home and abroad would be to partner with companies like EA that brought us the Madden video games and simply create a more engaging CFL gameplay mode. 

They could also focus on growing new online communities by leveraging multiplayer features and socially interactive online communication tools that would encourage and enable like-minded CFL fans to engage with each other and meet new people. 

Final thoughts

The market for a Canadian Football League-inspired video game has never been better. However, if a standalone game is made, it would never compare to the Madden NFL games that are already available and could end up being a marketing disaster. 

If the league does get much better representation in future Madden video game releases, and the CFL continues to expand, there could very well come a day when an official CFL game to rival the Madden video games becomes a reality. We will just have to wait and see what happens over the coming years.