Christian Bender/CFL.ca
TORONTO — If you’re a die-hard CFL fan, now it might finally feel like the holidays are upon us.
The CFL’s schedule release fits nicely into the month of December, giving fans some football to look forward to — and maybe tickets to gift to one another — and can get the festive ball rolling early in the month.
This year’s schedule is loaded with interesting little gems spread out through each team’s 21-week run. While subscribers to the CFL Newsletter just might see something geared to their specific loyalties land in their inbox shortly, here’s a higher up view of five games that caught our attention and that we’ll be clearing our schedules for when the new season arrives.
You never know what a CFL off-season entails and the change that it can bring, but as we see things right now, these are the five games that we’re most interested in seeing in 2024.
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The Montreal Alouettes and Winnipeg Blue Bombers take us into the 2024 CFL season when they meet at IG Field (Minas Panagiotakis/CFL.ca)
A GREY CUP REMATCH IN WEEK 1
The 2024 season kicks off in Winnipeg, where the Blue Bombers and Alouettes pick up from where they left off in the 110th Grey Cup.
It will have been almost seven months since the Als topped the Bombers for that Grey Cup win. Week 1 of the season could stand to open up the wounds that the off-season might have healed for the Bombers. For the Alouettes, they’ll open their season in a hostile environment which will force them to start their Grey Cup title defence with a tough opponent.
While the game isn’t in Montreal — the Als’ home opener and banner raising comes at Molson Stadium in Week 3 — it’s nice to see the season kickoff with the last two teams standing from the year prior.
Interestingly enough, these teams will meet again 20 weeks later in Montreal to close out their respective regular seasons.
A CHANCE TO EXORCISE DEMONS
The 2023 season was a dream for Chad Kelly, until it turned into a nightmare. The 16-2 regular season record and his Most Outstanding Player win were left feeling hollow after the Als stunned the Argos in the Eastern Final. The coming season will be viewed by many as how Kelly and the Argos respond to the disappointment that soured such a dominant showing in 2023. Week 4 will provide a great test when the Als return to BMO Field on June 28. If visions of an end zone-bound Marc-Antoine Dequoy have haunted Kelly’s dreams, this game is a great opportunity to exorcise some demons.
Bo Levi Mitchell is slated to get his long-awaited return to McMahon Stadium in Week 1 of the 2024 season (Kevin Sousa/CFL.ca)
OLD HAUNTS (FINALLY) GET RE-VISITED
Last year’s schedule missed a couple of high profile return scenarios. Bo Levi Mitchell didn’t get a chance to go back to Calgary as a member of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2023, while Jason Maas and Cody Fajardo didn’t get to re-visit Mosaic Stadium as members of the Montreal Alouettes. Both of those are taken care of this season, with one served up in quick order. Mitchell and the Ticats are slated to visit McMahon Stadium in Week 1, as the Stamps host the Ticats in the first Friday Night Football game of the season.
In Week 11, Maas and Fajardo — the Riders’ former offensive coordinator and starting quarterback, respectively — make their return to Riderville, after the Riders opted to part ways with both at the conclusion of the 2022 season. Both Maas and Fajardo are likely more than OK with their prolonged return. Touching down in Regina with a Grey Cup ring adds a different dynamic to what might have otherwise been an awkward trip.
LIONS-BOMBERS ROUND 3
We’ll call this pick a hunch, based on how this past season played out. The Lions and the Bombers had one of the most interesting regular season series in the league in 2023. They traded lopsided wins in their first two meetings, then had an overtime classic in their third. That Bombers’ OT win paved the way for them to win the West Division and host the Western Final, where they rolled past the Lions to make their fourth consecutive Grey Cup appearance.
The stakes won’t be as high in 2024, with these two teams meeting three times in the first 11 weeks of the season. That doesn’t mean that their regular season series won’t pack a similar punch. What could be the rubber band match falls on Aug. 18 at BC Place. It’s a game that falls in the middle of the season, but could carry a lot of playoff implications.
TOUCHDOWN PACIFIC
The CFL’s Touchdown Series shifts west for the first time, with the OK Tire Labour Day Weekend kicking off with the Touchdown Pacific game between the Ottawa REDBLACKS and the BC Lions. For anyone that made it out to the maritimes for any of the Touchdown Atlantic games, you’ll know that these weekends have felt like a mini-Grey Cup week.
Fans from across the country have gotten in the habit of taking advantage of these neutral site games, many of them building vacations around the trip to get there. We’re banking on similar vibes on the other side of the country, in Victoria, BC. Sure, it’ll be a home-away-from-home game for the Lions, but the festive atmosphere will provide the most unique environment that a CFL fan will find in 2024.
