BREAKING: CFL targets August 5th for season start date, Grey Cup moved to December

The CFL said on Wednesday morning they are intending to start the 2021 regular season August 5th.

BREAKING: The CFL regular season has a revised target start date of August 5th and the #GreyCup has been re-scheduled to December 12th in Hamilton, Ontario

— CFL (@CFL) April 21, 2021

The Grey Cup has been re-scheduled to December 12th in Hamilton. The average daytime high in Hamilton in early December is about +1 C with the average low around -5 C.

League Commissioner Randy Ambrosie said on Wednesday they are referring to it as a “target start date” because plans are subject to the state of COVID-19 across the country at that time.

The CFL says for the season to begin on their target date two things need to happen.

The approval of public health officials across the country of our plans for protecting the health of our players, coaches, and ultimately our fans, so a 2021 season is safe.

Along with permission from governments to host a significant number of fans in the stands, in a significant number of venues at the start of the season, and in the rest of our venues soon after that, so a season is financially tenable for our clubs.

The season was originally scheduled to start June 10th.

Saskatchewan Roughriders President and CEO Craig Reynolds, will be speaking to reporters at 12:15 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. We’ll have updates on that news conference later Wednesday afternoon.