The Canadian Football League announced a series of new broadcast agreements Thursday, extending its longstanding partnership with Bell Media while adding a subscription-based streaming partner in DAZN that will carry one game per week to the league’s domestic audience, beginning with the 2027 season.
Bell Media will remain the host broadcaster for roughly three quarters of the regular season with TSN continuing Thursday and Friday Night Football telecasts, all but two of nine playoff games, and continue as the exclusive broadcaster of the Grey Cup.
Both TSN and RDS began airing CFL games during the 1980s and Bell Media has been the league’s exclusive broadcaster since 2008.
In addition to carrying one game per week to Canadian audiences, DAZN will carry the full slate of CFL games to audiences in more than 200 countries beyond the U.S. and Canada.
The league also announced it has entered into a business agreement with YouTube to air all CFL preseason games and other live content.
While figures for the deal were not announced, the CFL stated in a release that the deals represent the greatest media valuation in league history and are believed to together represent a significant overall increase in revenue from its current exclusive deal with Bell Media, which expires after this season.
All the agreements are for a term of six years.
“These record-setting agreements mark a transformative moment for the CFL,” said CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston in a release sent out by the league Thursday morning. “They reflect the deep passion of our powerful fanbase and the accelerating momentum of our league. We are thrilled to be aligning ourselves with Bell Media, Canada’s leading media entertainment company, DAZN, the world’s leading sports entertainment platform, and YouTube, the world’s largest video platform. Together, they will unlock new CFL audiences, deliver worldclass entertainment and put the CFL in prime position for its next era of growth.”
Johnston, a former TSN president who has sat on the other side of the negotiating table with the CFL, was hired just over a year ago with the understanding that new broadcast deals would be a high priority.
With higher broadcast revenues starting in 2027, the CFL’s salary cap – currently at $6.28 million – is expected to jump meaningfully for the 2028 season, based on the formula agreed to between the league and its players.
The new broadcast agreements mark the third significant announcement of Johnston’s leadership.
Last September, the league announced a series of rule changes that are being introduced this season and next, while last month it brought forward a new playoff format that will go into effect in 2027.
