Over the last three decades, there has regularly been discussion of removing the Canadian Football League’s primary differentiating rule of three downs rather than four. This came up around the short-lived CFL USA (1993-95, RIP), it came up around the Bills Toronto Series (2008-14, although the last game was played in 2012) in particular, and it came up around the CFL’s discussions with the new XFL last summer. And now, the CFL’s new deal with Genius Sports has this discussed again. Here’s more on that from 3 Down Nation (which might have to change their name if this comes to pass):
In the midst of commissioner Randy Ambrosie’s cross-country road trip, Sportsnet reporter Arash Madani told The Rod Pedersen Show that the CFL’s new partner has been vocal about their support for a conversion to four downs.
“I’m told that Genius Sports has really made a push to the league office about four downs and that Randy Ambrosie has let the teams know and let some of the football people know that there is a real push towards four downs from their now partner over at Genius Sports,” Madani said Wednesday.
“Keep that in mind as this kind of unfolds, that some of the reporting that came out of Grey Cup week, it’s getting a real push now from one of the key stakeholders on the business side of that entire operation.”
Here’s that clip:
"I'm also told, Rod, that Genius Sports has really made a push to the league office about 4 DOWNS and that Randy Ambrosie has let the teams know and let some of the football people know that there's a real push towards 4 downs with their now partner" @ArashMadani
WOAH…⬇️😳 pic.twitter.com/DYSey8AB3r
— The Rod Pedersen Show (@RodPedersenShow) March 16, 2022
Whether that comes to anything or not is very much yet to be seen. Most past attempts to shift the CFL to American four-down rules have fizzled out after intense opposition from CFL fans. And that may well be the case here again. But Genius Sports is an important league partner, and part of the CFL’s attempt to embrace sports betting, so the mention of them as a driving force here is certainly notable. We’ll see where this goes from here.
