by Scouting Director
We’re back, baby!
After an extended road trip scouting the NCAA, NFL, and high school football everywhere, we have a lot of news to share. So, how about we first do a Hot Stove update that was previously written on July 3rd, and then get into some new reports.
Since our public launch covering the Canadian Football League on 3DownFutures.com and on our X account, @3DownFutures, we have been the first to break quite a few CFL news stories. Now, let’s go back to July and update you on our first Hot Stove report.
One of our first and most notable breaking news developments was that Quebec City, a city that has been sitting silent in professional sports since 1995, is potentially in play for two professional leagues: the National Hockey League and the Canadian Football League.
You can read our initial story here and our update story here.
Quebec City Update
A stadium update involving Le Colisée reportedly includes another delay in its demolition, which clearly pushes the timeline into much later in 2027.
There is also a rumor that Pierre Karl Péladeau may have a role with both the CFL and NHL expansion franchises, which fuels speculation of a potential Montreal Alouettes sale.
I was told that the logistics of creating a Quebec Sports & Entertainment group are once again being discussed. We initially shared that the idea was floated earlier in the year, but it appeared that a decision had been made to move forward with separate groups.
Has time healed old wounds?
There is no question that Pierre Karl Péladeau has more rivals than best friends in this process, but if everyone wants to accomplish the common goal of bringing the NHL back to the city, they will likely have to learn to get along — which appears to be the road they are willing to take.
We have been told that the first week of November could be a significant one for the future of the stadium redevelopment, with the project potentially taking another major step forward.
Mario Lemieux
However, the biggest development in our previous story was the unnamed former NHL superstar who was expected to be involved and quite possibly serve as the front man of the overall ownership group.
We can now confirm that this person is none other than Mario Lemieux, who over the summer made attempts to completely become stake-free of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
I was also told that the National Hockey League was aware of the possibility, and hints were dropped from the NHL office about the group needing a front man who could help form a substantially funded ownership group.
They now have their front man.
It is extremely likely that the CFL will make the first move in expansion, so the ownership group for the CFL could absolutely change following the pursuit of an NHL expansion franchise. That is when the bigger names and deeper funding could join.
CFL Rule Changes
We also shared surprising developments regarding a CFL backtrack on changes to the field modifications, notably the 55-yard line.
The CFL has yet to make a final decision, but there will be changes.
The favorite behind the scenes appears to be keeping the 55-yard line while still reducing the end zones and moving the goalposts.
They are studying the statistics to determine whether keeping the 55-yard line would give coaches greater comfort going for it on third down in the opponent’s territory, knowing that a field goal attempt would be too long and that the 55-yard line provides an additional 10 yards of protection if a turnover occurs.
Another rule change is also still in the works: reducing the penalty for holding to five yards instead of 10 and changing pass interference to a 15-yard penalty rather than a spot foul, except when the penalty occurs in the end zone.
TSN and the Toronto Argonauts
Another story we broke was the potential sale of The Sports Network (Bell) and the Toronto Argonauts (MLSE).
There has been no update regarding a TSN sale, but we can share that the Toronto Argonauts, like all other MLSE properties, will be sold in the coming years.
DAZN and CFL Broadcasting
Over on our social media side, we shared various reports throughout the season, including information about DAZN’s broadcast production.
We broke it first that DAZN was going hard after Chris Streveler. Story confirmed.
We have been told that Doug Flutie and Chad Johnson are still a possibility to have a role, and DAZN, while looking for its lead play-by-play voice, still has Argos broadcaster Mike Hogan on its list. However, a new candidate has emerged in Riders broadcaster Dave Thomas.
Another rumor we have heard is the possibility of Milt Stegall leaving TSN and joining DAZN to have various roles with their sports department. That could include working with Doug Flutie and expanding their existing popular podcast, Stegall vs. Flutie.