A mere 25 days after the 2023 Grey Cup, the slate of games for next year has already been unveiled by the CFL.
“I think the league has done a really good job of getting the schedule out early every year,” Saskatchewan Roughriders President-CEO Craig Reynolds says, “and I think it’s really important.
“I always make jokes that, in Saskatchewan, people plan their weddings around the Roughriders. Years ago, my cousin was getting married and he wanted the inside scoop about whether his wedding was going to coincide with a home game.
“It’s great to get it out early so that fans can start to plan their summers and their falls.”
Let’s not forget the spring.
The CFL’s 2024 pre-season schedule begins on May 20 when the Roughriders oppose the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2 p.m., Mosaic Stadium).
That is the earliest start in Roughriders history — by a full week. The 2018 and 2023 pre-season openers were on May 27.
By the time that date arrives in 2024, the Roughriders will have already completed pre-season play. The second test run, in advance of the regular season, is on May 25 against the host Edmonton Elks. Previously, the Roughriders’ earliest pre-season finale was on June 2, in 2023.
Saskatchewan will also begin its regular season earlier than ever — June 8 in Edmonton — according to a schedule that was released on Thursday.
Previously, the Roughriders had not kicked off league play earlier than June 11.
“We’re still playing the schedule in the same time period,” Reynolds notes. “It’s just the way the calendar happened to work out this year.
“We certainly like it because the more games you get in good weather, it’s good for everybody.”
The Roughriders will play against everybody, at home and away, during the 2024 season.
In 2021, the league was unable to schedule along those lines because COVID-19 resulted in each team playing only 14 regular-season games — four fewer than usual.
Divisional rivalries were accentuated in each of the following two seasons.
In 2022, Saskatchewan played 11 of its 18 games against West Division opponents. The breakdown was 12 of 18 in 2023.
For 2024, the format has reverted back to the pre-COVID norm — 10 of 18 games against teams from the West.
“I understand the reasons why we did (change the balance) following the pandemic and in the years afterward, but I like having a home and away, at minimum, with every team,” Reynolds says. “You get to see every team and see those storylines.
“As a league, there were some missed opportunities when, for instance, Cody Fajardo didn’t return here last year (with the Montreal Alouettes) and Bo Levi Mitchell (of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats) didn’t go back to Calgary. Some of those stories are really good for the league.
“It’s good for our team, too, to go to every away stadium. We’re going back to Toronto and we haven’t played there in a long time.”
Not since Sept. 28, 2019, in fact, when three touchdown passes and one scoring run by Fajardo helped Saskatchewan win 41-16 at BMO Field.
In 2022 and 2023, the Argonauts’ designated “home” games against Saskatchewan were actually played in Nova Scotia as part of Touchdown Atlantic.
Within the West Division, the Roughriders will play three regular-season games against each of the Elks and Blue Bombers.
Winnipeg will pay two regular-season visits to Mosaic Stadium, where the annual Labour Day Classic will be played on Sept. 1. All the other teams will play once in Regina.
Matchups with Winnipeg and Edmonton aside, Saskatchewan will play two games — one home and one away — against the other six CFL teams.
In terms of days of the week, Saskatchewan’s regular-season home slate breaks down into four Saturdays, two Fridays, two Sundays and one Thursday.
“I like that we play only on the weekends after Labour Day,” Reynolds says. “It has been a long time since that happened.
“I think that is really good for families and it’s really good for out-of-town fans in the fall. When the kids are back at school, it’s really good for families to be able to come to games on a Saturday or a Sunday.”
Saskatchewan does not play at home until Week 3 but, as a counterbalance, the final two regular-season games — and three of the last four — are at Mosaic Stadium.
A Roughriders schedule has not consisted of two road games at the start and two home games at the end since 1957.
Only three of the Roughriders’ nine regular-season home games begin after suppertime. The kickoff times break down as follows: One at 2 p.m., five at 5 p.m., two at 7 p.m., and one at 7:30 p.m.
“I think the schedule is really good for our fans,” Reynolds says.
“I tend to look at it a lot from an out-of-town perspective, thinking back to when I was a kid growing up in Foam Lake. Many of our fans make the commitment to drive a long way to attend our games, so I always look at that.”
Coaches, general managers and players are especially interested in the number of days between games, considering the rigours of a long and gruelling football season.
The B.C. Lions are the only team without a five-day turnaround. The Roughriders and Tiger-Cats have only one each.
Roughriders games are separated by six days on four occasions and a full week in three cases.
Of particular note are the Roughriders’ nine long weeks — defined as periods of eight or more days between games.
Montreal has the most long weeks (10). Saskatchewan and Edmonton are next in line with nine.
Taking into consideration the infrequency of short weeks and the abundance of long respites, Saskatchewan’s latest slate of games is player-friendly.
“It’s a good schedule — it really is,” says Reynolds, dispensing kudos to league scheduler Trevor Hardy.
“Even in the first draft, there was only one thing we wanted to change, and that was from an out-of-town fans’ perspective.
“In some years, there have been six, seven or eight drafts before you finalize the schedule. This year’s final schedule was actually a lot like the first draft, with some tweaking. If the first draft was 1A, this is kind of like 1B.”
What’s in store for 2024? Here’s the schedule, with accompanying newsy notes, trivial tidbits, etc. …
PRE-SEASON
Mon., May 20: Winnipeg at Saskatchewan, 2 p.m.: The first of three visits by the Blue Bombers, counting the pre-season.
Sat., May 25: Saskatchewan at Edmonton, 2 p.m.: The first of back-to-back visits to Edmonton.
REGULAR SEASON
Sat., June 8: Saskatchewan at Edmonton, 5 p.m.: Saskatchewan’s second straight regular-season opener in Edmonton. The Roughriders have not opened the season against the same opponent in back-to-back years since they visited Toronto in 2003 and 2004.
Sun., June 16: Saskatchewan at Hamilton, 5 p.m.: The Roughriders’ first game in Hamilton since Oct. 7, 2022.
Sun., June 23: Hamilton at Saskatchewan, 5 p.m.: The first of the Roughriders’ two home-and-home sets in 2024. See also: Winnipeg in early September.
Thurs., July 4: Toronto at Saskatchewan, 7 p.m.: Newly appointed Roughriders Head Coach Corey Mace faces the Argonauts, for whom he was the Defensive Co-ordinator in 2022 and 2023.
Sat., July 13: Saskatchewan at B.C., 5 p.m.: Earlier-than-usual start to a West Coast game.
Fri., July 19: Winnipeg at Saskatchewan, 7:30 p.m.: Bombers pay a pre-Labour Day weekend visit for the second successive season. The 2023 home opener was against Winnipeg.
Thurs., July 25: Saskatchewan at Montreal, 5:30 p.m.: The Roughriders’ first meeting with the defending Grey Cup champions.
Sat., Aug. 3: Edmonton at Saskatchewan, 5 p.m.: This home game coincides with the Queen City Ex — a tie-in that has become a tradition.
Thurs., Aug. 8: Saskatchewan at Ottawa, 5:30 p.m.: The Roughriders visit the nation’s capital for the second year in a row after not playing in Ottawa in 2022.
Fri., Aug. 16: Montreal at Saskatchewan, 7 p.m.: Fajardo returns to Mosaic Stadium.
Thurs., Aug. 22: Saskatchewan at Toronto, 5:30 p.m.: The Roughriders’ first game at BMO Field in 1,790 days.
Sun., Sept. 1: Winnipeg at Saskatchewan, 5 p.m.: The 59th Labour Day Classic, overall, and the 42nd consecutive visit by Blue Bombers on the final long weekend of summer.
Sat., Sept. 7: Saskatchewan at Winnipeg, 2 p.m.: The Roughriders and Blue Bombers will mark 20 years since the Labour Day Rematch became an annual event.
Fri., Sept. 20: Saskatchewan at Calgary, 7:30 p.m.: Corey Mace returns to Calgary, where he played (2010 to 2015) and coached (2016 to 2021).
Sat., Sept. 28: Ottawa at Saskatchewan, 2 p.m.: The Roughriders have won their last four home games against the REDBLACKS.
Sat., Oct. 5: Saskatchewan at Edmonton, 5 p.m.: The Roughriders’ second visit to Edmonton in 2024.
Sat., Oct. 12: B.C. at Saskatchewan, 5 p.m.: The Lions’ first non-summer visit to Regina since final game at historic Mosaic Stadium (Oct. 29, 2016).
Sat., Oct. 26: Calgary at Saskatchewan, 5 p.m.: The Roughriders’ seventh October regular-season finale since the CFL was formed in 1958.
POST-SEASON
Sat., Nov. 2: Divisional semi-finals: For the second consecutive season, playoff games will be held on a Saturday, instead of a Sunday.
Sat., Nov. 9: Divisional finals: Trivia! The only two times a sudden-death division final has been played on Nov. 9, the Roughriders have been the visiting team (1997, 2003). Both games were played in Edmonton.
Sun., Nov. 17: Grey Cup in Vancouver: The second-earliest Grey Cup date in history. The earliest was on Nov. 16 in 1997 (at Commonwealth Stadium) and 2003 (in Saskatchewan).
