2024 CFL season

According to the new collective bargaining agreement, the 2024 salary cap was at least $5,525,000 (or $124,111 per active roster spot) plus an unlimited non-football-related services (marketing fund) with a minimum spend of $110,000 per club.^[4][5] With the unlimited marketing fund, most teams spent $12–14 million on football operations in 2023 with the majority of that on player costs. This was the first league year that players began to receive revenue sharing, which was set at 25% this season (or a cap increase of 2.78% for every dollar increase).^[4] The salary cap is announced in late April every year as well as fines/luxury tax from the previous season. On April 19, 2024, the league announced that Hamilton, Winnipeg and BC paid luxury tax for exceeding the cap in 2023, but not by more than $100,000, which would have resulted in the loss of draft selections. As was the case in 2023, the minimum player salary was set at $70,000.^[4][5]

Beginning this season, the two teams that had National players play the most snaps from the previous season received additional second-round draft picks in this year's draft.^[4]

During his commissioner's state of the league address on November 14, 2023, Randy Ambrosie confirmed that the 2024 schedule would return to a more balanced format instead of focusing on interdivisional match ups. In an 18-game schedule, western teams played 12 divisional and six interdivisional games and eastern teams played 10 divisional and eight interdivisional games in 2022 and 2023, but returned to playing at least two games with every opponent resulting in western teams playing 10 divisional and eight interdivisional games and eastern teams playing eight divisional and 10 interdivisional games.^[6] This was confirmed with the schedule release on December 14, 2023.^[3]

On November 29, 2023, the league announced that the BC Lions would be the host team for a neutral site game to be played at Royal Athletic Park in Victoria on August 31, 2024, against the Ottawa Redblacks.^[7]

The 2024 free agency period began on February 13 at noon EST.^[8] Pending free agents and teams were able to negotiate offers for one week starting Sunday, February 4, 2024, and ending Sunday, February 11, 2024.^[9] All formal offers to a player during this time were sent to both the league and the players union and could not be rescinded.^[9][10]

The in-season trade deadline was on October 2 at 5 pm EDT.^[11]

Ranked from highest to lowest average home attendance.^[12][13]

The CFL continued to be broadcast on TSN and RDS across all platforms in Canada as part of their current contract.^[14] The broadcast rights were extended through 2025.^[15] In June, Bell Media announced that CTV would broadcast TSN-produced CFL coverage on digital terrestrial television, including a late-season package of exclusive 3 p.m. ET games beginning on September 7, continuing with playoff coverage of the East Division, and concluding with a simulcast of the 111th Grey Cup; returning the CFL to over-the-air television for the first time since 2007.^[16]

Broadcast rights for the CFL in the United States remained with CBS Sports Network (CBSSN) following their acquisition of the rights during the 2023 season.^[17] CBSSN's package consisted mostly of Saturday and Sunday contests during June and July, a majority of August games, and the Labour Day and Thanksgiving Day Classics.^[18]

The league continued the use of its own streaming platform, CFL+, to stream the TSN broadcast to US audiences (when CBSSN is not broadcasting a game) and international audiences (all games) at no cost. The CFL also expanded on its functionality, allowing video on demand replay for up to 48 hours after the game and used CFL+ to broadcast most of the preseason using in-stadium video feeds and local radio play-by-play commentary.^[19]