Calgary Stampeders fans excited for first pre-season kickoff in 3 years
Fans of the Calgary Stampeders are breathing a sigh of relief and looking forward to watching pre-season football at McMahon Stadium on Saturday for the first time since 2019.
A deal struck between the CFL Players’ Association and the league meant the collective bargaining agreement would be agreed upon just in time for exhibition games.
A 2 p.m. matinee affair between the Stamps and B.C. Lions on Saturday brought out thousands of spectators, including Andrea Henry who has been tailgating in Calgary for the last 15 years.
She’s happy to hear that her favourite players got what they needed to ensure a competitive and exciting year ahead.
“I was 100 per cent with the players, I agreed with their comments about what the owners and CFL commissioner wanted to do,” Henry said.
“'I’m not always a huge supporter of strikes, but if they went on strike, I understood why, so the fact that it's back and they've settled is just brilliant.”
Other fans like Wheeler Boys are just happy that he can bring his entire family out to the games again.
“We got a little stressed out during the off-season, I mean our whole lives revolve around football for the most part and having a local team. This is what we live for,” he said.
“Honestly, we can all have our opinions but at the end of the day, we just want to see the kickoff. It doesn't really matter how they ratified it at the end of the day."
The CFL announced a seven-year labour agreement with its players, ending a lengthy and sometimes contentious negotiation that included the second strike in league history and first since 1974.
A new deal means CFL teams can have seven Canadian starters and 21 in total on the roster this year. In 2023, that number increases to eight with one being a nationalized American – a player from the U.S. who has spent either five years in the CFL or at least three with the same team.
CFL players will also receive a ratification bonus of $2,450 each according to league sources who spoke under anonymity as neither the league nor the union provided specific details of the new deal.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
The pros and cons of discussing mental health issues in the workplace
A group of lawyers has written what they call a groundbreaking book about how mental health is perceived in the legal profession.
Explosion at train station leads to discovery of stolen car on Montreal's South Shore: police
Police are investigating after a BMW exploded in the St-Lambert Exo train station parking lot on Montreal's South Shore.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
A candidate for Germany's key party was beaten up while campaigning for European elections
A candidate for Chancellor Olaf Scholz's center-left party in next month's election for the European Parliament was beaten up and seriously injured while campaigning in an eastern city, the party said Saturday.
Two killed after collision with truck on Hwy. 417 near Limoges, Ont.
Ontario Provincial Police say two people were killed after a car and a transport truck collided in the westbound lanes of Highway 417 near Limoges, Ont. on Tuesday afternoon.