TORONTO — The 2025 CFL season is approaching rapidly, with the schedule release giving us a glimpse into all the football excitement that is to come.
While there are a myriad of games that provide intriguing storylines and potentially explosive matchups, CFL.ca highlighted six games that you just can’t miss.
That said, there are always a couple of games that fly under the radar, with sleeper plots that could end up being just as exciting as any other game.
After all, as CFL fans know all too well, every CFL game is a must-watch experience. Here are three games to keep an eye on in 2025.
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WEEK 6 | BATTLE OF THE NATIONAL PIVOTS
BC AT EDMONTON | SUNDAY, JULY 13 | 7:00 P.M. ET
It’s Tre Ford vs. Nathan Rourke in a battle for Canadian quarterback supremacy. Two months separate these two 26-year-olds who just so happen to be two of the most dynamic signal-callers in the CFL.
Rourke and Ford face off in Week 1 – in one of the six can’t-miss games -, but the rematch offers just as much intrigue as the original one. That’s because it usually takes teams a little time to adjust to a new season, which is especially true for these two teams as they welcome in new head coaches. The battle of the rookie bench bosses in Buck Pierce (BC) and Mark Kilam (Edmonton) could be one that endures through time in the West Division, with both coaches and quarterbacks potentially battling it out for years to come.
This game could also be only the second matchup between two Canadian starting quarterbacks since 1968, with the first being exactly the Week 1 game, should both Rourke and Ford get the starting nod.
WEEK 1 | AERIAL SHOW
HAMILTON AT CALGARY | SATURDAY, JUNE 7 | 7:00 P.M. ET
So you like passing yards and touchdowns? Say no more. Vernon Adams Jr.‘s debut as a Calgary Stampeders in the regular season could not come against a better opponent than Bo Levi Mitchell‘s Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Mitchell was named the East Division Most Outstanding Player in 2024 after leading the league in passing yards and touchdowns, but there was a moment in the season that the pivot was neck in neck with Adams Jr. for both of those crowns. Hamilton finished first in passing yards per game, while Calgary finished last, prompting them to trade for Adams Jr. to revamp the aerial attack.
CFL fans curious to see if the new Red and White field commander will be able to replicate the success he had in BC won’t have to wait long for what could be the first explosive matchup of 2025.
WEEK 20 | WEST DIVISION SHOWDOWN
SASKATCHEWAN AT WINNIPEG | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17 | 8:00 P.M. ET
Okay, hear us out. We know these two teams will have faced each other twice by then, once on OK Tire Labour Day Weekend and then again the following week in the rematch, but this Week 20 matchup could very well be THE deciding game in the West Division.
Winnipeg and Saskatchewan battled it out till the end in 2024, and look poised to do it again in 2025 after bringing back most of their core players like Blue Bombers’ Willie Jefferson and Saskatchewan’s Trevor Harris. Continuity will be the name of the game for both teams, with the Blue and Gold trying to reach their sixth straight Grey Cup – this one at home – while the Green and White build upon a very successful first year for head coach Corey Mace.
If it all comes down to this, this matchup goes from under the radar to stop-everything-you’re-doing-and-go-watch-it-now TV.