Canadian Football League

Football has been played in Canada since the 1860s, when it began as more of an extension of rugby, under the guidance of the Canadian Rugby Football Union (CRFU). The Canadian Football League (CFL) began its formal existence in January 1958, but can trace its history to 1884. The NFL by comparison, was founded in 1920, can make a claim to be older than the Canadian Football League (CFL) in the formal sense.

But the game has been played in an organized fashion in Canada for significantly longer. The first game of North American football was played in Toronto.

I love the Canadian Football League because it is football in its purest form. The average salary for a CFL player is roughly $60,000. Players have regular jobs in the offseason, which makes them more connected to the cities they represent.

The CFL doesn’t publish player salaries. But you can due the math via each team’s salary cap. The CFL had a $5,3 million salary cap for each team in 2021. This makes a CFL player’s average salary range from $60,000 to $100,000