Breaking down the CFL'S new collective bargaining agreement

Seven-year pact can be renegotiated when new television deal set with TSN

Labour peace has been reached in the CFL, pending ratification of a new collective bargaining agreement.

The CFL announced Wednesday night that the league and the CFL Players' Association (CFLPA) had agreed to a deal. On Thursday, seven of the nine teams across the league opened their main training camps, ending a four-day strike.

The Edmonton Elks and Calgary Stampeders didn't miss any practices due to different labour laws in Alberta.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders were to open their training camp with a walk-through at the University of Saskatchewan's Griffiths Stadium on Thursday night.

The strike affected the pre-season schedule. A game against Winnipeg that had been set for Monday at Mosaic Stadium will now be played May 31. The change was made due to players' concerns about not having enough time to prepare as a result of the strike.

The schedule change means the Riders will have only two days off before heading to Vancouver to play the B.C. Lions on June 3.

With all of that in mind, here's a breakdown of some of the unofficial terms of the new CBA. The terms were compiled by referencing reports by 3Downnation.com, TSN football insiders Dave Naylor and Farhan Lalji, The Canadian Press, and the Winnipeg Sun.

The league and the CFLPA

■ agreed to a seven-year deal, addressing the association's concerns about a longer term. The CFL had initially proposed 10 years. The CFLPA was looking at five. The CBA can be reopened if and when the league signs a new broadcast contract with TSN. The current deal expires in five years

Padded practices are back. The

■ CFL had proposed 12 such practices per season, but the CFLPA balked due to health and safety concerns. The sides agreed on a compromise with players receiving more long-term injury compensation. In the past, it was three years. That number will reportedly increase to five, beginning in the third year of the new CBA.

The expiry date of the CBA will

■ now be 30 days in advance of the opening of training camps. The previous deal expired on Saturday, the day before training camps were to open. The buffer is designed to alleviate some of the stress and anxiety experienced by all parties with the CBA expiring on the eve of training camps.

The players' revenue share is

■ increasing to 30 per cent, from 25, in the final five years of the contract. A key is that Grey Cup revenues are to be included in revenue sharing, which hasn't taken place in the past. The baseline is to be established in November, when the Grey Cup is held in Regina. It's also believed that a third-party auditor will be involved in the revenue-sharing package.

The new CBA provides an opportunity

■ for veterans to negotiate partially guaranteed contracts. The CFL had initially rejected guaranteed deals.

The ratio has been increased to

■ starting eight Canadians, from seven. However, one of the national spots will go to an American who has at least three years of experience with the same team or five years in the league. The move is designed to address roster turnover, which has been a complaint among fans.

Coaches will have more flexibility

■ in utilizing American players. Three additional Americans will be permitted to rotate with Canadian starters. However, those designated American/canadians won't be allowed to play more 49 per cent of the total offensive or defensive snaps. How that will be tracked has yet to be explained.