For the third consecutive season, week 1 featured a Grey Cup rematch, with the defending champion Edmonton Eskimos hosting the Ottawa Redblacks.
After having spent 27 seasons at Rogers Centre, the Toronto Argonauts moved to BMO Field following renovations that have made the stadium suitable for Canadian football.
Bell Media and Tanenbaum are part-owners of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, the company that owns Major League Soccer's Toronto FC and operates BMO Field, along with Rogers.
Further renovations took place in the off-season between 2015 and 2016 to add canopy roofs and retractable seating in the end zones for a Canadian football field.
On December 7, 2015, a mere week after winning the 2015 Grey Cup, it was announced that Chris Jones would be the new general manager and head coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
In response to losing Chris Jones, the Eskimos named former Redblacks offensive coordinator Jason Maas as their new head coach on December 14, 2015.
[9] In April 2016 commissioner Orridge ruled that the Eskimos did not owe the Redblacks any financial compensation for their hiring of Jason Maas.
The teams and league were to provide appropriate NSF International-certified supplements to their players, with the list to be developed by mutual agreement and based on professional advice.
This penalty would increase to a nine-game suspension (half the regular season) for a second violation and a one-year ban for a third offence.
Violations were now to be publicly disclosed once all appeals had been exhausted: Whereas in the former system a player charged with a first time offence was able to have his identity remain confidential.
NFL referees working CFL games would mostly be side and field judges to minimize the rules differences between the two leagues.
Live Mic Broadcast was next implemented in three Thanksgiving weekend games; this time expanded to include back-up quarterbacks and select defensive players.
[23] Edmonton Eskimos head coach Jason Maas and starting quarterback Mike Reilly both refused to wear the live microphones for their Thanksgiving game.
[24] As a result, the CFL fined the Eskimos $20,000 and head coach Jason Maas $15,000 for refusing to wear live broadcast microphones.
Prior to the game both Jason Maas and Mike Reilly confirmed they would comply with the league's command and wear the microphones.
The Redblacks ended a 40-year championship drought for the city of Ottawa that spanned three CFL franchises and 27 football seasons of play.
The Redblacks became the fourth-fastest expansion team to win a championship in an established North American professional sports league.