Building the Game,
Not Just the Schedule

Building a league means spending a lot of time on what people will eventually see. It also means spending time with the people responsible for making it work.

I’ve been meeting with our coaches and the heads of officiating and broadcasting as we shape the 2027 game. Those conversations bring different responsibilities to the same table: how we coach it, how we call it and how we explain it to the fan watching from the stands or at home.

One decision is now settled. The Continental Divide is approved for 2027, and our modified Canadian-style rules will begin immediately after halftime and continue through the entire second half and any overtime.

Last season, we introduced that change in the fourth quarter as the Continental Shift. Now we’re giving it a full half of football.

To me, a distinctive format has to do more than give us something to put in a headline. It has to give coaches something meaningful to prepare for, players a chance to show what they can do and fans a game they want to follow.

That is also the thinking behind Play CoFL, our player-focused website section. We want the opportunity to be clear, and we want players to know where to take the next step.

There is still implementation work ahead. The decision is made; now our job is to make the explanation and execution match it.

Manny Matsakis
Founder & CEO, Continental Football League

The Continental Divide · Approved for 2027

Halftime changes the game.

In 2027, halftime becomes the dividing line in a CoFL game. Our modified Canadian-style rules take effect when the teams return for the third quarter and remain in place throughout the fourth quarter and any overtime.

High motion and waggles are part of that second-half identity. For players, it is an opportunity to demonstrate those skills in competition and put them on film; for fans, it creates a distinct second-half format to watch and understand.

The difference from last season is straightforward: the Continental Shift was a fourth-quarter change. The Continental Divide covers the entire second half and any overtime.

This is approved for the 2027 season. We’ll share more of the football detail as we prepare players, coaches, officials and fans for kickoff.

Play CoFL

Find your club. Make your case.

Interested in playing professional outdoor football in the summer? Play CoFL brings the opportunity into focus: the game, the format and a direct route to the clubs.

The Continental Divide is part of that opportunity. Players can demonstrate their ability to adapt, compete and execute in a second half that features high motion and waggles.

The next step is simple. Visit our Teams page, go to the website of the team you’re interested in, and contact that team directly about player opportunities.

Each team handles its own player inquiries. Start with the club, learn what it is looking for and make your case.

Explore Play CoFL →

Watch and Read · Manny’s Minute EP14

The Town That Bought
Its Own Football Team

This week’s watch is “The Town That Bought Its Own Football Team.” Pair it with “The First Ones In,” our feature on the Charleston Rockets, their community-owned beginnings and their place as the original Continental Football League’s first champions.

The Charleston story goes beyond a championship. The feature explores local pride, the people behind a football club and the challenge of turning success on the field into an operation that can last.

Watch Manny’s Minute EP14 →

Read “The First Ones In” →

ADVERTISEMENT · INDEPENDENT PUBLICATION

Kept.

Your Sunday morning football letter.

For the serious football fan, the conversation doesn’t end with the final whistle. Kept is Manny Matsakis’s Sunday morning letter from his independent publication, Gridiron Aficionado, with coaching insight, football history, leadership, culture and stories worth returning to.

Make it part of your Sunday morning reading. If you enjoy looking beyond the score to understand the people and ideas behind the game, this is for you.

Read Kept →