CFL’s 'Keep It Unreal' Returns for 2025, This Time in Bold Red and White

Last year, black and white set the stage for Keep it Unreal – the Canadian Football League’s (CFL) iconic season-long campaign. In 2025, red and white will be the star of the show as Keep it Unreal returns.

“In its first year, Keep it Unreal rang out like a rallying cry, attracting new fans, galvanising passionate diehards, and uniting them around what our league does best: fast plays, fierce competition, tremendous players and incredible action,” said Craig Garvie, senior vice president, marketing and communications at the CFL. “This year, we’re building upon that success and taking advantage of the flexibility of the campaign.

“Keep it Unreal is for the fans. It’s a celebration of our game and unreal moments, but it’s also about what’s important to all those who sit in the stands or tune in at home, whether that’s a swell of national pride, an unforgettable game-winning play, a championship rally or so much more.”

To help realise this vision of Keep it Unreal, the CFL will be working with Memory– a Canadian brand performance agency based in Toronto. Memory focuses on big, innovative ideas that are built to perform across complex data, technology and media ecosystems to deliver measurable impacts for brands. Co-founders Ryan Bullock and Ian Mackenzie captured the essence of Keep It Unreal by tapping into their own life-long love of the CFL and Canadian football.

“In year two, we’re taking this great brand platform to the next level,” said Ian Mackenzie, chief creative officer, Memory. “We’ve turned the tagline of Keep it Unreal into a multi-purpose headline that enables the CFL and its teams to articulate what they stand for. An evolved modular design system ties it all together, opening the way for the creation of more than 30 high-impact films that will be unveiled throughout the season. The campaign will also be supported by countless custom assets to energise existing fans and welcome new ones, while landing the epic promise at the heart of Keep it Unreal.”

Keep it Unreal will be intricately woven into the season by the CFL and its nine member clubs through a league-led tagline and a unique visual identity. The league will showcase the campaign across digital and social channels, while TSN and RDS – Canada’s home of the CFL – will prominently feature Keep it Unreal through TV spots to shine a larger spotlight on the biggest moments of the year, including season kickoff, the Grey Cup Playoffs and more.

The debut year of Keep It Unreal served as the backdrop for a season in which league-wide revenue increased by 7.3 per cent, including both a 30 per cent jump in game day revenue and a third straight season of increased attendance in the BC, Toronto and Montreal markets. The Revenue Growth-Sharing Model negotiated in the 2022 Collective Bargaining Agreement was also triggered for the first time after total CFL gains surpassed Initial Baseline Revenue by $18 million. Increased scoring, down to the wire finishes and unprecedented league parity drove increases in broadcast viewership and attendance for the second and third consecutive seasons, respectively.

Outside of the game, fans took the conversation online, resulting in a 42 per cent increase in social media interactions and a third consecutive year of growth for the league’s free-to-play interactive platform, CFL Game Zone.

Year Two of Keep It Unreal paves the path for another season of action and entertainment with a focus on the iconic red and white of the home of the CFL. The upcoming season kicks off on June 5 with the Saskatchewan Roughriders playing host to the Ottawa REDBLACKS.