BC Lions release 2016 schedule

The B.C. Lions released their schedule today, as the team hopes for a bounce-back season in 2016.

The Lions will begin the regular season at home on June 25 to the team that ended their season last year, the Calgary Stampeders. The defending Grey Cup champion Edmonton Eskimos won’t visit until October. Andrew Harris will make his return to B.C. with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on October 14.

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The Lions will play five regular season home games on Saturday, three on Friday, and one on Thursday. All home games will kick off at 7:00 pm, until October, when they switch the Saturday start time to 4:00 pm.

“We know our fans prefer weekend games with evening start times and I believe we went a long way to achieve that this year,” said Lions president and CEO Dennis Skulsky said in a statement released by the team. “Five of our home games come after Labour Day and three of those fall on Saturdays which means BC Place is going to provide us with a tremendous home field advantage down the stretch when it matters most.”

“From a football perspective, I’m very pleased with the schedule,” said GM and head coach Wally Buono. “Our bye weeks come at optimal times during the year, we finish with three of four games at home and a couple of back-to-backs at the end of the season are a benefit to the coaching staff as well.”

BC will visit the Argos’ new home, BMO Field, for the first time on August 31st. The season concludes on November 5th, ending with a home-and-home against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

“That final home game versus Saskatchewan is also the backend of a home-and-home series with the ‘Riders and will very likely be a critical game in the standings,” added Skulsky.

The Lions’ first preseason game is on June 11th. They’ll make their final roster cuts after hosting Calgary on June 17th.