No place like home? Argonauts play 2015 CFL home opener in Fort McMurray

TORONTO - The Argonauts are listed as the host team, but they will be almost 2,600 kilometres from Toronto when they open their 2015 CFL season — and it will be well into August before they finally return to Rogers Centre.

The CFL released its 2015 schedule on Friday, and what was expected to be a messy timetable because of the Pan American Games and the FIFA Women's World Cup still delivered some surprises.

Several CFL clubs are impacted, but none more so than the Argos, who burn a home date hosting the Edmonton Eskimos at Shell Place in Fort McMurray, Alta., in the season opener for both teams on June 27.

The Eskimos need to vacate Commonwealth Stadium that day because of a pair of World Cup quarter-final matches.

After the Argos play their opener in what is sure to be a hostile environment, they play four more games on the road as sourthern Ontario hosts the Pan Am Games before finally returning home to host the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Aug. 8.

The July 10-26 Pan Am Games also affected Hamilton, which plays its first four games on the road.

The regular season kicks off with the Ottawa Redblacks visiting the Montreal Alouettes on June 25 — the first of 10 regular-season Thursday night games during the summer months.

The 2015 season culminates with the 103rd Grey Cup on Nov. 29 at Investors Group Field in Winnipeg.