Grey Cup

The Grey Cup (French: Coupe Grey) is the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the winning team. It is played between the winners of the CFL's East and West divisional playoffs and is one of Canadian television's biggest annual sporting events. Since 2022, the game has been held on the third Sunday of November, right after Remembrance Day.

The Toronto Argonauts hold the record for the most Grey Cup wins with 19, while the Edmonton Elks have the most wins since the merger in 1958. The latest game, the 112th Grey Cup, took place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on November 16, 2025, where the Saskatchewan Roughriders beat the Montreal Alouettes by a score of 25–17.

The Grey Cup is Canada's biggest annual sports event, usually watched by around 4 million people. Two special awards are given for the game: the Most Valuable Player and the Dick Suderman Trophy for the most valuable Canadian player. In 2019, Andrew Harris became the first player to win both awards in the same year while playing for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

The trophy was created in 1909 by The Earl Grey, who was then Canada's governor general. Originally meant for ice hockey, it was later given to the champion of the Canadian Dominion Football Championship. The trophy is a silver chalice on a base with the names of all the winning teams, players, and executives engraved on it. Over the years, it has been broken, stolen, and even held for ransom, but it survived a fire in 1947.

The first Grey Cup was won by the Toronto Varsity Blues from the University of Toronto. The game was not played from 1916 to 1918 because of the First World War. The game is usually played on a Sunday in late November and has sometimes faced tough weather conditions, like heavy snow and fog. The Edmonton Eskimos were the strongest team in the past, winning five championships in a row from 1978 to 1982. For a few years in the 1990s, a team from the United States, the Baltimore Stallions, even won the Grey Cup.

History

National championships before 1909

Efforts to create a national championship for a game similar to rugby began in the early 1880s. This led to the formation of the Canadian Rugby Union in 1891, with the first national championship held the next year. Championship games were held every year except for 1899, 1903, and 1904.

Creation and early years (1909–1921)

The first Grey Cup game took place on December 4, 1909, between two teams from Toronto: the University of Toronto Varsity Blues and the Parkdale Canoe Club. The Varsity Blues won 26–6. The trophy wasn’t ready for the game and was presented to them later in 1910. They won again in the next two years. The game was cancelled from 1916 to 1918 because of World War I and in 1919 due to rule conflicts and the aftermath of the Spanish flu epidemic. The game resumed in 1920, with the Varsity Blues winning once more.

Western participation (1922–1932)

For many years, teams from western Canada were not as strong as those from the east. The first western team to compete was the Edmonton Eskimos in 1921, but they lost to the Toronto Argonauts. It wasn’t until 1923 that a western team, the Winnipeg 'Pegs (now the Blue Bombers), won the Grey Cup by defeating the Hamilton Tigers.

Progress towards professionalism (1933–1956)

University teams stopped competing for the Grey Cup in 1933 because they couldn’t match the skill of professional teams. By the 1950s, the league was fully professional. During World War II, military teams played the Grey Cup from 1942 to 1944. After the war, civilian teams returned, and the league continued to grow.

Canadian Football League kicks off (1957–1969)

In the early years of the Canadian Football League (CFL), the Hamilton Tiger-Cats were very successful. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers often faced them in the championship games. One famous game was the 1962 "Fog Bowl," where thick fog made it hard to see, and the game had to be finished the next day.

Eskimos' dynasty (1970–1988)

The Edmonton Eskimos became one of the most successful teams in the 1970s and 1980s, winning many championships. They had a famous winning streak of five consecutive titles from 1978 to 1982. In 1981, they came back from behind to win against the Ottawa Rough Riders.

CFL USA (1989–1995)

In the early 1990s, the CFL tried to expand into the United States but faced many challenges. The most successful team was the Baltimore Stallions, which became the only American team to win the Grey Cup in 1995 before moving back to Canada.

Renaissance (1996–present)

After the failed expansion into the United States, the CFL faced financial difficulties. However, the Grey Cup game remained popular and helped the league survive. In 2012, the Toronto Argonauts won the 100th Grey Cup. The game continued to grow in popularity, with memorable moments and exciting matches over the years.

Trophy

The Grey Cup is a famous trophy awarded to the winners of the Canadian Football League's championship game. It was made in 1909 and is made of sterling silver, standing about 33 centimetres tall. Over the years, the trophy has been dropped, sat on, and even broken during celebrations, but it has always been repaired.

The trophy has also been stolen a couple of times, but it was always returned. Today, the trophy’s base lists the names of all the winning teams and their players. After each game, the trophy is given to the winning team to keep for a year before it goes back to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

Languages

English and French are the official languages of the Grey Cup game. Important parts of the game, like the national anthem and announcements, are done in both languages.

In 2023, some people were upset because the signs at the stadium in Hamilton were only in English. After that, the CFL made changes. They added more French signs for the Grey Cup in Vancouver and decided that the national anthem would be sung in both languages for certain teams. The Grey Cup in Winnipeg in 2025 also used both languages. A player named Marc-Antoine Dequoy praised these changes, saying the CFL did a good job making things more balanced.

Grey Cup festival

Each year, the host city organizes many fun events for the Grey Cup festival. There are concerts, parties, and fan festivals in the days before the big championship game. The CFL gives out its yearly awards during the festival, and there is always a parade. In the past, there was also a "Miss Grey Cup" beauty pageant, but this stopped in 1992.

The game itself starts with the Canadian national anthem, usually sung in both English and French. There is also a halftime show with famous Canadian musicians, like Nickelback who performed in 2011. Sometimes, a special guest, like a former football player or a celebrity, helps flip the coin to start the game.

The Grey Cup party began in 1948 when fans from Calgary, called the Stampeders, went to Toronto for the first time. They brought chuckwagons and horses and made a pancake breakfast for people in Toronto, just like they do at the Calgary Stampede. This fun tradition continues every year with a pancake breakfast at the championship.

A survey in 2012 showed that many Canadians think the Grey Cup is the most important event to attend each year. Fans from all teams come together, and the event brings a lot of money to the city that hosts it.

Champions

Main article: List of Grey Cup champions

The Toronto Argonauts have won the most Grey Cup championships with 19, followed by the Edmonton Elks with 14 and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers with 12. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have appeared in the Grey Cup the most times, with 29 appearances. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are the only team that has not won the Grey Cup since the year 2000. Since the Canadian Football League began in 1958, the Elks (formerly known as the Eskimos) have won the most championships with 11 and have appeared in the Grey Cup 19 times. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have the most losses in Grey Cup history, with 17. The current champions are the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who won the 112th Grey Cup in 2025, marking their first title in 12 years.

Three players have each won seven Grey Cups: Jack Wedley, Bill Stevenson, and Hank Ilesic. Among quarterbacks, Anthony Calvillo holds the record for the most appearances in Grey Cup games, with eight, and has won three times. Five coaches share the record for the most Grey Cup championships, each having won five times: Wally Buono, Don Matthews, Frank Clair, Hugh Campbell, and Lew Hayman.

Two special awards are given after each Grey Cup game. The Most Valuable Player award goes to the best player in the game. There is also an award for the most valuable Canadian player, called the Dick Suderman Trophy. Dave Sapunjis and Don Sweet have each won this award three times. In the 107th Grey Cup, Andrew Harris was the first player to win both the Most Valuable Player award and the Dick Suderman Trophy while playing for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Venue

Host cities

Toronto has hosted the most Grey Cup games, with 48 games including 30 of the first 45. The first game was held in 1909 at Rosedale Field. Early games were also hosted in Hamilton, Ottawa, Sarnia, and Kingston. The game first left Ontario in 1931 when Montreal hosted, and the Montreal AAA Winged Wheelers won the 19th Grey Cup. The game finally left central Canada in 1955 for Vancouver, which later hosted 16 games and saw a record attendance of 39,491. The most attended games were at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, with a record of 68,318 set in 1977.

The 1940 Grey Cup was a two-game series, with Toronto and Ottawa each hosting one game.

Stadiums

22 different stadiums have hosted the Grey Cup. The list below includes all stadiums that have hosted the event, with future games noted in italics.

^ ^: Stadium is now demolished.
^ †: The original stadium, which hosted the Grey Cup, was demolished and replaced with a new stadium of the same name

The 1940 Grey Cup was a two-game series. Varsity Stadium and Lansdowne Park each hosted a game.

Broadcasting

Main article: List of Grey Cup broadcasters

The Grey Cup game was first shown on the radio in 1928. For many years, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) broadcast the game on the radio until 1986.

When television started, the first Grey Cup game shown on TV was in 1952. Soon, most people in Canada were watching the game on TV. The Grey Cup is still one of Canada’s biggest sports events. In 1962, the game was shown on TV in the United States for the first time.

For a time, both the CBC and another network, CTV Television Network, showed the game together. Later, different networks took turns showing the game. In 2009, a special sports channel began showing the game, and many people watched it.