2026 Grey Cup
This year's Grey Cup: The 113th Grey Cup is Sunday, Nov. 15, 2026, at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, 6 p.m. ET. Montreal and Edmonton earned first-round byes. See the latest prices on our CFL odds page and game-by-game previews on our CFL picks hub.
What is the Grey Cup?
The Grey Cup is both the trophy and the game. It goes to the champion of the Canadian Football League, and it's one of the oldest championship trophies in North American sports.
Albert Grey, the 4th Earl Grey and Canada's Governor General at the time, commissioned the trophy in 1909 for a reported $48. The first game was played on Dec. 4, 1909, when the University of Toronto beat the Parkdale Canoe Club 26-6 in front of 3,800 fans.
It started as an amateur championship. The CFL took control of the Cup when the league formed in 1958, and it has been the league's title game ever since. The only time the trophy left Canada was 1995, when the Baltimore Stallions beat Calgary 37-20 during the league's short-lived US expansion.
Why the Grey Cup matters
It's one of Canada's largest annual sports and TV event, regularly drawing a Canadian TV audience of about 4 million. The 2009 game set the record at 6.1 million viewers for the full broadcast.
The game is the end of a week-long party. The host city runs a Grey Cup Festival with concerts, fan zones, a parade and plenty of traditions, including a pancake breakfast that Calgary fans started in 1948. Imagine a Super Bowl week where the fans of all nine teams show up whether their team made it or not, that's the vibe.
For bettors, it's the one CFL game that gets national attention, which means more casual money in the market. Casual money tends to pile onto the favorite and the over, so it's worth checking whether the number has moved for a real reason or just because of who's betting it.
When is the Grey Cup played?
The Grey Cup is played in mid-to-late November. Since 2022 it has landed on the third Sunday of November, the week after Remembrance Day.
That isn't locked in. The league has already set the 2027 game for Nov. 7, a week earlier than recent years, so always check the official date for the current season.
The road there is short. Six of the nine teams make the playoffs:
| Round | When | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Division Semi-Finals | About 3 weeks before the Grey Cup | 2nd place hosts 3rd place in each division |
| Division Finals | About 2 weeks before the Grey Cup | 1st place (after a bye) hosts the semi-final winner |
| Grey Cup | Mid-to-late November | East champion vs West champion |
One quirk to know: the crossover. If the 4th-place team in one division finishes with a better record than the 3rd-place team in the other, it crosses over and takes that playoff spot. Winnipeg has crossed to the East in back-to-back seasons (2025 and 2026), so the "East" champion isn't always an Eastern team.
For the current bracket, kickoff times and lines, head to our CFL odds page.
Where is the Grey Cup played?
There's no permanent home. The game moves every year, and the CFL awards hosting rights through an internal bidding process about two years in advance. Teams and their cities pitch the league, and the winner hosts the game plus the festival around it.
| Year | Game | Host city | Stadium |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 110th | Hamilton | Tim Hortons Field |
| 2024 | 111th | Vancouver | BC Place |
| 2025 | 112th | Winnipeg | Princess Auto Stadium |
| 2026 | 113th | Calgary | McMahon Stadium |
| 2027 | 114th | Regina | Mosaic Stadium |
| 2028 | 115th | Not yet awarded (Edmonton has bid) | – |
Because the site is set years ahead, the host team rarely gets to play the final at home. It does happen. Saskatchewan won the 2013 Grey Cup at home in Regina, beating Hamilton 45-23 in front of 44,710 fans. When you do get a home team in the game, factor in the crowd. Otherwise, treat it as a neutral site and don't give either side home-field credit.
How to bet the Grey Cup
You can bet the Grey Cup two ways: long before the game as a future, or as a single game once the matchup is set.
Futures - Grey Cup winner odds are posted before the season starts and move all year. The best prices usually come early. Once the playoff bracket is set, the teams with a bye get shorter, and the semi-final teams get longer because they have to win one extra game. The Grey Cup odds on our CFL odds page are updated through the playoffs.
Game lines - Once the two teams are confirmed, you get the usual moneyline, spread and total, along with props on passing yards, rushing yards and touchdown scorers. Parlay builders can combine them; see our parlay picks for how we build ours.
Award markets - The game names a Grey Cup Most Valuable Player and a Most Valuable Canadian (the Dick Suderman Trophy). These are often posted as props during Grey Cup week. Quarterbacks win the MVP most often, but the Canadian award is where longer prices on running backs and receivers can make sense. Don't mix these up with the season-long George Reed Most Outstanding Player award, which is voted on and has its own futures market.
What I look for when betting the Grey Cup
- Weather - It's a late-November game on the Prairies more often than not. Wind and cold hurt deep passing and kicking, which matters for totals and for any team that leans on its quarterback. Check the forecast on game day, not on Monday.
- Canadian rules - Three downs instead of four, a bigger field and the single point (the rouge) change how scoring works. Margins of 1 point are possible on missed field goals and punts into the end zone, so don't assume NFL key numbers like 3 and 7 carry the same weight in CFL spreads.
- Rest vs rhythm - The two division winners get a week off before their division final. That's not a factor in the Grey Cup itself, since both teams get the same week to prepare, but it shapes the futures market a few weeks earlier.
- Favorites don't own this game - Ottawa beat a heavily favored Calgary team 39-33 in overtime in 2016. Montreal upset a favored Winnipeg team 28-24 in 2023 with a touchdown in the final 15 seconds. One game, a cold field and three downs make for a lot of variance, so I'm always interested in the underdog with the points.
Ready to bet? Compare sportsbooks on our betting sites page and check current promo codes before Grey Cup week.
Recent Grey Cup winners
| Year | Game | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 112th | Saskatchewan Roughriders | 25-17 | Montreal Alouettes | Winnipeg |
| 2024 | 111th | Toronto Argonauts | 41-24 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Vancouver |
| 2023 | 110th | Montreal Alouettes | 28-24 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Hamilton |
| 2022 | 109th | Toronto Argonauts | 24-23 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Regina |
| 2021 | 108th | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 33-25 (OT) | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Hamilton |
Most Grey Cup titles
| Team | Titles | Last won |
|---|---|---|
| Toronto Argonauts | 19 | 2024 |
| Edmonton Elks | 14 | 2015 |
| Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 12 | 2021 |
| Ottawa (all franchises) | 10 | 2016 |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 8 | 1999 |
| Montreal Alouettes | 8 | 2023 |
| Calgary Stampeders | 8 | 2018 |
| BC Lions | 6 | 2011 |
| Saskatchewan Roughriders | 5 | 2025 |
Hamilton is the only current team without a Grey Cup this century.