107th Grey Cup

107th Grey Cup
Date November 24, 2019
Stadium McMahon Stadium
Location Calgary
Broadcasters
Network English: TSN
French: RDS

The 107th Grey Cup (known as the 107th Grey Cup presented by Shaw for sponsorship reasons)[1] will be played to decide the Canadian Football League (CFL) championship for the 2019 season. The game will be televised in Canada nationally on TSN and RDS. The game is scheduled to be played on November 24, 2019 at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alberta.[2] It will be the fifth time that Calgary has hosted the Grey Cup, with the most recent coming in 2009.[2]

Date

On November 24, 2017, at the CFL's State of the League address, League Commissioner Randy Ambrosie stated that he was going to explore the possibility of having the Grey Cup during the third week of October.[3] Reasons in favour of this were the weather being warmer in October as well as a potential television deal with the American-based NFL Network.[3] Reasons against would be the increased overlap of the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup playoffs in May and June (since the season would also have to start one month earlier) as well as the CFL's playoffs overlapping Major League Baseball's playoffs in October.[3] It was ultimately scheduled for its usual date (fourth Sunday of November) and will take place on November 24, 2019.

Host city

Leading up to the formal announcement, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Calgary Stampeders were the only clubs that publicly expressed interest in hosting the game.[4][5] The Tiger-Cats' stadium, Tim Hortons Field was completed in 2014, but the city of Hamilton had not hosted a Grey Cup since the 84th Grey Cup in 1996.[6][7] The main obstacle had been that multiple levels of government and the Tiger-Cats themselves have filed lawsuits against the construction firm due to the stadium construction delays and ongoing maintenance issues with the stadium itself.[4] The club would also need support from Hamilton City Council.[4] Temporary seating would have to be installed with the goal to raise seating capacity to 40,000.[8] Tiger-Cats CEO, Scott Mitchell, had said that the team wanted to host this game in particular since it coincides with the 150th anniversary of the original Hamilton Football Club.[4]

At the 2018 CFL Week, it was reported that the Stampeders were now the most likely host of the game.[5][9] The team's president and general manager, John Hufnagel, confirmed that they had made a bid.[5] The speculation was confirmed on April 25, 2018 in a formal announcement that Calgary had won the rights to host the game.[2] It will mark the second time that the province of Alberta has hosted the Grey Cup in consecutive years, with Edmonton hosting the year prior (the two cities also hosted back-to-back games in 2009 and 2010).[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Shaw, CFL announce Grey Cup sponsorship deal". Global News. Shaw Media. May 8, 2015. Retrieved Nov 29, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "107th Grey Cup presented by Shaw coming to Calgary in 2019". press.cfl.ca. April 25, 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 "Grey Cup in October? NFL Network TV deal could follow for CFL". Ottawa Sun. November 24, 2017. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "No Grey Cup bid until stadium legal issues solved". Hamilton Spectator. March 24, 2017. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 "Stampeders looking good to host 2019 Grey Cup". Calgary Sun. March 23, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Tim Hortons Field finally finished, but Hamilton officials low-key". Chch.com. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
  7. ↑ "The high cost of Pan Am: What legacy will Hamilton's new stadium leave behind?". Theglobeandmail.com. Retrieved November 29, 2017 – via The Globe and Mail.
  8. ↑ "Don't expect to see a Grey Cup in Hamilton before 2019". Hamilton Spectator. November 2, 2016. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
  9. ↑ 2019 Grey Cup game to be held in Calgary: report
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