ESPN2 carries the week's opener as the Montréal Alouettes travel west to Edmonton. Winnipeg hopes to have better luck with its first visit to BMO Field on Friday on TSN. Hoping to catch the Friday night game live in person.
TSN has a Saturday doubleheader with tough West battle with Calgary at Saskatchewan. In the nightcap, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats go out west in Vancouver.
If you missed the news, the ESPNews telecast for Saturday was dropped.
The Ottawa RedBlacks get to rest in the nation's capital.
ESPN2
Thursday
Montréal @ Edmonton, 9p
TSN
Thursday
Montréal @ Edmonton, 9p
Friday
Winnipeg @ Toronto, 7:30p
Saturday
Calgary @ Saskatchewan, 7p
Hamilton @ BC, 10p
Bye week: Ottawa
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Wednesday night's game in Winnipeg might have been the latest start for a CFL game in recent memory. The game started just past 10 pm Central, 11 pm Eastern. None of the announcers or studio crew could remember a game being delayed this much. The only Pacific Time Zone team has a dome.
The wait took over 2½ hours thanks to lightning in a thunderstorm that seemed to linger on radar. When the broadcast open, you had a lightning delay but since the rain hadn't started, you had the studio crew in Winnipeg on the field during a lightning delay. Didn't seem safe with a bunch of electric equipment.
Was fun to see Andy Fantuz helping out the TSN crew during the delay. You look at current players and you can guess which ones might coach or go into broadcasting. Fantuz seems destined for broadcasting after his wonderful career is over.
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Team | Last hosted Grey Cup |
Previous time |
Ottawa | 2017 | 2004 |
Toronto | 2016 | 2012 |
Winnipeg | 2015 | 2006 |
B.C. | 2014 | 2011 |
Saskatchewan | 2013 | 2003 |
Edmonton | 2010 | 2002 |
Calgary | 2009 | 2000 |
Montréal | 2008 | 2001 |
Hamilton | 1996 | 1972 |
The West outside Vancouver has hosted very few Grey Cups. Even with that bias, the East may hang onto the Grey Cup for awhile if balance is desired.
The two teams that have gone the longest since hosting the championship game are in the East. Olympic Stadium is a logical place to pay and Montréal is truly a world class city. Yet the Alouettes haven't hosted since 2008 and the status of Olympic Stadium in November is uncertain.
Hamilton hasn't hosted the Grey Cup since 1996. Jean Chrétien was the prime minister back then. Pierre Trudeau was the PM the previous time Hamilton hosted. In a parallel universe, the 1996 Grey Cup was the debut of Robin Daggers from How I Met Your Mother.
Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, and Regina have combined for 15 Grey Cups. When Ottawa hosts the Grey Cup in 2017, the combined championships in Ottawa and Montréal will be 15.
The West, including Vancouver, has hosted the Grey Cup 2009-2011 and 2013-2015.
Edmonton offers a large capacity. Calgary might need a new stadium as has been talked about there.
Hamilton has a brand new stadium but would have a really small Grey Cup crowd, one that would make 2015 in Winnipeg look huge. Ottawa will have increased capacity but we are skeptical about how many more seats can fit into those spaces.
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The return of the CFL drew 148,000 viewers for the Montréal-Toronto game. Americans are used to Monday Night Football though not in July.
The lightning-delayed Winnipeg game in Edmonton drew 127,000, a decent number for a 9 pm Eastern start with a delay.
The B.C.-Calgary game on a Friday night had a U.S. TV audience of 136,000. The Sunday night battle of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa drew a rather nice 193,000 mark on ESPN2. The Sunday night option, which happened in Canada because of the long weekend, might fit in well in the States.
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Chris Cuthbert, Glen Suitor: Saskatchewan @ Calgary
Rod Black, Duane Forde: BC @ Montréal; Edmonton @ Ottawa
Rod Black, Matt Dunigan: Hamilton @ Winnipeg
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