When the Saskatchewan Roughriders defeated the B.C. Lions in the West Final on Saturday, it was expected that the team would get the home locker room at Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg for the Grey Cup.
Traditionally, the West Division winner is considered the home team for Grey Cups hosted in West Division stadiums and vice-versa. Winnipeg had the home locker room for the 109th Grey Cup at Mosaic Stadium in Regina — a game they lost 24-23 to the Toronto Argonauts — so it’s understandable that the Roughriders would be excited to return the favour against their prairie foes.
However, the league will now rotate annually between the West Division and East Division winners as the home team for Grey Cup, a spokesperson confirmed to 3DownNation.
As such, the Montreal Alouettes have officially been named the home team for Sunday’s championship game. The East Division champions will wear their blue home uniforms and use the Blue Bombers’ locker room, while the Roughriders will be wear white and use the Manitoba Bisons’ locker room.
This change was made because at least four straight Grey Cups will be played in the same half of the country — Vancouver in 2024, Winnipeg in 2025, Calgary in 2026, and Regina in 2027. Rather than force the East Division champions to be the away team for four straight years, they will now “host” in 2025 and 2027. The West Division winner will remain the home team next year at McMahon Stadium.
There’s one caveat to this rule change, however, which is that the club from the host city is automatically the home team if they qualify for the Grey Cup, regardless of which division they represent. For instance, the Blue Bombers would have been the home team for Sunday’s game had they qualified, superseding the new rotation rule.
With at least four consecutive Grey Cups taking place in West Division markets, it stands to reason that East Division markets will likely host several Grey Cups in a row starting in or around 2028. Montreal hasn’t hosted the CFL’s championship game since 2008, while Toronto and Ottawa haven’t hosted since 2016 and 2017, respectively.
This new rule is designed to bring balance between the divisions — assuming, of course, that the CFL doesn’t change the divisional structure of its playoffs.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders (13-6) and Montreal Alouettes (12-8) will meet in the 112th Grey Cup at Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg on Sunday, November 16 with kickoff scheduled for 6:00 p.m. EST.
The Alouettes defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East Final by a score of 19-16, while the Roughriders came back to defeat the B.C. Lions in the West Final by a score of 24-21. The teams split their two regular-season meetings, though Montreal franchise quarterback Davis Alexander missed both games due to a hamstring injury.
The weather forecast in Winnipeg calls for a high of two degrees with a mix of sun and cloud. The game will be broadcast on TSN, CTV, and RDS in Canada, CBS Sports Network in the United States, and CFL+ internationally.
This marks the fifth time the Grey Cup will be played in Winnipeg and the second time it will be hosted at Princess Auto Stadium. The venue’s first Grey Cup was held in 2015 when the Edmonton Football Team defeated the Ottawa Redblacks by a score of 26-20 and Michael Reilly was named the game’s Most Valuable Player.
