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Canadian Football League Information
In this blog, we will be focusing on the Canadian Football League, or better known simply as the CFL.
Created in 1958, the league was a result of the merger between the Big Four and the Western Interprovincial Football Union.
The league features nine teams, five play in the Western Division and four in the Eastern Division, and the season culminates with the Grey Cup.
Below, we are going to look at this season, look back at past champions and look at betting odds to enhance your betting experience with the CFL.
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CFL Preview
Who won the CFL?
The 2024 edition saw the 111th Grey Cup take place, in which the Toronto Argonauts were crowned champions, defeating the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 41-24 in front of 52,439 spectators.
When is the CFL?
The CFL regular season takes place between early June and late October, and the playoffs end in mid-November with the Grey Cup.
Who are the favourites to win the CFL?
The Toronto Argonauts, who won their nineteenth championship in 2024, headed into the season as the bookies' favourites, although it had been some time since back-to-back winners (Alouettes 2010-11).
Who will win the CFL?
Head over to the OLBG American Football Tips to see who they are tipping to win, not only the outright winner but also matches throughout the tournament.
Additionally, if you only want to view the tips from the top tipsters, those who have shown a profit on rugby over the past year, then head over to the Best American Football Tipsters page.
What is the CFL Format?
The regular season consists of twenty-one game weeks, with each team playing in a total of eighteen of those, with three bye weeks per team.
The teams in 2nd & 3rd from each division head to play each other in a divisional semi-final, with the winners going on to the division final against the team which finished top.
The two winners from the division finals then go on to meet in that season's Grey Cup to determine the champions. The game is Canada's largest annual sports event with audiences of around 4 million.
CFL Broadcast & Scheduling Info
The CFL matches are screened live on TSN, RDS & CTV in Canada, on CBS Sports Network and on CFL+. For those outside of Canada and the US, you can also watch the action on CFL+.
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CFL Past Winners
The 2024 Grey Cup was the 111th time it has been staged. The team who have appeared in the most are the Winnipeg Blue Bombers with 29 Grey Cup appearances, four more than the Toronto Argonauts with twenty-five.
Despite their record appearances, the Blue Bombers have a losing record, having won 12 and lost 17 and are only third on the list for the most Grey Cups won.
Topping the list are the Toronto Argonauts, who have a 19-6 record in Grey Cups, with the Edmonton Elks second on the list with 14 championships.
| Season | Champions | Score | Runners-up | Att. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Toronto Argonauts | 41–24 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 52,439 |
| 2023 | Montreal Alouettes | 28–24 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 28,808 |
| 2022 | Toronto Argonauts | 24–23 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 33,330 |
| 2021 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 33–25 (OT) | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 26,324 |
| 2020 | Cancelled | |||
| 2019 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 33–12 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 35,439 |
| 2018 | Calgary Stampeders | 27–16 | Ottawa RedBlacks | 55,819 |
| 2017 | Toronto Argonauts | 27–24 | Calgary Stampeders | 36,154 |
| 2016 | Ottawa RedBlacks | 39–33 (OT) | Calgary Stampeders | 33,426 |
| 2015 | Edmonton Eskimos | 26–20 | Ottawa RedBlacks | 36,634 |
| 2014 | Calgary Stampeders | 20–16 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 52,056 |
CFL Favourite Statistics
Below you can see how well favourites have performed for each of the last ten completed seasons. The average number of winning favourites over the last ten seasons is 65.64%.
The 2024 season was only the second season of those ten where the favourites dipped below 60% which is obviously not great for favourites backers, with only 58.14% of them winning, the lowest of the last ten seasons.
During that period, the Calgary Stampeders have been the most reliable favourites, winning 73% of their games (102-37) when priced as favourites by the bookmakers.
Only two other teams can boast win rates of 70%+ when favourites are those are the Toronto Argonauts (57-24 70%) and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (81-35 70%).
| Year | Favourites | Winners | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 86 | 65 | 75.58% |
| 2015 | 86 | 53 | 61.63% |
| 2016 | 86 | 51 | 59.30% |
| 2017 | 86 | 56 | 65.12% |
| 2018 | 86 | 58 | 67.44% |
| 2019 | 86 | 62 | 72.09% |
| 2021 | 68 | 42 | 61.76% |
| 2022 | 85 | 59 | 69.41% |
| 2023 | 86 | 56 | 65.12% |
| 2024 | 86 | 50 | 58.14% |
| Total | 841 | 552 | 65.64% |
Currie Cup Odds Statistics
In the chart below, we have highlighted the success rate for teams between certain odds ranges and what the expected successful rate should be based on those odds.
Blue means the teams either hit the expected success rate or bettered it, whilst orange means they fell below the expected win rate.
As you can see, the top two are both orange, meaning those priced up 1.19 or shorter did not win as many as they were expected to and considering how short that price is, that is a surprise.
That also means that this could be a good league for underdog backers, because if that many short prices are not winning, then the underdogs are!
CFL Teams
Here are the nine teams that are currently competing in the CFL, with a little bit of information about each team.
West Division Teams
- BC Lions
- BC Place (54,500)
Founded in 1954, the team is based in Vancouver, British Columbia. They have recorded six Grey Cup wins, with the last of those coming in 2011.
- Calgary Stampeders
- McMahon Stadium (35,400)
Based in Calgary, Alberta, the Stampeders were founded in 1945. Their first Grey Cup victory came in 1948, with their most recent being in 2018, which was their 8th championship.
- Edmonton Elks
- Commonwealth Stadium (56,302)
Originally known as the Edmonton Eskimos when founded in 1949, they took on their current name in 2021. They have won fourteen Grey Cups, the first in 1954 and the most recent being in 2015.
- Saskatchewan Roughriders
- Mosaic Stadium (33,350)
The Roughriders didn't win their Grey Cup until 1966 and then had to wait until 1989 for their second. They added two more in 2007 & 2013 for a total of four. They were founded in 1910 and are based in Regina, Saskatchewan.
- Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- Princess Auto Stadium (32,343)
Founded in 1930 and based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the Blue Bombers have been crowned champions twelve times, with their most recent Grey Cup success coming in 2021.
East Division Teams
- Hamilton Tiger-Cats
- Hamilton Stadium (23,218)
The Tiger-Cats were founded in 1950, and it took them just three years to claim the first of their eight Grey Cup wins. They are on a bit of a drought at present, with their last coming back in 1999.
- Montreal Alouettes
- Percival Molson Memorial Stadium (23,035)
Based in Montreal, Quebec, the Alouettes were founded in 1946. They have won the Grey Cup eight times, the first of those coming in 1949 and their most recent being in 2023.
- Ottawa Redblacks
- TD Place Stadium (24,000)
The Redblacks are the third CFL team to be based in Ottawa, Ontario and are the newest of the CFL, having only been founded in 2014. Despite being the newest, they have tasted success with their sole Grey Cup win coming in 2016.
- Toronto Argonauts
- BMO Field (28,180)
The Argonauts are the oldest professional sports team in North America that is still using their original name; they were founded in 1873. They have won a total of 19 Grey Cups, their first in 1914 and their latest in 2024.
CFL Records
Most Career Games in the CFL
Lui Passaglia tops the list with 408 games over a record-breaking 25 seasons, all of which came when playing for the BC Lions, during which he won three Grey Cups.
Second on the list is Bob Cameron with 394 games, and he tops the list for most consecutive games, having not missed a game for 353 appearances.
- 408 - Lui Passaglia
- 394 - Bob Cameron
- 370 - Damon Allen
- 340 - Paul McCallum
- 329 - Anthony Calvillo
Most CFL Touchdowns
Wide receiver Milt Stegall is top of the all-time list for touchdowns in the CFL, having recorded 147 for the Blue Bombers. He had a short spell in the NFL, scoring just the sole touchdown.
He is ten ahead of both George Reed and Mike Pringle, who are both on 137 touchdowns. Stegall also holds the record for most touchdowns in one season with the 23 he scored in 2002.
- 147 - Milt Stegall
- 137 - George Reed
- 137 - Mike Pringle
- 117 - Allen Pitts
- 104 - Geroy Simon
Most CFL Career Passing Yards
There are only seven players who have over 50,000 passing yards in the CFL, and at the top of the list is Anthony Calvillo, who, over his 20 seasons in the CFL, recorded 79,816 passing yards.
The only other player to have over 70,000 passing yards is Damon Allen, whose 23-season career in the CFL between 1985 and 2007 resulted in 72,381 passing yards.
Doug Flutie's number of 6,619 in 1991 stands as the record for most passing yards in a single season.
- 79,816 - Anthony Calvillo
- 72,381 - Damon Allen
- 63,227 - Henry Burris
- 60,736 - Ricky Ray
- 53,255 - Danny McManus
Most CFL Career Receiving Yards
Both Milt Stegall (15,153) and Allen Pitts (14,891) ranked in the top three all-time receiving yards in the CFL, which is no surprise considering they are 1st and 4th for the most touchdowns!
However, it is Geroy Simon who tops the list with 16,352 receiving yards. He had a short career in the NFL before moving to the CFL, where he played for the Blue Bombers, Lions and Roughriders.
For a single-season record, it is Allen Pitts who holds that; he notched up 2,036 receiving yards during the 1994 season, only one of three players to ever breach the 2,000 mark in a season.
- 16,352 - Geroy Simon
- 15,153 - Milt Stegall
- 14,891 - Allen Pitts
- 14,359 - Darren Flutie
- 13,778 - Nik Lewis
Most CFL Career Rushing Yards
The three time Grey Cup winner Mike Pringle heads the list for most rushing yards in the CFL with 16,425 during his 188 career games, most of which came for the Alouettes.
George Reed (16,116) and Damon Allen (11,920) are next on the list, all of the top three have already had mentions under the other records.
Mike Pringle also tops the list for rushing yards in a single season, he is the only player to score over 2,000 (2,065 in 1998) yards in a single season, he is also second on the list with 1,972 in 1994.
- 16,425 - Mike Pringle
- 16,116 - George Reed
- 11,920 - Damon Allen
- 10,909 - Johnny Bright
- 10,380 - Andrew Harris
Contributor Information
We are spoiled with our Expert team at OLBG, with our Commercial Content manager, Luke Bradshaw-Lee, being a keen UK-based NFL fan attending London games and burning the midnight oil to catch all the weekend action. The data in this article is maintained and updated regularly by Andy Powell from our Tipster Competition team, who settles and manages all the tips in that section. They combine to create the best American Football content on OLBG, which assists our tipsters in making their NFL predictions in the tipping competition.
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