Saskatchewan to host 114th Grey Cup in 2027

The biggest game in Canadian football will be back at Mosaic Stadium in 2027.

Saskatchewan is set to host the 114th Grey Cup, CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston announced on Monday morning. The game will be played on November 7, 2027.

“What an exciting day, not just for this province but the entire country. It’s going to be such a celebration in 2027,” Johnston said. “We know that the province of Saskatchewan, the city of Regina and the Saskatchewan Roughriders can put on a show and we are looking forward to that.”

Riders president and CEO Craig Reynolds said the organization is thrilled to bring the Grey Cup back to the Queen City.

“It’s the single-biggest sports day in Canada,” Reynolds said. “We had a tagline in our bid and it said, ‘We are built for this,’ and we really feel that way — we’re built to host Grey Cups here.”

Johnston confirmed that the 2027 season will be starting a bit earlier than normal, resulting in the earlier championship.

“We have moved the season up earlier. It will start earlier,” Johnston said. “We are focused on the 2026 schedule right now. We will come out with more 2027 news but yes, it is going to land a week earlier than it has recently.”

Reynolds said there has been an emphasis at the board level to move the season start time.

“We have been wildly supportive of that concept, just given the potential for weather challenges. We saw that in 2013 — we got lucky with that Grey Cup. It could have been horribly cold but the weather gods helped us that day,” Reynolds said. “I think moving the season up has lots of benefits, one of which is that your Grey Cup is a little bit earlier and the odds of really, really cold weather are a little less.”

Johnston said they don’t discuss the other bids by teams publicly but mentioned the Saskatchewan bid was, “Truly outstanding.”

The Grey Cup has been out west a lot more recently, as the 2027 event will mark the seventh time since 2018 that a west division team will host. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats hosted in 2021 and 2023.

“I think (the west) is just a place where football is embraced and celebrated, as it is across the country. There are just communities out here in the west that have just demonstrated they love the social aspect of this but they love the support of the community across the country for what it means for the entire CFL,” Johnston said. “They like the spotlight on their stadium and their community. We have seen multiple fantastic bids from the west coast.”

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Saskatchewan has hosted the Grey Cup four times in the past, in 1995, 2003, 2013 and most recently in 2022. The most recent of the Roughriders’ 19 appearances in the championship game came in 2013, when the Green and White beat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 45-23.

Reynolds said the key to the bid process is to elevate the Grey Cup as an event.

“That’s clear in the bid documents and it’s an extensive bid — it’s well over 100 pages of plans, financials and the concept of how we can elevate this event,” Reynolds said. “We were able to identify the things that worked really well (in 2022) to Stewart and the selection committee and come up with some new innovative ideas we thought would work.”

For the first time in the Grey Cup’s history, all events, including the street festival, will take place indoors.

“That was one of the things we learned in 2022 — while the street festival was popular, to move it indoors and try to attract that next generation of fans and youth and families, we think that will be an even greater success,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds thanked both the Government of Saskatchewan and the City of Regina, along with the other partners who helped make the Grey Cup bid a reality.

“I look forward to seeing Rider Pride on full display as Saskatchewan welcomes fans from across the nation for the 2027 Grey Cup,” Scott Moe, Saskatchewan’s premier, said in a statement.

“Our government is excited to support this event and the economic benefit that it will bring to local businesses and our province’s growing tourism sector.”

Chad Bachynski, Regina’s mayor, was also brimming with excitement at Monday’s announcement.

“This celebration of Canadian spirit and community pride will bring people together in the power of sport and once again showcase our world-class venues and Regina hospitality,” Bachynski said in a statement.

“Hosting the Grey Cup is an honour and an opportunity to energize our economy, inspire our youth, and create unforgettable memories for fans from coast to coast. Regina is ready, and we can’t wait to deliver an experience that reflects the heart and soul of Saskatchewan.”

Grey Cup brings big money to host city

Saskatchewan most recently hosted the Grey Cup in 2022, when the Toronto Argonauts beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 24-23 to secure the CFL championship. A report published the following year by Sport Tourism Canada found the event had a $67.8 million economic impact and added $25.7 million to the province’s GDP.

Johnston said he was at the 2022 Grey Cup and praised the organization for how that one went.

“Start to finish, it was professionally done. It was a professional event. Combined with that, you had the warmth of the community,” Johnston said. “You put those two things together, it makes the magic. We were fully confident Saskatchewan could put on another great show.”

Meanwhile, the drought of major concerts at Mosaic Stadium, which has been ongoing since 2019, is set to end on Sept. 15 with a show by the Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age. The most recent concert at the stadium, two performances by Garth Brooks back in 2019, brought in an estimated $18.7 million in economic activity as fans spent their money at restaurants, hotels and other local businesses.

–with files from 980 CJME’s Nicole Garn and Britton Gray