NFL snobs aside, the Grey Cup is Canada’s signature football event, and that means exciting betting opportunities.
With single-game betting changing the game for Canadian sportsbooks, the Grey Cup could even become a prop-betting circus akin to the Super Bowl.
Below find out how to bet on the Grey Cup online, including live Grey Cup odds as posted at Canadian online sportsbooks for each team to win the Grey Cup.
Best Grey Cup betting odds
Before and during the season you can find Grey Cup futures odds at any legal Canadian online sportsbooks. Once the two teams are set, Canadian sportsbooks will then post CFL game lines to spur the action for the game itself. Check the latest Grey Cup odds below; click on any odds to start the betting process and claim any new-account welcome offer.
How to bet on the Grey Cup online in Canada
The easiest way to make any bet on the Grey Cup is through an online sportsbook. At the sportsbook site you’ve chosen, simply create an account and make a deposit. Once you’re finished with your deposit, you can begin making online sports bets.
Legal and regulated sportsbooks are the ones you’ll find promoted throughout our site. Top private online sportsbooks and apps you can expect to see in most provinces include:
Sites that don’t have legal licenses in Canada have no oversight and are quite capable of breaking the law without recourse. By giving such sportsbooks your financial and personal information, you open yourself up to fraud, identify theft and more.
Legal sites are easy to use, easy to find, and are regulated by government agencies that not only hold them accountable but also have the ability to suspend and remove their gambling licenses should a book violate contractual obligations.
How do you read Grey Cup odds?
Sportsbook odds formats are actually pretty simple, even if they can look confusing to the newly initiated sports bettor. Any team with negative odds is considered the favourite to win the game. Those with positive odds are the underdogs. On rare occasions, teams will be considered so close in their ability that there won’t be a significant difference at all.
In other instances, the gap between the teams will be massive because of the disparities in talent and season record. Let’s take a look at a simple example:
- Ottawa Redblacks (-110)
- Calgary Stampeders (+110)
In this fictional example, the Redblacks odds show they’re the favourites, as determined by the oddsmakers. That line may move as game time draws nearer based on a number of factors, such as injuries, team news and even public betting trends. However, if you placed your bet right now, at those odds, your ticket will remain the same no matter how things shift later.
If you agree with the sportsbook and think Ottawa is going to come away with the win, you’d have to wager $110 in order to win $100. What that means is if you place a $110 bet and the Redblacks win the game, then your payout will be $210—your initial stake plus your $100 winnings.
On the other hand, if your research tells you the Stamps are primed for the upset, you’d need to place a $100 bet on the Stampeders to win $110. Your payout would still be $210, like the above example, but you had to stake less because the odds were against Calgary, as shown by their positive listing.
Not all odds are as easy to calculate, but there are numerous available online betting calculators that will help you figure out potential returns. Don’t hesitate to seek them out.
What Grey Cup prop bets are available?
When the Super Bowl rolls around, there are so many prop bets available that it is impossible to keep track of them all. Sportsbooks feast on these fun little bets, and their prevalence is part of why Super Bowl betting is the single biggest sports betting event in the world.
The Grey Cup is Canadian football’s version of the Super Bowl, which means action on the game is going to increasingly mirror what is popular in the States. When you take a look at some of the props offered for the NFL’s championship game, you get an idea of what could come about for the Grey Cup.
Here are a few examples:
- Who will be the Grey Cup MVP?
- Will the coin toss end up heads or tails?
- What colour Gatorade/sports drink will be dumped on the winning coach?
- Will there be a “big guy” (offensive or defensive lineman) touchdown?
- What will the first offensive play be (run or pass)?
- Will there be a score in the first five minutes (yes or no)?
- Will more points be scored in the first or second half?
- Which team will score the longest touchdown?
- Will the game be tied again any point after the 0-0 start?
You’ll also come across props focused on team yards for passing and rushing, the number of sacks, individual props and much more. The list is potentially endless, especially as interest in sports gambling continues to grow across North America. It will be interesting to see how future Grey Cups stack up against Super Bowls in terms of the number of prop bets available at sportsbooks.
Live betting on Grey Cup football games
Live betting has exploded across the sports betting landscape. That’s because in-game betting gives you the opportunity to be far more engaged in a given event than ever before.
In short, live betting allows you to place bets right as the action takes place. Who’s going to score the next touchdown? Will there be a sack during the next series? Will there be a fourth-quarter comeback victory? Questions such as those, among so many more, are presented as prop bets during in-game betting sessions.
The key to participating? Online or mobile sportsbooks. Frankly, traditional brick-and-mortar sportsbooks just don’t have the ability to keep up with the live odds that in-game betting requires. Online sportsbooks, however, can adjust odds instantly.
When you sign in to your sportsbook of choice, you’ll be able to find all the upcoming live, or in-game, betting opportunities. The Grey Cup, without a doubt, will have options for live wagering. Because of how interactive it makes each sporting event feel, in-game betting has become extremely popular.
Best Grey Cup odds boosts
Sportsbooks often try to incentivize certain betting opportunities by offering up bonuses or promotional events for specific games or tournaments. For the Grey Cup, you will likely come across several sportsbooks offering various odds boosts.
This means sportsbooks offer a specific bet with better odds than usual. You’ll find odds boosts nearly every day for various wagers in most of the better online sportsbooks. But the Grey Cup will likely get attention from several sportsbooks when the date of the big game draws near.
An example of a Grey Cup odds boost could be a prop bet for a quarterback throwing more than 250 yards. The normal line on that might be -135, which means you’d have to wager $135 for a chance to win $100. An odds boost from a sportsbook might move that line to -110. Those Grey Cup betting odds offer more of a return on your stake with a winning bet.
How do CFL teams make the playoffs?
Throughout the regular season, teams play 18 games with the goal of finishing in the top three of their division. With each victory, a team is awarded two playoff points (or one point for a tie).
Those points are used to determine the top three teams in each division. Those squads automatically gain entrance into the playoffs. In some instances, a fourth-place team in one division may have more points than the third-place team in another division. In those cases, the fourth-place team will be awarded the playoff spot over the team with fewer points. And certainly, the CFL has tiebreaker rules if that instance should arise.
Once the playoffs begin, the first-place team gains a bye to the Divisional Finals while the other two teams play a first-round matchup. The winner advances to the Divisional Finals and the winners of the two divisions meet in the Grey Cup.
Top 3 CFL Grey Cup games ever played
There have been some amazing Grey Cup championship games over the past century. But what are the three greatest? We’ve put together a list of the games fans are still talking about today.
3. 1994 — B.C. Lions vs. Baltimore Stallions
For those who don’t remember, there was once a time when the Canadian Football League experimented with bringing its unique brand of football to the United States. In 1994, that experiment turned into a game of the U.S. vs. Canada when the B.C. Lions and the Baltimore Stallions squared off in Vancouver.
The Stallions were winning 20-10 midway through the third quarter when the Lions suddenly came back. Throughout the final minutes of the game, the British Columbia squad outscored its opponents 16-3 to come away with a 26-23 victory. The winning points? A field goal by Lou Passaglia, who was born in Vancouver, with no time remaining in the game.
Talk about national pride. You can watch the entire game thanks to this YouTube video.
2. 2009 — Montreal Alouettes vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders
In another beautiful comeback victory, the Montreal Alouettes had to not only nail a field goal as time ran out but also get an assist from Lady Luck in the process.
Montreal’s Damon Duval lined up for a field goal to win the game for his team, but his kick was no good, and a gut-wrenching feeling began to claw through Alouettes fans everywhere. But there, on the ground, lay a penalty flag. Saskatchewan had too many men on the field during the attempt, giving Montreal and Duval another chance to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
Duval’s 33-yard attempt—shortened by the 10-yard penalty—didn’t miss this time, giving his team the 28-27 victory, much to the joy of Montreal fans and the heartbreak of the Roughriders faithful.
It’s still a fun game to watch, and you can get all the highlights here.
1. 1989 – Saskatchewan Roughriders vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats
There might be some controversy over this being our top pick. But there just isn’t anything else that matches up.
The game was incredibly balanced between the Roughriders and the Tiger-Cats to the very end of the game. Hamilton held the halftime lead 27-22 and exchanged blows with their opponents throughout the third until the Roughriders gained the upper hand 34-30, thanks to a field goal, a safety and a touchdown.
The fourth quarter was a defensive showdown, with neither team finding the end zone until 44 seconds remained in the game. Until that point, the kickers traded field goals with Saskatchewan hitting kicks from 25 and 20 yards (with 14:10 and 1:58 remaining in the game, respectively) and Hamilton hitting one from 47 yards out (6:21 remaining).
With the score in the Roughriders favor, 40-33, it looked as though it would take a miracle for Hamilton to get back into the game. That miracle came with 44 seconds left after quarterback Mike Kerrigan took his team down the field and hit Tony Champion in the end zone to tie the game following the successful point-after attempt.
But miracles are sometimes met by miracles, and the Roughriders managed to conjure one of their own. QB Kent Austin managed to go 48 yards in just three plays, all completions. With just nine seconds left, and after an attempt to ice the kicker with a Tiger-Cats timeout, Saskatchewan secured the victory in the best Grey Cup game ever played. A 35-yard field goal by Dave Ridgway sealed the 43-40 final. The play will forever be known in CFL history as “The Kick.”
You’ve got to watch all of the outstanding moments. Check out this video for the complete story. Check out current Hamilton Tiger-Cats odds here. Check out the latest Saskatchewan Roughriders odds here.