108th Grey Cup

The 108th Grey Cup will be played to decide the Canadian Football League (CFL) championship for the 2021 season.[2] The game is scheduled to be played on November 21, 2021 at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ontario.[1] It will be the 11th time that Hamilton has hosted the Grey Cup, with the most recent coming in 1996, and the first to be played at the new Tim Hortons Field.[1]

108th Grey Cup
DateNovember 21, 2021[1]
StadiumTim Hortons Field
LocationHamilton, Ontario
Broadcasters
NetworkEnglish: TSN
French: RDS
For the Grey Cup to be played in Regina in 2022, see 109th Grey Cup.

Background

Host city selection

The 108th (2020) and 109th (2021) Grey Cup were awarded to Regina, Saskatchewan and Hamilton, Ontario respectively on February 21, 2019.[3] Litigation over the construction of Tim Hortons Field was settled on May 31, 2018, which had prevented the Tiger-Cats from bidding on a Grey Cup game prior to then.[4]

The game was originally awarded as the 109th Grey Cup; the 2020 CFL season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, marking the first time the Grey Cup was not awarded since 1919. As a result, Regina's hosting of the Grey Cup was deferred to 2022.[5]

Date

It was speculated with the 108th Grey Cup that the date for this game could come at least one week sooner than in previous years.[6][7] Currently, the Grey Cup is played on the fourth or fifth Sunday of November, as has been the case since 2007. During the CFL's State of the League address on November 24, 2017, League Commissioner Randy Ambrosie suggested that the league could potentially move the date to the third week of October.[8] On November 23, 2018, Commissioner Ambrosie confirmed that the league schedule would start one week earlier, suggesting that the 108th Grey Cup game would be on November 15, 2020.[6][7] However, in the dual 2020 and 2021 announcement, it was revealed that the earlier start meant that it would be played on the third Sunday of November, which is still the earliest start since the November 19 game in 2006.[1]

References
  1. "Going for Two: CFL awards 2020 and 2021 Grey Cups". cfl.ca. February 21, 2019. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  2. "Shaw, CFL announce Grey Cup sponsorship deal". Global News. Shaw Media. May 8, 2015. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  3. Taekema, Dan (Feb 21, 2019). "'Holy cow, we did it': The 2021 Grey Cup is coming to Hamilton". CBC News. Retrieved 2019-02-22.
  4. "Tim Horton's Field stadium lawsuit officially settled, says Hamilton mayor". Global News. May 31, 2018. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  5. "CFL cancels 2020 season, 'committed' to 2021". Canadian Press. 2020-08-17. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  6. "Eight things you need to know from Randy Ambrosie's state of the league address". November 23, 2018.
  7. "State of CFL: Randy Ambrosie on Mexico, Halifax, realignment and more". November 23, 2018.
  8. "Grey Cup in October? NFL Network TV deal could follow for CFL". Ottawa Sun. November 24, 2017. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
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