Tiger-Cats & Argos by the numbers
TORONTO – This Sunday’s CFL Eastern Final showdown between the defending Grey Cup Champion Toronto Argonauts and the visiting Hamilton Tiger-Cats features a rivalry that has spanned more than a century, over 300 games and countless fan excursions along the QEW highway.
“Our league is filled with lore, but this rivalry is truly second to none in all of sport,” said Mark Cohon, Commissioner of the Canadian Football League. “And this weekend may mark the biggest chapter in the story to date.”
Here’s a look at the history of the Hamilton-Toronto football rivalry by the numbers:
-Football teams from Hamilton and Toronto have played each other a stunning 321 times since 1907 in one format or another with Hamilton holding an edge of 165 wins to 146, along with 10 ties.
-Counting the 1914 playoff in the Big Four, a predecessor of the CFL, Hamilton and Toronto will meet in an Eastern Final Sunday for only the ninth time in 99 years of play.
-The last time they met in the Eastern Final was in 1986, when the Tiger-Cats won (the last divisional final that featured a two-game format) on their way to a Grey Cup victory.
-From 1907 to 2013, the Argos have played a Hamilton club (the Tigers, Wildcats or Tiger-Cats) 299 times in the regular season and 22 times in the playoffs.
-Hamilton leads in regular season match ups, 158 wins to 132, with nine ties. In playoff action, the Argos hold the upper hand, winning 14 times to Hamilton’s seven, with one tie.
-Since 1950, the Argos and Ticats have met seven times in the Eastern Final, with Toronto winning four times and Hamilton winning three.
-They last met in the playoffs in 2010 and 2004 but in semi-final games.
-From 1907 to 1949, in the era of the Hamilton Tigers, Toronto and Hamilton met in the post season only once: 99 years ago in a 1914 playoff to break a first place tie. (The first game was called on account of darkness and the Argos won the rematch 11-4 to move on to face the Hamilton Rowing Club.)
-In regular season play, the Tigers and Argos met 73 times between 1907 and 1947, when the Hamilton club departed for the ORFU, then a rival league. The Wildcats took their place and played Toronto eight times in 1948 and 1949.
-Since 1950, the Argos and Ticats have faced each other in 218 regular season games.
Ticket sales have been brisk since the Tiger-Cats qualified for this Sunday’s Eastern Final with a playoff win over the Montreal Alouettes last weekend.
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