Who Are the Favorites to Win the Grey Cup?

Later on this year, the Mosaic Stadium in Saskatchewan is set to host the 108th Grey Cup to determine the winner of Canadian Football League championship. After ending their drought in the previous campaign, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers will be seeking to make it back-to-back wins, but they’re faced with some real competition.

As a result, we’re going to look at who the current favourites are to lift the trophy.

The Contenders

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

At the time of writing, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who are based in Toronto, are the favourites to win the Grey Cup in November. Last time around, the eight-time cup-winning side fell short in the final against Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who ran out 33-12 winners at the McMahon stadium. Over the last seven years, the team, which is now coached by Orlondo Steinauer, have finished runners up on three separate occasions, last winning the competition back in 1999. Prior to their defeat in the final, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats had been on a run of eight consecutive victories and, because of that, are widely considered to be the top contenders in 2020 after delivering a 15-win season.

Saskatchewan Roughriders

Along with the Toronto-based side, the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who were founded in 1910, are also tipped to be fighting it out for glory at the Grey Cup in 2020. Since the Hamilton Tiger-Cats last won the cup, the continent’s oldest community-owned franchise has won it twice and finished runners-up in two other years. In their history, they have claimed the championship trophy four times, but failed to reach the final at the last time of asking after suffering a narrow 20-13 defeat to the eventual winners, Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Despite there being only nine teams in the league, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were made to wait 29 years before eventually getting their hands on the Grey Cup once again. During the highly-anticipated final, head coach Mike O’Shea saw his side dominate their opponents from start to finish as they claimed their 11th title. Although they’re on a high and remain in the hunt

to win the trophy for a second consecutive year, the task has been made more difficult with their dual-threat quarterback, Chris Streveler, being released to pursue a career in the NFL.

Rising Interest of Football in Canada

In recent years, football in Canada has reached new heights, with the United States expansion in 1993 helping to take the game to a wider audience base. Furthermore, in an attempt to reach a broader international market, an initiative is being introduced to double the number of global players on each team’s rosters this year. Crucially, this means that as well as being able to have a more extensive talent pool to choose from, the new system will likely attract more international fans.

Moreover, new digital approaches have been central to expanding local interest in the sport, with lots of sites to choose from that offer no deposit free spins on titles that focus on the game’s popularity. Additionally, operators such as LeoVegas also have a sportsbook feature, which is currently where Hamilton Tiger-Cats are priced at 13/4 to win the 2020 Grey Cup as of March 18th, 2020, while Saskatchewan Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers are 9/2 and 5/1 respectively.

There’s Everything to Play For

Even though anything can happen in sport, the odds suggest that one of the above three teams will be the likely victors of the 108th Grey Cup. While weakening their roster through the releasing of players is unlikely to help Winnipeg Blue Bombers in seeking to retain the championship, the momentum of winning is on their side. However, after an impressive 15-win season last time out, it’s hard to look beyond the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at this moment in time.

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