Canadian Football League betting 2025

The Canadian Football League or CFL is a popular betting medium in Canada and the USA, with the 2026 season due to start in June and finish in November. CFL betting is available at sportsbooks right around the world, but undoubtedly this national league is most popular at home. You can learn more about CFL betting, strategy, the teams, bet types availability and more in this guide. CFL betting can be done via both smartphones (including betting apps) and computers, while some sportsbooks even offer telephone betting.

The top CFL betting sites for the 2026 season are:

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Grey Cup betting introduction

The Canadian Football League is the top level of competition for Canadian football, a similar sport to the more widely known American football.

Canadian football is the second-most popular sport in Canada, though it has to be said it is a vast distance behind ice-hockey, which is a national obsession.

That said, Canadian football fans are loyal and noisy, and the championship game for the Grey Cup in late November is one of the most watched events of the sporting year.

Useful CFL pages:

• Grey Cup winners
• Most Outstanding Player Award
• Most Outstanding Rookie Award
• American Football betting

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CFL betting 2026

The 2026 CFL season is due to start in June 2026 and culminate in December, with the Montreal Alouettes the early favourites to win the championship, despite the Roughriders being the defending champions.

The 2026 CFL season is set to throw up some variables with several teams — including the Toronto Argonauts and BC Lions — set to hand their home ground over for the duration of the FIFA World Cup.

The Roughriders at +600 loom as a strong bet against in 2026, while the Argonauts (+500) and Lions (+600) are also fancied in the markets.

Grey Cup odds 2026

Montreal Alouettes	+270
Toronto Argonauts	+500
BC Lions	+600
Saskatchewan Roughriders	+600
Calgary Stampeders	+640
Winnipeg Blue Bombers	+750
Hamilton Tiger-Cats	+1000
Ottawa Redblacks	+1400
Edmonton Elks	+1900

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CFL betting sites in 2025

Canadian Football League betting is available at many of the top betting sites, including brands accessible in Canada. The big difference between betting with a Canadian regulated and overseas-based sportsbook is that Ontario has broken the mould and regulated sports betting.This means Ontario betting sites are significantly different to those that, for example, accept players from Alberta.

Betting on the CFL via offshore betting sites, including massive brands like William Hill and bet365, will give you many different bet types. These include betting on a winner, handicap betting, player props and even outright futures betting on the Grey Cup and individual player awards.

CFL betting sites are accessible via both desktop computer and smaller devices, like smartphones and tablets. Basically, as long as you have the internet available you will be able to wager on this grid iron competition.

Probably the most popular way to bet on the CFL in 2026 is via mobile, with most betting sites having apps available for smartphones. This means you can have a shortcut on your desktop and bet on Canadian football in an instant.

Joining a Canadian Football League sportsbook is straight-forward and involves filling in a digital form with details such as your name, address, telephone number, date of birth and email address. You will need to verify this information, either digitally or via sending in forms, so be sure to give the correct details when joining or you will not be able to cash out.

Check our guide to the top Canadian betting sites for more information about wagering from this part of the world.

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Where is Canadian football played?

There are nine teams in the CFL and they are located in nine separate cities in Canada, with the teams divided into the East and West divisions.

The four teams in the East Division are: Montreal Alouettes (in the province of Quebec), Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Ottawa Redblacks and Toronto Argonauts (all Ontario).

The five teams in the West Division are: BC Lions (Vancouver, British Columbia), Calgary Stampeders and Edmonton Eskimos (both Alberta), Saskatchewan Roughriders (Regina, Saskatchewan), Winnipeg Blue Bombers (Manitoba).

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Brief history of Canadian football

Canadian football, as with so many other oval-ball sports, evolved from rugby which was played in the country from the 1860s. By the time the Grey Cup was donated by governor-general Earl Grey in 1909 to be awarded to the champion amateur team of Canada, it had adopted many similarities with American football.

The early game was controlled by the Canadian Rugby Union, and its two main leagues, the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (IRFU) and the Western Interprovincial Football Union (WIFU) led the push towards professional play by the 1950s.

Though 1954 is seen as the start of the modern era of Canadian football, the CFL was founded in January 1958, with the merger of the IRFU and the WIFU, leaving the CRU to control the amateur game. The IRFU soon after became the Eastern Conference and the WIFU the Western Conference, a status that has remained largely the same.

The league between 1993 and 1996 dabbled with expansion into the United States, with the Baltimore Stallions in 1995 becoming the only non-Canadian Grey Cup champions.

The Canadian Football League was forced to abandoned the 2020 season because of the covid-19 pandemic, with Canada having some of the most ridiculous laws surrounding lockdowns, under Justin Castro.

The CFL is for a shake-up in 2026 with several teams unable to use their ground during the FIFA World Cup, which is set to be played in the USA, Canada and Mexico.

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CFL bet types

The sportsbooks we recommend for Canada-based players will all offer extensive markets on the CFL. Here is a brief description of the main betting types you will encounter, though many more markets will be available, especially at Grey Cup time.

• Point spread (Handicap): Probably the most popular type of bet. The sportsbook will give the favourites a negative handicap and the outsider a positive handicap. For example, Calgary may be -5.5 points against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (+5.5). This means the Stampeders must win by 6 points or more for your bet to be a winner, or alternatively if you back the Bombers, the must win or lose by points or fewer for your bet to come in.
• Moneyline (head to head): Simply bet on the winner or loser of a game, though be warned that hot favourites can be extremely short in this format.
• Over/Under: Bet on whether the teams’ combined total will be over or under where the sportsbook has set the line. This is a good bet for a neutral or on a game where you are really unsure of who will win but still want a wagering interest.
• Race to 10 points: Bet on which team you think will get off to a flyer.
• First team to score: As the name suggests, which team will score first points. This seems to us more of a novelty bet than something you can seriously predict.
  First scoring play: Usually six options to choose from in this bet: home team touchdown, field goal or any other score or away team touchdown, field goal or any other score.
• Half-time/Full-time: Select who will lead at half-time and at full-time. The options here are: home team/home team; home team/away team; away team/away team; away team/home team; draw/home team; draw/away team.
• Winning margin: Select the team you want to win plus a points range they must win by. They vary greatly at different bookies but could be something like: 1-6; 7-12; 13-18; 19-24; 25-30; 31-36; 37-42; 43+

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How to watch the CFL from Canada and overseas

The good news is that you can watch CFL matches from pretty much anywhere in the world.

If you are in Canada you can watch the games on cable network TSN. In Quebec you can get French-language coverage of Montreal Alouettes games on TSN’s RDS network.

In the United States and many other countries including Australia you can turn to the ESPN Network, which has been associated with the CFL since as far back as 1980. It reaches into some 74 countries. In Britain and Ireland, BT Sport has the rights to broadcast the CFL.

If that fails, international live streaming is available in more than 100 countries through Yare Media by purchasing a package through the CFL website for about $C80.

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Quick guide to the CFL’s nine teams

East Division

The CFL East Division has traditionally been defined by some of the league’s oldest franchises, intense regional rivalries, and a more pass-heavy, high-scoring style of play compared to the West, which is often seen as more run-oriented and physically dominant. Historically, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Toronto Argonauts, and Montreal Alouettes have been the standout powers of the East, combining for the majority of the division’s Grey Cup appearances and championships over the decades.

MONTREAL ALOUETTES

Nickname: Als, Larks.
Founded: 1946.
Home stadium: Percival Molson Memorial Stadium, Montreal, Quebec.
Grey Cups: 7.
Most recent: 2023.
Not many teams can claim to be named after a work song, Alouette, and especially one about plucking the feathers from a skylark. The great survivors of the CFL as they have folded and been revived at least twice. The Alouettes snapped a 13-year Grey Cup drought in 2023, when they defeated Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the final.

HAMILTON TIGER-CATS

Nickname: Cats, Ticats.
Founded: 1950.
Home stadium: Tim Hortons Field, Hamilton, Ontario.
Grey Cups: 8.
Most recent: 1999.
The first team to win the Grey Cup at their home ground, in 1972. The Cats have had a long run of lean times but seem to be heading in the right direction in recent seasons.

OTTAWA REDBLACKS

Nickname: Redblacks.
Founded: 2010.
Home stadium: TD Place Stadium, Ottawa, Ontario.
Grey Cups: 1.
Most recent: 2016.
The new boys of the league and did not take long to find the ultimate success winning the Grey Cup in a big upset over the Calgary Stampeders 39-33 in extra time. They wanted to revive the Rough Riders name from a long-standing Ottawa franchise that fell by the wayside in 1996. But the Saskatchewan Roughriders would have none of it.

TORONTO ARGONAUTS

Nickname: Argos, Boatmen, Double Blue, Scullers.
Founded: 1873.
Home stadium: BMO Field, Toronto, Ontario.
Grey Cups: 17.
Most recent: 2022.
The oldest professional sports franchise in North America still using its original name. The team was owned by the Argonaut Rowing Club for the first 80-odd years of its existence. Recent Grey Cup titles include 2017 and 2022.

West Division

The CFL West Division is traditionally known for its physical, hard-nosed brand of football and has often been viewed as the league’s toughest and most competitive side, with deep talent and strong fan support across the Prairie provinces and British Columbia. Historically, the Edmonton Elks (formerly Eskimos), Calgary Stampeders, Saskatchewan Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers (after moving to the West) have been the dominant forces, regularly producing Grey Cup contenders and setting the standard for consistency and rivalries in the CFL.

BC LIONS

Nickname: Leos.
Founded: 1954.
Home stadium: BC Place, Vancouver, British Columbia.
Grey Cups: 6.
Most recent: 2011.
Missed the play-offs in 2017 for the first time since 1997, ending their streak at 20. They get the Lions nickname from a pair of mountain peaks that are said to resemble a couple of lions guarding the city of Vancouver. Boast the second-biggest stadium in the league behind that of Edmonton.

CALGARY STAMPEDERS

Nickname: Horsemen, Stamps.
Founded: 1945.
Home stadium: McMahon Stadium, Calgary, Alberta.
Grey Cups: 7.
Most recent: 2014.
Always a contender and fans can hang their hats on the 1948, the only perfect season in league history when the Stamps when 12-0 and then won the Grey Cup in Toronto.

EDMONTON ESKIMOS

Nickname: Eskies, Esks.
Founded: 1949.
Home stadium: Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Alberta.
Grey Cups: 14.
Most recent: 2015. A massively successful franchise in the “City of Champions’’ which draws huge crowds. The relative newcomers have sparked a fair degree of jealousy with their feats which include making the play-offs every year from 1972-2005.

SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS

Nickname: Riders, the Green and White.
Founded: 1910.
Home stadium: Mosaic Stadium, Regina, Saskatchewan.
Grey Cups: 4.
Most recent: 2025.
The only professional sports franchise in Saskatchewan and their loyal fans are known as the Rider nation. They have stood the test of time as one of the oldest pro sports franchises in North America. They have a great rivalry against the Blue Bombers and tickets to those matches are hard to come by. The Riders snapped a 12 year championship drought when they defeated the Alouettes in the 2025 Grey Cup.

WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS

Nickname: Bombers, Big Blue, True Blue, Blue and Gold.
Founded: 1930.
Home stadium: Investors Group Field, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Grey Cups: 12.
Most recent: 2021
The Bombers have a rich history of success, becoming the first team from the west to win the coveted trophy in 1935. They have a rusted-on band of fans and most of their games are sellouts. Arch rivals are the Roughriders. The Blue Bombers have lost the last two Grey Cup finals.

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CFL betting promotions 2025

Many of the top online sportsbooks in Canada have got CFL betting promotions running prior to and during the 2026 season. These Canadian Football League betting promotions can take on several different forms, but all have one thing in common – they give players something for nothing.

For instance, one of our top CFL betting promotions is a boosted odds offer on parlay or multibets. This works by making your selections and visiting the bet slip, where you can add your parlay boost to the offer. This generally adds an extra 10% on your potential dividend.

Another great CFL promotion that we often see promoted is a deposit bonus, where you can make a payment to your bookie, then receive a bonus bet of the same amount to use on a match. This kind of CFL promo is pretty stock standard at betting sites, but is definitely worth taking advantage of.