THE Canadian Football League (CFL) is Canada’s equivalent to the NFL and instead of playing for the Super Bowl, they play for the Grey Cup.
Betting options for the CFL are very similar to the NFL. They offer head-to-head, points spread, over/under and player prop markets. The main betting option is betting the overall winner of the Grey Cup and seeing as there are only nine teams in the league, it makes a profit more likely than betting on the wide-open NFL.
The Canadian Football League is a professional sports league based in Canada. The sport is based on gridiron – the same as NFL – with a few different rules changed to make the game unique.
There are currently nine different teams in the competition, which we have previewed further down the page, with all teams coming from different cities around Canada. The teams are divided into two divisions (East and West), with four teams belonging to the East and five to the West.
The league runs for a 20-week regular season, which runs from June to November. Each team plays a total of 18 games – including two bye-weeks – and then the top six teams compete in a three-week divisional playoff system.
The teams play for the Grey Cup in November, which pits the best Eastern Division team against the best from the West.
CFL is the second most popular sport in Canada, behind only NHL (ice hockey), and it’s also the second oldest gridiron competition in the world, having been founded in 1958.
In the early 1990’s, American franchises were introduced with moderate success, but with the inclusion of the Baltimore Ravens into the NFL, the CFL suffered and the NFL teams dissipated from the CFL franchise.
The rules are basically the same as the NFL, except all backs, minus the quarterback, get a running start at the snap and the goal posts sit awkwardly at the beginning of the end-zone – this does make for some exciting “running into the goal posts” moments however.
The field sizes are also different. The playing field for the CFL is larger than that of the NFL – 110 yards long – but the CFL uses a much bigger end-zone which makes throwing touchdown passes easier.
CFL teams use 12 players per side, whereas the NFL uses 11. There is no tight end in CFL.
One big difference is the amount of downs both league’s get. We all know the NFL has a four-down system, but the CFL has only three – this makes turnovers more frequent. The CFL also uses a 20-second clock system, half of the 40 second play clock the NFL uses, making the game quicker with better tempo.
2015 Grey Cup market and odds
As there are only nine teams competing for the Grey Cup odds aren’t quite as dispersed, but there is still the warm favourite’s and rank outsiders that punters tend to look for when betting on sport futures.
Calgary Stampeders – $4.33
Saskatchewan Roughriders – $5.50
Edmonton Eskimos – $5.50
British Columbia Lions – $7
Hamilton Tiger Cats – $7
Montreal Alouettes – $8
Toronto Argonauts – $9
Winnipeg Blue Bombers – $10
Ottawa Redblacks – $26
Last season’s champions Calgary have been installed the favourite’s at $4.33 and the experts have suggested they will play well again this season. The Roughriders have four Grey Cup wins next to their name so they know what it takes to take the trophy home – a good bet at $5.50.
Outsiders Ottawa and Winnipeg aren’t expected to play well this season but anything can happen in the CFL and upsets are a regular occurrence.
Current CFL teams with projected ranking
Calgary Stampeders – $4.33:
The 2014 champions return for their eighth Grey Cup win after a 20-16 win against the Hamilton Tiger Cats. The Stampeders are making a habit of winning every six to seven years, having not win since 2008, and they haven’t won back-to-back titles in their 80 year existence.
Calgary play in the West Division and their home games are played at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alberta. Along with their current coach John Hufnagel, the Stampeders have a long running provincial rivalry with the Edmonton Eskimos, and they also play against division rivals Saskatchewan and British Columbia.
Projected ranking – 2nd
Saskatchewan Roughriders – $5.50:
Founded in 1901, the Roughriders are one of the oldest current teams in the CFL – the third oldest gridiron team behind the Arizona Cardinals and the Toronto Argonauts – and they have had recent success with wins in 2007 and 2013.
They have won four total Grey Cups (1966, 1989, 2007 and 2013), and they have had 20 players inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. The Roughriders have won four titles, but they have competed in 19 finals for the Grey Cup, losing 15 of them. This included five consecutive losses in the 1930’s.
They finished last season with a record of 10 wins and eight losses but we think they can improve and get back to their very best this season.
Projected ranking – 1st
Edmonton Eskimos – $5.50:
The most prolific winners of the Grey Cup in history, the Edmonton Eskimos have won a total of 13 Grey Cups with the most recent coming in 2005. That statistic is made even better by the fact that they joined the league in only 1949 and in only five years they were able to rattle off three consecutive Grey Cup wins.
The Eskimos hold a North American sports record by qualifying for the playoffs for 34 consecutive years between 1972 and 2005.
They have a rivalry with the Calgary Stampeders and are one of three teams to be community owned (shareholders).
Last season they had a solid record of 12 wins and only six losses, making them a top contender again this season.
Projected ranking – 3rd
British Columbia (BC) Lions – $7
The Western Division team plays out of Vancouver and they are the oldest franchise team to come from Vancouver – which includes the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks.
The Lions have won six Grey Cups, with three coming since 2000. They were also the only team to beat an American-based team in a Grey Cup final.
They own the second largest playoff streak, having made the playoffs for 18 straight seasons, but with only three teams missing out each year, this statistic is made more probable.
With an even record of nine wins and nine losses last season, the Lions will be looking for improvement and bookmakers suggest they will do so.
Projected ranking – 4th
Best of the outside chances – Hamilton Tiger Cats ($7):
The Tiger Cats own eight Grey Cup titles but the men from Hamilton, Ontario, haven’t won since 1999. Most of their dominance came in the 1960’s and they are due to return to serious playoff contention.
They finished last season with a 9-9 record but managed to win the Eastern Division. That was much better than their previous season which saw them lose a league record of 17 games, with only one win.
Better signs were shown last season and they remain a solid title contender.
Projected ranking – 5th
Toronto Argonauts – 6th
Montreal Alouettes – 7th
Winnipeg Blue Bombers – 8th
Ottawa Redblacks – 9th
Popular CFL game betting options
Much like the NFL, bookmakers offer the popular market options for all CFL games.
Head-to-head bets, where punters must select the winner of the game outright, continue to be a popular option among CFL bettors.
There isn’t much disparity between the best and worst CFL team, therefore the points spread markets aren’t as spread out as they are in the NFL. Most commonly the spread will be in the range of 3.5-8.5, which means punters must select either a team to win by a certain margin, or lose but only by a certain amount of points. This is done to even out a head-to-head betting option where one team is favoured.
Over/Under betting is the simple act of betting on the total points scored in a game. This option relies heavily on the weather, especially in the CFL, and totals can swing widely depending on how much snow is in the area. Punters must decide if there will be more or less points scored than the total set by the bookmakers.
There is still all the same exotic markets that are offered in the NFL, but some bookmakers won’t offer first touchdown scorer bets. This is due to the popularity of the CFL around the world but it’s growing in popularity and the exotic options we see in the NFL will soon come to the CFL.