The Winnipeg Football Club has over 12 million reasons to smile.
Their 2025 annual report was released early Wednesday and it revealed an operating profit of $12.1 million — a franchise record.
That number is boosted by the Blue Bombers hosting the 2025 Grey Cup and Grey Cup Festival which resulted in $6.3 million in net revenue. The club also made history by selling out every game — a first in team history — to lead the CFL in attendance for a fourth consecutive year.
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Winnipeg Football Club president and CEO Wade Miller said hosting the 2025 Grey Cup contributed towards the club’s record $12.1 million operating profit.
“It’s a lot of hard work and it’s been a lot of years of our staff working tremendously hard at each component of our business to create the unbelievable atmosphere on game day that is truly second to none in sports in Canada, in my opinion,” WFC president and CEO Wade Miller told the Free Press.
“Our fans really make that experience unbelievable and our staff have just worked so hard to make that happen so it’s great to see the results. “
The expectations are always high around these parts, but not even Miller could’ve projected these numbers.
“It exceeded what we had planned, for sure. We budget conservatively and this was obviously a great result,” said Miller.
“When you think about 14 straight sellouts dating back to August of 2024, I’m not sure many people thought that would be possible.”
In 2025, the club poured $8.4 million in capital improvements at Princess Auto Stadium, which included a new players’ lounge, HVAC remediation, additional contactless security screening devices, and concessions equipment to improve capacity and speed of service. More stadium investments have been made for 2026 with the installation of two new high-resolution video boards, the redesign of the Rum Hut, and replacing seats in the loges.
“Princess Auto Stadium is our responsibility: every beam, every seat, every system. We reinvest into it every single year to ensure the longevity of our stadium for fans in our community,” said Miller.
“We need results like this every year to maintain the stadium.”
By hosting the Grey Cup, the total operating revenue in 2025 went up by $28.1 million from the previous year to a total of $82.8 million. The championship game being in town also meant the operating expenses were $70.7 million — an increase of $23 million from 2024.
Without hosting the CFL title game, the Bombers still would’ve profited around $6 million.
The Bombers also invested into the amateur football scene in the province. They donated flag football kits to every school in Manitoba, 675 helmets to local teams, established a girls high school flag football league with 420 participants, and launched three new rural flag football leagues.
This year’s Grey Cup is in Calgary, but there are still a few events taking over Princess Auto Stadium in 2026 that will help the bottom line: Country Thunder and Rockin’ Thunder Concert events (July 3-4), Canada versus Zimbabwe in men’s rugby (July 18), an AC/DC concert (Sept. 20), and the NHL’s Heritage Classic featuring the Winnipeg Jets and Montreal Canadiens (Oct. 25).
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It’ll be a tough act to follow, but Miller is encouraged.
“Season ticket renewals have been strong, new season tickets have been strong, so we’re going to work hard towards that,” said Miller.
“Obviously, our goal every year is to sell out every single game and we’re just going to focus on the home opener on June 11 and then keep it rolling from there. We just want to make sure it’s a great experience on game day.”
Bombers training camp opens May 10. They’ll start the season on the road in Calgary on June 5 before hosting the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on June 11.
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Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor.
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