Five, it seems, is the magic number.<\/p>\n
It was announced on Monday morning at Mosaic Stadium\u2019s AGT Lounge that the fifth Saskatchewan-based Grey Cup Festival is to be held in early November of 2027.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re just excited and thrilled to bring the Grey Cup \u2014\u00a0the single-biggest sports day in Canada \u2014\u00a0back here, only five years after the last time,\u201d said Saskatchewan Roughriders President-CEO Craig Reynolds<\/a>, who Co-Chaired the 2022 event with Barry Clarke<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cOur fan base is second to none. Our facilities are second to none. We had a tagline in our bid that said \u2018We\u2019re Built For This,\u2019 and we really feel that way \u2014 that we\u2019re built to host Grey Cups here.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re excited to be able to deliver this for our fans and for our province. The economic spinoff is really, really important. We couldn\u2019t be more thrilled.\u201d<\/p>\n Historic Mosaic Stadium was the host venue for the 1995, 2003 and 2013 Grey Cup Games \u2014\u00a0the latter of which was won by the Roughriders.<\/p>\n The first Grey Cup at the new facility was to have been held in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a postponement until 2022.<\/p>\n On Monday, the awarding of a Grey Cup to Saskatchewan took place for the first time since Feb. 21, 2019.<\/p>\n \u201cMany things stood out,\u201d CFL Commissioner Stewart Johnston said<\/a> when asked about the Roughriders\u2019 bid. \u201cThe support from the province, from the city, from the local hotel operators, that was significant. You could tell there was a full team effort behind it.<\/p>\n \u201cAll credit to the Saskatchewan Roughriders\u2019 team, led by Craig Reynolds. There was the attention to detail, the thought process behind what they wanted to achieve.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, they hosted a Grey Cup just five years (before 2027), but they\u2019re looking forward and thinking, \u2018What else can we do?\u2019 It will be an entirely indoor Festival here in the province. It\u2019s going to be amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2027, the Grey Cup will be held in Western Canada for the fourth consecutive year and the fifth time in a span of six seasons.<\/p>\n The 2022 Grey Cup was bookended by Festivals that were held in Hamilton in 2021 and 2023. Vancouver was the host city last year. This year\u2019s Festival is earmarked for Winnipeg, with Calgary in line for 2026.<\/p>\n Even though the pendulum has swung to the West of late, Reynolds, the Roughriders\u2019 Board of Directors, and everyone else involved in the Roughriders\u2019 bid identified 2027 as a logical year to target.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to look around the league,\u201d Reynolds said. \u201cThere\u2019s a little bit of guessing and predicting when other teams might bid. Then you start to look at, \u2018Are you ready as an organization?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cWe have such amazing facilities here. We have a really good blueprint from 2022. We felt like there were some things that worked extremely well. There were some things we would do differently, so we were able to quite quickly identify those and put a bid together.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you look at the landscape across the CFL in terms of who had recently hosted and stadium projects across the league, we just saw this as a window.<\/p>\n \u201cWe thought, \u2018We\u2019re just going to take this as an opportunity to bring this major event to Saskatchewan.\u201d<\/p>\n The 114th Grey Cup Game will be played on the earliest date \u2014 Nov. 7 \u2014 since Canadian football supremacy was first contested in 1909.<\/p>\n As it stands, a national championship game has not been played before Nov. 16, a date that applies to the Grey Cups of 1997 (Edmonton), 2003 (Saskatchewan) and 2025 (Winnipeg). Next year\u2019s Grey Cup at McMahon Stadium will also be the earliest ever (Nov. 15).<\/p>\n REAL District will be the epicentre of the all-indoors 2027 event, which will include a street festival.<\/p>\n According to a study by Sport Tourism Canada, the 2022 Grey Cup Festival (culminating in the 109th Grey Cup) generated $67.8 million in economic activity across the country and bolstered Saskatchewan\u2019s GDP by $25.7 million.<\/p>\n \u201cHosting this national event will inject millions into our local economy, supporting our hotels, restaurants, shops and small businesses,\u201d Regina Mayor Chad Bachynski said<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt will boost tourism, create jobs and showcase Regina to visitors from coast to coast. The ripple effect will be felt across our community and the legacy will last long after the last whistle.\u201d<\/p>\n Monday\u2019s huge news arrived at a time when the Roughriders, who will play host to the Western Final on Nov. 8<\/a>, are just one win away from advancing to the 2025 Grey Cup.<\/p>\n