The Calgary Stampeders are the football betting favourites to win the 105th Grey Cup, which will the awarded to winners of the 2017 Canadian Football League season – slated to start on June 22nd. Below are the odds to win Grey Cup for fans who bet on football.
Calgary Stampeders +360
The Stamps finished the 2016 regular season first in the West Division with a 15-2-1 record, and made the postseason for the 12th consecutive year, where they had a bye in the first round and defeated the BC Lions in the West Final game. However, Calgary failed to win its eighth Grey Cup, losing to the Ottawa Redblacks in the Grey Cup match. Similarly, QB Bo Levi Mitchell had his best season yet completing 412 of 606 passes (68%) for 5,385 with 32 TDs and eight picks, but he also had his worst game in the Finals. Running back Jerome Messam led the CFL in rushing yards and touchdowns.
BC Lions +510
The Lions finished 2nd in the West Division with a 12-6 record, marking just the third time in the history of the team that they finished in second place, and the first time since 1986. The Leos reached the playoffs for the 20th season in a row, the second-longest streak in the history of the league. The Lions won the West Semi-Final against the Blue Bombers, but lost to the Stampeders in the West Final. About half of the defense left en masse, but quarterback Jonathon Jennings and receivers Emmanuel Arceneaux and Bryan Burnham return on offense.
Edmonton Eskimos +610
The Eskimo Brothers are the third football betting favourites to win the Grey Cup. As Canadians who bet on football probably know, the Eskies are one of the most successful teams in CFL history with 14 Grey Cups – as recently as 2015. However, the Double E’s failed to become the first back-to-back champions since the Montreal Alouettes in 2010 when they lost in the East Final to eventual champions the Redblacks.
Hamilton Tiger-Cats +810
The Ti-Cats were the second best team – or rather the second least-worst in a division wherein no team had a winning record in 2016. In spite of that and of going 4-9 in the last 13 games, Hamilton advanced to the postseason for the fourth consecutive season, where they lost to the Eskimos in the East Semis. A healthy Zach Collaros should improve passing, but it’s the running game that the Tigers need to work on.
Ottawa Redblacks
As football betting goes, the Redblacks have good but not great odds of repeating. On the one hand, Le Rouge et Noir won the Grey Cup in only their third season of play. On the other, it took the city of Ottawa 40 years and two teams to win another Grey Cup. And on the other, other hand, mythical QB Henry Burris wisely decided to go out on top and announced his retirement on January 24th, and his would-be replacement Drew Tate was injured in the first preseason game.