This year’s Grey Cup attracted a high volume of wagers, with all Canadian provinces reporting record betting numbers.
The 2021 edition of the Grey Cup has been one for the records, with Canadian sportsbooks reporting all-time high betting volumes placed on the final. The upsurge of sports bets comes as a boon for CFL, which has been looking at ways to boost its revenue after a financially weak 2020.
The Grey Cup final was held on 12 December in Hamilton, Ontario. The game saw the Winnipeg Blue Bombers lock horns with Hamilton Tiger-Cats. This year’s wagering boom can be attributed to Canada’s legalisation of single-event sports betting in August, which many sports fans were looking forward to with much anticipation.
Smashing Betting Records
Following the game, Sports Interaction informed that the wagered volume on this year’s Grey Cup was double that of the previous final. According to the popular sportsbook, this was due to a few factors, including the selection of prop-betting options, the rising attractiveness of sports betting, and the highly anticipated rematch between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
The British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) reported that its PlayNow sportsbook witnessed a 260 per cent increase in the number of wagers placed on the final compared to the 2019 game. BCLC also informed that it saw a 480 per cent surge in handle this year, compared to the previous edition two years ago. The 2020 Grey Cup was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) also reported record wagers placed on the final via its new online sportsbook, PROLINE+. An OLG representative, Tony Bitonti, observed that the wagering volume for the Grey Cup final wasn’t surprising since single-event sports betting is now legal in Canada.
According to the reports, most PlayNow punters backed Winnipeg Blue Bombers to snatch the title. The most popular bet on the platform was the outcome of the pre-game coin-toss, with two-thirds of bettors predicting “heads”. OLG gamesters also opted for the Blue Bombers, with the team collecting 68 per cent of the bets and 72 per cent of the total money placed on stakes for point-spread.
