110th Grey Cup 2023: Preview, Host, Teams, Entertainment, Winnipeg Blue Bombers vs Montreal Alouettes Head-to-Head and More

The Canadian Football League (CFL) championship for the 2023 season will be decided in the 110th Grey Cup. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who won the West Division, and the Montreal Alouettes, who won the East Division, are scheduled to play on November 19, 2023, at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ontario. Hamilton will be hosting the Grey Cup for the 12th time; the most recent was in 2021.

Host

As of mid-October 2021, all in-person entertainment festivities for the 108th Grey Cup in Hamilton were subject to limit restrictions due to Ontario COVID-19 public health orders. In order to allow organizers to host the Grey Cup and all related festivities as originally planned, it was announced on October 14, 2021, that Hamilton would win the 110th Grey Cup in 2023.

Entertainment

The Grey Cup Festival, which is scheduled to take place in downtown Hamilton from November 16–18, 2023, has been announced by the Hamilton Sports Group. The John Weir Foote Armoury plans to build a 35-yard football field that will serve as the site of a multi-day flag football competition.

All CFL teams will have parties at the Hamilton Convention Centre, FirstOntario Centre, and Bridgeworks. On November 17, 2023, at LIUNA Station, the CFL Alumni Association Legends Luncheon will take place annually.

Date

The league could have started the 2023 season up to 30 days earlier, as per the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement signed in 2022. This could have had a big impact on the date of this game. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats confirmed that the game would take place on November 19, 2023, the third Sunday in November, but the league decided to stick with the current scheduling scheme.

Entertainment

The kickoff show will feature a performance by pop singer Jamie Fine. Simone Soman, a semifinalist on Canada’s Got Talent, will sing the national anthem of Canada, making history as the first blind singer to perform it live. Green Day, an American rock band, will play during the halftime show.

Teams

In this matchup, the Montreal Alouettes—who haven’t played in a Grey Cup since 2010—will square off against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who are playing in their fourth straight Grey Cup. The Alouettes have the longest drought of any team to make a Grey Cup appearance. The Blue Bombers will be playing in their league-high 28th title game, while the Alouettes will be playing in their 19th Grey Cup. The Blue Bombers will try to win their 13th championship, including their third in the last four years, while the Alouettes will try to win their eighth.

Montreal Alouettes

The Alouettes made it to the playoffs for the fourth straight season and ended up in second place in the East Division. Although the team had an 11–7 record at the end of the regular season, it was noteworthy that they had an 11–0 record against losing teams and a 0–7 record against winning teams. The Alouettes began the season with a two-game winning streak, which was followed by a three-game losing streak, a four-game winning streak, a four-game losing streak, and ultimately a five-game winning streak due to their schedule that included back-to-back games against the Blue Bombers, Lions, and Argonauts. The Alouettes’ victory over the Ottawa Redblacks in week 17 earned them a spot in the playoffs.

The team easily won the East Semi-Final of the playoffs, defeating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 27–12 while holding them to four field goals and no touchdowns. The Alouettes forced nine turnovers in the East final against the heavily favored 16-2 Argonauts, who they had already lost to three times. These turnovers included four interceptions—two of which were turned into touchdowns—four downs turnovers, and a fumble recovery. In front of the largest attendance for an Argonauts game at BMO Field, the Alouettes dominated the Argonauts and won the game 38–17.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

With a 14–4 record at the conclusion of the regular season, the Blue Bombers proved to be a formidable force once more. On September 9, 2023, the Blue Bombers defeated the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Banjo Bowl to clinch a seventh-straight season in the postseason in their 13th game. The second-place BC Lions presented a challenge to the team, though, as they both had identical 11–4 records going into their Week 16 matchup, which would decide the winner of the season series. The Lions lost the next week, and the Blue Bombers prevailed in overtime to win their third straight division championship.

Despite resting several starters in both games, the team managed to win both of the games that had no bearing on the standings at the end of the season. The Blue Bombers faced the BC Lions again after their bye week, but this time they won 24–13 thanks to a strong defensive effort that tied a league playoff record with nine sacks and kept the Lions to just one Hail Mary touchdown.

Head-to-head

In their two meetings in 2023, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers emerged victorious, defeating the Montreal Alouettes 17–3 on Canada Day and then 47–17 at IG Field on August 24, 2023.

Brady Oliveira contributed 120 rushing yards to the Blue Bombers’ 185 total in their first meeting, and Zach Collaros threw for 177 yards and two touchdowns. With two sacks and a fumble recovery from Willie Jefferson, two sacks and a forced fumble from Cameron Lawson, and an interception by Brandon Alexander of Cody Fajardo in the red zone, the Winnipeg defense held Montreal to three points.

The Blue Bombers’ defense kept the Alouettes’ offense to three points in the second meeting, even though Tyrell Richards and Marc-Antoine Dequoy’s interceptions allowed the Alouettes to score their lone major. Leading rusher William Stanback was limited to 32 yards of rushing by the Winnipeg defense, while Fajardo was only able to pass for 137 yards and one interception.

Oliveira almost equaled his previous total with 119 rushing yards and one touchdown, while Collaros completed his pass play with four touchdowns and three interceptions.

It’s their third postseason meeting, but this will be the first Grey Cup match between these teams. The teams’ prior two playoff games were split.