It’s a big day for Canadian Football League fans, as tickets for the 106th Grey Cup, which will be held in Edmonton on Nov. 25, go on sale Friday.
As of Friday morning, about 39,000 tickets had already been purchased, leaving about 17,000 tickets still available.
The last time Edmonton hosted the Grey Cup, in 2010, tickets sold out in six days — which the CFL said is a record. This year’s sales could break that.
A few weeks ago, Eskimos president and CEO Len Rhodes said sales to season-seat holders and corporate partners was “more than neck-to-neck to where we were at the same time in 2010, and maybe slightly ahead.”
READ MORE: A record-breaking Grey Cup sellout in Edmonton is still the goal
Tickets to the general public go on sale at 2 p.m. via Ticketmaster, and prices range from $99 to more than $325.
People attending Friday morning’s sold-out Grey Cup Festival launch breakfast, as well as season ticket holders, will be able to buy tickets before 2 p.m.
The Grey Cup Festival, themed “Bring the Heat,” will feature over 50 events in the week leading up to the game, including a street festival with a zip line, a mini ski hill and tube slide.
WATCH: It’s an exciting day for football fans hoping to attend the 106th Grey Cup here in Edmonton, as tickets go on sale Friday. Kent Morrison spoke with CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie about it.
READ MORE: Edmonton Grey Cup organizers release details on three attractions
CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie was the guest speaker at the steak and egg launch breakfast at the Shaw Conference Centre, where beforehand he spoke with Global News about the state of professional football in Canada.
“In some ways, the league is in amazing shape. The pivot from there is that I don’t want us to think that it’s good enough,” he told Kent Morrison on Global News Morning.
“If we’re going to get this league to where I think it deserves to be, and that position of fundamental strength across the entire country, we have to work at things. We have to look at new ways of doing things. We have to be the most fan-engaged league in the world.
“Let’s not be complacent. Let’s drive this league to a much bigger, stronger place.”
Ambrosie doesn’t just have an eye on the big game in November — he’s also focused on expanding the league into Atlantic Canada.
READ MORE: Halifax organization pushing for CFL team hosts league commissioner
“To me, it feels like the right thing to do,” Ambrosie said, explaining the people in the potential ownership group — Maritime Football Ltd. — would fit in well around the governor’s table.
“But more importantly, the idea of being a truly national Canadian Football League. It’s like the national railway is not a national railway until you get all the track laid. And there’s a piece of track that has eluded us for decades.
“That last stretch into Atlantic Canada: an amazing region, amazing people, great football fans — super strong collegiate football played in the Atlantic area. We should welcome them in with open arms. But we have to get it right, and obviously, the first priority is to get a stadium built.”
The four previous Edmonton Grey Cups have attracted more than 60,000 people, but because of the wider green and yellow seats installed in Commonwealth Stadium six years ago, this year’s game will have a seating capacity of just over 56,000.
WATCH: Edmonton is hosting the 106th Grey Cup this November and tickets go on sale Friday. CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie and Duane Vienneau with the planning committee joined Global News Morning to talk about all the festivities planned leading up to the game.
Comments