Saskatchewan may have to wait until 2022 to host the Grey Cup.
The 2020 Grey Cup was initially awarded to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2019, but due to the uncertainty surrounding the CFL season caused by the coronavirus pandemic, it’s been rescheduled for 2022.
“The COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause uncertainty across the country and across the world, and the ability to host the 2020 Grey Cup to the scope and scale that our fans expected was becoming less and less likely,” said Grey Cup Festival co-chair and Saskatchewan Roughrider president Craig Reynolds.
“Pair that with the need to allow for as much time as possible to have a 2020 season, and we know this is the right decision for the CFL, our Club and for our fans.”
If the 2020 CFL season does go ahead and the 108th Grey Cup is played, the league will use a “win and host” model. That means the team that qualifies for the Grey Cup and has a better season record will host the game.
It would have been the first time the game and the Grey Cup Festival would have been held on the same footprint.
“More than 100 volunteers worked alongside Roughrider employees over the last year to make the 2020 Grey Cup Festival the best one yet. Unfortunately, with all those plans we never could have anticipated this pandemic,” said Grey Cup Festival co-chair and Saskatchewan Roughrider board chair Randy Beattie.
“We are, nonetheless, so thankful for all the hard work and dedication that went into the festival, which has laid the groundwork for a successful event in 2022.”
While tickets had not yet gone on sale to the public, thousands of Grey Cup seats were sold to Roughrider season ticket holders.
Of the seats sold, a $50 per seat deposit will applied to secure seats for 2020, with the remaining balance being refunded.
The Regina & District Chamber of Commerce estimates an economic loss of about $100 million.
Those impacted the most include hotels and the hospitality sector.
“Clearly, we would have loved to have seen a normal Grey Cup, but people’s safety comes first. We respect the CFL’s decision,” said John Hopkins, Regina & District Chamber of Commerce CEO. “Moreover, we are appreciative that the Grey Cup will come to the Queen City in 2022.”
CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie says the earliest the league can start the 2020 season is September, and a cancelled 2020 season remains a possibility.
— With files from the Canadian Press
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