Canadian Football League attendance


Canadian Football League attendance has averaged over 20,000 spectators per game in every season since CFL season|1963]. The CFL consistently draws, on average, the third largest crowds to its games of any professional sports league in North America, ranking behind the National Football League and Major League Baseball, and ahead of the National Hockey League, National Basketball Association, Major League Soccer, and National Lacrosse League.
To date, a CFL game has drawn in excess of 50,000 spectators 111 times. It happened for the first six times in 1976, when Toronto's Exhibition Stadium was renovated to accommodate the Toronto Blue Jays, and its capacity was enlarged to become the first CFL stadium capable of holding such a large crowd. Later that same season, the Montreal Alouettes moved into Olympic Stadium, following the 1976 Summer Olympics. Large stadiums were constructed soon afterward for the Edmonton Eskimos and BC Lions. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, CFL attendance peaked at about 30,000 fans per game.
During the 1980s and 1990s, CFL attendance declined sharply, reaching its nadir by the mid-1990s due in large part to the league's Canadian [Football League in the United States|unsuccessful attempt] to expand to the United States. Since start of the 21st century, CFL attendance has stabilized. During the current decade, new stadiums have been constructed for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Ottawa Redblacks, and Winnipeg Blue Bombers, all with modern amenities and capacities of between one quarter and one half the capacity of an average NFL stadium. Mosaic Stadium was constructed to house the Saskatchewan Roughriders while BMO Field in Toronto, originally built for Toronto FC of Major League Soccer, was renovated to accommodate the Toronto Argonauts. Existing stadiums, most notably Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton and BC Place in Vancouver, have undergone major upgrades.
During the 2010s, CFL attendance has consistently exceeded 25,000 fans per game. An average of 25,286 fans watched CFL games in 2014. CFL attendance has been depressed during the middle of the 2010s by short-term issues, most notably the lack of stadium availability in Toronto and Hamilton. By 2018, attendances in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver were consistently below 20,000 fans, prompting long-term concerns in those markets.

Top single-game attendance marks

Below is a list of all Canadian Football League games reported to have been attended by 60,000 or more spectators.
RankDateResultCityStadiumAttendanceNote
1.Tue 09/06/77Toronto 20 @ Montreal 14MontrealOlympic Stadium69,093
2.Sun 09/26/76Ottawa 2 @ Montreal 23MontrealOlympic Stadium68,505
3.Sun 11/27/77Montreal 41 vs. Edmonton 6MontrealOlympic Stadium68,318Grey Cup
4.Tue 08/23/77Ottawa 20 @ Montreal 27MontrealOlympic Stadium66,544
5.Sun 11/23/08Calgary 22 vs. Montreal 14MontrealOlympic Stadium66,308Grey Cup
6.Sun 11/25/01Calgary 27 vs. Winnipeg 19MontrealOlympic Stadium65,255Grey Cup
7.Tue 08/22/78B.C. 26 @ Montreal 30MontrealOlympic Stadium65,132
8.Sun 11/25/79Edmonton 17 vs. Montreal 9MontrealOlympic Stadium65,113Grey Cup
9.Thu 08/11/77Winnipeg 10 @ Montreal 27MontrealOlympic Stadium63,330
10.Sun 11/28/10Montreal 21 vs. Saskatchewan 18EdmontonCommonwealth Stadium63,317Grey Cup
11.Sun 10/02/77Toronto 18 @ Montreal 6MontrealOlympic Stadium62,832
12.Sun 11/24/02Montreal 25 vs. Edmonton 16EdmontonCommonwealth Stadium62,531Grey Cup
13. Sat 09/26/09 Saskatchewan 23 @ Edmonton 20EdmontonCommonwealth Stadium62,517
14.Fri 09/05/03Calgary 0 @ Edmonton 38EdmontonCommonwealth Stadium62,444
15.Tue 09/05/78Ottawa 23 @ Montreal 18MontrealOlympic Stadium62,197
16.Sat 10/22/77Ottawa 16 @ Montreal 28MontrealOlympic Stadium62,157
17.Sat 11/06/76Ottawa 17 @ Montreal 26MontrealOlympic Stadium61,950
18.Fri 09/06/02Calgary 11 @ Edmonton 45EdmontonCommonwealth Stadium61,481
19.Sun 11/16/97Toronto 47 vs. Saskatchewan 23EdmontonCommonwealth Stadium60,431Grey Cup
20.Sun 11/18/84Winnipeg 47 vs. Hamilton 17EdmontonCommonwealth Stadium60,081Grey Cup
21.Sun 11/09/03Toronto 26 @ Montreal 30MontrealOlympic Stadium60,007Eastern Final

Team records

[BC Lions]

Type of recordAttendanceDate/YearStadiumResult/Games
Pre-season game53,472*Thu 06/23/83B.C. PlaceCalgary 19 @ B.C. 41
Regular season game59,478Fri 10/11/85
Fri 09/19/86		B.C. PlaceWinnipeg 31 @ B.C. 10
Edmonton 32 @ B.C. 3
Playoff game59,478Sun 11/17/85B.C. PlaceWinnipeg 22 @ B.C. 42
Grey Cup game 59,621Sun 11/30/86B.C. PlaceHamilton 39 vs. Edmonton 15
Total attendance-Regular season418,7381986B.C. Place9 games
Total attendance-Regular season and playoffs459,1191986B.C. Place10 games
Average attendance-Regular season46,5261986B.C. Place9 games
Average attendance-Regular season and playoffs47,0891983B.C. Place9 games

CFL attendance vs. other North American professional sports leagues

The following table compares the CFL regular season average attendance against the regular-season average attendance for the other professional sports leagues in North America with average attendance of at least 10,000 spectators per game.
LeagueSport# TeamsSeasonAverage
attendance		Average vs.
prior season		Total
attendance		Ref
National Football LeagueAmerican football32201966648−0.717061787
Major League BaseballBaseball302019−1.768494752
Liga MXSoccer182018–1922896−9.73503135
Canadian Football LeagueCanadian football9223933.01856263
Major League SoccerSoccer292023221125.010870325
National Basketball AssociationBasketball302018–1917,844−0.721964447
National Hockey LeagueIce hockey312018–1917,377−0.722002081

2025 CFL attendance

Ranked from highest to lowest average home attendance. The average attendance was 22,949.
No.TeamHome gamesTotal attendanceAverage attendance
1Winnipeg Blue Bombers9291,08732,343
2Saskatchewan Roughriders9255,84328,427
3BC Lions9244,11627,124
4Hamilton Tiger-Cats9205,72222,858
5Calgary Stampeders9200,65522,295
6Montreal Alouettes9190,18821,132
7Edmonton Elks9171,45019,050
8Ottawa Redblacks9163,22418,136
9Toronto Argonauts9135,98115,109