Calgary hosts the 113th Grey Cup on Sunday, Nov. 15. Twelve days out, you can still get a ticket.
That’s not normal for a Grey Cup. Last year’s game in Winnipeg was officially sold out on Nov. 4. This year, tickets for the CFL championship at McMahon Stadium are still for sale, in sections across the stadium.
The hometown team won’t be in it, either. The Calgary Stampeders missed the playoffs. That leaves organizers trying to fill the stands with neutral fans and visitors from cities that won’t know their team is coming until Saturday night.
A post on X this week asking “Anyone wanna pay $350 to sit on metal bleachers in Nov?” has been viewed more than 55,000 times. It set off an argument among CFL fans about prices, McMahon Stadium and the league itself.
Are Grey Cup 2026 tickets sold out?
No.
In May, when tickets went on sale, the CFL said the game was “almost 50 per cent sold out.” In early October, Stampeders president Jay McNeil said thousands of seats were still available. The main sections were close to sold out, but the two sections nearest the west end zone had barely sold.
“I can say this: we are going to kill ourselves to get it sold out,” McNeil said.
Organizers haven’t said how many seats are left now. Fans online have guessed anywhere from a few hundred to more than 10,000. Neither number has been confirmed.
How much are Grey Cup tickets?
Face-value tickets ran from about $280 to $520 each, before fees, as of early October. Tickets are sold through the Stampeders, the host team, at greycup2026.com/stamps. Resale prices on other sites change daily.
Who’s playing in the Grey Cup?
That gets decided this Saturday, Nov. 7:
Western Final: B.C. Lions at Edmonton Elks. B.C. beat Saskatchewan 33-26 in the semifinal.
Eastern Final: Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Montreal Alouettes. Winnipeg crossed over to the East and beat Toronto 25-22.
The winners meet in Calgary eight days later.
Why the matchup matters for ticket sales
Some fan bases are more likely to make the trip than others.
An Edmonton-Winnipeg Grey Cup is probably the best case for organizers. Edmonton is a three-hour drive from Calgary, and Bombers fans have a long record of travelling to Grey Cups. Winnipeg won the last Grey Cup in Calgary, in 2019.
A B.C.-Montreal Grey Cup means flights for most visiting fans, booked with about a week’s notice. Some Lions fans say online they’re going no matter who plays.
There’s also some irony if the Elks get there. Edmonton bid to host this Grey Cup too, and lost to Calgary. An Elks win Saturday would mean Edmonton fans driving south to fill McMahon.
Why hasn’t the Grey Cup sold out?
In October, McNeil pointed to a few reasons:
Weather: rain fell on six of the Stampeders’ eight home game days this season, hurting single-game sales all year. “Weather has been a tremendously negative impact to our game days,” he said.
The World Cup: team leaders say they underestimated how much the FIFA World Cup matches in Vancouver this summer would eat into fans’ entertainment budgets.
Falling attendance: Stampeders regular-season attendance dropped 10.3% in 2026, on pace for the team’s second-lowest since 1970.
The stadium: McNeil himself has called McMahon “at the end of life.”
Online, fans have added their own reasons: the price, the open-air metal bleachers in November, and the Stampeders not being in the game.
Who’s in charge of selling Grey Cup tickets?
The Grey Cup belongs to the CFL. The league picks the host city years in advance, no matter who ends up making the game.
The host team runs the game locally, including ticket sales at the stadium. That’s why the Stampeders are the ones selling tickets, and why their president has been the one talking about it, even though they won’t be on the field.
How does this compare to past Grey Cups?
| Year | Host | Ticket picture |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Calgary | Sold out by August, with 46,020 fans |
| 2019 | Calgary | 35,439 fans at McMahon |
| 2024 | Vancouver | 52,349 fans, about 2,150 short of capacity |
| 2025 | Winnipeg | Officially sold out on Nov. 4 |
| 2026 | Calgary | Tickets still available as of Nov. 3 |
When is the Grey Cup, and how do you watch it?
The 113th Grey Cup is Sunday, Nov. 15, at 5 p.m. at McMahon Stadium. Riley Green headlines the halftime show. In Canada, it airs on TSN and CTV in English and on RDS in French, and streams on CFL+ worldwide.
Can you be part of Grey Cup week without a ticket?
Yes. The Grey Cup Festival runs Nov. 11 to 14 at Stampede Park, with free events including pancake breakfasts, live music, drone shows and an indoor family zone.
Read more: Grey Cup 2026 in Calgary: Game Date, Free Festival Events, CTrain Guide and What to Know
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