[Acajack]

OK, so the Grey Cup was a few weeks ago, and I was wondering if people have an idea whether the Grey Cup was the main attraction on the TV screens of sports bars in their part of the country.

I am also curious about CFL games in general shown in sports bars across the country.

I'll kick things off by covering my area.

No surprise, the Grey Cup with the Alouettes was the main (the only perhaps) attraction in sports bars across Quebec including my city on the night it was played.

I think the answer from Saskatchewan will be essentially the same.

But what about the rest of the country? Is the Grey Cup something that they show up on the big screen? What about other CFL games (involving a local team or not)?

[Ayreonaut]

I was in Regina...

Actually, there were only like 25 people in the bar I was at. I think most of the city was in Calgary.

[craneSpotter]

^ They don't call Calgary Saskatchewan's largest city for nothing ;)

[isaidso]

Torontonians tend not to pay attention to any sport unless it is global or involves the Americans. In sports bars in Toronto, you have to ask them to put the football game on. They point to the screen which showcases NFL or US college football. Ask for Canadian, and they look at you like you have 2 heads.

As far as sports goes, Toronto is like being in another country. Canada should count Toronto out when it comes to building pro sports in this country. This will have to be done without their help. I live in Toronto, but have resigned myself to the fact that I want to watch football from my own country, I will have to do it at home.

[Acajack]

Torontonians tend not to pay attention to any sport unless it is global or involves the Americans. In sports bars in Toronto, you have to ask them to put the football game on. They point to the screen which showcases NFL or US college football. Ask for Canadian, and they look at you like you have 2 heads.

As far as sports goes, Toronto is like being in another country. Canada should count Toronto out when it comes to building pro sports in this country. This will have to be done without their help. I live in Toronto, but have resigned myself to the fact that I want to watch football from my own country, I will have to do it at home.

I hear you. There used to be the same bold indifference to the CFL in Quebec, from about the mid 80s until the Alouettes' resurgence in the late 90s.

Today, the Alouettes are seen as (borderline) major league and are easily the second-most-popular sports team in Quebec after you-know-who.

So there is hope for southern Ontario, though the hill to climb back up will likely be steeper than in Quebec. Since the media in Quebec (including the sports media) is not so U.S.-dominated because of the language barrier, once the mainstream media in Quebec decided the Als and the CFL were worth paying attention to, the last piece of the puzzle was put in place to complement the great work done by Larry Smith and company.

The Quebec media can make you or break you here. They certainly broke the Expos, and Quebec was largely impermeable to any hype from across the border about how great a sport baseball was/is.

My experience is that hype from stateside gets a lot more mileage in Toronto and southern Ontario (for obvious reasons).

[SteelTown]

Sports bars here definitely show the Grey Cup but obviously more crowd if the Ti Cats made it to the big game.

Usually the bars will set up school bus trips to Ivor Wynne or Rogers Centre. After the game they usually drink more at the bar. Same for a game to Buffalo Bills. You can also get discounted VIA rail trips to Montreal, thanks to Bob Young.