CFL NOTEBOOK: WINNIPEG GETS 2025 GREY CUP, SMITH GIVES ALS SALE A THUMBS-UP

WINNIPEG – The 2025 Grey Cup game will be played at Winnipeg’s IG Field.

The CFL made the official announcement Tuesday. It will mark the fifth time that the Grey Cup game will be played in Winnipeg and the first since 2015.

The announcement comes after the CFL awarded the 2024 Grey Cup game to Vancouver. Both the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and B.C. Lions had bid to host that contest.

The 2023 Grey Cup will be held Nov. 19 at Tim Hortons Field, the 12th time the contest will be played in Hamilton.

Winnipeg also hosted the Grey Cup in 1991, ’98 and 2006. All three of those games were held at Canad Inns Stadium (formerly Winnipeg Stadium) but that venue was demolished after the Blue Bombers moved to IG Field in 2013.

MONTREAL – Former CFL commissioner Larry Smith has some friendly advice for Pierre Karl Peladeau, the new owner of the Montreal Alouettes: Expect the unexpected.

Peladeau took over the Alouettes on Friday, purchasing the franchise from the CFL. The league had assumed ownership of the club Feb. 14.

The 61-year-old Peladeau, a former leader of the Parti Quebecois, ticked two huge boxes for the CFL.

Firstly, he’s a Montreal businessman – Peladeau is the president/CEO of Quebecor Inc. – and gives the franchise its first local ownership since Leo Dandurand founded the original Alouettes in 1946 although Charles Bronfman owned the former Montreal Concordes in the 1980s. Peladeau also has deep pockets, with a reported worth of US$1.9 billion.

“Getting involved in a situation where you’ve had a franchise that’s had some difficulty over the last seven, eight years is not an easy thing because you that know going in you’re going to have to write cheques,” Smith told reporters. “You know going in that there are going to be surprises.

“You know going in that it’s one of those situations where if you have one impression of what you’re getting, the actual reality is that impression may not be 100 per cent accurate because of some of the surprises.”

Smith, a member of Canada’s Senate, certainly understands the Montreal marketplace and the Alouettes’ place within it. The 71-year-old native of Hudson, Que., spent time with the organization as a player (1972-81) and twice as its president (1997-01, 2004-10) after serving as CFL commissioner (1992-97).

As commissioner, Smith oversaw the franchise’s relocation to Montreal from Baltimore in February 1996. Smith resigned as commissioner in February 1997 and became Alouettes president.

“I think (Peladeau) has great name recognition, which is a major, major positive,” Smith said. “(Secondly) he has the financial resources and (No. 3) he has energy and energy, properly transferred to the market, can be a very positive thing.

“The CFL has a unique niche and it has to play to its niche and has to be able to figure out how to grow within the environment that it lives in. That, to me, is a huge opportunity but a huge challenge.”

(Canadian Press)