Winnipeg to host fifth Grey Cup game Nov. 16

The 112^th Grey Cup will be held at Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg on Sunday, Nov. 16, marking the second time the CFL championship game will be played at the stadium located at the University of Manitoba. In 2015, before 36,634 fans at the complex then known as Investors Group Field, the Edmonton Eskimos (now Elks) beat the Ottawa Redblacks 26-20.

Ottawa led early in the first quarter on touchdown passes by quarterback Henry Burris to Patrick Lavoie and Ernest Jackson. A field goal by Sean Whyte and a touchdown pass from Mike Reilly to Adarius Bowman made it 13-10 Ottawa at the end of the quarter. At the half, the score was 17-16 Edmonton after Chris Milo kicked a Redblacks field goal and Akeem Shavers scored on a pass from Reilly.

In the third, Milo kicked another field goal and Edmonton scored a single point on a Whyte three-point attempt. Entering the final quarter, Ottawa led 19-18. In the fourth, Milo punted for a single to make it 20-18. The Eskimos fought back and with 3:22 left in the game, Jordan Lynch scored from the one-yard line and a two-point conversion made the score 26-20. The victory was Edmonton’s 10^th in a row that season and brought them their first Grey Cup victory since 2005. Reilly was the game’s most-valuable player.

Winnipeg had hosted the Grey Cup three times previously.

In 1991, in front of 51,985 fans at Winnipeg Stadium, the Toronto Argonauts beat the Calgary Stampeders 36-21.

In 1991 in front of 51, 985 fans at Winnipeg Stadium, the Toronto Argonauts beat the Calgary Stampeders 36-21. That was the year the Argos were owned by Los Angeles Kings hockey team owner Bruce McNall, Kings’ star Wayne Gretzky, and actor John Candy. In 1998, also at the stadium, Calgary beat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 26-24. The 2006 Cup was played at the renamed Canad Inns Stadium, with the B.C. Lions beating Montreal Alouettes 25-14.

The Grey Cup Festival in 2006 included four days of entertainment with performances by Kenny Rogers, The Beach Boys, Tom Cochrane and Red Rider while Nelly Furtado performed at the half-time show. A breakfast featured Randy and Mr. Lahey from the Canadian TV hit Trailer Park Boys. Did Bubbles, Ricky and Julian not make the breakfast because they were in jail?

Investors Group Field became home to the Blue Bombers in 2013. In the first football game played there on June 27, the Bombers lost to the Alouettes 38-33.

Do readers remember who performed in the first concert there a few days earlier, on June 22? The headliner was Taylor Swift, on her Red tour, and the opening act was English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. Fans of Swift will know that these days she spends time in another football stadium. Arrowhead in Kansas City, where she cheers for her fiancé, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

In June 2015, seven soccer games in the FIFA Women’s World Cup were played at Investors Group Field. In 2019, the venue, which had been rebranded to IG Field, became home to Valour FC of the Canadian Premier League. In August of that year, the Green Bay Packers and Oakland Raiders of the NFL played a pre-season game there. The Raiders won 22-21 in a game where the field had to be shortened from 100 yards to 80 because the goalposts couldn’t be moved back from the goal line to accommodate NFL rules.

On Oct. 23, 2016, the National Hockey League’s fourth Heritage Classic was played outdoors at the field, with the Jets losing 3-0 to the Edmonton Oilers. The game was scheduled to start at 2 p.m. but the glare from the sunlight plus the 10.1C temperature delayed the start for two hours. Mark Letestu, Darnell Nurse and Zack Kassian scored while Cam Talbot made 31 saves for the shutout. In an alumni game, the Jets with Dale Hawerchuk and Teemu Selanne beat the Oilers 6-5 with Selanne scoring the winner on a penalty shot after he was tripped by Craig Simpson with less than four seconds left in the game. Gretzky, Mark Messier and Jari Kurri played for the Oilers.

In 2024, the Winnipeg Football Club and Princess Auto reached a 10-year agreement to rename the facility at the U of M the Princess Auto Stadium. The Princess Auto connection in Winnipeg goes back to 1933, when the company began as Princess Auto Wrecking.