Canadians love sports. This country is the host of major championships and sports events, and the home of some of the best athletes in the world. One of Canadians’ favorite sports is football. They have the Major League Soccer and the Canadian Premier League. Not just that, but Canadian athletes are ranked number 41 in the world in FIFA.
In this article, we’ll discuss football and its popularity across Canada.
What Is the Most Popular Sport in Canada?
If we talk about sports on a general scale, the most popular sport in Canada is Ice Hockey. Canadian football takes 6th place in terms of popularity and viewership. This is based on TV viewership, visits to events, etc. In the 2021/22 season, the International Ice Hockey Federation counted 513,000 registered ice hockey players.
Not only is Canadian ice hockey popular in the country, but it’s actually popular worldwide. In 1893, the country founded the top prize in professional ice hockey, the Stanley Cup. Today, ice hockey is the favorite pastime of most Canadians, followed by golf, curling, basketball, and of course, Canadian Football.
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Football is Very Popular on the Casino and Betting Stage
While hockey is the most popular Canadian sport overall, it’s not the first choice of bettors and gamblers. When we talk about gambling and sports betting, football is one of the top choices of bettors. Players in Canada love betting on sports matches and their favorite players. They also frequently enjoy sport-themed games at top-rated casinos. If you want to find such games, you can see a list of fastest payout online casino canada offers and choose the safest option to do some gambling.
When you go to Canadian casinos, including offshore sites that offer access to players from this country, you’ll be spoilt with choices. There are many sport-themed games, especially slots. Players frequently immerse themselves in titles like Microgaming’s Football Star Deluxe and NetEnt’s Football: Champions Cup slot.
If you are looking to bet on sport-themed games in Canada, there are plenty of options to do so. You can find casinos with amazing games and features, including the option to deposit with a prepaid card to avoid entering banking details. Take a look at this review of the best paysafecard casinos to find the websites that offer this option for making deposits. Once you do, you can jump into the opportunity to play some football-themed slots.
About Canadian Football
Canadian football is recognized on a worldwide level. While the Super Bowl is the largest event in North America, the Grey Cup has existed longer in the Canadian league. So far, teams have played 108 times for the Cup since it was founded back in 1909, compared to only 56 times for the Super Bowl.
What is the Grey Cup? This is the most prestigious reward in the football scene in Canada. In this game, 12 players on each side compete to win the cup.
The most popular matches played in the country are those in the Canadian Football League or the CFL. There are a total of 9 teams in the league and it runs from summer to the end of November.
What many don’t know is that Canadian football stems from English rugby, albeit its rules are more similar to American football. The stadiums in the CFL are big and include 2 timeouts and 3 turnovers per game. Games are split into four 15-minute parts with an intermission at the half.
Canadian Football Throughout History
In 2022, the 109th CFL Grey Cup drew an audience of over 3 million viewers on TSN alone, which marked a 7.5% increase from 2021. In Canada, 8.2 million viewers watched the Argonauts’ last-minute victory over the Blue Bombers.
The numbers have grown a lot since the beginning. Let us take you to the start of Canadian Football.
Somewhere in the 1820s, rugby was brought to the country by British immigrants. Shortly after, in 1862, the British regiments in Montreal played Canadian football informally. In 1868, the Montreal Football Club was formed and marked the official birth date of football as we know it.
A lot has changed since. In the beginning, football was played with 15 players on each side.
Fast forward to the early 1900s, Quebec and Ontario played the best Canadian football by far. Ever since the Grey Cup entered the picture, the interest started growing, and now Canada has 9 teams that make the professional league.
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Wrapping Up
Truth is, Canadian football is not the most watched sport in Canada, but it comes really close to being one. At this point, ice hockey takes first place. This doesn’t mean that football falls far behind, though. Millions of people watch the CFL matches every year, and the numbers grow constantly, especially in the last few seasons.
