The 2025 CFL season kicks off in just over two months. Free agency is open and the combine wrapped this week, but the CFL Draft and CFL Global Draft aren’t until April 29.
As Canada sports betting customers wait for the regular season to begin on June 5, BetCanada.com decided to do a hype check on all nine teams and determine which one is the most popular CFL franchise in the country. We used the search engine analytics tool SEMRush.com to rank each team according to their average monthly search volume over the past calendar year.
Rank | Team | Search Volume |
1 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 74,000 |
2 | BC Lions | 49,500 |
3 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | 40,500 |
4 | Toronto Argonauts | 33,100 |
5 | Edmonton Elks | 27,100 |
T6 | Montreal Alouettes | 14,800 |
T6 | Ottawa Redblacks | 14,800 |
8 | Calgary Stampeders | 9,900 |
9 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 2,400 |
This research is provided for BetCanada.com, where we review Canada sportsbook apps so you can sign up with confidence.
Despite three straight Grey Cup losses, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ popularity is still soaring across the nation. Not only are they by far the most popular CFL team in Canada, their average search volume over the past year is higher than all four East Division franchises combined.
The hype is certainly well deserved. After all, the Blue Bombers have appeared in every Grey Cup since 2019. Fans in Manitoba hope that trend will continue considering the big game in 2025 will be played at Winnipeg’s Princess Auto Stadium. In CFL betting, Winnipeg is the consensus favorite to represent the West again in the 2025 Grey Cup.
Next up on the list are the BC Lions. Our second-most popular CFL team will feature hometown hero Nathan “Kid Canada” Rourke as the Lions’ quarterback again alongside a new head coach and playcaller, Buck Pierce. In December 2024, BC hired Pierce after he’d spent the past decade on the Blue Bombers’ coaching staff. The hire is something of a homecoming for Pierce, a former QB who began his pro career with the Lions in 2005.
Meanwhile, the Saskatchewan Roughriders are third on the list of most popular CFL teams. Just one year removed from a disappointing loss in the Western Final, the Roughriders return much of their roster from 2024 and are expected to compete for the postseason again.
Believe it or not, last year’s Grey Cup champions, the Toronto Argonauts, are just the fourth most popular CFL team in Canada. But of course, winning football games isn’t a popularity contest. If it was, the Argos wouldn’t be the betting favourites at +285 with Pinnacle Sportsbook Canada to win a second straight Grey Cup in 2025. On top of that, starting quarterback Chad Kelly has the best odds (+440) of any player to win the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player Award with FanDuel.
After going 7-11 and missing the playoffs last season, it would be surprising to see number five on our list, the Edmonton Elks, make much of an impact in 2025. The Montreal Alouettes (T6), on the other hand, are expected to contend again. Montreal and its shutdown defence poses the biggest threat to the Argos in the East Division.
The rest of the teams on our list of the most popular CFL franchises will looking to improve on middling-to-disappointing 2024 results. By the odds, the squad with the best chance might be the Ottawa Redblacks. After squeaking into the playoffs last year, they are +800 to win the Grey Cup with Pinnacle.
Also check out our list of most searched CFL players of 2025, exclusively at BetCanada.com.
USA Today photo by Simon Fearn
Author
Jeff Parker is an entertainment writer for BetCanada.com. A writer for film, television and the internet, Jeff is a lifelong movie buff, with a Masters Degree in Popular Culture, and he also writes about sports. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he works full time as documentary filmmaker and producer.
