Promotion

Football has a rich history in Canada. Since 1890 football has been played in each Canadian province. To this day, Canadian Football League teams compete annually for the Grey Cup, North America's oldest professional league championship trophy.

The National Football League also has a history in Canada. Starting in 1950, members of the NFL traveled north to take on a representative from the CFL. NFL teams have squared off against CFL teams on eight different occasions, usually using rules from both leagues. The most recent game was August 8, 1961 in Hamilton, Ontario where the Tiger-Cats defeated the Buffalo Bills 38-21.

Several NFL games have also been played on Canadian soil. Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal have all hosted preseason or American Bowl games.

The most recent NFL games to take place in Canada (including, for the first time in history, regular season games) are part of the 8-game Bills Toronto Series at the Rogers Centre in Toronto (2008-2012).

Today more than one million Canadians watch both NFL and CFL games on television and attend games in person.

This deep football history has developed into today's shared commitment to build the sport and create new fans and players. The NFL and CFL have a joint and vested interest in the health of the sport, at all levels, and from 1997 to 2007 worked on joint programs to this end. As a result, the football development system in Canada is strong. There are hundreds of thousands of youth playing organized football, more than 1,000 Canadians playing Canadian University football, more than 100 Canadians on NCAA football scholarships, and more than 150 Canadians playing in the CFL.

NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue summed up the complementary relationship best while visiting Toronto in 2002:

"Having a strong CFL is important to the NFL. It's good for the NFL if people are interested in football. It's our sport, it's a great sport, and the particular form of the sport is less important than the interest in the game."

NFL teams competing on Canadian soil

The following is a table commemorating the NFL's history of Canadian competition, with * denoting an American Bowl Game.

Date Site Opp. & Score
Aug. 12, 1950 Ottawa N.Y. Giants 20, Ottawa (CFL) 6
Aug. 11, 1951 Ottawa N.Y. Giants 38, Ottawa (CFL) 6
Aug. 5, 1959 Toronto Chicago Cardinals 55, Toronto (CFL) 26
Aug. 6, 1960 Toronto Pittsburgh 43, Toronto (CFL) 16
Aug. 15, 1960 Toronto Chicago 16, N.Y. Giants 7
Aug. 2, 1961 Toronto St. Louis 36, Toronto (CFL) 7
Aug. 5, 1961 Montreal Chicago 34, Montreal (CFL) 16
Aug. 8, 1961 Hamilton Hamilton (CFL) 38, Buffalo 21
Aug. 11, 1969 Montreal Pittsburgh 17, N.Y. Giants 13
Aug. 25, 1969 Montreal Detroit 22, Boston (AFL) 9
Aug. 18, 1988 Montreal N.Y. Jets 11, Cleveland 7
*Aug. 9, 1990 Montreal Pittsburgh 30, New England 14
Aug. 14, 1993 Toronto Cleveland 12, New England 9
*Aug. 12, 1995 Toronto Buffalo 9, Dallas 7
*Aug. 16, 1997 Toronto Green Bay 35, Buffalo 3
*Aug. 15, 1998 Vancouver San Francisco 24, Seattle 21
Aug. 14, 2008 Toronto Buffalo 24, Pittsburgh 21
Dec. 7, 2008 Toronto Miami 16, Buffalo 3
Dec. 3, 2009 Toronto New York Jets 19, Buffalo 13