Why you should love the CFL like the Canadians do!

The CFL is one of the most popular sporting leagues in Canada, find out why it is so popular in Canada right here and why you should care about it too!

Without a doubt, the largest sporting institution that waves the Canadian sporting flag high is the Canadian Football League (CFL). It is certainly one of the best-loved by the Canadian people and is growing in its popularity too. Last year, 4.3 million people tuned in to watch the Grey Cup, which was a 10% increase from those who watched in 2013. Naturally, Canadian Football Fever is rife among sports fans and it is likely going to increase as the sport get more and more competitive.

Some have gone as far as to say that the CFL is an integral part of Canada’s Sport Identity, which is a view seemingly shared by a large majority of the nation. However, while Hockey is still the nation’s sporting favourite, it appears that Canadian football is still up there as being deep-rooted in the hearts of many Canadians. Why this is could be down to a number of different reasons.

It would be fair to argue the fact that Canadian Football is so popular, although still overshadowed by the more world-renown NFL, is because it still has its own unique identity. This relates to the different rules and format that Canadian Football has compared to the NFL. It is played on a bigger field, there is a higher number of players on the field and even the size of the ball is different. The Canadian version of the game is also deemed to be much faster than the Americans counterpart, owing to the fact that there are fewer timeouts allowed in Canadian Football and that Canadians only have three downs to travel 10 yards, compared to the 4 in American football. All of this combined means that Canadians have the overwhelming notion that Canadian football is somewhat tougher, faster and more exciting than the more watered-down gameplay seen in the NFL.

There may also be the fact that many of the things featured in the American game were originally from its Canadian counterpart. The replay and challenge system was originally a Canadian feature, as well as celebration rules being adopted from the Canadian game. Even in terms of gameplay, zone running schemes and spread offences seen today in the NFL come from the CFL also. Effectively, leaving the format of NFL feeling somewhat comprised of a series of elements pick and chosen from the Canadian game, so some may even go as far to argue that the NFL overall, is somewhat behind Canadian in terms of innovation.

As well as this, it may simply even be the idea of good old national pride that makes Canadians feel so proud in their homegrown sport. Although many things have been Americanized, there are only a few things that can remain intrinsically Canadian. While there is a lot of room for up and coming sports in the country, Canadian football always been a national pride of the Canadian sporting environment since its concept. Thus, making it a strictly traditional Canadian pastime.

As well known, betting on football is very common, however, recently the different sports online players can bet on has increased massively, and due to this Canadians can now bet on anything from football to e-sports and poker. This opens up to a brand new experience online, where the player can play live poker online, while also betting on the same games. Now with the promise of changing sport betting laws, it is likely only going to become more popular, not just in Canada, but worldwide. So before long, we may soon see Canadian football get the recognition it needs on the world stage that many have felt it deserved more than its American counterpart for years.

2019 will be a big year for sports betting in Canada, and when people cotton on to the exciting experiences Canadian football provides, it will be the front-runner for most popular Canadian sports to bet on.