The CFL TV Ratings are in for the 109th Grey Cup this Sunday night on ESPN2. The Toronto Argonauts' triumphant 24-23 victory over the defending champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers saw an increase in viewership in Canada from a year, but how did the CFL fare south of the border?
2022 CFL 109th Grey Cup TV Rating On ESPN2
Sunday’s thrilling Grey Cup game at 6 pm ET averaged 158,000 viewers on ESPN2. Up from 2021's showing. A year ago, in December, the 108th Grey Cup on ESPN2 averaged 129,000 viewers.
The Toronto Argonauts-Winnipeg Bue Bombers telecast scored a 0.03 and was ranked 92nd out of 150 Cable TV shows in the 18-49 demo.
The CFL’s championship game faced very stiff competition from the NFL late Sunday afternoon/early evening. The CBS national NFL game at 4:25 pm ET drew over 27 million viewers, and Sunday Night Football on NBC averaged over 17 million viewers.
During the Regular season. CFL games averaged 105,000 viewers per game on ESPN2. The three playoff games and Sunday's Grey Cup averaged 86,000 viewers per telecast on ESPN.
It's worth noting that next year, CFL playoff games will air on Saturdays rather than go head-to-head with the NFL monster.
For what it’s worth, The 107th Grey Cup on November 24th, 2019, had a 0.1 rating and averaged 109,000 viewers on ESPN2.
More historical context on the Grey Cup's viewership totals on ESPN is provided here. Dating back to 2014. Courtesy of ESPN.
In case you missed it, The 109th CFL Grey Cup on TSN drew an average audience of 3,121,000 viewers on TSN, an increase of 7.5 percent from 2021.
8.2 million Canadian viewers watched some or all of the Argonauts’ 24-23 last-minute victory over the Blue Bombers on TSN and RDS. Audiences peaked at 4.7 million viewers at 9:49 p.m. ET as the Argos secured the victory in the final minute.