The Winnipeg Blue Bombers closed their books on yet another profitable year posting a operating, record breaking, profit of $12.1 million!

While that may sound like small change for professional sports teams, the CFL is a completely different animal. In fact, the CFL Commissioner Reveals 7 of 9 Teams Lost Money Last Season in Candid Interview.

So how did the Bombers achieve such a revenue? I would suggest a number of ways. First of all, the on-field product. Sure, 2025 was not a memorable year for the Bombers or their offence. There were clearly issues with the Bombers’ offensive play calling and production. But there was always a glimmer of hope that they were going to change a game around, and even the season. In the CFL all you have to do is make it to the playoffs, and then anything can happen.

And while the Bombers did not turn games around, looking at past years fans believed that they could turn it around. It was amazing and fascinating to me that the Bombers continued to sell out home games (the whole season in fact was a sell out) even though they were not winning.

That brings me to my second point. The Bombers have done a great job with the game day experience. Whether that is the official pre-game tailgate area, or allowing fans to have their own tailgate parties, to selling social pass tickets that get you into the venue without a seat…the Bombers have gone outside of the box to entice fans to take in a game.

And finally there is the security. This has seen a massive positive change. As I previously wrote, “Bomber games used to be a great time to have way over ambitious security wreck that good time. It was as if someone told these people, “You are the last line of defence,” and they bought it, forgetting that each CFL team has multiple players in the 300lbs range that could much easier enforce the law.” You can read more about my personal experience with that here.

How The Bombers Are Spending That Money

1) Reinvesting In The Stadium
I am sure that many of you remember the old Bombers’ stadium. It was falling apart, it lacked modern amenities, and it is no wonder that the fans used to be more of an old man’s club. And by all means, no offense to the old men (I myself am getting closer to being a part of that club than I would like). In fact, it is those fans that kept the league alive during some very bleak times. But the stadium was not an attractive place to be.

Now, Princess Auto Stadium is a very nice place to be (I just wish the concourse was wider). “The football club invested $8.4 million in capital improvements at Princess Auto Stadium in 2025, including a new players’ lounge, HVAC remediation, contactless security screening devices and concessions equipment. In 2026 the investments will include the just-completed installation of two new high-resolution video boards. As well, work is underway for a redesign of the Rum Hut, the replacement of seats in the loges, a new point-of-sale system for concessions and a new BBQ stand.

“Princess Auto Stadium is our responsibility — every beam, every seat, every system,” said Miller, “and we reinvest in it every single year to ensure the longevity of the stadium for our fans and community.” (source). All of that should continue to make for a great game day experience.

2) Investing In The Community

“As well, the organization has made a significant investment to amateur football in the province, including the donation of over 900 flag football kits to every school in Manitoba, the launch of three new rural flag football leagues in over 12 communities in 2025, the establishment of a girls high school flag football league which had 420 participants last season and the donation of 675 helmets to local teams.” (source)

Final Thoughts
While the numbers look great, remember that Winnipeg hosted the Grey Cup, which had a net revenue of 6.5 million. However, what we have seen over time is the trend of growth in net revenue from the Bombers.
*2020, 7 million dollar loss due to COVID and the cancelled season.
*2021, 2.1 million in net revenue (which is huge considering that football fans had a whole year to reprioritize their spending).
*2022, 4.9 million.
*2023, 5.7 million.
*2024, 7 million…and finally as already mention 12.1 million net revenue in 2025.

While I do not expect the Bombers to hit 12.1 million in 2026, I do expect them to be higher than the 7 million net revenue in 2024. They just seem to have this thing figured out.

Maybe, and I think it is the case, that is because of Wade Miller’s approach, “Each year we continue to work on running a strong business and keep creating that environment where fans want to be and keep going to Blue Bomber games,” said Miller. “We’re on the right path and last year is a great example of that. Again, it’s the result of a lot of hard work by a lot of people…It truly is, ‘Fan first; one at a time, every time’ and we just keep building it. This is the result of all that hard work over the years.”

What do you think? Let me know in the comments section wherever you are reading this. Catch all my articles here.