The Canadian Football League is finally teaming up with iconic Toronto rapper Drake to promote their product, and fans will soon be wearing the results.
On Saturday, Drake’s official clothing brand, October’s Very Own, teased a partnership with the league on Instagram, posting a photo of a golden chain featuring its logo hanging out of the Grey Cup. The post, which went out to the brand’s 1.6 million followers, was captioned simply “OVO x CFL x New Era. For the Game. For Canada. 06.30.25.”
The CFL has since confirmed to 3DownNation that they, along with their official apparel partner New Era, have collaborated with OVO on a new line of merchandise. The line will include shirts and hats for all nine franchises, as well as some with general league branding.
October’s Very Own was launched in 2011 as a partnership between Drake and his tour manager, Oliver El-Khatib, who remains the company’s CEO. They have since partnered with some of the biggest brands in the world, including Air Jordan and Disney, while maintaining a distinctly Canadian flair. The CFL now joins the NHL, NFL, NBA, WNBA, UFC, the NCAA, and RedBull Racing as major sports brands with an official line of OVO clothing.
Drake is the highest-certified digital singles artist in history and holds the record for the most Billboard Top 100 songs ever (358), as well as the most top 10 hits (80). He is best known for songs like “Started From The Bottom,” “Hotline Bling”, and “First Person Shooter.” The 38-year-old has been a controversial figure in the music industry lately, engaging in a public beef with Kendrick Lamar that culminated with him getting openly dissed during the Super Bowl halftime show last year.
Fans have long bemoaned the fact that the former Degrassi star has rarely shown the CFL any love, despite being a fixture of the Toronto sports scene and having a long-standing partnership with the Argonauts’ owners, Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment, for NBA events. That might be changing, however, as the rapper recently shared a photo of himself wearing a diamond-encrusted Saskatchewan Roughriders logo and now has a business relationship with the league.
It remains to be seen how involved Drake will be in the promotion and marketing of the new clothing line, or if we will see him at a CFL game in the future. More information could become available on Monday, June 30, when OVO has teased the announcement of the new merchandise.
