Stampeders president Jay McNeil determined to sell out Grey Cup in Calgary

Photo courtesy: Calgary Stampeders

Jay McNeil isn’t sure if this year’s Grey Cup is going to sell out, but he’s willing to die trying.

“When it comes to selling tickets, there’s so many variables,” the Calgary Stampeders president told 3DownNation on Wednesday. “I don’t know if I could confidently say, ‘Yup, it’s going to sell out.’ I can say this: we are going to kill ourselves to get it sold out.”

With the game a little over five weeks away, there are still thousands of tickets for sale ranging in price from $280 to $520. Most of the main sections at McMahon Stadium are close to sold out, but the two sections nearest the west end zone have barely sold.

The Stampeders haven’t experienced strong regular-season attendance this year. After enjoying a 3.5 percent increase in 2025, attendance is currently down 10.3 percent in 2026. With average crowds of just over 20,000, the Red and White are on pace for their second-lowest attendance since 1970.

“We were really proud of the progress we made in 2025 and the growth we’ve shown in our attendance, our game day revenues, and all those sorts of things. Then we took a step back in 2026. There are a lot of factors that go into that,” said McNeil.

The Stampeders were optimistic heading into this year. McNeil indicated that the team grew its season ticket base for the first time since 2019, and only the second time since 2014. He also said that 76 percent of the club’s season ticket holders are already locked in for 2027.

The native of London, Ont., who has called Calgary home since he was drafted by the Stampeders in 1994, has previously revealed that the team’s season ticket base declined from over 22,000 in 2015 to just under 14,000 in 2023.

With season tickets up year-over-year, the problem has been selling single-game tickets. McNeil indicated that the team typically sells between 4,000 and 6,000 tickets in the week leading up to each game, which accounts for around 25 percent of overall sales.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature hasn’t been very cooperative.

“Weather has been a tremendously negative impact to our game days this year. We’ve had rain on six of eight game days, and also the week leading into it. That makes selling single-game tickets a big challenge, and that’s where we’ve seen our decline,” he said.

“That’s where weather really does become a critical factor because nobody’s buying tickets if it’s raining on the Monday before a game. They’re going to continue to wait, and if that weather doesn’t change or the forecast doesn’t change, then you don’t end up selling those tickets.”

There was also the largest sporting event in the world to compete with over the summer, as the World Cup was hosted in 16 cities across North America, including Vancouver and Toronto.

The B.C. Lions have experienced a 17.1 percent decrease in attendance year-over-year, though they hosted two games at a relatively small pop-up stadium in Kelowna. Attendance at Toronto Argonauts games has grown by 2.5 percent in 2026.

“I think we (in Calgary) underestimated the impact of the World Cup,” said McNeil. “Especially with being so close to Vancouver, and people choosing to spend some of their entertainment dollars in traveling to Vancouver for the World Cup.”

“We need to do a better job. It is certainly a focus for our organization — it is for everybody in the league — is to not only get back to where we were in 2025, but our intention was to grow in 2026, and certainly, that is our mandate as we close out the season — finish strong, and then we look ahead to 2027.”

It was recently announced that American country star Riley Green has been selected to play the Grey Cup halftime show, which drew some criticism amid the current political climate.

McNeil indicated that the mandate for the Grey Cup halftime show isn’t necessarily to feature domestic talent, but to secure an act that can attract the widest possible audience.

“How do we increase our reach with our halftime show to make this appropriate for Canada’s largest single-day sporting event? How do we introduce new audiences to the CFL and to the Grey Cup? How do we make this a North America-wide event, or even outside of North America?” said McNeil.

“We look for somebody that has that type of reach. You can see it over the past few years with Green Day, the Jonas Brothers, and last year with MGK. We’re trying to do things on a much different level than we’ve done in the past.

“Did we talk to Canadian artists? For sure, but unfortunately, it’s not easy when you look at tours and schedules and trying to piece it all together. It’s not always a slam dunk.”

McNeil confirmed that local pop star Tate McRae politely declined the opportunity to perform.

The state of McMahon Stadium is likely another reason for waning ticket sales, as the venue lacks many of the modern amenities sports fans have come to expect. The University of Calgary has hired an architecture firm for their proposed new stadium, which would seat 5,000 and serve as the home for Dinos football, soccer, and rugby.

Despite the prospective departure of venue’s collegiate tenants, there are no firm plans for the Stampeders to get a new building of their own. McNeil makes no disillusions about how badly a new stadium is needed in Calgary.

“I’ve been very vocal to say that McMahon Stadium is at its end of life — not approaching its end of life, it’s at the end of life. This is the conversation that needs to be had, and how do we move forward with a new stadium?” said the 56-year-old.

“The city has been talking about the potential for a new stadium. They’ve launched a feasibility study to look at different locations. The Calgary Stampede is doing a feasibility study about turning GMC Stadium into a football stadium as well, and so it’s expedited some of these conversations.”

The best way to ensure this year’s Grey Cup sells out would be for the Stampeders to play in it. This seemed unthinkable a few weeks ago when the team lost 53-16 against the Edmonton Elks to fall to 5-8, though they’ve since won three-straight games. Calgary can clinch a playoff berth with a win over Winnipeg on Saturday.

“We were pretty low after the Labour Day back-to-back, and I give all the credit to our coaches and to our players for responding,” said McNeil. “We hadn’t won three games (in a row) all year, and now here we are. We’re in control of our own destiny. It’d be nice to clinch a playoff spot on Saturday, that’s for sure.”

Regardless of who makes the game, McNeil knows this year’s Grey Cup is going to be special. When asked to make his sales pitch to fans who are still on the fence about whether or not to buy tickets, he offered the following.

“Grey Cup week in Calgary is going to be special, and it’s going to be an event you don’t want to miss because there’s going to be so many great things,” he said.

“We’ve got a great team, and they’re doing an incredible job. It sounds like such a cliché, but we can’t wait to welcome Canada because we know we’ve got a special week planned, and we’re excited to get going.”