With most of the sports world’s attention focused on the football World Cup, the Canadian football season began in a relatively low key way. However, the first three weeks of action have been very interesting. Despite not getting the press coverage or sponsor money of the NFL in the United States, the CFL has been improving at a decent rate every year. The league is very competitive, draws good crowds, and produces some great action. Canadians are very passionate about their football, and they love to bet on the action as well.
CFL compared to the NFL
There are a few rule differences between the NFL and the Canadian version, with the CFL customized to allow for more action-packed games. There are longer fields in Canada, along with a slightly wider set up. This ensures that both deep and wide receivers enjoy more space to make clever runs against the defense. Quarterbacks are still pressured quickly, but they have a greater area to throw the ball and find a teammate. This results in high scoring games and plenty of touchdowns.
League Leaders –
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have been very impressive so far. Their quarter back Drew Willy, recently drafted from the Uni of Buffalo in New York, has been mighty impressive. His statistics from the first three games include 615 yards and a handful of touchdowns. Their next game is against the Edmonton Eskimos should be a good contest, with Winnipeg the favorites with -145 money line odds, compared to +125 for Edmonton.
Meanwhile, Toronto are favorites to beat Ottawa at -150, with Ottawa set at +130 by Las Vegas bookies. The Montreal Alouettes are another impressive team, with their quick scoring brand of football winning over many neutrals. They are a highly fancied team in the CFL, but they are not expected to beat British Columbia in their next fixture. BC are put at -255 by William Hill, with Montreal at +215.
The most one sided game of the weekend is expected to be Hamilton vs. Calgary. Hamilton is a long shot in this game, with the money line suggesting that a $100 bet would win $400. Meanwhile, a successful $500 bet on Calgary would only win $100.
Betting on the CFL
There are plenty of places to put money on the CFL, with websites such as William Hill and Bet365 offering great deals for new users. Betters can put money on the outright game result, total points scored, and the spread.
For more information on CFL odds, click here.