Labour Day Classic

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File:Labour Day Classic Logo 2022.png

The Labour Day Classic (Template:Langx, branded as OK Tire Labour Day Weekend for sponsorship reasons) is a week of the Canadian Football League (CFL) schedule played over the Labour Day weekend (which includes the first Monday in September). Labour Day weekend, roughly 12 or 13 weeks into the CFL season, is known for its matchups that do not change from year to year, unlike other "rivalry" weeks of the CFL schedule. Labour Day weekend is also one of typically two weeks (the Thanksgiving Day Classic being the other) in the CFL schedule that the league plays on a Monday. Multinational Balkrishna Industries' OK Tire brand is the presenting sponsor of the event as of 2022.

The usual weekend matchups involves the Montreal Alouettes playing against the Ottawa Redblacks on the Friday before Labour Day, with host duties alternating between the two teams. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers then visit the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Sunday and on Labour Day itself, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats play at home against the Toronto Argonauts, while the Edmonton Elks visit the Calgary Stampeders.[1][2] The BC Lions have no geographic rival and typically have a bye, having played just three times on Labour Day Weekend (2015, 2023 and 2024) since the return to nine teams in 2014. The Lions most recently played in 2024 against the Redblacks, in Victoria, British Columbia, which was the first Labour Day matchup between the Lions and an Ottawa team since 2002 and the first neutral site Labour Day Weekend game to be played.[3]

History

The Labour Day Classic Logo from 2016. Mark's was the presenting sponsor of the event from 2014 to 2021.
The Labour Day Classic Logo from 2016. Mark's was the presenting sponsor of the event from 2014 to 2021.

The Labour Day Classic began in 1949 and pre-dates the founding of the CFL by nine years.Script error: No such module "Unsubst". The matchups have remained mostly the same throughout history, except during Montreal and Ottawa's periods of hiatus or due to scheduling conflicts.

During the early 1980s, the Montreal Concordes played the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the remaining three teams (Toronto, Ottawa and BC) rotated each year. Ottawa and BC faced each other during the late 1980s and early 1990s while the league had no team in Montreal.

Because Ottawa had no active team from 1997 to 2001 and 2006–2013, the Alouettes usually played the Lions during those seasons, creating a "coast-to-coast" rivalry.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, the entire 2020 CFL season was cancelled and therefore no Labour Day weekend games were played for the first time in CFL history.[4]

Hamilton

Due to scheduling conflicts, the Tiger-Cats temporarily revived its rivalry with the current incarnation of the Alouettes in the Labour Day game for the 2011 season; the change in opponents led Hamilton to dub the game the Labour Day Classique in reference to Montreal's francophone community.[5][6] Therefore, in 2011, this automatically resulted in Toronto and BC facing each other.

In 2013, the Tiger-Cats' did not host a game on Labour Day for only the second time in franchise history (the first being 1995).[7] It was also the first time that they did not host a game on that weekend. Because Ivor Wynne Stadium was demolished to make way for the new Tim Hortons Field, the team played out of Alumni Stadium in Guelph. The University of Guelph Gryphons (along with most Ontario University Athletics teams) were playing that same day, so the Tiger-Cats could not host the game. To make up for it, the Toronto at Hamilton matchup was played in the Thanksgiving Day Classic.

For the 2016 contest, to avoid any further conflicts with OUA games, the CFL moved the Toronto/Hamilton matchup to prime time Labour Day evening.[8] That year, the OUA's McMaster Marauders football team moved its Labour Day matchup with the Toronto Varsity Blues football squad to Tim Hortons Field, creating a doubleheader with a series of concerts in-between games.[9] This was moved back to a 1:00 pm Eastern start in 2019.[10]

Related events

Although not directly associated with the Labour Day Classic, the week after Labour Day often has a repeat match-up of the Bombers vs Roughriders (see Banjo Bowl), Stampeders vs Elks (see Battle of Alberta), and Tiger-Cats vs Argonauts (a rivalry which began in 1873),[11] with home field advantage now to the team that did not have it during the Labour Day weekend.

As the league has been increasing in popularity in recent years, print ads for the Labour Day Classic try to evoke the tradition of watching Canadian football on the last weekend of summer. Slogans include "Long Live the Rivalries" and "Watch the Team You Love Play the Team You Love to Hate". Some of the teams wear special third jerseys or throwback uniforms if they play at home.

Current matchups

Edmonton Eskimos/Elks vs Calgary Stampeders

Template:Sports rivalry series table

Template:Sports rivalry series table

Longest Winning Streak (Edmonton): 7 (1950–1961)
Longest Winning Streak (Calgary): 8 (2012–2019)

Did not play in the following years: 1954–1958, 1964–1968, 1973, 1981, 2020

Television (since 1985): CTV (1985–1986); CFN (1987, 1990); CBC (1988, 1991–2007); TSN (1989, 2008–2019, 2021–2024)

Labour Day Rematch

Starting in 1989, Calgary and Edmonton have played a Labour Day home-and-home series. The Labour Day Classic game has been held in Calgary on Labour Day Monday, and the Rematch has been held in Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium the following Friday or Saturday. In 1992, the game in Edmonton was held the week before the Labour Day Classic instead of the week after.

Year Date Winning Team Score Losing Team Score OT Attendance TV
1989 Friday, September 8 Edmonton 38 Calgary 27 41,327 CFN
1990 Friday, September 7 Edmonton 34 Calgary 17 57,444** CFN
1991 Friday, September 6 Edmonton 51 Calgary 37 57,843** TSN
1992 *Friday, August 28 Calgary 45 Edmonton 38 OT 31,812 TSN
1993 Friday, September 10 Edmonton 29 Calgary 16 54,324** TSN
1994 Friday, September 9 Edmonton 38 Calgary 12 51,180** TSN
1995 Friday, September 8 Calgary 33 Edmonton 17 49,434 TSN
1996 Friday, September 6 Edmonton 20 Calgary 19 40,727** TSN
1997 Friday, September 5 Edmonton 24 Calgary 20 43,913** TSN
1998 Friday, September 11 Calgary 30 Edmonton 23 50,856** TSN
1999 Friday, September 10 Calgary 38 Edmonton 13 52,458** TSN
2000 Friday, September 8 Edmonton 31 Calgary 10 53,248** TSN
2001 Friday, September 7 Calgary 34 Edmonton 33 48,279** TSN
2002 Friday, September 6 Edmonton 45 Calgary 11 61,481** TSN
2003 Friday, September 5 Edmonton 38 Calgary 0 62,444** TSN
2004 Friday, September 10 Edmonton 44 Calgary 12 50,366 TSN
2005 Friday, September 9 Calgary 16 Edmonton 11 42,654 TSN
2006 Friday, September 8 Edmonton 35 Calgary 26 47,965** TSN
2007 Friday, September 7 Calgary 20 Edmonton 17 42,329 TSN
2008 Friday, September 5 Calgary 38 Edmonton 33 46,014 TSN
2009 Friday, September 11 Calgary 35 Edmonton 34 46,212 TSN
2010 Friday, September 10 Calgary 36 Edmonton 20 35,349 TSN
2011 Friday, September 9 Calgary 30 Edmonton 20 45,672 TSN
2012 Friday, September 7 Calgary 20 Edmonton 18 39,363 TSN
2013 Friday, September 6 Calgary 22 Edmonton 12 33,654 TSN
2014 Saturday, September 6 Calgary 41 Edmonton 34 40,852 TSN
2015 Saturday, September 12 Edmonton 27 Calgary 16 38,906** TSN
2016 Saturday, September 10 Calgary 34 Edmonton 28 OT 35,278 TSN
2017 Saturday, September 9 Calgary 25 Edmonton 22 34,312 TSN
2018 Saturday, September 8 Edmonton 48 Calgary 42 38,611** TSN
2019 Saturday, September 7 Calgary 33 Edmonton 17 40,113** TSN
2020 Not played due to COVID-19
2021 Saturday, September 11 Calgary 32 Edmonton 16 33,493** TSN
2022 Saturday, September 10 Calgary 56 Edmonton 28 26,946 TSN
2023 Saturday, September 9 Edmonton 25 Calgary 23 32,422 TSN
2024 Saturday, September 7 Edmonton 37 Calgary 16 32,144 TSN

*Game held the week before the Labour Day Classic

**CFL's Top Regular Season Attendance

Winnipeg Blue Bombers vs Saskatchewan Roughriders

In the week following the Winnipeg vs Saskatchewan Labour Day Classic matchup, the two teams rematch annually in the Banjo Bowl.Template:Sports rivalry series table

Longest winning streak (Saskatchewan): 11 (2005–2015)
Longest winning streak (Winnipeg): 4 (1978–1982)

Did not play the following years: 1955–1960, 1964–1969, 1971, 1973, 1976, 1981, 2020

Television (since 1982): CTV (1983–1985); CBC (1982, 1986, 1989, 1993); CFN (1987–1988); TSN (1990–1991, 1994, 1997–2000, 2002–2019, 2021–2024); No TV (1992, 1995–1996, 2001)

Toronto Argonauts vs Hamilton Tiger-Cats

The Toronto—Hamilton Classic is one of the components of the Harold Ballard Trophy, an award given to the winner of the season series between the Tiger-Cats and Argonauts. The trophy is named after Harold Ballard, who owned the Tiger-Cats for much of the 1980s and owned Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment for most of that time. A trophy has been awarded to the winner of the series since 1979.[12]

The Toronto—Hamilton contest is officially known as Football Day in Hamilton and has its own presenting sponsor, WeatherTech Canada. For the first several years after Tim Hortons Field opened, Football Day in Hamilton consisted of a Tiger-Cats game as well as a concert and either a McMaster Marauders football or a Hamilton Hurricanes (CJFL) matinée (this tradition has since been abandoned as of the 2020s).[13]

Template:Sports rivalry series table

Longest Winning Streak (Hamilton): 7 (2014–2021)
Longest Winning Streak (Toronto): 3 (1994–1997, 2006–2008)

Did not play the following years: 1962, 1965–1966, 1969–1970, 1972–1974, 1976–1977, 1979, 1981–1986, 1990, 1995, 2011, 2013, 2020

Ottawa Rough Riders/Renegades/Redblacks vs Montreal Alouettes

Template:Sports rivalry series table

Template:Sports rivalry series table

Template:Sports rivalry series table

Longest Winning Streak (Ottawa): 7 (1961–2003)
Longest Winning Streak (Montreal): 6 (1954–1959)

Did not play in following years: 1950–1952, 1962, 1964–1966, 1968–1970, 1972–1977, 1979–1986, 2002, 2015, 2019–2020, 2023–2025

Notes
No Montreal team 1987–1995
No Ottawa team 1997–2001, 2006–2013

Other matchups

BC Lions vs Montreal Alouettes

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BC Lions vs Ottawa Rough Riders/Renegades/Redblacks

Template:Sports rivalry series table

Montreal Alouettes vs Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Hamilton has played and hosted the Labour Day Classic against Montreal (aka Labour Day Classique) nine times in CFL history, including all four years in which the team was known as the Concordes. According to a Hamilton Spectator article, 2011 marked 25 years since Montreal had battled Hamilton in this Classic at home. In previous years, Montreal has played as either the Alouettes or Concordes. The Classique has been a notoriously one-sided rivalry; Hamilton is undefeated in the Labour Day series, and Montreal is winless, with their best result being a tie in the first Classique in 1962.

Template:Sports rivalry series table

References

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  5. ↑ Gameday: The Labour Day Classique.
  6. ↑ From a purely football angle, this Labour Day Classique should be a good one Template:Webarchive. Hamilton Spectator. Retrieved September 5, 2011.
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Bucholtz, Andrew. Five takeaways from the CFL's 2016 schedule. 55 Yard Line (Yahoo! Sports). Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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