CFL yet to announce Grey Cup halftime performer less than a month before kickoff

The 109th Grey Cup is less than a month away, but the Canadian Football League (CFL) has not announced who will be performing for this year’s halftime show.

Since 1991, the Grey Cup halftime has featured a musical performance by a single star or a collaboration of artists. Former acts include Canadian favourites Shania Twain, Justin Bieber and Celine Dion.

Co-host of 3-Down Nation’s Roughrider podcast ‘Green Cast’ John Fraser called the silence “a bad look.”

“It’s a big thing for hype; it’s a big thing to bring in the casual fan. It’s shocking they haven’t done it yet,” he said. “Without you bringing in the casual viewer, how do you grow? The CFL needs to grow.”

The CFL told CTV News the delay has been in part due to the pandemic.

“Artists are just getting back to touring and their schedules were largely impacted,” the league said.

The CFL said it expects to make an announcement sometime next week.

“If you’re watching on TV or you’re an out of market fan, you don’t care where the game is,” said Fraser. “You want a good show. To me, that’s on the league.”

In the National Football League (NFL) announced Rihanna would be performing for the Super Bowl LVII halftime show on February 12, 2023 – nearly five months prior to kickoff.

“We knew Taylor Swift turned it down then Rihanna was coming on and we still don’t have a sniff of who’s doing the Grey Cup,” said Fraser.

With thousands of tickets available on the resale market online, Fraser believes there would be more demand for tickets to the game if there was a performer announced.

“It’s a mistake. Somebody has dropped the ball there,” he said.

A lack of an announcement so far this year has led to rising speculation and predictions online. A recent Reddit thread asked users to pitch their best suggestions for the show.

The Regina subreddit’s Twitter account even went as far as posting a fake announcement that ‘The Wiggles’ would headline the show on Nov. 20.