The longest-running professional sports team in Vancouver, the BC Lions compete for the Grey Cup as members of the Canadian Football League (CFL).
The Lions play their home games at BC Place in downtown Vancouver. Located at 777 Pacific Boulevard next to a SkyTrain Station and Rogers Arena, BC Place is one of the hubs for sports and live entertainment in Vancouver (including for the 2026 FIFA World Cup). The Lions have one of the best attendance marks in the CFL, making the games fun to be part of!
BC Lions Football at BC Place
First beginning play in 1954, the BC Lions are the province’s lone CFL team. They originally played their games at Empire Stadium at the PNE, before moving to BC Place when the stadium finished construction in 1983.
The Lions are typically a good team. They’ve made it to the Western Conference Final in three of the last four years and qualified for the playoffs in 20 consecutive seasons from 1997-2016. That’s the second-longest such streak in CFL history! At the same time, the team hasn’t made it to the Grey Cup since they won it at home in 2011, and BC has the fewest all-time Grey Cup appearances of any active team.
In all, the Lions have six Grey Cup victories across five different decades (1964, 1985, 1994, 2000, 2006, 2011). The CFL regular season runs from the beginning of June until late October. The playoffs then conclude in mid-November. Every Lions game is broadcast on TSN.
One fun Canadian football fact is that the Grey Cup is nearly twice as old as the Super Bowl! The Grey Cup was first fought for in 1909, while the Super Bowl was introduced in 1966.
2026 Season Schedule
The Lions play 18 games per season, nine at home and nine on the road. In 2026, however, there are only seven games at BC Place, due to the stadium being used as a host venue for the FIFA World Cup. Because of that, the first two home games of the season will be played in Kelowna.
Below is the full list of home games for the 2026 CFL regular season, including the two Kelowna games (played at the Apple Bowl).
- Saturday, June 27 vs Calgary Stampeders at 4:00 pm (in Kelowna)
- Saturday, July 4 vs Edmonton Elks at 4:00 pm (in Kelowna)
- Saturday, July 25 vs Toronto Argonauts at 4:00 pm
- Saturday, August 8 vs Hamilton Tiger-Cats at 4:00 pm
- Sunday, August 23 vs Saskatchewan Roughriders at 4:00 pm
- Saturday, September 12 vs Montreal Alouettes at 7:00 pm
- Friday, September 25 vs Saskatchewan Roughriders at 7:30 pm
- Friday, October 9 vs Ottawa RedBlacks at 7:00 pm
- Friday, October 23 vs Winnipeg Blue Bombers at 7:00 pm
BC Lions Tickets
Tickets for BC Lions games start at just $25. That makes it a pretty affordable option when it comes to live sports in Vancouver. The Family Zone (which consists of three sections in the southeast corner of the stadium) offers special deals for youth tickets and some activities available for children. That includes arts and crafts as well as kids concession menus.
Season tickets (in years where there are nine games at BC Place) start at around $215 for adults. They range up to $950 for the best standard seats and around $2,000 for premium sideline field seating. 2026 season tickets cost less than that (ranging from $155 up to $1,550) as they only include the seven games played in Vancouver this year.
There are other ways to save on tickets, including a half season ticket pack. With those you have the option to either get seats for either all three of the Friday home games plus one Saturday game, or all three of the Saturday games and one of the Friday games.
There are also flex ticket packages where you buy tickets in groups of 10 that can be used in any combination across any number of games. Perhaps the best way to save is the Quarterback Club where you can buy one adult and one youth season ticket for just $200 in 2026.
For full ticketing details go to the BC Lions website.
Canadian vs American Football Differences
For those who are more familiar with the American football of the NFL compared to the Canadian football of the CFL, there are a variety of differences between the two games. Below are just a few of the biggest ones.
The most immediately notable difference between the two leagues is the field layout. CFL fields are 110 yards long and 65 yards wide with end zones 20 yards deep. NFL fields, by contrast, are 100 yards by 53 yards with end zones 10 yards deep. The goalposts are also on the goal line in the CFL (meaning the pole is in the field of play), as opposed to the NFL where the goalposts are behind the end line.
To compensate for the much larger field, CFL teams play with 12 players on the field at a time, compared to 11 in the NFL. The CFL also uses a three-down system, which means that teams only have three chances (rather than four like in the NFL) to gain the 10 yards needed for a first down.
While the scoring system for touchdowns, extra points, field goals and safeties are the same, the CFL also has a unique way of scoring that the NFL does not have: the rouge. If a kick-off, punt or missed field goal attempt lands in the end zone and the returning team doesn’t bring the ball out of the end zone before the play ends, the kicking team earns a single point. Previously, the rouge would also be awarded if a kick went out of bounds through the end zone, but that was changed ahead of the 2026 season.
The New CFL
The modified rouge is just one of multiple recent and future changes implemented by the CFL, with bigger ones currently planned for 2027. That season will mark a fundamental change in the league’s field layout, with all fields to be shortened to 100 yards and end zones to 15 yards (while keeping the same field width). The goalposts will also be moved to be behind the end line. That’s in order to remove an obstacle for offences in the red zone and to prevent injuries from players running into the pole during play.
Click Here for more details on the new and impending CFL rule changes.
Other Information
For the most up-to-date team news, ticketing information and other details, visit the BC Lions website.
For an overview of other local sports happening this year, see our Vancouver Sports Calendar.