On March 24, 2014, news agencies reported that the game would be awarded to Winnipeg.[2] Two days later on, March 26, 2014, it was announced at a news conference that Investors Group Field in Winnipeg, Manitoba, will play host to the 103rd Grey Cup.[3] It will be the fourth Grey Cup to be held in Winnipeg (and first at Investors Group Field), the most recent being the 94th Grey Cup in 2006, when the BC Lions defeated the Montreal Alouettes.
The Redblacks joined the CFL as an expansion team in 2014 and finished last in the league with a 2–16 record.[4] Led by 40-year-old Henry Burris, who became the oldest quarterback in CFL history to lead the league in passing yards (5,693), the Redblacks won the East Division title in 2015 with a 12–6 record.[5] It marked the first time since the 1978Ottawa Rough Riders that any team from Ottawa won a division title, while 12 wins in the season is the highest total of any Ottawa-based Canadian football team in league history.[5]
The Redblacks hosted the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East Division Final, for the third straight week that Ottawa played; Hamilton defeated the Toronto Argonauts, 25–22 in the East semi-final.[6] The final was a closely contested game: Hamilton tied the game at 28–28 with 94 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter when quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, making only his second career playoff start, found Luke Tasker for a touchdown. On defence, Hamilton then had Ottawa pinned deep in their own territory on second down and 25 yards and hoped to recover the ball in the final minute to try for a game-winning field goal. Instead, Burris completed a 93-yard pass and run play to wide receiver Greg Ellingson who scored the game winning touchdown; The 35–28 final made the Redblacks the first Ottawa team to reach the championship game since the Rough Riders appeared in the 69th Grey Cup in 1981.[7]
The Eskimos tied the defending champion Calgary Stampeders for the best record in the West with 14–4 records, however Edmonton won the division title by virtue of defeating Calgary in two of three regular season contests. The two teams met again in the West final after Calgary defeated the BC Lions 35–9 in the West Division semi-final.[8] The Eskimos earned the right to represent the West in the Grey Cup game by virtue of a 45–31 victory at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton. Quarterback Mike Reilly was the offensive catalyst for the Eskimos as he passed for three touchdowns and ran for two more in the win.[9] Edmonton reached its first championship game since the 93rd Grey Cup ten years earlier, and the 2015 championship will mark the first for the Eskimos against an Ottawa team since 1981.[9]
