Football has a rich history in Canada. Since 1890 football has been played in each Canadian province. To this day, Canadian Football League teams compete annually for the Grey Cup, North America's oldest professional league championship trophy.

The National Football League also has a history in Canada. Starting in 1950, members of the NFL traveled north to take on a representative from the CFL. NFL teams have squared off against CFL teams on eight different occasions, usually using rules from both leagues. The most recent game was August 8, 1961 in Hamilton, Ontario where the Tiger-Cats defeated the Buffalo Bills 38-21.

Several NFL games have also been played on Canadian soil. Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal have all hosted preseason or American Bowl games. The most recent game was August 15, 1998 in Vancouver, B.C. where the San Francisco 49'ers defeated the Seattle Seahawks 24-21.

Today more than one million Canadians watch both NFL and CFL games on television and attend games in person.

This deep football history has developed into today's shared commitment to build the sport and create new fans and players. The NFL and CFL have a joint and vested interest in the health of the sport, at all levels, and have created several joint programs to this end. As a result, the football development system in Canada is strong. There are hundreds of thousands of youth playing organized football, more than 1,000 Canadians playing Canadian University football, more than 100 Canadians on NCAA football scholarships, and more than 150 Canadians playing in the CFL.

NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue summed up the complementary relationship best while visiting Toronto in 2002:

"Having a strong CFL is important to the NFL. It's good for the NFL if people are interested in football. It's our sport, it's a great sport, and the particular form of the sport is less important than the interest in the game."

NFL IN CANADA HISTORY

The following is a table commemorating the NFL's history of Canadian competition, with * denoting an American Bowl Game.

Date	Site	Opp. & Score
Aug. 12, 1950	Ottawa	N.Y. Giants 20, Ottawa (CFL) 6
Aug. 11, 1951	Ottawa	N.Y. Giants 38, Ottawa (CFL) 6
Aug. 5, 1959	Toronto	Chicago Cardinals 55, Toronto (CFL) 26
Aug. 6, 1960	Toronto	Pittsburgh 43, Toronto (CFL) 16
Aug. 15, 1960	Toronto	Chicago 16, N.Y. Giants 7
Aug. 2, 1961	Toronto	St. Louis 36, Toronto (CFL) 7
Aug. 5, 1961	Montreal	Chicago 34, Montreal (CFL) 16
Aug. 8, 1961	Hamilton	Hamilton (CFL) 38, Buffalo 21
Aug. 11, 1969	Montreal	Pittsburgh 17, N.Y. Giants 13
Aug. 25, 1969	Montreal	Detroit 22, Boston (AFL) 9
Aug. 18, 1988	Montreal	N.Y. Jets 11, Cleveland 7
*Aug. 9, 1990	Montreal	Pittsburgh 30, New England 14
Aug. 14, 1993	Toronto	Cleveland 12, New England 9
*Aug. 12, 1995	Toronto	Buffalo 9, Dallas 7
*Aug. 16, 1997	Toronto	Green Bay 35, Buffalo 3
*Aug. 15, 1998	Vancouver	San Francisco 24, Seattle 21

NFL INTERNATIONAL HISTORY

The following is a table commemorating the NFL's history of other international competition, with * denoting an American Bowl Game.

Date	Site	Opp. & Score
Aug. 16 1976	Tokyo, Japan	St. Louis 20, San Diego 10
Aug. 5, 1978	Mexico City, Mexico	New Orleans 14, Philadelphia 7
Aug. 6, 1983	London, England	Minnesota 28, St. Louis 10
*Aug. 3, 1986	London, England	Chicago 17, Dallas 6
*Aug. 9, 1987	London, England	L.A. Rams 28, Denver 27
*July 31, 1988	London, England	Miami 27, San Francisco 21
Aug. 14, 1988	Goteborg, Sweden	Minnesota 28, Chicago 21
*Aug. 5, 1989	Tokyo, Japan	L.A. Rams 16, San Francisco 13 (OT)
*Aug. 6, 1989	London, England	Philadelphia 17, Cleveland 13
*Aug. 5, 1990	Tokyo, Japan	Denver 10, Seattle 7
*Aug. 5, 1990	London, England	New Orleans 17, L.A. Raiders 10
*Aug. 11, 1990	Berlin, Germany	L.A. Rams 19, Kansas City 3
*July 28, 1991	London, England	Buffalo 17, Philadelphia 13
*Aug. 3, 1991	Berlin, Germany	San Francisco 21, Chicago 7
*Aug. 4, 1991	Tokyo, Japan	Miami 19, L.A. Raiders 17
*Aug. 2, 1992	Tokyo, Japan	Houston 34, Dallas 23
*Aug. 15, 1992	Berlin, Germany	Miami 31, Denver 27
*Aug. 16, 1992	London, England	San Francisco 17, Washington 15
*Aug. 1, 1993	Tokyo, Japan	New Orleans 28, Philadelphia 16
*Aug. 1, 1993	Barcelona, Spain	San Francisco 21, Pittsburgh 14
*Aug. 7, 1993	Berlin, Germany	Minnesota 20, Buffalo 6
*Aug. 8, 1993	London, England	Dallas 13, Detroit 13 (OT)
*July 31, 1994	Barcelona, Spain	L.A. Raiders 25, Denver 22 (OT)
*Aug. 7, 1994	Tokyo, Japan	Minnesota 17, Kansas City 9
*Aug. 13, 1994	Berlin, Germany	N.Y. Giants 28, San Diego 20
*Aug. 15, 1994	Mexico City, Mexico	Houston 6, Dallas 0
*Aug. 5, 1995	Tokyo, Japan	Denver 24, San Francisco 10
*July 27, 1996	Tokyo, Japan	San Diego 20, Pittsburgh 10
*Aug. 5, 1996	Monterrey, Mexico	Kansas City 32, Dallas 6
*July 27, 1997	Dublin, Ireland	Pittsburgh 30, Chicago 17
*Aug. 4, 1997	Mexico City, Mexico	Miami 38, Denver 19
*Aug. 1, 1998	Tokyo, Japan	Green Bay 27, Kansas City 24 (OT)
*Aug. 17, 1998	Mexico City, Mexico	New England 21, Dallas 3
*Aug. 8, 1999	Sydney, Australia	Denver 20, San Diego 17
*Aug. 5, 2000	Tokyo, Japan	Atlanta 20, Dallas 9
*Aug. 19, 2000	Mexico City, Mexico	Indianapolis 24, Pittsburgh 23
*Aug. 27, 2001	Mexico City, Mexico	Dallas 21, Oakland 6
*Aug. 3, 2001	Osaka, Japan	San Francisco meets Washington