Expansion Ottawa Redblacks will host CFL home opener July 18 versus Toronto

TORONTO – The expansion Ottawa Redblacks will make their official return to the CFL on the road.

The CFL unveiled its 2014 schedule Tuesday and the Redblacks will play their first-ever regular-season game in Winnipeg against the Blue Bombers on July 3.

Back in the league for the first time since the Renegades folded in 2006, Ottawa will make its home debut in its new stadium, TD Place, on July 18 against the Toronto Argonauts.

The 2014 season will kick off June 26 with Toronto in Winnipeg before the defending champion Saskatchewan Roughriders host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in a Grey Cup rematch June 29.

Both Ottawa and Hamilton will play in new facilities this year. The Ticats will open Tim Hortons Field against the Redblacks on July 26.

Hamilton will also host arch-rival Toronto on Sept. 1 to re-establish their annual Labour Day showdown. Also that weekend, Ottawa will visit Montreal on Aug. 29, Saskatchewan will host Winnipeg on Aug. 31, while the Calgary Stampeders will welcome Edmonton Eskimos on Sept. 1.

The 2014 season will conclude with the Grey Cup at B.C. Place in Vancouver on Nov. 30.

The CFL pre-season will begin June 9 and wrap up on June 20.

“This is a big year for us, the start of a new era for our league,” CFL commissioner Mark Cohon said in a statement. “This schedule captures that excitement.

“It features the launch of the new Ottawa Redblacks and the opening of TD Place in the national capital and Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, alongside some of our most cherished traditions and rivalries, including classic Labour Day matchups and the Grey Cup.”

All CFL games will be broadcast on TSN, while all Montreal Alouettes contests and select league games will be carried on RDS and RDS2.