Grey Cup fever already spreading in Regina for 2013

With one day to the Grey Cup game in Toronto, Grey Cup fever is already taking hold in Regina as the city starts preparing to host next year's championship.

Neil Donnelly, who has been named the executive director for Grey Cup in 2013, is in Toronto looking for ideas he can use in Saskatchewan.

He said there will be some challenges with the facilities in Regina and the amount of people they can hold.

"Converting the stadium is one example," said Donnelly. "Their  [Toronto] stadium is fairly turn-key, covered and has the appropriate amount of seats — we're going to have to work on our seating for an entire year to build out the infrastructure to accommodate the additional 11 or 12 thousand people we're going to want to put in it."

While the planning committee worries about how they're going to fit the extra thousands in the stadium, CFL fans wasted little time in booking rooms for next year's festival.

CBC News could not find a single hotel in Regina that had a room available for next year's Grey Cup.

In two previous Regina-hosted Grey Cups, many homeowners billeted guests and many rural hotels offered rooms.

The town of Southey, Sask. had a green bus that transported guests into Regina, about an hour away.

Rural hotels and a billeting program my have to happen again, said John Hopkins, CEO of Regina's Chamber of Commerce

"There was a program back in 1995 where people would billet with people they didn't even know and worked out fine," he said.

Meanwhile, Connie Young, general manager of the Executive Royal Hotel Regina, said even though she's sold out for the 2013 Grey Cup, CFL fans are persistent, offering up to $100 more than the regular room rate.

"And I'm sure they'll go even higher as we get closer to the day," said Young. "I'm already booked, but I put them on a waiting list and if someone cancels I'll call them."