Sportsnet wins NHL broadcast rights. What does this mean for the Jays?

[Cooler Heads Prevail]

Do you understand the meaning of the word huge?

 

Yes, have you no idea how popular Curling is in Canada ? Brier final got 1.56 million in 2012. Round robin games ( and there are a lot of them ) averaged 685k. Even the women's event drew 1.17 million viewers for their final.

 

So round robin games seem to draw around the same audience as a Jays game and much more then a Raptors game. Finals are some of the biggest TV audiences of the year any sport.

Edited November 28, 2013 by Cooler Heads Prevail

[Cooler Heads Prevail]

only saskajay could turn a topic about rogers sniping the NHL from TSN and CBC into a CFL vs NFL debate. i swear this happens on a bi-monthly basis

 

as for what this means to the blue jays, imo absolutely nothing. more games on SN1 but thats about it. as for what it means to the rest of the market including tv package prices, phone prices etc that's a whole different argument.

 

i'm really curious to see how TSN reacts to this, maybe they fork out some cash and get some jays games on there with jim hughson (barf) commentating? who knows but i'm definitely curious. they're not gonna be able to fill the void with god damn curling all day... my prediction for tsn is:

 

+ soccer (including champions league and epl)

+ basketball (it's gotta happen)

+ cdn nhl teams (you gotta assume they're gonna go extremely hard for all the cdn teams, there's no way they can think the leafs and jets alone are gonna be enough)

+ baseball (it's a longshot for the jays but i definitely could see an increase in other games, especially AL east ones)

+ more analysis shows like that's hockey 2nite

+ possibly more NFL games but it's hard to really show more games when you only have two channels

+ darts, curling, track and the other fringe sports stuff

 

overall i think they're gonna be fine, it's a huge blow but they will survive. the increased cash they get from not paying the NHL could also go into getting more coverage for stuff like the olympics/world cup etc

 

Again, Curling is not "fringe stuff" in Canada. The networks fight for the broadcast rights and the advertisers love the audiences.

[John_Havok]

Yes, have you no idea how popular Curling is in Canada ? Brier final got 1.56 million in 2012. Round robin games ( and there are a lot of them ) averaged 685k. Even the women's event drew 1.17 million viewers for their final.

 

So round robin games seem to draw around the same audience as a Jays game and much more then a Raptors game. Finals are some of the biggest TV audiences of the year any sport.

 

All do that is true, the problem is the Brier is what, 10 days long? Tournament of hearts another 10....a few shoutouts here and there and you 30 ish days of programming in a 365 day calendar. As good as those small events are, they can't carry a network

[guylaroche5]

Again, Curling is not "fringe stuff" in Canada. The networks fight for the broadcast rights and the advertisers love the audiences.

 

like havok already said, curling is far too sparse. it's popular because it comes in small doses, hell i even watch it during the olympics.

[Dick_Pole]

 

This is why I am a Ron Paul righty.

 

Hmm...that explains a lot.

[Dick_Pole]

I make money betting on NFL games. I make money betting on CFL games. I have no problems with either. The CFL has attracted a lot of good talent over the years. Is it going to attract top talent? Of course not, the payroll structure will disallow that. But to suggest the CFL is some sort of bush league is ludicrous. It's a league with a greater tradition than the NFL. The Argos are the oldest pro football team on this continent. Anyone who thinks they are a pushover should get a bunch of his beer league buddies together and challenge the worst team in the league and see what happens. Anyone who can suit up for the NFL, the CFL, Arena league, the old NFL Europe or even that XFL back in the day is definitely in the top percentile or better of the population who have ever played football. They will have above average athletic ability suited for their positions.

 

Regardless of who is right or wrong on the intricacies of each game, JugglingPitches reeks of being a self-righteous wannabe-American-big-city Torontonian. Praise the NFL and spit all over the CFL for no good reason other than it's a big cool American game while the Canadian game is meant to please all the hosers while they fight in the military, dig up the oil and potash and farm the food to feed all of us. The CFL is saskjay's only game in town...so what. No need to look down on him and be an ******* about it.

[Abomination]

The point is things need to evolve and the refusal to adopt the American rules is preventing any partnership between the two leagues. Also you are wrong about the talent level. The CFL actually does pluck guys right off the street.. it's open tryout to fill the required Canadian roster spots.. that's another thing holding the league back

 

Personally I much prefer the CFL style game, but there's no question there's more talent in the NFL. I'm not a big football fan either way though.

[Chappy]

To each their own. Who gives a f*** really. Let people enjoy what they like.

[Dick_Pole]

I love football and I wish there was some relationship between the two leagues like they had with NFL Europe. It was just silly that they had these players playing in Europe rather then Canada. We are being stubborn and put this embarrassing product out there and we are supposed to be happy with it because they have history?? Anyways I could ramble forever but anyone remember that stupid slogan they had for a year or two?? Our balls are bigger! Lol

 

I have mixed reactions over the CFL becoming an official feeder league as opposed to its current status as an unofficial one. The league overall would become stronger but any hope of the league being "uniquely Canadian" or different as opposed to inferior through reasons saskjay pointed out would be gone.

 

Personally I'd love to see the NFL players play the CFL game if only for a short time period. Particularly the play of the top QBs and to see which coaches can quickly adjust to the new style.

[kgm1]

I would be curious if one of the Math wizards on this site could use the number Rogers paid for the NHL rights to somehow get an approximate figure as to what the Jays rights are worth .

[flafson]

Probably the only difference will be with CBC's chequing account getting smaller by 200mil every year. I'm fine with that by the way.