The Great Canadian Sports Attendance, Marketing and TV Ratings Thread

[LakeLocker]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Currently there is on the part of many Canadians an eagerness and curiosity about sports that are "not Canadian", so in light of this fact I would expect rugby to be ascendant for the next little while.

But as esquire says it's got a long way to go before it even reaches the mainstream level that a sport like soccer has attained.

And gridiron football (Canadian or American, take your pick) is on another level beyond that.

I think it's a failure of the big 3.

They've been bloated entities relying on television money.

This made sense when people watched tv and television lockouts meant it was very hard to watch other sports and hard to watch teams in other markets.

With globalized sports media it seems entirely possible that leagues might end up being based on offering live games up for free and relying on gate revenue.

In which case the bloated MLB/NBA/NHL will likely have major issues getting audience attention.


In I'm stuck in going to games that are basically minor leagues I'd rather do it in a league that is the best in Canada than a league that is one of the many feeders leagues for the big american franchises.

[LakeLocker]

Originally Posted by esquire

Personally I'd cut the guy some slack. He's 85, I don't know how many 85 year olds are totally in tune with the times. If anyone is to blame, blame Sportsnet for giving him a platform so they could keep profiting from the viewership he delivered. Of course, once keeping him was no longer convenient, boom, it was over.

That's not how the "I'm tellin" culture works.

It is a kind of punching down that relies on moral relativism. It isn't about who is right or wrong it is about who is quickest at pouncing on folk that are deviating from the cutting edge of condoned behavior.

Lack of intelligence, poor language skills, age etc are all signs one is not capable of maintaining the upper hand.

[LakeLocker]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Things must be different in Cherry’s Toronto - here in Vancouver the ones selling poppies were cadets and they were overwhelmingly Asian.

On the other hand, at least he didn’t make an insincere apology he didn’t believe in. Too many of those going around.

So you assumed they weren't born here because they are Asian? And he's the racist?

[jonny24]

Originally Posted by LakeLocker

This needs to happen sooner than latter. The CFL is flat out crazy for delaying the inevitable. They don't have the money that the NFL has. It is gonna destroy the brand if they are seen as simply playing follow the leader. And it'd be a great way for the league to out perform the NFL. The XFL is launching on the premise on creating faster paced more athletic gaming. The CFL should be known as an inovator it'd help sell the game to the young globalist types living in the east.

I agree with all of that.

Actually, I've long thought that, even without the concussion/player safety issues, Canadian Football should evolve in its own way away from the American version. It would take a whole-game approach, CFL/Football Canada/U sports adopting changes. A greater uniqueness would mean that Canadians growing up playing our version would be the most skilled at it, reducing the influence of Americans. Same with coaching, etc. The less similar we are to AF then the fewer comparisons can be made and less "second rate" stigma.

I don't know how this would go over with the majority of football fans though. I was a fan of rugby before football, and know and love the history of how we got here from there. I feel like that wouldn't apply to the vast majority though. But if concussions force that evolution anyway... might was well go our own way.

[Hackslack]

Originally Posted by LakeLocker

So you assumed they weren't born here because they are Asian? And he's the racist?

In the words of prime minister Justin Trudeau "people experience things differently".. so in this case, people can use this "out card" to argue that, no, that was not racist, because this particular person experienced things different

[SaskScraper]

+6C looking like a good weather forecast for Regina for the Western CFL Final at New Mosaic Stadium, Bombers visiting against The Riders, the Western Division top team, this Sunday...

I just came across a discussion on a subforum of why TSN uses old aerial footage of Regina, footage like from half a decade ago, when TSN does CFL broadcasts from Regina.
Thought some of you might find this entertaining.

Originally Posted by UrbanClimate

Last night's TV broadcast of the Heritage Classic had some excellent aerial shots of the stadium, like this one. I'm curious why we dont get these same shots for TSN broadcasts of CFL games at Mosaic (TSN gives aerial views of stadiums for games in all other CFL cities)?


https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/...itage-classic/

Originally Posted by UrbanClimate

My wish came partly true, with some footage of downtown Regina to open the Sask-Edmonton TSN broadcast yesterday. Maybe for the West Final we'll see the stadium from above.


https://www.cfl.ca/games/2639/edmont...ders/#/preview

Originally Posted by Nathan

They would have done a lot of shooting for the Grey Cup in 2013, aaaaand looking more closely at the pic, the old stadium is at the left 2/3 - 3/4 of the way up.

https://www.cfl.ca/games/2639/edmont...ders/#/preview

Originally Posted by Doug123

The aerial footage shown during the NHL Heritage Classic was shot by the company I work for, Java Post Productions: www.JavaPost.ca We also shot aerial stills for the NHL which are available through Getty Images.

We have shot several Rider games at Mosaic Stadium, primarily gathering footage for the Riders to use in promotional campaigns. During the 2018 season we did supply the Riders with a live HD feed and shots were shown on the SaskTel MaxTron for the in-stadium crowd.

We will be shooting aerial footage for TSN during the upcoming Western Division Final on November 17th.

[TorontoDrew]

Cool Regina shot!

[LakeLocker]

Originally Posted by jonny24

I agree with all of that.

Actually, I've long thought that, even without the concussion/player safety issues, Canadian Football should evolve in its own way away from the American version. It would take a whole-game approach, CFL/Football Canada/U sports adopting changes. A greater uniqueness would mean that Canadians growing up playing our version would be the most skilled at it, reducing the influence of Americans. Same with coaching, etc. The less similar we are to AF then the fewer comparisons can be made and less "second rate" stigma.

I don't know how this would go over with the majority of football fans though. I was a fan of rugby before football, and know and love the history of how we got here from there. I feel like that wouldn't apply to the vast majority though. But if concussions force that evolution anyway... might was well go our own way.

Well the one thing I really enjoy about the CFL is that it doesn't appear to be based on 350 pound slobs.

[thurmas]

Being a Winnipegger I will give credit to Regina on their downtown compared to ours. It is much cleaner and feels safer and friendlier and has much better organization compared to Winnipeg's downtown especially for a city of Regina's size it feels much larger than it actually is downtown.

[elly63]

CFL Divisional Finals has Hamilton attendance over capacity at 25,177 and Regina selling out at 33.3k.

[esquire]

The TV ratings for those games should be interesting, the west final was one of the most riveting playoff games I've ever seen. It brought back memories of the 1994 west final between BC and Calgary which stands out in my mind as one of the all time top barnburners. That one was more of an offensive shootout, but the hyper dramatic ending was similar to what we saw in Regina yesterday.

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by esquire

The TV ratings for those games should be interesting, the west final was one of the most riveting playoff games I've ever seen. It brought back memories of the 1994 west final between BC and Calgary which stands out in my mind as one of the all time top barnburners. That one was more of an offensive shootout, but the hyper dramatic ending was similar to what we saw in Regina yesterday.

Was that when BC caught a touchdown in the snow in Calgary to win?

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Denscity

Was that when BC caught a touchdown in the snow in Calgary to win?

Yeah, that was a crazy see saw battle where Darren Flutie made a spectacular catch to get within striking distance and then caught one right after that in the endzone for the win.

The Lions had a wild playoff run that year...a week later it was Passaglia kicking a field goal at home to win it all.

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by esquire

Yeah, that was a crazy see saw battle where Darren Flutie made a spectacular catch to get within striking distance and then caught one right after that in the endzone for the win.

The Lions had a wild playoff run that year...a week later it was Passaglia kicking a field goal at home to win it all.

Yes! Aand that was one of the years the Canucks made it to game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by esquire

The Lions had a wild playoff run that year...a week later it was Passaglia kicking a field goal at home to win it all.

In the heart of the American experiment.

[elly63]

TV ratings: Bombers, Riders yields largest CFL Finals number in recent years
Justin Dunk 3downnation November 18, 2019

The Farmers’ Almanac was right: Winnipeg and Saskatchewan produced a high yield.

It was the first West Final between the prairie rivals since 1972 and the Bombers scored a 20-13 win against the Riders in a game which came down to the final play — drama helps boost audiences. Forget sports it was the highest rated English language program on television Sunday, November 17.

Division Finals Sunday TV ratings 2019:

Edmonton at Hamilton — 898,400 (not including RDS)
Winnipeg at Saskatchewan — 1,631,900 (not including RDS)
Average: 1,265,150

2018
Hamilton at Ottawa — 729,000
Winnipeg at Calgary — 1,222,030
Average: 974,650

2017
Saskatchewan at Toronto — 1,406,000
Edmonton at Calgary — 1,337,000
Average: 1,371,500

2016
Edmonton at Ottawa — 1,178,100
B.C. at Calgary– 1,049,000
Average: 1,113,550

[thurmas]

Originally Posted by elly63

TV ratings: Bombers, Riders yields largest CFL Finals number in recent years
Justin Dunk 3downnation November 18, 2019

The Farmers’ Almanac was right: Winnipeg and Saskatchewan produced a high yield.

It was the first West Final between the prairie rivals since 1972 and the Bombers scored a 20-13 win against the Riders in a game which came down to the final play — drama helps boost audiences. Forget sports it was the highest rated English language program on television Sunday, November 17.

Division Finals Sunday TV ratings 2019:

Edmonton at Hamilton — 898,400 (not including RDS)
Winnipeg at Saskatchewan — 1,631,900 (not including RDS)
Average: 1,265,150

2018
Hamilton at Ottawa — 729,000
Winnipeg at Calgary — 1,222,030
Average: 974,650

2017
Saskatchewan at Toronto — 1,406,000
Edmonton at Calgary — 1,337,000
Average: 1,371,500

2016
Edmonton at Ottawa — 1,178,100
B.C. at Calgary– 1,049,000
Average: 1,113,550

Very good ratings especially in the age of cable cord cutting just wish the CFL would post their streaming numbers as I know more and more fans watch that way in increasing numbers every year.

[UrbanClimate]

Some pretty cool drone footage and camera work was happening at the CFL West Final in Regina last Sunday. Here a news item from CTV showing the operations:

https://regina.ctvnews.ca/video?binId=1.1165847

[UrbanClimate]

(above post)

https://regina.ctvnews.ca/regina-pro...hots-1.4691479

[elly63]

Originally Posted by UrbanClimate

Regina company helps TSN with drone photography
A Regina company helped TSN with their coverage of the CFL West Final with drone footage. Wayne Mantyka explains.
CTV News Regina November 18, 2019

I posted a video from that company quite a while ago, they do really good work. The league has to use resources like this to stay competitive. TSN productions have gotten stale and for no good reason, they desperately need this type of thing, and it pays dividends. People will watch a well made professional production and these technologies greatly add to that.

The first video that was mistakenly posted really shows why the Riders are so popular.