There's no tradition of major league rugby in Canada, but it's long been a popular high school sport in many parts of the country. So it's not exactly "foreign" either.

Don used to be must see TV for me back in the day. But when the Jets left Winnipeg for Phoenix my interest in everything NHL waned. By the time the Jets came back to Winnipeg, I returned to watching the games and the games only. I don't care one whit what any talking heads of any sports have to say, its all nonsense.

I know but rugby is still fringe enough to appeal to the globalist fetish in a big way.

Is Cherry’s segment on HNIC between periods actually live, or is it taped before? If taped before, everyone at Sportsnet who saw the tape beforehand should be fired.

Pretty sure it's live. Doesn't he primarily comment on the period that was just played?

AFAIK yes. Especially since it is always the Leafs.

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.

It's clear that he was headed on this collision course for some time. Too bad Cherry didn't retire before the inevitable happened.

For what it's worth I have always enjoyed his segments, sort of on the same level that I enjoyed watching Randy "Macho Man" Savage give interviews back in the day... because they were highly entertaining and unpredictable, not because they were a source of refined, erudite commentary.

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.

:cheers:

CFL TV ratings: Bombers, Stamps semi-final showdown outdraws MLS Cup

"The Canadian Football League scored a win over Major League Soccer.

Winnipeg and Calgary produced the first one million-plus television rating of the 2019 season in Sunday’s West Semi-Final. It was a highly anticipated dual that drew more eye balls in Canada than the MLS Cup played at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday. The Seattle Sounders beat Toronto FC 3-1 to win the rubber finals rubber match between the two clubs. 1.5 million tuned in for the 2016 match and 1.3 million during TFC’s first league championship in 2017. TFC plays in our country’s largest market, but the average audience dropped to 747,600 for the third MLS Cup in Toronto franchise history.

The CFL has experienced a similar downward trend for their Division Semi-Finals, posting over one million in 2017, followed by 988,900 in 2018 and 863,850. That’s a loss creeping towards 200,000 viewers during a three-year sample size. Although, it’s not declining at the same rate as MLS soccer.

Cord-cutters are a large reason why TV numbers are waning in all sorts of genres. There are more people accessing CFL games via TSN’s streaming service and various other unmeasured streams. Overall when compared to MLS, the CFL has to be happy the ratings are falling less steeply and the Saskatchewan Roughriders were not even playing.

For those curious there were a number of other sports for fanatics to take in on Sunday. The Minnesota Vikings took on the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football checking in at 725,300, the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Chicago Blackhawks for Rogers Hometown Hockey 681,000, and the Toronto Raptors at the Los Angeles Lakers 452,000."

Semi-Final Sunday TV ratings 2019:

Edmonton at Montreal — 626,900
Winnipeg at Calgary — 1,100,800

Average: 863,850

2018

B.C. at Hamilton — 697,800
Winnipeg at Saskatchewan — 1,280,000

Average: 988,900

2017

Saskatchewan at Ottawa — 975,000
Edmonton at Winnipeg — 1,128,000

Average: 1,051,500

https://3downnation.com/2019/11/12/c...draws-mls-cup/

You can add 400,000 from RDS to the Edmonton-Montreal game's ratings.

What exactly is a "rubber finals rubber match"?

It's 3down writing.

TSN really tried to hype up the Trilogy aspect of Seattle/Toronto meeting for the third time in four years but it seemed very flat.

Over my head then.

So both CFL semifinals drew over a million viewers each. That's not bad.

I felt like I heard way less about the MLS Cup this year than for Toronto's past appearances. Other than TSN's commercials and a couple of preview articles in the local paper, I didn't really see any coverage although I'm obviously far from Toronto's soccer scene.

Was the MLS Cup on TSN1 or TSN2? Or were the CFL games on TSN1?

Also, it's possible that at least some Canadian viewers - say, 50,000? - watched the MLS Cup on the mainstream US network that was carrying it (ABC?).

those CFL numbers are very healthy considering how many people have cut the cord on cable and how many people now stream the games than watch on tv. I have several American friends in Charlotte and Atlanta who watch some CFL by streaming it.

It would be interesting to know what kind of numbers the CFL got on ESPN2. I'm expecting it wouldn't be much given that it's a Sunday during NFL season, but still.

I would like to see the CFL post their streaming numbers more often

MLS Cups 2016 and 2017 were both the first Saturday of December, whereas MLS Cup 2019 was the second Sunday of November. Change of schedule and a worse time slot definitely played a factor in general viewing figures, but it also comes down to TFC being less compelling this time around.

Definitely much less hype in 2019 than in 16 or 17. 16 obviously had hype because it was their first appearance and 17 because it was the best season an MLS team had ever had (and arguably the best team still). This year's team was much weaker and their run to the final was pretty unlikely.

Still wondering which league TSN chose to highlight on its main network Sunday? MLS or CFL?

I get all 5 TSN's with Bell MTS I don't know which one is even the main network anymore.

CFL was on TSN1 and TSN5. TFC were on TSN4. I don't really think there's a main TSN anymore for anyone beyond the most basic of cable setups.

I guess that's truer and truer.

Though a case can be made that the main network is the first one you hit when channel surfing upwards.

Many sports bars and restaurants for example will have their TVs tuned to that channel as a default, and only move to the other ones if there is something that is more of interest to their clientele on there.

To thurmas' point, the cable providers in Manitoba include all 5 TSNs in their basic packages. To me, TSN3 is the one to have since it has regional Jets broadcasts. Someone in Quebec might be more interested in TSN5 which IIRC has the Habs regional broadcasts.

It's more of a regional assortment as compared to the US where ESPN is the big grand-daddy channel while ESPN2, ESPN News and all of the various other ESPN offshoots are secondary in nature.

This simply isn't the case any more because, unless i'm mistaken, nobody is surfing upwards through hundreds of channels. Usually people know where their favourite channels are (whether it's channel 24, 240, or 624, or whatever). Only people with the old ~50ish channel setup are manually surfing through channels, otherwise you can just use the built-in guide HUD that comes with your advanced cable setup to find what you're looking for, either manually or by searching for channel/program.

I guess.

Maybe I am weird but to me the channel that is labelled "1" is still assume the one with the most high-profile marquee programming with cross-Canada appeal. (Or at least the programming they want us to latch on to the most for reasons X Y and Z.)

Me too. That's how I watch the games now.

For years and years, TSN was channel 400 on almost any system I had (1400 in HD). 400 (1400) on Bell Fibe at least is TSN 4. They are in order, 4, 1, 2, 3, 5 on Fibe. I always consider 1400 the main TSN channel because that's where the Leafs and Raptors usually are, and TSN does stand for Toronto Sports Network, so I'm told.

Stands for The Sports Network

Wouldn't appear that way to someone who has never heard of it...(T) is more like (T)oronto Sports Network. Someone from Mars watching would think that the Leafs are the only Team, of any sport on the planet. Today for example, the first five stories in the "NHL" link are Leafs, ie, Marner is hurt, Matthews is a P*ssy, Hutch got waived, Tavares is pouting....etc. etc.

I was really surprised at how early the MLS Cup was on, and I imagine it played a major role in the lower ratings. I wonder why they put it on so early?

MLS changed up their playoff format because the two-legged draws were a bit lengthy and pointless. There were a lot of complaints over the length of playoffs and having it be split up by an international break, so they shortened the rounds which shortens the playoffs as a whole. I like the earlier finish IMO, season is much too long if it's running from March-December.

Sorry, I should have been more specific. I was referring to the fact the game was on at 3PM in Toronto. Despite being on a weekend, I don't believe that as many casual fans would be interested in spending a major chunk of their limited daytime inside watching sports.

I agree that shortening the playoffs/overall season is a good idea for MLS.

Haven't read too much on it but i'm sure it has to do with TV and hosting in Seattle. TV and gameday turned out really, really good in Seattle so i'm guessing there was some thought into the start time.

It would have been a 12PM kickoff in Seattle which still seems really early. I assume that they did it that early because it avoided competition with the NFL. I imagine they did their research and were confident going early would lose less viewers than going up against football in the States.

3PM eastern is right in the middle of the busiest time of day for football. There isn't really a worse time to do it if avoiding competition with NFL is the idea.

The discussion on other boards is actually saying that the segment is live on the main game's broadcast, taped and then rebroadcast during intermissions of other games in the similar time slot but that obviously don't all arrive at the intermission simultaneously.

So I guess the answer is that people at Sportsnet did watch it and decided to air the recorded version of it during several other broadcasts that evening.

Interesting to see the Quebec breakdown with and without the Als, IMO both are very good numbers

https://i.imgur.com/3wwdmzp.png

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 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.

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.

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

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. :shrug:

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

+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.:P

https://i.imgur.com/3BA2Ehi.png
https://www.cfl.ca/games/2639/edmont...ders/#/preview

Cool Regina shot!

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

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.

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