Not sure I would classify the CFL as a pro tenant.

You are objectively wrong, but good try :tup:

If they earn money playing a sport full-time, they're professional.

The more confusing statement is that the Rogers Centre's operating costs are what's causing the Jays financial hardship.

Not by unknowledgeable poseurs for sure.

ESPN2 coverage of CFL games averaged 163,000 viewers last season, a 19 percent increase from the previous year.

I find the above interesting, it makes you wonder what propelled the increase. Johnny "Canadian" Football would likely have played a part.

This random guy says hello

https://d3ham790trbkqy.cloudfront.ne...11-280x300.png

Indeed. Manziel's debut was the highest-rated CFL game ever on an ESPN platform (406K, I think?).

Possibly there were fewer games on ESPN2 after the NFL season started?

Manziel still has a pretty strong following from his days as debatably the most exciting college quarterback of all time. If he can string together a consistent season as Montreal's starter you could see even stronger ESPN numbers next year.

CTV Communications
@CTV_PR
Yesterday’s NFL Conference Championships were up 17% on @CTV, averaging 2 million viewers each, as the @Patriots and @RamsNFL both won overtime thrillers to advance to #SBLIII

https://twitter.com/CTV_PR/status/1087472361283174400

^ Nice.

Both amazing games really made up for a crappy weekend of extreme cold and a crap-load of shoveling.

Amazing games? What was that sham of a no call that changed the whole game?

Rams-Saints ends with ugly pass interference no-call

What a joke!

Toronto Wolfpack Confirm 2019 Broadcast Arrangement

https://www.torontowolfpack.com/2019...t-arrangement/

"Toronto Wolfpack will produce all of the team’s Betfred Championship games in both the UK and Canada in 2019 after announcing a broadcast agreement at today’s Rugby Football League (RFL) season launch in York, UK.

After discussions ongoing since the end of last season involving the RFL and Sky Sports agreement has been reached for all matches to be available for live publication on Sky Sports platforms in the UK. Distribution in Canada and around the world are included as part of the deal and will be confirmed over the next few weeks.

Brian Noble MBE, Toronto Wolfpack Director of Rugby, commented:

“We have invested significantly in our broadcast for the last two seasons, culminating in our 2018 postseason games reaching 140 million homes in 19 countries worldwide. We are extremely grateful to both Sky Sports and the RFL for sharing our vision to grow our game globally in 2019, and thank both for their efforts building this opportunity.”

Toronto Wolfpack’s growing army of fans in Canada, the UK and across the world will be able to enjoy every minute of action from an exciting new-look 14 team Betfred Championship in 2019. The Pack’s diverse range of sponsors and partners will also benefit from an amplified reach and opportunity to access new markets while opposing teams in the Betfred Championship will gain exposure from a minimum of two televised games against the Wolfpack.
...
The first round of matches in the Betfred Championship sees the Wolfpack take on newly-promoted York City Knights at Bootham Crescent on Sunday February 3rd (10am EDT / 3pm GMT). The game will be shown live on the Sky Sports platform as well as through the Wolfpack’s Canadian and global broadcast partners."

The games were dramatic in the sense that the scores were close and that they were decided in overtime, but it's unfortunate that the officiating is perceived to have played such a big role in the outcomes. Sometimes there is no choice and it's all for the ''fairest'', but in this case it wasn't that clear.

Yes, bad calls happen in every sport... they were still AMAZING games.

And NFL ratings continue to climb in Canada.

Oh, I know you love that, you didn't need to make one of your rare appearances to tell us that. It was expected. :)

I've said before that the NFL from a marketing and packaging perspective is like crack for sports fans who have any kind of interest in gridiron football.

As such, it's no more surprising to see their ratings trending healthily than it is to see sales of opioids going up... :haha:

My issue is the stupidity of a Canadian network that would rather spend money on a foreign product and grow it as a property than grow a domestic product.

The worst case is the showing of NCAA hockey games with, not the big programs like UMass, Denver, UMD etc, but schools that most USports programs could beat. Why would you do that and create a self fulfilling prophecy of growing that over a homegrown product.

And a certain type of person in this country is so ignorant of the calibre of these programs that they lap it up like gruel in Oliver Twist's workhouse just because it emanates from the once great USA. I just don't get it.

The Canadian media sucks. This is especially true of the Canadian sports media.

If Canadian private television networks had their way, they'd be rebroadcasters of US stations only. (exception: Quebec)

Most English Can-con outside of the CBC is simply done to appease the feds, aside from things like hockey and the Olympics.

This is partly due to laziness (hey, it's easier/cheaper to rebroadcast shit someone else has put work into!) and the fact that the minimal cultural divide between the United States and Canada fades with every passing day.

I'm not sure if it is the media leading this, or this is happening at a societal level and the media is following. Probably both.