Sports in Canadian culture

[thurmas]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Last year I noticed a few times that TSN was showing NCAA SEC (South Eastern Conference) gymnastics, in prime time. I don't have anything againsy gymnastics, but I wonder how many people in Corner Brook and Kenora were itching to see Clemson vs. Alabama on the rings or the asymetrical bars.

Untapped demand, I guess.

More so it is cheaper to plug in a feed from ESPN than to pay a crew and a reporter and play by play team in Canada for several hours to cover a U Sports event this is where government intervention from the CRTC and the sports/heritage ministry should come in as this is a cheap loop hole for Canadian broadcasters to exploit.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by elly63

It's a f'n disgrace. I'd rather sit through gawdawful poker than see them building American rather than Canadian properties from nothing.

I've even seen NCAA gymnastics on RDS. Now that's what you call "filler" content.

RDS and TSN are owned by the same company, and so stuff that TSN pays for I assume is also available to RDS. It's not as easy for RDS as they still have to bring people into a Montreal studio to do a voice over commentary of the event. But it's still cheaper than producing their own stuff.

In fairness, RDS has been doing a pretty good job covering the CHL (the Q only of course) in the past couple of years.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by JHikka

SN does a CHL weekly game starting in January each season. More recently they've expanded their playoff league final broadcasts as well.

There are quite a few tiny speedbumps and logistics headaches to a national broadcasting deal for the CHL:

• Prioritizing Memorial Cup host in games
• Balancing large enough markets for TV
• Balancing compelling or competitive games
• Logistics for travelling to places with crew and cameras
• Prioritizing draft eligible or NHL property players
• Prioritizing World Juniors players (why TSN hasn't pushed for a CHL deal is beyond me. Running it in tandem with the U20s at Christmas makes too much sense).

Fortunately some of the larger markets (London, Halifax, Quebec) are usually pretty competitive most years so those games are easy to schedule. It becomes tough if teams like Rouyn-Noranda or Prince George are strong because you need to promote likely Memorial Cup teams but it costs money to transport to these areas for broadcasts, which means you're probably going to try and show those teams when they're visiting other competitive teams and markets. Figuring out a good, consistent schedule for that is tough.

The alternative is investing in enough arenas and broadcast booths to be able to provide quality enough broadcasts from most teams, but doing that in 60+ (or even 30+ arenas and markets) is costly and time-consuming.

If the CHL ends up contracting due to COVID I'd be interested in seeing what changes the league overall makes to further drive revenue while also keeping costs relatively low but also maintaining a competitive product.

Another argument, used decades ago in the major leagues, would be that increased broadcasts would take away from local crowds which are heavily relied upon for gate revenues. Not sure there's much to it but It's an interesting enough argument to hear out.

Interesting perspective. What you wrote certainly makes sense. I didn't realize that SN did a game of the week starting in January... I was under the impression it was more sporadic. But whenever it is on I have noticed that it tends to be the biggest markets. For the WHL it felt like it was always some combination of Vancouver, Calgary or Edmonton. Which makes sense I suppose, but it does mean missing out on top teams like the Prince Albert Raiders.

I can appreciate that the logistics probably have something to do with that, given that many WHL cities can be a long way from network facilities in the bigger cities. Some of the smaller barns may not even have the ability to host broadcasts... I doubt you could do an HD broadcast of a Winnipeg Ice game from the temporary venue they're using for at least three seasons total (assuming the team survives) without parking a bunch of production trailers outside the arena.

Originally Posted by Djeffery

It's hard to sell a nationwide broadcast of junior hockey I think. They play at the busiest time of the week for other TV sports and they have so many teams, I don't know how well a regular national game would go. It seems like Sportsnet focuses on top tier teams or top draft pick players. Not sure they would have a big draw nationwide for London Vs Windsor, for example (and those 2 teams, like many, have local cable TV broadcasts as well).

I suppose the local broadcasts are one good reason why there aren't regional/national broadcasts. I tend to lose sight of that since there is no regional WHL broadcaster in Manitoba (and frankly I'm not sure who could fill that role), but I do know that Access TV in Saskatchewan, for example, does a great job with Regina Pats games. At one point Shaw TV used to do a western Canada-wide WHL game of the week IIRC, but as I recall it was only in SD, even long after sports in HD became sort of a standard thing. I'm sure that turned viewers off.

[VANRIDERFAN]

I'm wondering if this boycott of Sports in the USA will be the punch in the stomach that Americans need to do a major rethink of race relations in their country (in the world as well).

Americans love their sports and if the uber rich athletes are willing to forego their salary and by extension force the sports team owners to push government officials.
If the likes of Jerry Jones is losing millions of dollars, if the TV executives are losing millions of dollars maybe some change can be legislated.
The pro athletes need to be firm on this boycott to force real change.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Originally Posted by VANRIDERFAN

I'm wondering if this boycott of Sports in the USA will be the punch in the stomach that Americans need to do a major rethink of race relations in their country (in the world as well).

Americans love their sports and if the uber rich athletes are willing to forego their salary and by extension force the sports team owners to push government officials.
If the likes of Jerry Jones is losing millions of dollars, if the TV executives are losing millions of dollars maybe some change can be legislated.
The pro athletes need to be firm on this boycott to force real change.

What sort of change/s would you propose?

[Nicko999]

Originally Posted by VANRIDERFAN

I'm wondering if this boycott of Sports in the USA will be the punch in the stomach that Americans need to do a major rethink of race relations in their country (in the world as well).

Americans love their sports and if the uber rich athletes are willing to forego their salary and by extension force the sports team owners to push government officials.
If the likes of Jerry Jones is losing millions of dollars, if the TV executives are losing millions of dollars maybe some change can be legislated.
The pro athletes need to be firm on this boycott to force real change.

It won't change anything. The bubble and the empty arenas is what make these boycotts possible. Try doing that with 20k fans in the stand...

Owners are not actually losing money due to the boycotts. The players also decided to continue the season so they won't forego any salary. A real message would have been to cancel the remaining playoffs.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by Nicko999

It won't change anything. The bubble and the empty arenas is what make these boycotts possible. Try doing that with 20k fans in the stand...

Owners are not actually losing money due to the boycotts. The players also decided to continue the season so they won't forego any salary. A real message would have been to cancel the remaining playoffs.

Are the basketball or hockey players even getting paid? They don't usually earn salary for playoffs, but rather a share of a playoff pool. But I don't know if there was anything different agreed to for this year to convince players to come back for the bubbles.

[VANRIDERFAN]

Originally Posted by Nicko999

It won't change anything. The bubble and the empty arenas is what make these boycotts possible. Try doing that with 20k fans in the stand...

Owners are not actually losing money due to the boycotts. The players also decided to continue the season so they won't forego any salary. A real message would have been to cancel the remaining playoffs.

Agree.


The activists missed a massive opportunity here. Cancelling the playoffs would have hurt the owners in the pocketbook. That would have got their attention to pressure the legislatures.

Missed opportunity here.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by VANRIDERFAN

Agree.


The activists missed a massive opportunity here. Cancelling the playoffs would have hurt the owners in the pocketbook. That would have got their attention to pressure the legislatures.

Missed opportunity here.

It will be interesting to see what happens with the NBA/MLB/NHL/WNBA seasons, etc.

If they aren't cancelled, then a cynic could look at the situation and say "well, cancelling games is an important way to make a social statement, but only until it starts costing people money".

I mean, if a season is cancelled and revenues take a hit then it's hard to imagine that it won't have an impact on a league's salary cap. Players might be a little more inclined to get on with things before it gets to that point.

[VANRIDERFAN]

Originally Posted by esquire

It will be interesting to see what happens with the NBA/MLB/NHL/WNBA seasons, etc.

If they aren't cancelled, then a cynic could look at the situation and say "well, cancelling games is an important way to make a social statement, but only until it starts costing people money".

I mean, if a season is cancelled and revenues take a hit then it's hard to imagine that it won't have an impact on a league's salary cap. Players might be a little more inclined to get on with things before it gets to that point.

Money talks and bullshit walks.

If you (pro athletes) are really concerned about the fate of oppressed people in your country then taking a bit of a hit to your pocket book shouldn't be too big of a price to pay?

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Originally Posted by VANRIDERFAN

Agree.


The activists missed a massive opportunity here. Cancelling the playoffs would have hurt the owners in the pocketbook. That would have got their attention to pressure the legislatures.

Missed opportunity here.

Pressure legislatures to do what? I mean exactly what are you suggesting franchise owners do?

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by VANRIDERFAN

Agree.


The activists missed a massive opportunity here. Cancelling the playoffs would have hurt the owners in the pocketbook. That would have got their attention to pressure the legislatures.

Missed opportunity here.

What are the legislatures supposed to do, exactly? Why would owners be needed to pressure the legislatures when the far more numerous, famous and culturally influential athletes are presumably able to make their case directly?

[VANRIDERFAN]

Originally Posted by Andy6

What are the legislatures supposed to do, exactly? Why would owners be needed to pressure the legislatures when the far more numerous, famous and culturally influential athletes are presumably able to make their case directly?

The owners of these teams are multimillionaires and huge donators to political parties. If they players actually shut down the league to the point where the owners start losing big dollars, they (the owners) would/could use their influence on the DNC and GOP to quit playing around on the edges of police/voter/social reform and make real substantial change.

But this would require pro athletes to make substantial sacrifices to make the rich owners hurt. It would also mean no sports for the masses which would be another pressure point.

But in the end, the money talked and the players backed off. Thats what I mean by a lost opportunity.

[Nicko999]

Feels good to have tennis back!!!

Shapovalov off to the 3rd round at the US Open after a solid win (despite a slow start).

Big day tomorrow as 4 Canadians are in action.

[Nicko999]

FAA with a solid a win against Andy Murray (granted this is very weakened version of peak Murray) last night. Off to the 3rd round.

Shapovalov just beat Fritz and is off the the 4th round. GUTSY WIN as Fritz was serving for the win in the 4th set.

Our young guns are coming along nicely even it took longer than I expected.

[Nicko999]

Pospisil and FAA move on to the Round 16 as well.

3 Canadians in the 4th round. Exceptional.

[khabibulin]

Brooke Henderson, 23 from Smith's Falls Ontario, just missed winning her second LPGA major tournament over the weekend. She was in a 3 way playoff and ended up tied for second. Still one of the most accomplished and recognized athletes in the International world of women's golf. She has career earnings of $6.85 million, and sits at number 39 on the all time LPGA money list leaders. Just behind Lori Kane of PEI, and just ahead of Dottie Pepper and Michelle Wie.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by khabibulin

Brooke Henderson, 23 from Smith's Falls Ontario, just missed winning her second LPGA major tournament over the weekend. She was in a 3 way playoff and ended up tied for second. Still one of the most accomplished and recognized athletes in the International world of women's golf. She has career earnings of $6.85 million, and sits at number 39 on the all time LPGA money list leaders. Just behind Lori Kane of PEI, and just ahead of Dottie Pepper and Michelle Wie.

Surprised to see Lori Kane so high on the list. Did a story on her just before she hit the big time. Good Island girl! She had a pretty good run for a while, always the bridesmaid, yada, yada but I didn't think she had made so much money especially compared to the money today. Kind of surprised Lori made more than Michelle Wie. Just looking at the list, Lori has played in about 300 more events than Brooke and about 200 more than Wie. To put it in perspective, Kane had four tour wins and 99 top ten finishes, Henderson nine wins and 50 top tens.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by elly63

Kind of surprised Lori made more than Michelle Wie.

In only LPGA events it's not surprising, but the money Wie makes/made in sponsorships crushes any other figure. Wie only made $6.8M in career LPGA earnings but was making anywhere between $5M-$10M/year in sponsorships from Sony and Nike.

The LPGA leader in career earnings is Sorenstam who made $22M over 300+ events. Wie would have made that in two years off the course alone.

[elly63]

Alphonso Davies vs. Jamal Murray: Who should get the Lou Marsh?
It's too early for this, but they're the clear choices for Canadian athlete of the year
Jesse Campigotto CBC Sports Sep 17, 2020

Is it too early to talk Lou Marsh Award?

Yes. It's September. Year-end awards are for December. But also, no. Because two clear front-runners have emerged for Canadian athlete of the year. And it's going to be tough for anyone to catch them in what's shaping up to be a much quieter final quarter of 2020, thanks to all the postponements and cancellations caused by the pandemic.

When the big names and big brains of Canadian sports media gather (probably virtually this year) to hash out their choice, it's pretty clearly going to come down to two guys: soccer phenom Alphonso Davies and rising basketball star Jamal Murray. Both young players have broken through with attention-grabbing performances in truly global sports, becoming big names outside of Canada's borders. So let's look at the case for each of them:

Alphonso Davies

At only 19 (!) years old, Davies became only the second Canadian (and the first member of the national team) to win a men's UEFA Champions League title. The star left-back from Edmonton started and played every minute of Bayern Munich's 1-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the final of soccer's most prestigious club competition. He also helped Bayern capture the Bundesliga title and was named the German league's rookie of the year.

Davies is now considered one of the best young players in the entire world. And he's probably the most talented Canadian soccer player ever. For a glimpse of his elite speed, agility and playmaking skills, check out this jaw-dropping assist from the Champions League quarter-finals vs. Barcelona, which went viral around the world.

The new Bundesliga season is about to get underway, and the Champions League's group stage kicks off in October. So Davies will be able to burnish his resumé before the end of the year. Unfortunately, he lost an opportunity to shine in World Cup qualifying right before the Lou Marsh vote when the opening round was delayed from October/November to March. Still, the award is probably Davies' to lose.

Jamal Murray

This newsletter has essentially become a Murray fanzine for stretches over the last few weeks, but that feels like the appropriate response to what he's done. After showing occasional flashes of brilliance in his four-year pro career, the 23-year-old Denver Nuggets guard went supernova in the first round of this year's playoffs. He scored 50, 42 and 50 points in consecutive games vs. Utah — a run that's only been surpassed by Michael Jordan and Jerry West in NBA playoff history.

Pretty much everyone had Murray and the Nuggets going down to Kawhi Leonard's Clippers in the next round. But the Canadian came up big again, pouring in 40 points in Game 7 to lead Denver to the upset and a spot in the Western Conference final.

Murray's performances in the first two rounds are enough to put him in the Lou Marsh conversation. But he still has quite a bit of upside. If the Kitchener, Ont., native can author another upset — this time against LeBron James' and Anthony Davis' powerful Lakers — and make it to his first NBA Finals, it could be enough to push him past Davies for the Lou Marsh.