CNW - The Grey Cup has a new home on TSN. In a joint
announcement last week, TSN and RDS, together with the Canadian
Football League (CFL), revealed details of a new five-year
broadcast partnership (plus a one-year option), making TSN and
RDS the home of the Grey Cup, divisional playoffs and all
regular-season games.
The landmark agreement begins in 2008 and delivers an
exclusive all-encompassing suite of broadcast and digital
rights in Canada, in both English and French.
All told, it's the most comprehensive rights package ever
secured by either TSN or RDS for a single sports property.
Under the agreement, TSN and RDS acquire:
Broadcast rights for the CFL's entire 77-game package
annually, comprised of 72 regular-season games, four divisional
playoff matches and the Grey Cup
Digital rights for these games, including broadband, mobile,
video-on-demand and interactive TV
Exclusive rights to host content and sell advertising on the
CFL's websites,
www.CFL.ca
and
www.LCF.ca
.
For the first time ever, the playoffs and Grey Cup will be a
TSN/RDS production with TSN/RDS crew and commentators working
all the games.
In the current expiring contract, TSN was obligated to
sub-license a number of regular-season games, playoffs and the
Grey Cup to conventional television.
TSN and RDS also confirmed they will provide live and
on-demand coverage of CFL games across numerous digital
platforms. Complete details will be announced at a later date.
 
The deal also provides ESPN Classic with greater access to the
CFL archives, allowing for expanded coverage of classic CFL
match-ups, including legendary playoff games and Grey Cups.
"This is a groundbreaking deal of enormous magnitude for
TSN. The CFL has recognized TSN as a fitting home for all its
games, and for the first time in history, the coveted Grey Cup
will be produced and televised on TSN," said Phil King,
president, TSN.
"It is our intention to air every single CFL game on TSN,
TSN HD and TSN Broadband. The CFL is a valued partner of ours
and we look forward to growing the sport and brand to an even
higher level and reaching new audiences with expanded coverage
on multiple platforms."
"This new agreement allows RDS to extend its existing
exclusive French-language coverage of the CFL while
simultaneously providing a brand new component for our viewers
with digital media initiatives. We will be able to deliver CFL
games to Francophones in Canada in more ways than ever before,"
said Gerry Frappier, president, Le Réseau des sports.
Commenting on the scope of the new deal, Rick Brace,
president, CTV Inc. said: "For Canada, this deal represents a
mammoth sea change in how major rights-holders regard specialty
television in English Canada. This is akin to the Super Bowl
moving to ESPN and is a tremendous credit to the teams at TSN,
RDS and our CFL partners."
The announcement underscores TSN's and RDS's commitment to the
CFL and to securing the rights to marquee sports properties.
Millions of fans from coast-to-coast can look forward to five
more years of continued profile and growth of the CFL on TSN
and RDS.
"The Canadian Football League and TSN have forged a very
strong relationship in recent years, mutually reinforcing the
connection our game and players have with our fans and
viewers," said CFL Commissioner Tom Wright.
"We are thrilled to strengthen this partnership and are
excited to be working with TSN and RDS to further build our
brands and our businesses."
TSN's relationship with the Canadian Football League dates
back to 1986. Since then, TSN has worked tirelessly to grow its
CFL telecasts to marquee status through an ambitious broadcast
strategy including the creation of the weekly staple Friday
Night Football, integrated marketing campaigns such as TSN Top
50 CFL Players and award-winning promotions such as Wendy's
Kick for a Million.
Along the way, audience levels soared and today, the CFL on
TSN's Friday Night Football is one of the most popular sports
brands in Canadian television.
RDS's commitment to the CFL dates back to the network's
launch in 1989 when it first started producing and televising
games to the French-language market. For the past 11 years, RDS
has been the exclusive home of Alouettes football, the
divisional playoffs and the Grey Cup.
In 2007, TSN will broadcast a minimum of 50 regular-season CFL games, while RDS will televise all 18 Montreal Alouettes games, the divisional playoffs and the Grey Cup. Next season marks the final year under TSN's and RDS's current deal with the League