Has Bell (TSN/CTV) given up on trying to get people to watch CFL?

My personal belief

is Cohon would have had the tenth team by now .. someway
somehow

My guess as to him leaving

had to with Toronto .... ... the Argo situation was dire and there was bad blood surrounding that team .

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Agreed ...and now the news that TSN will carry the XFL games on their new app along with several other sports properties other than the CFL. Its pretty obvious the CFL is not considered a valuable asset.

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hah. but this one looks quite a lot like me. yes i have silver and blue/black hair and nerdy glasses.

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Terrible luck that they advertise for the CFL when you're having a bathroom break or looking for food/drink :wink:

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I'm a big fan of conspiracy theories but I don't believe this one. The NFL has benefited from the CFL existing for years. Joe Kapp in the 60's. Warren Moon in the 80's, Doug Flutie in the late 90's. Nathan Rourke helping out Jacksonville. There are oodles of examples of why the CFL is important to the NFL.

I'm more inclined to believe that this is a Bell issue if there is one.

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Just my opinion, but that same idea (featuring ads of American players) Randy Amrbrosie mentioned as a way to grow the CFL in the US is essentially a waste of time and is not going to make a difference. The only people who would care are close friends and family of the players but since we are in the era of the internet, they probably already know about it.

Anyway, we all know that TSN pays about $50 million a year to the CFL. How much does Bell/CTV/TSN pay to the NFL? More? Less? About the same?

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Interesting can of worms you've opened with this topic.

I love the fact that our little gem of a league has entertained generations of Canadians for decades while surviving on chewing gum and lint. We are an infuriatingly cheap date.

NFL sponsored spring leagues are the exact opposite. They're burning through truckloads of cash in failed attempt after failed attempt to get young sports fans glued to their phones to notice.

Personally I think that the problem's become so impossibly complex due to the sheer volume of enterainment available to EVERYONE at all times that it's driven our tiny brained Corporate Bigwigs nanners.

Consider this very real scenario: Canadian 'Big Money' (Bell, TSN/CTV) here in Canada WANTS to spend lots of money to market the CFL to Canadians... they really do. But first they have to figure out how to change the CFL into something American. Their research has shown that only when the CFL's been safely Americanized will Canadians want to watch their own game.

(Cue the national anthem) This has been a Canadian Moment. :maple_leaf: :beaver: :boom:

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Wow, I'm not even Canadian as most know but in reading this fine post, I AM FEELING the edge of the spectrum of what it means to be Canadian.

I am sitting here in reverent admiration nodding my head at every paragraph.

More posts like this and any more associated wisdom of Mr. Beaver too please!

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Thanks Paulo.

And because you're an American I have the urge to throw money at everything you say. It's something that's been gradually building in all of us Canadians thanks to the skilled marketing of 'Canadian Big Money'.

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Good question. My guess is more. The Superbowl itself is likely worth a good chunk of that. And they don't have to invest in production costs for NFL broadcasts.

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Why would they want the CFL gone? Its really not much for competition and basically acts as a farm league.

Because the CFL can operate in smaller markets than the NFL. Because there are a lot of football players from high school and collage available to play. Mostly - because the Canadian game is fast and fun to watch, lots of open field for big hits, punts and kicks get run back (notice more of this in any other league lately?).

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It used to be. That's one of my biggest problems with the CFL now... the game flow sucks. Lack of practice time makes for more vanilla offenses (and defenses), it seems like every big play or return gets flagged and comes back (hold your cheer--is it going to count?), the tweaks the league has made to "improve offense" have led to nothing but more flags, the challenge system is completely broken, the in-stadium experience is marred by incessant breaks for commercials, and now the coaching cap makes it even worse.

The CFL used to be a fun, entertaining game to watch. These days, the NFL product is more entertaining. At least, that's why I watch it over CFL now.

But to get myself off the tangent, those are my reasons for preferring NFL. I started this thread to discuss why Bell and TSN seem to prefer it.

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I don’t think the NFL looses any sleep about the CFL

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Agree with a lot of this. One of the big things is penalties. They happen every play. Both leagues. Saw as much holding this weekend as you see in the CFL but less flags.

Pretty simply the NFL goes by "did it affect the outcome of the play?"

We see a lot of flags on returns that happen well away from the play where they should pick up the flag for a hold 20-30 yards from the ball, that had no effect on the outcome of the play.

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Its not really a threat as the majority of the season is played prior to the NFL's start anyway.

They just do a good job of capitalizing on football exposure during CFL season...

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Simple.. major marketing/advertising cash they get.

I dont know the exact numbers but imagine they aren't even in the same ball park when it comes to how much money the NFL forks out in marketing and advertising compared to the CFL.

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More. Lots more.Like they won't be able to afford to bid for the national NHL
rights that expire in 2026.
The NFL deal was the equivalent to the Rogers NHL deal.

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I think they should change the name of the CFL to the TSNFL. I don't subscribe to TSN so I can't watch any CFL games, not even the Grey Cup. For some strange reason I can watch NFL and even the SuperBowl free.

The NFL seem to be very transparent on media deals almost boasting to the money they receive .

but I cannot ever find the current Canadian rights deal with Bell media .

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