Riders game vs. Esks draws 347,000 U.S. viewers on ESPN2!

I thought this deserves it own thread:

Saturday's Riders vs Esks game was the #21 most watched program (of 133) on ESPN2 last week, garnering an impressive 347,000 viewers (average). This is nearly three times the largest CFL audience on the NFL Network (Riders vs Stamps in 2010 = 123,000). Add in the 1,000,000 or so who watched on TSN and RDS and this is a tremendous audience for the CFL! :thup:

Thursday's Bombers vs Als game was the #25 (of 156) most watched program on NBCSN last week, drawing 88,000 viewers.

Probably as many as some NHL games get in the US on American television, and half the players here are Canadian, totally unreconizable to most if not all American viewers and Cathal Kelly at The Star. :o :wink: 8)

Yep, the CFL ratings are comparable to the MLS in the U.S., which is very impressive when you consider the MLS has two American teams playing, including Los Angeles, New York and Chicago…while Saskatchewan vs Eskimos probably doesn’t have the same cachet down south. :wink:

You're probably right there Xvys, I don't think MLS games get huge type ratings in the US, or Canada. I'd also like to know what 2 average MLB or NBA games get on Canadian television. I bet some of these games are lower than CFL games, I'd bet my life on it.

Thursday's season opener attracted 88,000 on NBCSN. http://sonofthebronx.blogspot.ca/2013/0 ... ports.html

May not sound like much, but still finished 24th out of 156 programs on NBCSN.

Is there a link for the ESPN2 numbers? Thanks.

here is the link: http://sonofthebronx.blogspot.ca/2013/0 … 24-30.html

Very good numbers indeed! Thanks.

That is absolutely awesome news.

People know whats entertaining. The CFL is always entertaining and fun to watch. I don't even get into hockey anymore much until after the Grey Cup. I can't wait for Ottawa's return.

If most of the viewers are Canadians (there are about a million of us down here) those numbers might stay stable for most of the season, but if a large percentage are Americans I suspect the novelty might wear off by the end of August and some of those viewers will begin to switch to college and NFL ball. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

well as a Riders fan in Wyoming and no espn3, (had to watch Riders game on firstrowsports.eu Friday night), i think it should show the networks here in the States, there is CFL watchers, and need more games on TV. Great numbers, hopefully more telecasts.

Well NBC SN gets into full swing for the month of August ESPN2 promo of the game during other programming has paid off. NBC SN should follow suit.
I noticed the promo's a lot during onr of the many NFL Pro Football shows that ESPN has.
NBC SN has a daily pro football show everyday at 5:00 could be a good time for some promo. Considering they talked an awful lot about Tebow playing in the CFL as a matter a fact kind of way.

Awesome numbers.
I just returned from vacation from the beautiful island of Hawaii and watched the Winnipeg- Als game in HD on ESPN2.
From the crap that is shown regularly sometimes on the main network and then 2 and 3, one has to wonder with such a strong showing why all of the games each week are not shown?

It is a shame that starting in setpember that both ESPN and NBC SN have other things scheduled for Friday Nights.
ESPN is locked into it college football schedule and NBC SN is locked into the MLS home stretch and playoffs. NBC SN and the MLS move their coverage and schedule of games to friday nights to avoid NCAA saturdays.
IF this continues with good TV ratings through the summer this is exactly the kind of thing the CBS SN piggy backs off of.
There current Friday Nights prime programming is rodeo in which I am sure that the Rodeo pro tour pays the standard 150K fee to televise their events on CBS SN.
CBS SN does do a nice job of Juggling its current saturday night scedule of MLL Lacrosse and Arena Football with an MLL afternoon game followed by an Arena or other MLL game while ending with a Pacific or Mountain time MLL or Arena game.
For the ratings that the CFL are getting and the promo that CBS SN does do for its events juggling the Rodeo and the CFL could be something worth CBS SN looking into. Using the TSN Broadcasts means that that CBS SN does not have to send a Broadcast team and a deal beneficial to both parties could be a wise thing to do.
The CFL game would fit nicely between the Thursday NFL game and the Saturday NCAA marathon.

Great news!

This is good news for CFL fans in the US.. It's probably the people around me or in my area of eastern Michigan, but most degrade the CFL as "second rate" because they see players who don't make it the NFL go to the CFL. And it's these same people who think the NFL is the best thing since sliced bread. But there are people stateside, as myself, who like the CFL. So this news just backs it up.

But if you like football, you realize that CFL players are excellent in their own right even if they aren't on an NFL team. Many college teams in the US draw well where few from many of those teams, maybe none, will ever make the NFL. People have the right to label anything they want how they want though, which is fine. I could easily say the CFL is a 2nd rate league in my own definition and yet keep my seasons tickets for the Cats and watch as many games as I can. The two are not mutually exclusive. People don't get that sometimes. It's like going to watch a kids house league game, I have gone and watched my nephews in the past but house league is almost as low as you can get rating wise. But still a reason to go sometimes and watch.

Something to build on. Too bad they couldn't see a barn burner, that would have really started something.

Sadly… the league is much more respected in the US then it is in Canada