As a big OUA/CIS football fan and a student at McMaster, I'm very disappointed to hear of this news. No more OUA football on Sportsnet (previously the Score). That includes the Yates Cup.
[url=http://www.thespec.com/sports-story/4762463-rogers-sportsnet-switches-channels-on-oua-football/]http://www.thespec.com/sports-story/476 ... -football/[/url]
Just another reason to hate Rogers. Although TSN doesn't sound very interested either, despite their five channels.
That is really disappointing news! I also found it interesting that the OUA has posted a bunch of jobs in its senior management level as of late. I'm guessing someone wasn't doing their job & got caught off guard on this one.
Just when both OUA Football, Basketball & Hockey are getting much better & at the point of which I believe were to break-out. This really does suck!
Dont get mad at Rogers . It's the OUA's fault for not being big-time enough. If they had added some US schools and package it with its WWE coverage and a Blue Jays cross promotion ?
Seriously, an opportunity for CH ? who used to cover OUA football.
Really with Rogers picking up the TV contract AND TSN expanding, its the perfect chance for TSN to pick it up. This one isnt on Rogers.
From the article, sounds like the reason TSN isn’t interested is that Sportsnet is still keeping the Vanier Cup and the Mitchell and Uteck bowls. They’ll end up building the brand, only to have the competitor swoop in and air the game that people actually watch.
Used to happen the opposite way around, actually, but at the time, the Score was pretty small-time and OUA ball was as big as they were.
TSN would be a much better place for CIS football. All the cross promotion with the Grey Cup and Vanier Cup and other CFL games would only be a good thing, but the Score had built up a strong relationship with the CIS. Now Rogers has come along and tossed it all out the window, I wish the CIS could tell them to shove it as Rogers is doing to them.
Other than the timing of it with season two weeks away. but , yes, business is business.
OK - Rogers actually has a somewhat legitimate excuse with how they did blow the budget on the NHL and the fact that a lot of their live sports production facilities will be tied up Saturdays with how many NHL games they are covering each Saturday (will be showing up to six games each Saturday). I don't like it - but I can actually understand their reasoning.
TSN on the other hand - 5 channels and likely hundreds of hours of British darts and US based poker shows and undoubtedly dozens and dozens of NCAA football games - and not even one three hour window available for about 8 or 9 Saturdays for Canadian University football? TSN will carry a bunch of ESPN Sunday Night baseball games, and regional NHL games building audiences supposedly for the Rogers owned play-offs in each sport. That is a bogus excuse in my opinion. Rogers stations show some NCAA games even though TSN owns the rights to what was previously called the BCS championship games. Lame excuse TSN.
Or the CBC. We know they have said they are pulling out from bidding on any big $$$ pro sports rights - but shouldn't this be right up their alley and part of their 'Canadian' mandate. SRC - the French division of the public broadcaster - show a Quebec University league game every Saturday afternoon. Why not CBC here?
This really is a G.D. disgrace!
Extremely disappointing, I enjoy watching the OUA Football live and on TV but I guess Sportsnet decided to drop it for Darts or something?
Maybe if petition the Liberal Government strong enough they will put the OUA Games on TV Ontario the Government owned station. Seriously if Rogers has a conglomerate and not willing to promote Canadian programming and TSN will have Five new Channels on of these Big Corp TV stations should?
Or get Bob Young the Caretaker to make Tiger-Cat TV a cable channel and apply to the CRTC for a license like the Leafs did with Leafs TV than we can subscribe to Tiger-Cats TV and watch the OUA Games on that channel, I know Bob would support that, he's great at supporting local football, sports and charities in the area.
Tiger-Cats TV on cable, sign me up?
wow. im extremely disappointed in this. shame on you rogers and bell. between the 2 of them they have at least 10 sports channels. how can they not air one damn OUA game a week.
would be awesome if CHCH could step up to the plate like in the old days. i dont think they'd be too upset about losing the playoffs to sportsnet
i wonder what tim micalef has to say about this. he was the play by play guy and seemed pretty engaged with the CIS scene. DJ bennet as well
im going to send a couple e mails to the various parties involved voicing my displeasure. a couple tweets to rogers and tsn staff as well. would be great if others did the same to voice their discontent
Absoutely nothing, if he still wants a job at rogersportsnetfan590
get a few drinks in him and im sure he’d give his opinion
This just gives me another reason not to watch any rogers stations.
Hopefully TSN, now with five channels, will pick this up for next season and maybe then we can have the Grey Cup and Vanier Cup held in the same weekend in same city more often as 2011 (Van) and 2012 (Tor) were very successful and promoted CIS football.
If you are a student at McMaster then all home games will still be produced and shown on Cable 14.
And the OUA will live stream all games from all major sports on oua.ca,
No doubt low ratings had a lot to do with it.
It dose not make money
TSN I could see picking a few games Putting them on TSN 5
Anything with Mac or Western it don’t make money that the bottom line
This is so stupid. I understand Sportsnet's reasoning but still makes me mad. The NHL TV deal and OUA deal was signed around the same time, they knew what they were getting themselves into then they just tossed the OUA to the side just a couple weeks before the season. Not even the Yates Cup??? Cant find room on SN1 or SN360 for that???
It'd be nice if TSN would pick up the regular season games, it makes to much sense with their relationship with the CFL (and not to mention 5 channels ... with who knows what on them all) but they'd need to pump in a bunch of money quickly, find broadcast teams, crews for the games, a bunch of advertising and what not would have to be put together ... and the season starts in less than 2 weeks. Just not logical but maybe next year. Have to remember the CFL has games every Saturday too, but funnily enough not a single one is at 1pm the rest of this season. Guess they'd rather compete with the 3pm/primetime NCAA games, for whatever reason.
But I have watched OUA ball on Saturday since I can remember ... I will still watch Mac games on Cable 14, andnothing against Cable 14, but it won't be the same. Guess I'll resort to OUA in house productions as well ... which usually are pretty rough but life goes on. I love the fact the OUA has a broadcast for as many of their games as possible, no matter what sport, wish this deal with Sportsnet would have worked out differently for them.
of course it doesn’t make money, but the loss isn’t material and barely cuts into their bottom line. Bell spends more money on their SportsCentre road show than it would to broadcast 8 CIS games.
However the CRTC should make it a mandate that Bell and Rogers have a certain amount of hours dedicated to Canadian University Sport in order to grow the game so one day it is profitable. and in the meantime I’m sure Rogers and Bell can sustain a couple hundred grand in losses broadcasting CIS sport when they’re bidding TENS of BILLIONS of dollars on other sports contracts
thats the TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE (incorporates sustainability)
Simply put, when academics are the real focus of student athletes like it is in the CIS with it's lack of scholarships and harsh grade requirements and not athletics like it is in the NCAA and it's athletic scholarship system that grants schools huge profits and is riddled with cheating/academic/spending scandals, the product suffers and you don't get the fanatical following you do down south. I for one feel that is a good thing.
The fact that CIS university crowds also seldom break 5,000 might also have a small part in it.
Small crowds at the games and low ratings on TV would justify the decision. For TV, CIS sports is a very small niche. it's a disappointment nevertheless. I hope they can turn it around next year.
I for one am glad our university sports are secondary to the real point of a university education. I don't want to see them go to the US system of heavy scholarships for sports. How can you be a "scholar" of football or hockey anyway?
If the result of this is that TV of CIS sports is very limited, it isn't the end of the world. I rarely ever watched games until the playoffs. Every few years I go to a reunion with my pals from university. We go to the homecoming game, but the weekend is more about seeing old friends than football.