TORONTO – With the Grey Cup kicking off Sunday at 6:30 p.m., the Canadian Football League, TSN, and RDS this week announced a long-term extension of their partnership.
The two Bell Media sports properties will continue be the exclusive Canadian broadcast and digital media rightsholders in all languages to all pre-season, regular season, and playoff games, as well as exclusive radio rights in all languages.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed by the league or the broadcaster but the Toronto Sun reported earlier in the fall the two sides were working on a six year extension to 2025 worth about C$50 million per year.
Ed note: A $300 million rights deal over six years, or 486 regular season CFL games, would amount to Bell paying $617,000 per game.
“Our league’s growth strategy, CFL 2.0, is about expansion, innovation, and literally taking on the world. We are thrilled to reach an agreement that allows us to look to the future as we continue to grow with our loyal and committed partners at TSN and RDS by our sides every step of the way,” said CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie, in the press release.
“We are very excited to work with Randy and his entire team on their forward-thinking CFL 2.0 vision, and to continue to shine the national spotlight on this amazing league across TSN platforms for years to come,” added Stewart Johnston, Bell Media’s president, media sales and marketing and president of TSN.
Prior to the Grey Cup, normally one of the most-watched broadcasts on Canadian TV, the 2019 CFL season on TSN and RDS has reached more than 15 million Canadian viewers, or 41% of the country’s population, says the press release.
CFL games have aired on TSN since 1986, and on RDS since 1989 and the two networks became the league’s exclusive broadcasters in 2008.
