CFL international tv package

[stockmanjr]

Canadian Football League breaks borders with new international broadcast agreement
Strategic agreement with Trajectory Sports & Media Group broadens CFL exposure to key markets in the United States, Europe and Middle East
La Ligue canadienne de football passe la frontière avec une entente internationale de diffusion

Toronto, Ontario, Canada; New York, USA - Canadian Football League games will be broadcast to millions of sports fans around the world during the 2004 season as the result of a strategic agreement reached by the CFL with Trajectory Sports & Media Group.

International coverage of CFL games begins during the season's June 14 opening week, and continues to the Grey Cup Championship Game on November 21 in Ottawa. With this expanded broadcast reach, the number of potential new viewers worldwide will increase to approximately 50 million homes during the season - a five-fold increase over the general Canadian home market.

"I am pleased that sports fans in the United States and around the world will be able to share the excitement of CFL games as a result of our agreement with Trajectory Sports & Media Group," said CFL Commissioner Tom Wright. "As the oldest professional football league in North America, the CFL has been able to combine innovation with tradition. New fans will now be able to discover the fast pace, grit and energy of our three-down game."

In addition to introducing CFL games to new audiences, the broadcasts will fill a void between the end of broadcast coverage for the spring football leagues (NFL Europe and Arena Football) and the start of the fall NFL season - building to the Grey Cup game in November. By capturing Friday and Saturday night positions for the international coverage, Trajectory Sports & Media Group has ensured that CFL games will be seen in primetime broadcast slots that otherwise are devoid of hard-hitting professional sports.

"Professional football is one of the most popular sports in America today, and fans have shown a tremendous appetite for more," said Richard Stone, the President of Trajectory Sports & Media Group. "Bringing CFL games to prime time in the U.S. and abroad meets a market demand for high-quality live sports events, particularly on the weekends."

In the United States, the two major American satellite services - DirecTV and DISH Network - will carry sports channels that feature weekly CFL games as part of their regular lineup. The America One Television Network also will feature the games and make them available to local broadcast television stations across the country.

In the New York/New Jersey area - one of the key U.S. sports markets - CFL games will be broadcast on Madison Square Garden Network and on Fox Sports New York. Cable subscribers in upstate New York will find coverage on Empire Sports Network.

For New England, games can be seen each week on the New England Sports Network.

U.S. coverage of CFL games is important for many reasons. Several hundred U.S. players are members of the league's nine teams, and NFL stars such as Doug Flutie, Warren Moon and Jeff Garcia formerly played in the CFL. In addition, U.S. coverage allows the many Canadian citizens living in America an opportunity to see and hear CFL games during the season.

For European coverage, CFL games will be seen on the North American Sports Network (NASN), which is distributed on Europe's largest direct-to-home provider, the BSkyB platform. NASN currently serves the United Kingdom and plans to expand to Germany and the rest of Europe later this year.

Allied Forces serving in the Persian Gulf region and throughout the Middle East will also be able to see weekly games on Fox Sports.

About the Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League (CFL) operates in nine leading cities across Canada. Connecting the strength and heritage of the past with the momentum of today and the promise of the future, the CFL celebrates Canada's game with fans across the nation. The 92nd Grey Cup will be played in Ottawa, Ontario on November 21, 2004. For more information, visit www.cfl.ca.

About Trajectory Sports & Media Group, LLC
Trajectory Sports & Media Group is an international management and marketing organization that works with clients to expand distribution, strengthen brands and open new markets. Based in New York City, the company has a global support network that allows it to draw on a wide range of resources to achieve its clients' goals. Website: www.trajectorysports.com.
http://www.cfl.ca/CFL/Announcements/2004/06/17/503325.html
found it intresting that fsny/msg would want the cfl??
-howie

[DAGSports]

MSG, FOX Sports Net New York, and NESN all need "time-filler" during the summer and especially if any part of the upcoming NHL season is canceled. NESN can only show so much ESPNEWS while the NY channels only have access to so much FOX Sports Net national programming.

YES previously carried the CFL on sublicense from America One so clearly it does fill time, though it doesn't sell ads.

Of course it does help satisfy American people's need for football throughout the year and in New England, there are probably a decent number of people who would watch, especially in Northern New England.

But I think it is primarily insurance against the prime-time time slots that would be lost if the NHL doesn't begin its season on time.

[kwik1980]

Pretty much the same situation with the Empire Sports Network out of Buffalo which picked up the CFL package as well. If the NHL season is delayed, Empire is pretty much screwed, as the Sabres are the primary focus of the network.

To expand on the FSNY/MSG argument, it looks like the game to be shown in the States is the Friday night game broadcast on TSN in Canada, and both MSG and FSNY are free of local comittments during the summer, as the NY Mets baseball games are on WB-11 those nights. Maybe there is a WNBA game on MSG the odd Friday during the summer, but that's about it. The fact that the league stretches into November with the playoffs and Grey Cup is nice if there is an NHL delay, but this also fills up some hours during the summer that would have gone to FSN programming instead.

[DAGSports]

Pretty much the same situation with the Empire Sports Network out of Buffalo which picked up the CFL package as well. If the NHL season is delayed, Empire is pretty much screwed, as the Sabres are the primary focus of the network.

To expand on the FSNY/MSG argument, it looks like the game to be shown in the States is the Friday night game broadcast on TSN in Canada, and both MSG and FSNY are free of local comittments during the summer, as the NY Mets baseball games are on WB-11 those nights. Maybe there is a WNBA game on MSG the odd Friday during the summer, but that's about it. The fact that the league stretches into November with the playoffs and Grey Cup is nice if there is an NHL delay, but this also fills up some hours during the summer that would have gone to FSN programming instead.
Namely, MSG/FSNY would've had to show multiple airings of boxing and "Best D@mn Sports Show Period," neither of which really does anything for the networks.

It does look like it will be the Friday night games. MSG will probably only show games on Fridays where FSNY carries the NY Mets. WB-11 shows two games a week, on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.

Showing CFL should "cost less" in terms of lost ad revenue than showing EPL Highlights and MLS Wrap on Friday/Sunday nights as they did for the past two years. As we know, soccer is a consistent money loser.... even YES gave up on showing Man U (Setanta Sport has acquired the delay rights to Man U and Chelsea for their channels).