Friday, May 29, 2015

TSN Extends CFL Deal From 2018 to 2021, Good Thing?

Somewhat surprising word that TSN and the CFL have extended their broadcasting deal from 2018 through the 2021 season. It has been reported that the previous deal through 2018 was worth around $40 million per year for the CFL.

Exactly why a deal was done now, rather than waiting to closer to 2018 hasn't been reporting on, but it does come suspiciously close to when TSN's parent Bell bought the Toronto Argonauts.

No terms have been announced, although in North America sports properties have been hot. TSN lost hockey to Rogers recently and Rogers has the Blue Jays in the summer so TSN needs the CFL for content. Advertisers crave male audiences and in this era of cord cutting, the CFL gives people a reason to get cable.

I have a couple of questions about the deal. First were the terms of the deal until 2018 revised upwards? And second is there a substantial increase from 2018 beyond $40 million?

Likely TSN wanted certainty (why bother promoting the CFL extensively if you could lose the rights in 2018?). Did they pay for that certainty?

No comments: