New York, New York; Toronto, Canada - November 8, 2004 - The Canadian Football League announced today that this year's Grey Cup Championship game will be available to more than 55 million television households in the United States. CFL fans around the world will also have access to Canada's premiere live sporting event, with extensive distribution across Europe and the Middle East, generating the broadest international broadcast exposure in League history. The final four CFL teams will compete this Sunday in the West Division Championship and WestJet East Division Championship with the hopes of advancing to the big game on November 21st in Ottawa, Ontario.
"Canadian football is proving to be very popular around the world because it is fast paced and easy for new viewers to follow," said Richard Stone, the president of Trajectory Sports & Media Group. "The game's three-down rule provides intense action and excitement, which explains why the Grey Cup championship is the single most popular sporting event in Canada." American fans are particularly interested in CFL games, as hundreds of U.S. players are on the nine Canadian teams' rosters each year. Doug Flutie, Warren Moon, Jeff Garcia and other top U.S. football athletes played in the CFL before joining NFL franchises.
Trajectory Sports & Media Group has the marketing responsibility for CFL coverage in the United States and around the world. U.S. coverage of 2004 Canadian football began with the season's kickoff in June, when New England Sports Network and Empire Sports started carrying games each week.
During the summer, additional regional sports networks were added by Trajectory Sports & Media Group in the Northeast (MSG and Fox Sports New York), the Southeast (Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast), the South (Cox Sports Television), the Midwest (Comcast Detroit), the mid-Atlantic (Comcast Sportsnet Philadelphia), the Great Lakes region (Comcast Sportsnet Chicago), the Rockies (Altitude Sports & Entertainment) and Florida (Sunshine Network). Games are delivered to the regional sports networks via America One Television, a national television network serving low-powered stations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Comcast SportsNet West, the premiere regional sports network in central California, added CFL playoff game coverage to its roster earlier this month.
"As the most anticipated event of the CFL season, the Grey Cup game showcases the League and its unique brand of football at its very best," said Brent Scrimshaw, Senior Vice President, Marketing & Partnerships for the CFL. "This year in Ottawa, fans around the world will have the opportunity to take part in a unique, fast-paced Canadian football experience. In addition to watching the best of Canada's East play the best of Canada's West squaring off for the Grey Cup trophy, fans around the world will also be treated to this year's halftime show featuring Universal Music's Canadian label, The Tragically Hip."
With European coverage beginning in June on the North America Sports Network based in Dublin, Ireland (with service carried on the BSkyB directo-to-home satellite platform), additional exposure leading up to and including the Grey Cup game is expected for continental Europe: "We are really pleased to have covered the season and look forward to the Grey Cup championship game," said Amory Schwartz, Chief Executive Officer of the North America Sports Network. "There is a great audience for the CFL in the U.K. because of its fast-paced and easy to follow format. When viewers write the network to say how much they like the games, I know we have a hit with the Canadian Football League."
Middle East television viewers have been able to access CFL games since the start of the season, thanks to distribution by Fox Sports Middle East. As the largest all-sports network serving the region, Fox Sports Middle East is considered one of the most popular channels among English speaking viewers in the region. The network is particularly popular among U.S. and allied forces serving in that part of the world.
"The Grey Cup is always hard-nosed football, and often played under some of the most extreme conditions," said Jack Stanfield, Senior Vice President of Fox Sports International. "Once you've seen the Grey Cup, you don't ever want to miss one."
As the global distributor of North American television programming to the approximately 800,000 U.S. Armed Forces stationed outside the continental United States, American Forces Network (AFN) started carrying weekly CFL programming in August to the 176 countries and U.S. territories and possessions along with U.S. Navy ships at sea that it serves.
"We were pleased to be able to offer our men and women in uniform around the world with broadcast coverage of CFL all season long. Extending that coverage to include the big game - the Grey Cup - is icing on the cake," says Tim Mattox, Chief of Sports for the AFN Broadcast Center on March Air Reserve Base in southern California. "Whether it's early morning on a ship in the south Pacific or midnight in a mess tent in Iraq, you can be sure CFL fans will be watching."
November 11, 2004
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Originally Posted by generalmills
