Canadian National Teams & International Soccer

[ArgoRavi]

Rather than editing and lengthening my already long above post, I should add that the biggest complaint by CFL fans obviously is that Bell does not show any CFL games on CTV. They don't even show any of the CFL playoffs or the Grey Cup on CTV. Contrast this with the fact that you can watch many NFL regular season games and the NFL playoffs on CTV. It is interesting that the decision was made to show many Women's World Cup games on CTV, but the CFL, which happens every year and has a huge following in Canada and is a uniquely Canadian game, is never shown on CTV. CFL games draw big ratings like the World Cup Games. Bell apparently feels they can get away with this with their CFL coverage, but didn't feel they could get away with it for a short-term, high ratings international event featuring Canada and other national teams in the World Cup. I guess that's the best we can expect from a huge Canadian corporation and a big Canadian TV channel.

The federal government is similar. It sometimes supports funding stadiums for short-term international events, but is reticent to do so for professional sports teams--even CFL teams which mean more to Canada long-term.

It should also be mentioned that the Rogers-owned media has barely talked about this Women's World Cup of Soccer, as Bell has the rights and is showing the games on CTV and TSN, competitors of Rogers and their Sportsnet channels. I know Bob McCown hates soccer, but it is a big event happening in Canada. I'm not sure he has mentioned the World Cup at all. Maybe someone else has heard him mention it, but I haven't. There is very little true journalism on Rogers-owned sports stations anymore.

Although men's professional teams are more popular than women's teams, it is interesting that in terms of support for the national teams in Canada, the women's team often draws bigger crowds and has a bigger following in some circles than the men's team--at least since the London Olympics. The Globe and Mail noted that the women's team became cult heroes after their controversial loss to the USA and bronze medal win against France at those 2012 London Olympics. The men's team cannot sell out BMO Field for a World Cup Qualifier. The women's team has sold out stadiums of that size and the three biggest crowds for any national team in Canada, men's or women's, were three near sellouts in this current World Cup, 1 at the very large Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton and 2 at the also large BC Place in Vancouver. Obviously the fact that our women's team is ranked 8th in the world and have had more success may have a lot to do with it. The men's team is ranked 109th I believe.

Some women's sports like women's tennis have been popular for a long time. Women's soccer hasn't had a large following for as long, but it is growing and developing at a rapid rate, far surpassing the growth in women's hockey due to a number of factors. It's pretty hard to compete with the growth of a global game that is cheap to play and has higher participation rates--even in Canada. What soccer lacks in Canada, however, is an effective system for developing a larger number of elite level players. This has been discussed a lot in the media recently.

Maybe WTSN - anyone remember that? - would work better today than it did when introduced back in '01. Interesting that Rogers has barely mentioned the Women's World Cup of Soccer. From what I can tell today, only two sports exists in the world of Rogers - hockey and Rogers Blue Jays baseball. Bell/TSN will still devote significant time to events that they don't air but Rogers is a complete joke.

[D-Gap-Willie]

Was just looking at the recent result for the men's National Soccer Team in the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Canada played against Jamaica and lost 1-0. They more than lost. They were embarrassed judging by the margin of shots and corners that Jamaica had. The only place that Canada excelled was by beating the Jamaicans 3-0 in yellow cards. Do these people have no pride when they play for their country, or are they truly that bad. Personally as a Canadian, by choice, I am not only ashamed of this terrible performance but also outraged that we are spending good tax dollars in support of such efforts.