NBC Sports Network to start showing CFL

[ArgoGabe22]

Good move? I guess it doesn't hurt and its a huge plus that family, friends and alumni can watch games down south.



NBC Sports Network will air nine Canadian Football League games, as well as the playoffs and the 100th Grey Cup in November, starting in late August, the league announced Friday morning.

The first game to be aired on NBC Sports Network will be the Edmonton Eskimos vs. the Toronto Argonauts on August 27. NBC Sports Network reaches 80 million homes.
“We’re proud to share one of the biggest events in the long and storied history of our league with our fans south of the border,” CFL commissioner Mark Cohon said in a statement.
Americans can currently watch CFL games if they subscribe to ESPN3.com. Last season, The NFL Network had the option to show CFL games, including the playoffs and the 99th Grey Cup. The NFL Network also carried 14 CFL games in 2010.

“A U.S. telecast agreement with NBC Sports Network, will help us market our league in the U.S., recruit import players, and spread our brand of football,” Cohon said.

Here is a full schedule of the games being shown on the NBC Sports Network:
Monday, August 27
7:30pm: Edmonton vs. Toronto

Friday, August 31
7:30pm: BC vs. Montreal
Monday, September 3
1:00pm: Toronto vs. Hamilton
4:30pm – Edmonton vs. Calgary
Friday, September 7
9:00pm: Calgary vs. Edmonton
Friday, October 5
9:00pm: Hamilton vs. Edmonton

Friday, October 19
10:00pm – Edmonton vs. BC
Thursday, November 1
7:30pm: Hamilton vs. Toronto
Friday, November 2
9:00pm: Calgary vs. Edmonton
Sunday, November 11
Division Semi-finals

Sunday, November 11
Division Semi-finals
Sunday, November 18
Division Finals
Sunday, November 25
Grey Cup Championship: 6:00pm

[Will]

I assume they'll just simulcast TSN?

[1argoholic]

Great move to get CFL games on US networks.

[ArgoRavi]

I assume they'll just simulcast TSN?

I would guess that. ESPN mostly used to simulcast CBC and CTV back in the 1980s but they would have their own commentators do the playoffs and Grey Cup (Don Chevrier, Paul Maguire and Tom Mees can be seen and heard on the ESPN Classics broadcast of the 1981 Grey Cup). ESPN did use their own commentators during the U.S. expansion era as well as in the couple of seasons after that with the '97 Grey Cup being their final game.

Interestingly, the NHL is on NBC Sports Network which continues a tradition of the CFL and NHL ending up with the same cable carrier in the U.S. (first ESPN, then Sportschannel America and now NBC Sports Network).