Canadian football to be in eight of top 10 U.S. television markets
June 1, 2006 - Canadian Football League (CFL) News Release
Toronto, Ontario, Canada; New York, USA, June 1, 2006 - The Canadian Football League will be available in eight of the top 10 U.S. television markets via seven Comcast regional sports networks, plus New England Sports Network (NESN). Overall, more than 70 million U.S. homes will have access to CFL football each week of the 2006 season, which begins Friday, June 16th and concludes on November 19th with the 94th Grey Cup in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The CFL's complete 77 game schedule will be available nationally in both high definition and standard definition broadcasts. Comcast RSNs and systems, plus NESN in Boston, Altitude Sports & Entertainment in Denver, and other high profile regional sports networks (RSNs) will carry a total of 51 games in standard definition. All standard definition games will be carried live on America One Television, which serves standard broadcast stations coast-to-coast. Every Friday night, a game will be televised exclusively in high definition on DISH Network via VOOM's World Sport HD Network. The Scotiabank Semifinals, Scotiabank Championships and the 94th Grey Cup will be available in both formats.
"We are seeing a tremendous rise in interest in the CFL in the U.S. and are pleased to be working with our broadcast partners to increase the League's presence and popularity even further," said CFL Commissioner Tom Wright. "U.S. media coverage of the League and our teams has helped showcase our exciting games and highly skilled athletes. We are looking forward to an excellent 2006 season."
The fast-pace action of the CFL and the hundreds of American athletes playing on CFL teams each season is a natural attraction for U.S. sports fans. Adding to the excitement this season, former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL player Ricky Williams has signed with the CFL's Toronto Argonauts for the 2006 campaign. In addition, football greats such as Doug Flutie, Warren Moon, Rocket Ismail and Jeff Garcia played in the CFL before joining NFL franchises.
The CFL television coverage success has been achieved under the direction of Trajectory Sports & Media Group LLC, which has the marketing responsibility for Canadian football broadcasts in the United States and internationally. The New York-based company has steadily broadened the distribution of CFL games since partnering with the CFL in 2004.
"Our 2006 coverage will provide full season continuity for fans and advertisers, and build on last season's success," said Richard Stone, the President of Trajectory Sports & Media Group. "We received excellent feedback from the regional sports networks that carried CFL action in 2005, and they are eager for the season to begin, because their subscribers know players from their collegiate days or from last season."
The following television operations will carry 2006 CFL football:
Designated Market Area Rank CFL Carriage
New York 1 SportsNet New York
Los Angeles 2 National satellite
Chicago 3 Comcast SportsNet Chicago
Philadelphia 4 Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia
Boston 5 New England Sports Network (NESN)
San Francisco 6 Comcast SportsNet West
Dallas 7 National satellite
Washington, D.C. 8 Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic
Atlanta 9 CSS
Detroit 10 Comcast Local (Michigan)
Comcast Seattle and Comcast Northwest (Portland, Oregon) will also provide coverage.
Altitude Sports & Entertainment in Denver will act as the league's anchor RSN distributed on DISH Network (Channel 410) and DirecTV (Channel 644), in addition to providing coverage throughout the Rocky Mountain region.
Cox Sports Television will again carry games through the season, serving customers in Louisiana, Rhode Island and Connecticut.
Additional regional coverage will be provided by
Catch 47, Tampa Bay;
KC Metro Sports, Kansas City; and
TW Sports 26, Syracuse, New York.
America One Television will distribute all games live to its national network of more than 150 terrestrial stations coast to coast, and act as the operations hub for games.
For the 2006 season, players with U.S. ties will once again record
tune-in promotion messages for regional sports networks and local market
TV stations - underscoring the CFL's links to the grass roots of
America. For additional information and a detailed broadcast schedule,
visit www.cfl.ca
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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
