TORONTO-- The Canadian Football League and Bell Media’s TSN and RDS announced a broad new multiplatform broadcast agreement that extends their long-term partnership through to 2018.
As part of the extension, TSN and RDS secure exclusive media rights to all CFL pre-season and regular season games, playoffs, and the Canadian icon that is the Grey Cup, as well as to the CFL Draft and CFL Combine. The CFL regular season broadcast schedule expands to 81 games next year in 2014 when the new Ottawa franchise joins the league. The CFL will also see additional games broadcast in French with more games being broadcast on RDS2.
In addition to broadcast and digital rights, the deal includes exclusive radio rights to the Grey Cup for TSN and TEAM Radio stations.
TSN has been broadcasting CFL games since 1986 and RDS has been a CFL broadcaster since 1989. In 2008, TSN and RDS became the exclusive broadcasters of the CFL and the Grey Cup. Since that time the networks have established new audience records for CFL broadcasts. Last year’s 100th Grey Cup game on TSN was the most watched ever on English-language television, averaging 5.4 million viewers through the telecast.
TSN and RDS’ current agreement with the CFL expires at the end of the 2013 season.
