Friday 13 February 2015

CCA has sold their soul

Another great weekend of curling wrapped up on Sportsnet with the Men's Provincial Championships coming to a conclusion. Four of the 9 provincial finals played out on television as Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia all saw multiple weekend games covered on the Grand Slam of Curling broadcaster's network.

Herein lies the problem. Not a single word from the Canadian Curling Association about the coverage of the provincial championships that were on Sportsnet. The silence was deafening and brutally obvious as they did promote provincials that were being shown on streaming.

A total ignore of the televised provincial championships is a slap in the face of curling fans, of the provincials associations who benefit from good ratings to sell sponsorship and the curlers who are competing for the dream of playing in the Scotties or Brier.

According to reports, the Canadian Curling Association is contractually obligated to not talk about curling being shown on other networks. As a national association, they should be a promoter for the game.

Instead they've sold their soul to TSN who now tell them what they can or can't talk about in the sport.

Sports on television is the last safe place for advertisers to confidently put their money down due to everyone PVRing or binge-watching their favourite shows. Sports is something people want to consume live and major deals are taking place in hockey, baseball, football and US college sports. Curling is benefiting with the expansion of the Grand Slams and one has to wonder if Sportsnet will make a competitive bid on the Seasons of Champions property when it comes up in 2018.

Let's hope the CCA is willing to listen as the money on the table will only benefit curling.

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