A New Era: CFL announces landmark media agreements in Canada and globally

[Sir Blue and Gold]

It's a good deal for the league - can't argue with the dollar figure. I think it's great we are going from 50M to 83M for TV revenue. That will be very important for league health. More money for the league is always better.

I'm not thrilled that I will now be paying more and take on a new platform when we already live in subscription hell when today I'm already gouged by cable and can at least turn on TSN and get all CFL games. Or I just won't pay it and won't watch Saturday CFL games.

Aardvark says that most CFL fans have DAZN accounts...is this true though?

Just guessing but probably not. I usually just subscribe for a few months in the fall. I'll be paying a bit more I guess also, but I'm not totally unhappy about an excuse to have it year round... summer+fall means I would just do the annual fee and call it a day.

[pdirks67]

It's a good deal for the league - can't argue with the dollar figure. I think it's great we are going from 50M to 83M for TV revenue. That will be very important for league health. More money for the league is always better.

I'm not thrilled that I will now be paying more and take on a new platform when we already live in subscription hell when today I'm already gouged by cable and can at least turn on TSN and get all CFL games. Or I just won't pay it and won't watch Saturday CFL games.

Aardvark says that most CFL fans have DAZN accounts...is this true though?

I don't know if "most CFL fans have DAZN accounts", but I get DAZN every fall to watch NFL. It's always close to being worth it to get the annual package, and now it will easily be worth it.

This seems to be the way of the world. I like watching Winnipeg Jets games, but don't bother buying Sportsnet because there are only a few Jets games on it during the season, and I don't watch anything else on Sportsnet. I miss a few games, and go to a buddy's place for a few games. I think it will be the same for people watching CFL.

[theaardvark]

It's a good deal for the league - can't argue with the dollar figure. I think it's great we are going from 50M to 83M for TV revenue. That will be very important for league health. More money for the league is always better.

I'm not thrilled that I will now be paying more and take on a new platform when we already live in subscription hell when today I'm already gouged by cable and can at least turn on TSN and get all CFL games. Or I just won't pay it and won't watch Saturday CFL games.

Aardvark says that most CFL fans have DAZN accounts...is this true though?

I did not say that... I said "many" already do.  I don't think even a small percentage of them do.  DAZN is counting on some of them subscribing, though...

[BlueInCgy]

Feel more and more that this will be the last season I watch the CFL.  I only subscribe to TSN for the CFL season because honestly there's nothing else besides AEW that I'd watch on it, and I can see 80% of that on YouTube an hour after the show ends.

So now I'm getting 25% less from my TSN subscription and expected to pay 100% more to get that 25% back.  There's little to no chance I'll be spending 500 bucks on two streaming services per season.  I'll watch the 10 minute highlight package on YouTube and buy myself another guitar with the funds TSN won't be getting.

Hope for the sake of the league this all works out.

[markf]

It will be interesting to see how much the viewership numbers drop for the non tsn games. Also how many will be western conference vs east. I wouldn't be surprised if it was less then half the viewers

2 seasons ago one of the games was not broadcast on TSN+. It was moved to ctv. They could have done both but they didn't. So anyone like me that had TSN+ but no cable, was out of luck. Even though TSN advertising said TSN+ broadcast all games.

Views of that game, (shock) were down by a lot.

They may not think things through all that well.

[TBURGESS]

We need to increase the number of fans, and fans need to pay an extra $35 a month to watch all the games are mutually exclusive.

I don't have DAZN and I won't pay for it, so my CFL watching will go down by 20% including 2 'playoff' games. I suspect the old fans, like me, will probably do the same.

I won't go to the bar to watch. I'd feel like I was babysitting the grandkids. When was the last time you saw 60+ year olds in your local bar? (Hint: they are still most of the CFL fans)

Cost of living is up hugely. It affects all of us, but those of us on fixed incomes decided on what we needed before the prices took such huge increases. When you remember 10-cent cokes and getting 2 cents back for the bottle or 49.9 an imperial gallon for gas, it's hard not to get mad at $8 packages of bologna or $35 a month to watch something that is currently included. Every dollar the cost of living goes up is a dollar we can't spend on extras.

CFL teams will get extra money for the term of this agreement unless there is an out for DAZN. What happens to the CFL if/when the extra money goes away? Do teams fold cuz they can't pay the bills? Do they go to the CFLPA and tell them they aren't paying players as much anymore? Do the owners take the money and fold? (Ding ding)

When I moved to Mexico, I gave up my season tickets, which I'd had since my mid-twenties in 3 different cities. I thought I was going to really miss going to the games, but it turned out that watching them was good enough. When I came back from Mexico, I never got seasons again, and now I go to 1 game a year when the Bombers come to town.

I bet the same thing happens when 20% of the games go to DAZN. At first, I'll think I'm really going to miss them. Then I'll adjust to the new reality, and I'll watch the replays on YouTube. Then I'll stop watching the replays cuz I know the score. Then... I bet the same thing happens for a lot of folks like me.

[BlueInCgy]

Then I'll adjust to the new reality, and I'll watch the replays on YouTube. Then I'll stop watching the replays cuz I know the score. Then... I bet the same thing happens for a lot of folks like me.

This point is key.  As someone who has spent many seasons in countries where the TSN doesn't like VPNs, if you know the score, the likelihood of even investing 15 minutes decreases substantially.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

We need to increase the number of fans, and fans need to pay an extra $35 a month to watch all the games are mutually exclusive.

I don't have DAZN and I won't pay for it, so my CFL watching will go down by 20% including 2 'playoff' games. I suspect the old fans, like me, will probably do the same.

I won't go to the bar to watch. I'd feel like I was babysitting the grandkids. When was the last time you saw 60+ year olds in your local bar? (Hint: they are still most of the CFL fans)

Cost of living is up hugely. It affects all of us, but those of us on fixed incomes decided on what we needed before the prices took such huge increases. When you remember 10-cent cokes and getting 2 cents back for the bottle or 49.9 an imperial gallon for gas, it's hard not to get mad at $8 packages of bologna or $35 a month to watch something that is currently included. Every dollar the cost of living goes up is a dollar we can't spend on extras.

CFL teams will get extra money for the term of this agreement unless there is an out for DAZN. What happens to the CFL if/when the extra money goes away? Do teams fold cuz they can't pay the bills? Do they go to the CFLPA and tell them they aren't paying players as much anymore? Do the owners take the money and fold? (Ding ding)

When I moved to Mexico, I gave up my season tickets, which I'd had since my mid-twenties in 3 different cities. I thought I was going to really miss going to the games, but it turned out that watching them was good enough. When I came back from Mexico, I never got seasons again, and now I go to 1 game a year when the Bombers come to town.

I bet the same thing happens when 20% of the games go to DAZN. At first, I'll think I'm really going to miss them. Then I'll adjust to the new reality, and I'll watch the replays on YouTube. Then I'll stop watching the replays cuz I know the score. Then... I bet the same thing happens for a lot of folks like me.

Sounds like you're not very financially invested to begin with and it also sounds like you're unlikely to be again no matter what the league changes (or doesn't).

I always find it funny. Often it's the people who seemingly have the biggest opinions that are often the least important, financially speaking, as revenue generating customers.

Perfect example here.

[BomberFan73]

I never miss a game - I plan my summer around games even.  If I have to start missing a game because I don't have DAZN, then not sure my fandom even continues. I can't be a parttime fan.
So, this doesn't impact this year at all?

[BomberFan73]

Sounds like you're not very financially invested to begin with and it also sounds like you're unlikely to be again no matter what the league changes (or doesn't).

I always find it funny. Often it's the people who seemingly have the biggest opinions that are often the least important, financially speaking, as revenue generating customers.

Perfect example here.

I might not go to everygames, usually 3 each year.  But I probably give more $$ to the club than most STHers in those games I do go to.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

I might not go to everygames, usually 3 each year.  But I probably give more $$ to the club than most STHers in those games I do go to.

Oh for sure. Totally valid. I just think Tburg is hilarious that he's seemingly so invested on this forum with giant opinions but he attends almost no games a year, won't spend any money on watching it on tv beyond cable, and says he won't really miss it if it's not on after awhile.

Okay then.

[Jesse]

Oh for sure. Totally valid. I just think Tburg is hilarious that he's seemingly so invested on this forum with giant opinions but he attends almost no games a year, won't spend any money on watching it on tv beyond cable, and says he won't really miss it if it's not on after awhile.

Okay then.

But he's also been a fan for much longer than you or I. Invests a lot of time engaging with all of us about the team. Has previously had season tickets. Pays for TSN to watch games and goes to Bomber games when they come to town.

But he doesn't want to invest more so his opinion doesn't count in yours and Stew's view.

Me and my friend's are in our 30's and all have season tickets and young families and should be the target audience, but with each of these moves we're feeling more and more like we're being pushed out.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

But he's also been a fan for much longer than you or I. Invests a lot of time engaging with all of us about the team. Has previously had season tickets. Pays for TSN to watch games and goes to Bomber games when they come to town.

But he doesn't want to invest more so his opinion doesn't count in yours and Stew's view.

Me and my friend's are in our 30's and all have season tickets and young families and should be the target audience, but with each of these moves we're feeling more and more like we're being pushed out.

Didn't say that. But I wouldn't weight very highly business advice from a customer who doesn't really spend money on my product and tells me they probably aren't ever going to again.

It's still a valid viewpoint but I care about it less for certain.

I definitely think about his opinions expressed here differently. You can do what you want, obviously.