HUGE TV NUMBERS EXPECTED FOR CFL EAST FINAL
TORONTO – As ticket sales continue to climb, the television audience for this week’s 101st Grey Cup Playoff showdown between the Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger-Cats is also expected to be one of the biggest in the history of their rivalry.
“There’s a lot of excitement surrounding the game, with thousands of tickets being sold on a daily basis, and our partners at TSN preparing to bring one of the great days in Canadian sport – CFL Finals Sunday – to a massive audience,” said Mark Cohon, Commissioner of the Canadian Football League.
This season featured a record audience for a regular season game between the two teams on Thanksgiving Day, when almost one million viewers watched as the Tiger-Cats defeated the Argos 24-18 in Guelph on TSN.
Last weekend, more than 1.4 million viewers watched on TSN and RDS as the Tiger-Cats defeated the Montreal Alouettes 19-16 to advance to this Sunday afternoon’s Eastern Final at Rogers Centre against the Argos, who captured home field with the best regular season record in the division.
Ratings for the CFL on TSN were up 4.3 per cent in 2013, with an average of 703,000 viewers in Canada per regular season game. Ratings on TSN and RDS combined were up 3.6 per cent, with an average of 758,000 viewers per regular season game.
The ratings – the second highest in the history of the league – underscored the CFL’s status as the number one summer sports property in Canada, and second overall only to hockey.
Southern Ontario ratings for Argonaut and Tiger-Cat games this year took a major jump.
Southern Ontario ratings for Argo regular season games were up 26 per cent from last year, and 50 per cent compared to 2011.
The Tiger-Cats’ southern Ontario ratings were up 14 percent from a year ago, and 27 per cent compared to 2011.
Tickets for Sunday’s Eastern Final are available through Ticketmaster, www.argonauts.ca or by calling 416-341-Argo (2746). Kick-off at Rogers Centre is at 1 p.m. ET.
The Western Final, featuring the Saskatchewan Roughriders visiting the Calgary Stampeders, follows at 4:30 p.m. ET. With a win, the Riders would win the right to appear in the Grey Cup on their home soil, while the Stampeders are striving to cap their first place finish in the West with another trip to the Grey Cup.
Both playoff games are televised on TSN. The Eastern Final is also available on RDS2 while the Western Final is on RDS .
The 101st Grey Cup will be broadcast live on TSN and RDS from Regina, Saskatchewan on Sunday, November 24 at 6 pm ET. Organizers announced last July that the game is sold out.
(Courtesy CFL.ca, Canadian Press)
Will the folks at Sportsnet admit the popularity of the CFL in Central Canada? Their argument on their flagship radio show "Primetime Sports" is that the CFL is dead, dead, DEAD in Southern Ontario.
Thank Rob Ford for cracking the media juggernaut and putting the Argos on the front page = gazillions worth of free media coverage
I hope Austin has that look on his face the entire 60 minutes
Nice to see a rating for the CFL in S Ontario climbing. Actually I don't think Toronto is a sports town. They sell out Leafs games but with what, 20,000 tickets? Saskatchewan could sell out Leaf games with that ticket total easily. So the only reason the T.O. types don't like the CFL is they are so much superior to the rest of us unwashed types. After all why would you admit to liking a game that isn't world class like the Leafs and Raptors?There are 35,000 CFL fans who regularly attend CFL games in Toronto. Too bad there is… Read more »
Oskee Wee Wee,
Oskee Waa Waa,
Holy Makinaw,
Eat'em RAW !
Going to be great to see the Ti Cats in the Grey Cup at Regina and walking off the field in victory.
Oskie weepy
Oskie waa waa waa waa
Holy Makinaw
Tiger pussies
Eaten raw
Going to be great watching the kitties walking off the Rogers field with their tails between their legs after getting trounced by Mr. Ricky Ray and the Argos!
15,000 regular fans at Toronto games
There are two problems in Toronto. I've been to alot of games at Rogers Center. One, Toronto fans are fickle. That isn't likely going to change. Two, while Rogers is an extremely comfortable place to see a game, and they've done a fantastic job with the concourse, getting in and out of there is hell whether you drive yourself or take transit. Twice this season its taken nearly two hours to take the GO back to the burbs. The last time, the traffic was so bad the driver took stop and go traffic along Lakeshore back to the 427. New… Read more »
Quit hackin on Rob Ford. The guy is more of a Canadian than any of the people on that list of greatest Canadians. At least he is himself. He should be proud of his individualism and that is what this very country is made of. People want to make him into some choir boy. He doesn't need to be a choir boy. He is serving a city and showing our nation's youth that you don't have to cowtow to the man. The guy is actually more courageous than any of the do gooders who want to lynch him because they… Read more »
The problem with socialists is that they eventually run out of other people's money!