CFL, TSN and RDS Reach New Multi-Year Broadcast Agreement

CFL, TSN and RDS Reach New Multi-Year Broadcast Agreement


- Mark Cohon and Phil King praise great game, strong partnership, bright
future -



To tweet this release: http://bit.ly/10n40LB


TORONTO, March 21, 2013 /CNW/ - The Canadian Football League (CFL) and
Bell Media's TSN and RDS are proud to announce a broad new
multi-platform 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.



"This new agreement is a testament to the strength of today's CFL, our
tremendous partnership with TSN and RDS, and their important position
in the marketplace as Canada's sports leaders," said Mark Cohon, the
Commissioner of the CFL. "It's a transformative deal, both for the
growth of our league and its presentation. It's an important component
of our league's bright future, along with great performances on the
field, fan support in the stands, and new stadiums across the country."



"The CFL is one of Canada's leading sports properties and has been one
of the main audience drivers on the TSN and RDS schedules. We are
extremely proud and honoured to have been a key partner in helping to
make the CFL such an important part of the Canadian landscape," said
Phil King, President of CTV Programming and Sports. "TSN and RDS are
committed to delivering the biggest events in sports to our subscribers
and telling the country's most compelling sports stories. The CFL
delivers superbly on both fronts. All of us are looking forward to
adding even more games in 2014 with the Ottawa franchise joining the
league."



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
100(th) Grey Cup game on TSN was the most watched ever on English-language
television, averaging 5.4 million viewers through the historic
telecast.



Last year, TSN, RDS, and Bell Media also embarked on a
critically-acclaimed original documentary series, Engraved on a Nation,
focusing on how the Grey Cup has become such an intrinsic part of
Canadian heritage.



TSN and RDS' current agreement with the CFL expires at the end of the
2013 season.


SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

Twitter

Visit TSN.ca/Twitter to follow all of TSN's CFL experts and Insiders

Hashtags: #TSN, #CFL


Facebook

TSN: www.Facebook.com/TSN

RDS: www.facebook.com/RDS

About the Canadian Football League

The Canadian Football League is our league. It's built on a tradition as
proud, staged on a field as broad, and played at a pace as exciting as
the country we are proud to call home. Our championship game, the Grey
Cup, is the biggest single annual sporting event in Canada. The 101st
edition will be played on November 24, 2013 in Regina, Saskatchewan.


About TSN

TSN is Canada's Sports Leader and #1 specialty network. With a broad
portfolio of multimedia sports assets, TSN delivers world-class content
across industry-leading platforms including TSN2, TSN.ca, TSN Radio and TSN Mobile TV. Official broadcaster of the Grey Cup,
IIHF World Junior Championship and FIFA Women's World Cup Canada 2015,
TSN's slate of live sports coverage includes NHL, CFL, NFL, NBA, MLS,
Season of Champions Curling, UEFA Euro 2016, MLB Sunday Night Baseball,
Barclays Premier League, Golf's Majors, NASCAR Sprint Cup and
Nationwide Series, F1, Grand Slam Tennis, NCAA March Madness, and Skate
Canada events. TSN is a division of Bell Media, which is owned by BCE
Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE), Canada's largest communications company.


About RDS

Le Réseau des sports (RDS) is a French-language sports network offering
a comprehensive, world-class programming line-up. Since its inception
in 1989, RDS has developed an unparalleled programming grid featuring
major events and properties that include the exclusive broadcast rights
to the Montreal Canadiens and other NHL hockey games, the Stanley Cup
playoffs and finals, MLS and Montreal Impact, CFL and NFL football, the
Grey Cup and the Super Bowl, Tour de France, F1 and NASCAR racing, MLB
baseball including the World Series, over 30 PGA Tour golf tournaments
(including 4 Majors), ATP tennis and all Grand Slams, FIFA World Cup
from 2015 to 2022, Euro 2016, Barclays Premier League as well as the
IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship, Skate Canada and Canada Cup of
curling. RDS is a division of Bell Media, which is owned by BCE Inc.
(TSX, NYSE: BCE), Canada's largest communications company. For more
details on RDS, please visit RDS.ca.



SOURCE TSN

TSN

CONTACT: For TSN:
Greg McIsaac, (w) 416.384.5180, (c) 416.458.3591, greg.mcisaac@bellmedia.caFor RDS: 
Katia Aubin, (w) 514.529.2104, (c) 514.208.1235, katia.aubin@bellmedia.caFor CFL:
Jamie Dykstra, (w) 416.865.2664, (c) 647.400.6235, jdykstra@cfl.ca
Olivier Poulin, (w) 514.894.7211, (c) 514.970.7211, opoulin@cfl.ca


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