June football TV schedule

[pumpster]

TORONTO & NEW YORK (CFL) -- The Canadian Football League announced today that its 2007 season night games will be available across the United States in both high definition and standard definition broadcasts, kicking off with the season opener June 28 and continuing through to the 95th Grey Cup championship in Toronto, Ontario on November 25.

CFL coverage is offered this year in nine of the top 12 U.S. television markets via eight Comcast regional sports networks, plus New England Sports Network (NESN). In addition, national coverage will be available via Altitude Sports and Entertainment, plus other regional sports networks carried on DirectTV and DISH Network. High-definition broadcasts will be offered on Echostar’s DISH Network via VOOM HD Networks’ WORLDSPORT HD.

Overall, more than 70 million U.S. homes will have access to CFL Football each week of the 2007 season.

Comcast RSNs and systems, plus NESN in Boston, Altitude Sports & Entertainment in Denver, Cox Sport Television Louisiana, Bright House Networks Catch 47 Tampa Bay Sports Television, and other regional sports networks will carry games in standard definition. These games will also be carried live on America One Television, which serves standard broadcast stations coast-to-coast.

Every Friday night, a CFL match-up will be televised exclusively in high definition on VOOM HD Networks’ WORLDSPORT HD.. The League’s East and West Semi-Finals, its East and West Championships, and the 95th Grey Cup will be available in both formats.

The following television operations will carry 2007 CFL football:

Designated Market Area Rank CFL Carriage
New York 1 SportsNet New York
Los Angeles 2 DirecTV and DISH Network via Altitude Sports & Entertainment
Chicago 3 Comcast SportsNet Chicago
Philadelphia 4 Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia
Boston 5 New England Sports Network (NESN)
San Francisco 6 Comcast SportsNet West
Dallas 7 DirecTV and DISH Network via Altitude Sports & Entertainment
Washington, D.C. 8 Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic
Atlanta 9 CSS
Houston 10 DirecTV and DISH Network via Altitude Sports & Entertainment
Detroit 11 Comcast Local (Michigan)
Seattle 12 Comcast Seattle

[MB_722]

If the cfl went to 4 downs and kept everything else I would watch.

unbelievable that americans would watch the CFL.

[pumpster]

If the cfl went to 4 downs and kept everything else I would watch.

unbelievable that americans would watch the CFL.

Actually there are guys like Belichick and Flutie who appreciate the rules-that Flutie drop kick was from the CFL and agreed to by Belichick.

I like 4 downs but sometimes 3 downs is more interesting because the game can be more lively-the CFL never had to keep changing the rules over the last 25 years to enliven the game the way the NFL did. They'd have to change other things about the Canadian game to use 4 downs, for example by making the field metric with a first down being 10 meters/11 yards, which might make sense since Canada and the rest of the world is metric.

And the longer end zone would make sense and make the game better in the NFL, except for the fact it takes away more seats and revenue.

[bmacsys]

Pumpster, why do you think the NFL hasn't put teams into markets like Vancouver or Toronto? Seems like both areas could support a team. They always talk about putting a team possibly in Mexico city why not Canada?

[pumpster]

Pumpster, why do you think the NFL hasn't put teams into markets like Vancouver or Toronto? Seems like both areas could support a team. They always talk about putting a team possibly in Mexico city why not Canada?

Toronto would be a natural, they got huge football crowds in the 70s even with a bad team and have a retractable-roof stadium, the one used by the Blue Jays.

The problem is anti-trust laws; the NFL believes in maintaining the CFL so that it can't be sued for being a monopoly. Entrance into any Canadian markets would be the end of the CFL and affect the anti-trust situation. Toronto and Edmonton would be the best candidates; some of the Western teams like Winnepeg, Saskatchewan and Edmonton have strong fan bases & situations something like Green Bay. Only Edmonton has the stadium size and larger crowds. Edmonton's virtually always a good team through the decades and would probably be a good NFL team.

Vancouver's got a good stadium but like some of the other cities doesn't have the strong fan base or management that's as consistent as it should be. Montreal's not a natural sports city except hockey and wouldn't have the numbers. I went to one of their games after they got the  Olympic Stadium in the 70s, where they got ridiculous crowds for Montreal in the 70,000 range with a good team and Marv Levy as coach, but that couldn't last as the hard-core fan base is about half that.