TSN reports NHL deal to be announced today

[Wezil]

Originally posted by DanS
Do Canadians watch the NFL or do they watch the CFL?

or neither

I would bet it would depend on what part of the country you are in. I know people that prefer one over the other (both ways) but no clear majority preference.

[Ben Kenobi]

Do Canadians watch the NFL or do they watch the CFL?

CFL tends to play Friday night, so as not to conflict with either hockey on Saturday, and NFL football on Sunday. Like I said, the winters are long and cold, and most of the time is spent indoors.

[DanS]

Gotcha. What about high school or college football?

[Flubber]

Originally posted by DanS
Do Canadians watch the NFL or do they watch the CFL?

Many watch both. The seasons only overlap for a portion since the CFL is more of a "summer league"-- ie 3 weeks into the regular season now-- plus as someone pointed out, the CFL is careful to not schedule itself against other sports

[Wezil]

Originally posted by DanS
Gotcha. What about high school or college football?

Those are the only football games this Canadian has gone to see. Highschool b/c we got an afternoon off class (we usually went home) and University b/c it was a great drunk.

The big spectator sport for me in highschool was...you guessed it - Hockey.

Again, I suspect the popularity of football at all levels varies across the country as I suspect it does in the US as well.

[Ben Kenobi]

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/tv/nascar.html

The 2004 CFL ratings were 438,000 for CBC games, and 311,000 for TSN matches.

http://www.nflcanada.com/NFLCanadaNews03/1210.html

This season, (2003) NFL broadcasts on TSN are averaging 355,000 viewers

DanS made me curious as to see who has the higher ratings.

[DanS]

Originally posted by Wezil


Those are the only football games this Canadian has gone to see. Highschool b/c we got an afternoon off class (we usually went home) and University b/c it was a great drunk.

The big spectator sport for me in highschool was...you guessed it - Hockey.

Again, I suspect the popularity of football at all levels varies across the country as I suspect it does in the US as well.

Indeed it does. Sometimes different levels are more popular in different areas. For instance, Northeasterners seem to follow the NFL more than college or high school. Mostly, the football teams for big city high schools are very poorly attended.

The real winter spectator sport is basketball at all levels. The NHL and minor league hockey had patiently built a solid fan base in many areas before the strike, on the other hand.

[Garth Vader]

Those are interesting numbers Ben. Although I suspect the number vary throughout the season. I was surprised that the CBC numbers were that much higher than the TSN ones.

For the record, I watch the CFL, used to watch the NFL, saw a few college games, and never watched high school.

As for the actual topic. It's nice to see the players crushed like that. They should have dealt early. But then I stopped paying much attention to hockey after the last strike.

[Wezil]

Your college ball is definitely more popular than college (uni) football here. The national championship is broadcast but few watch.

[DanS]

Yes, college football is huge in many areas -- sometimes much more than the NFL. College football takes up Saturdays on the TV through November.

In my home town, Columbus, I'm sure they make sure to schedule NHL games well away from OSU football games on Saturdays during that period.

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by Wezil
I watched hockey last year. Good hockey.

I have no interest left for NHL. Crap league and increasingly crappy product. It was good to have a year off to see what I wasn't missing.

When I was back in Canada last December I saw a couple of Kooteney Ice games (WHL). Great hockey, good skill, no delays for commercials and even a couple of fights which is all my nine-year-old nephew remember.

When we got home his dad asked "How was the game?"
"Great," Kalum said "There were two fight."
"Oh yeah, what was the score?" his dad said.
"I don't know, but the Ice guys won both fights."

A good Canadian boy.

[Ben Kenobi]

Yeah, I used to go all the time to the WHL games in Prince George. The Cougars have great community support, but not so great a team.

[Wezil]

Originally posted by Tingkai


When I was back in Canada last December I saw a couple of Kooteney Ice games (WHL). Great hockey, good skill, no delays for commercials and even a couple of fights which is all my nine-year-old nephew remember.

When we got home his dad asked "How was the game?"
"Great," Kalum said "There were two fight."
"Oh yeah, what was the score?" his dad said.
"I don't know, but the Ice guys won both fights."

A good Canadian boy.

I will be a hockey fan to the day I die, but I'm done with NHL. Like an earlier poster (Garth) I was really pissed the last time they went on strike. I am not prepared to forgive the overpaid whiners a second time. The quality of play has been dropping for decades and now we are faced with repeated strikes. Who needs it?

[Tingkai]

I've got mixed feelings about the NHL. A couple of months after seeing the WHL games, I went to the Hockey World Cup. The skill level there was infinitely higher. There were dozens of plays and saves that just blew my mind.

But I'm pissed off at the owner. All they care about is how much money they can make. In the meantime, what have they done to make the game better? Nothing so far.

One thing they need to do is get rid of the two-line pass rule. The World Cup games were a hell of a lot better without it.

[DanS]

The quality of play in the NHL probably has been declining because of expansion. 30 rosters.