CTV announced a three-year deal with the NFL yesterday that secures exclusive broadcast rights for the Super Bowl, along with the regular Sunday afternoon game package and every playoff game. The deal covers the 2007, 2008 and 2009 seasons, and kicks off in September. Financial details were not disclosed.
The agreement marks the first time CTV will broadcast the Super Bowl, which will join the Academy Awards as the net’s powerhouse sports and entertainment events.
CTVglobemedia is promising unmatched multi-platform exposure, including cross-promo support on TSN and in the Globe and Mail. TSN already held rights for 42 regular season games. CTV will officially welcome the NFL to its sked on June 4, when the net reveals its fall 2007 line-up to the advertising agencies.
Rogers Sportsnet and Rogers OMNI Television have also signed a three-year agreement with the NFL to broadcast the Sunday games starting with this season’s opener on Sept. 9. Sportsnet already broadcasts the NFL Thanksgiving Day games and the Pro Bowl.
Meanwhile, Global raked in 3.4 million Canadian viewers for the Super Bowl XLI in February. But even though that was the biggest single-day sporting event in Canada for the year, the numbers were down from 3.9 million viewers the previous year. (Click here for MiC‘s coverage).
CTV president of programming and chair of CTV Media Group Susanne Boyce previously stated that ‘Securing a strong appointment brand like the NFL is in keeping with our program strategy of generating continued upward momentum across the entire CTV schedule.’ Nevertheless, today CanWest MediaWorks SVP programming and production Barbara Williams issued a statement regarding the end of the company’s relationship with the NFL.
‘Recently, CanWest worked together with the NFL on continuing and expanding the current broadcast licence agreement,’ said Williams. ‘At the end of the day, however, the business reality presented wasn’t one that we deemed economically sound in the long term for our networks, or our advertising partners.’
