It’s been a rocky road back – from the flooding of Edmonton’s Rogers Place to the Canadian government’s recent decision to not allow the Toronto Blue Jays to play games at home – but sports are officially back. As teams train and condition after a four-month break, Sportsnet and TSN have announced their broadcast schedules for hockey, baseball and basketball.
Because of the condensed seasons and post-seasons, this means broadcasters will go from struggling to fill the airwaves to juggling more than a half-dozen games per day. Here’s a closer look at what’s airing when:
The Jays step up to the plate on Sportsnet
Sportsnet has the exclusive broadcast rights to the Blue Jays 2020 regular season, which kicks off this Friday, July 24 against the Tampa Bay Rays. Subsequent games against Tampa will air July 25 and 26, and the Jays will play every single day until Aug. 9, save for Aug. 3. In total, Sportsnet will air 60 games, with the exact schedule after Aug. 9 still to be determined.
Six Canadian NHL teams skate back to play
Before the Playoffs and their qualifying rounds begin, Sportsnet will air three of the last exhibition games prior to the tournament. Those will be all-Canadian match-ups: Toronto versus Montreal on July 28 (8 p.m. ET), Calgary versus Edmonton on July 28 (10:30 p.m. ET) and Winnipeg versus Vancouver on July 29 (10:30 p.m. ET). All matches are also available on Sportsnet NOW and Sportsnet’s radio station.
The Stanley Cup qualifiers will provide a packed schedule, with up to six games per day airing across networks. Aug. 1 will see Sportsnet air five games (Rangers versus Hurricanes, Blackhawks versus Oilers, Panthers versus Islanders, Habs versus Penguins and Jets versus Flames) between 12 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. ET.
It will also air five games on Aug. 2, six games on Aug. 3, six on Aug. 4, six on Aug. 5. After Aug. 6, as teams dwindle, there will only be up to six games if they are necessary and if a team has yet to win one of their respective best-of-five tournaments. There will not be a single day break from games all the way through to Aug. 9. The schedule after that is still to be determined.
The Raps return to Canada’s two major sports networks.
Sportsnet will also usher back the NBA starting Aug. 1. It will split broadcasting with TSN – although Sportsnet (and Citytv) will air the televised Aug. 1 game against the Lakers, TSN will air the radio match on TSN 1050. Sportsnet will also air Raptors matches on Aug. 3 (Toronto at Miami, 1 p.m. ET), Aug. 5 (Toronto at Orlando, 7:30 p.m. ET), Aug. 7 (Boston at Toronto, 9 p.m. ET), Aug. 10 (Toronto at Milwaukee, 6 p.m. ET) and Aug. 14 (Denver at Toronto, time TBD). TSN will also air the Aug. 7 Boston game and the Aug. 14 Denver game, along with matches on Aug. 9 (Toronto at Memphis, 1:30 p.m.) and Aug. 12 (Toronto at Philadelphia, 6 p.m.).
For TSN, Tangerine will return as a title sponsor of Raptors basketball.
