Sportsnet back in the game with Raptors

Rogers Sportsnet, which got out of the basketball business three years ago, is getting back in.

Sources say the channel is about to finalize a three-year deal that will give it 35 Toronto Raptors games per season, as well as other National Basketball Association games. The 35 games will come at the expense of the CBC and The Score, neither of which will carry the Raptors next year.

TSN and TSN2 will share the remaining 47 Raptors games.

All games will be carried nationally, which may mean some of the games will be aired on a yet unlaunched Sportsnet channel.

Comments

[VWater]

I feel bad for The Score, I think that is the last local team/league that was on the channel. From my understanding they lost the rights to their EPL match of the week also (I think TSN2 picked up some premiership games) The Score has a special place in my heart going up against the couple of media juggernauts.

Now the CBC vs Sportsnet trade, I'm not sure if the Raptors are in a better place or not. CBC is a national channel but sports is not their first focus, but the advantage for Raptors on CBC as they would get the CBC sport attention.

On the other hand Sportsnet is a cable channel and yes Cable has very strong reach but not as good as network like CBC. But Sportsnet is sports focus so maybe give basketball more focus to general sports fans who watch that network, but then again a sports can get lost in the shuffle at times there.

You wrote that all games will be carried nationally, I guess that means all sportsnet channels, which is kind of surprising as most Raptors fans are local and the team doesn't really have a national fanbase like the Jays. But I am guessing they will go head to head with a lot of regional hockey games that sportsnet has (here and the out west channels) So you might end up having a single Sportsnet station showing the Raptor game.

[Mike]

I think this is pretty damaging to The Score. Say what you will about the Raptors ratings compared to hockey, they were undoubtedly the channel's biggest sports property. They've already lost EPL and CIS football to TSN2 this year, now this.
Does The Score get to keep any NBA games, like Court Surfing or TNT's Thursday games? If not, what do they have? And how does cable/satellite/CRTC justify it being on analog cable while TSN2 is stuck on digital?

[Dave]

The Raptors ratings are pretty low, this may help get them up, however they have a long way to go. There will be hide hockey and the CFL and even the Jays are beating them

[Josh]

No I don't think The Score gets to keep any NBA games, they come as a package. TSN, TSN2, Sportsnet, Sportsnet+ (or whatever they plan to call it) and Raptors TV will split up rights to games from TNT, ESPN and NBA TV.

TSN2 can't be on analog because it is a digital channel, so that is how they will justify keeping The Score in basic packages.

This leaves The Score with NCAA Football and Basketball, the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, Serie A and WWE. It wouldn't surprise me if this channel went under within a couple years.

[NSGuy]

I think the best route TheScore needs to take is to morph into a channel like ESPNEWS. They can't compete in live sports very well anymore, so sign deals for better highlights of leagues.

TheScore really lost my interest in the past few years with this "youth-centric" image they have made. I'm a Cabbie fan, but he is seen to much, they need a desk and analysts that will give real insight and not this nonsense we see now.

Could be a real opportunity for TheScore to go back to their original licence purpose.

[Brett S]

I have boycotted the Score ever since they decided to show an NFL game's highlights before the Grey Cup's highlights last November. Any Canadian station that would do something that idiotic doesn't deserve to have a CRTC licence. If you look at the programming you would swear it was an American cable channel, what with the only thing they have being NCAA sports and wrestling. I am looking forward to seeing this embarrasment of a network being removed sooner or later.