The TV ratings are in for Week 9 of the CFL season. In week 8. The CFL’s three games on TSN averaged 431,000 viewers. That number was down from week 7’s average (566k). Could the league’s ratings bounce back in Canada?
In week 8, the CFL had its best ratings performance of the season in the United States. The Saskatchewan Roughriders-BC Lions game on ESPN2 averaged 241,000 viewers. SSK-BC was ranked #84th out of 150 Cable shows in the 18-49 demo for the evening. A 0.07 rating in that demographic. Impressive considering the late timeframe that the game aired, 10:30 pm ET.
The week eight showing was CFL’s highest viewership total of the season on ESPN2, dating back to the season’s opening week, where Edmonton and Ottawa registered 174,000 viewers on ESPN2. That game scored a 0.05 in the 18-49 demo. (82nd on Saturday amongst Cable shows)
The numbers for CFL’s American telecasts have been hard to come by. Simply because the majority of the ESPN telecasts air on ESPN+ and ESPN News. Nielsen Media Research no longer monitors ESPN News ratings for the network, as they have in the past.
Barring a schedule change, The only remaining ESPN2 CFL telecasts will occur in the playoffs on November 28th, with the Eastern Semi-Final. Followed by the broadcast of The 108th Grey Cup, which will air on ESPN2 on Sunday, December 12th.
The Canadian Football League was back to four weekly games in week 9. Last Tuesday, CFL newcomer QB Caleb Evans led the Ottawa Redblacks to a 34-24 victory over the Edmonton Elks. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers continued their league dominance on Friday night, besting the BC Lions 30-9. Saturday’s doubleheader saw Montreal beat Hamilton 23-20 in a thrilling overtime game, while Calgary held off a late Saskatchewan rally for a 23-17 victory.
Here are the numbers from this past week’s CFL games on TSN.
WEEK 9 CFL ON TSN TV RATINGS
The Tuesday 9/28 game between the Ottawa Redblacks and Edmonton Elks averaged 310,000 viewers
The Friday 10/1 game between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and BC Lions averaged 592,000 viewers.
Saturday’s 10/2 afternoon game featuring the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Montreal Alouettes averaged 347,000 viewers.
The final game of Week 9 on 10/2 between the Calgary Stampeders and Saskatchewan Roughriders averaged 657,000 viewers.
For Week 9, The CFL averaged 476,000 viewers. Slightly up from last week’s 431k average. With the season headed towards the playoff stretch, interest should go up.
As a comparison point for other sports leagues airing in Canada.
The Toronto Blue Jays averaged 1.4 million viewers this past weekend on SN in Canada. The NFL afternoon games on CTV on Sunday averaged 515,000 viewers on CTV. The highly anticipated Tampa Bay Bucs-New England Patriots, Brady/Belichick game averaged 967,000 viewers on TSN+CTV2. The US telecast of Tom Brady’s return to New England drew approximately 28.5 million viewers on all platforms.
Week 10 Schedule
The unique week 10 CFL schedule features five separate games. It starts with Toronto and Ottawa kicking off the week on Wednesday night. And then closing the week, playing five days later on Monday afternoon. Ottawa will play Montreal and then Toronto will take on Hamilton.
