Bulls & Bears: 'Tis the armchair season for action-packed television traditions
Credit to Author: Gord Kurenoff| Date: Fri, 20 Dec 2019 23:34:51 +0000
In the spirit of the season, today we offer wall-to-wall Bulls of the Week:
It was a bullish week for Tiger Woods as the playing captain for the United States added another feather to his cap in an entertaining Presidents Cup victory over the world team at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Victoria, Australia.
Was the win Down Under as monumental as his remarkable Master’s victory at Augusta, Ga. nine months ago? Nowhere close. But was it another virtuoso performance, did it add another layer to his growing legacy and did it further prove his tangible value to any form of golf television? Yes, yes and yes.
Meanwhile, we’re about to head into what is arguably the greatest fortnight of sports television each year. The bull market for sport TV programmers and advertisers spans football, basketball, hockey and even soccer. The biggest winners, however, might just be the couch potatoes of sport.
The college football bowl season that began Friday and runs through Jan. 13, 2020 features the oversaturation of 41 Division 1 bowl games and four all-star games. The championship playoff gives some good focus for the top four teams but is the overall calendar of bowl events any less confusing? Probably not.
On the other hand, it’s a case of less is more for the NFL, which is just over two weeks away from a playoff formula that derives its appeal from destination television, geographic rivalries and wild cards.
Twelve of the 32 teams that have been playing four-down football over the course of a 17-week regular season — that is the most compressed in professional team sport — survive to qualify for what is also the most efficient playoff tournament in North American sport with four rounds of play over five weeks.
The NBA gets downright giddy with its quintuple-header on Christmas Day (a tradition now in its 12th year). Sportsnet in Canada and ESPN in the U.S. share the first Canadian team appearance in the Christmas Day special since Vince Carter and the 2001 Toronto Raptors met the New York Knicks in the days of triple-header holiday hoops programming.
The rest of the day includes the Milwaukee Bucks at the Philadelphia 76ers on Sportsnet and ABC, Houston Rockets at the Golden State Warriors on TSN and ABC, Clippers-Lakers in the Battle of L.A. on Sportsnet and ABC/ESPN, and New Orleans Pelicans against the Denver Nuggets on Sportsnet and ESPN. That’s about 12 consecutive hours of basketball television.
Yet with all due respect to the NHL Bridgestone Winter Classic, there’s nothing more ingrained in the holiday season consciousness of most Canadian sports fans than the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship. It’s an event that has grown on the strength of consistent scheduling, the national pride of team competition and the youth movement in the NHL.
The World Juniors get underway in their traditional Boxing Day slot next Thursday, this time with Team Canada playing the USA in the Czech Republic.
The tournament’s growth curve on TSN and RDS — in terms of television content, ratings, advertising dollars and media attention — is fuelled in large part by the best practices of appointment television. That’s why we expect to see Canada playing on New Year’s Eve. And the Canadians will, against the host country.
The Sport Market on TSN Radio rates and debates the bulls and bears of sport business. Join Tom Mayenknecht Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. for a behind-the-scenes look at the sport business stories that matter most to fans.
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