May 17 – CONCACAF has secured another cornerstone broadcast partner for its blue riband Gold Cup and Champions League competitions. Canadian sports network TSN has signed a multi-year rights deal for Canada that begins with the upcoming Gold Cup this July.
“With their coast-to-coast reach and an emphasis across platforms on marquee sporting events like the Gold Cup and the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League, TSN is an ideal partner for our Confederation in the important Canadian market,” said CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani.
The Canadian market will be the third highest revenue generating broadcast market for the confederation after the US and Mexico. Football is growing in a country whose best teams compete in the MLS in the US but have also had success in the Champions League. The Montreal Impact were beaten finalists in 2014/15, the only non-Mexican team to make the Champions League final since the 2010/11 season.
“The addition of these CONCACAF competitions allows us to further augment TSN’s expansive slate of live soccer for our viewers, while also delivering the performances by our Canadian teams throughout both the Gold Cup and the Champions League.”
TSN network’s Canada-wide coverage of this year’s Gold Cup kicks off July 7 with Canada vs. French Guiana. Live streaming and on-demand viewing will also be available to TSN subscribers via the TSN GO mobile app and on TSN.ca.
TSN also acquired Canadian rights for the inaugural edition of the Scotiabank CONCACAF League which starts August 2017, and features 16 Central American and Caribbean clubs in a new annual tournament, ending in October.
The TSN deal follows on from the announcement earlier in the month of the first major broadcast deal for the new format competition with FOX Sports Latin America. The five-year deal renews Fox’s existing broadcast deal from 2017/18 to the end of the 2021/2022 season.
No figure was announced for the broadcast rights buy which is exclusive across all platforms for Mexico and South America, as well as exclusive for Pay TV rights and digital platforms for Central America.
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