Rugby World Cup 2011 - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums

hercules130 · 2011-01-15, 08:50 AM

Is there any news yet as to who will carry Rugby World Cup 2011 in Canada? Or whether anybody will broadcast that tournament at all? South of the border NBC and its group will broadcast it, but I do not know to what extent.

NB Josh · 2011-01-15, 10:28 AM

NBC will have the final, Universal Sports should have every other game. Not sure if it will be live (in the middle of the night) or on tape delay the next afternoon.

For Canada, if I had to guess it will be on Setanta Sports. I could see Sportsnet or Sportsnet One airing Canadian games though.

Shootmaster_44 · 2011-02-03, 12:32 AM

Setanta carried the tournament last time around, so I would imagine it would be carried by them again. I can't see any other networks being overly interested due to the time difference.

Sportsnet I believe shuts down at midnight (local time depending which one it is) and shows Sportsnet Connected until about noon. So since the Rugby World Cup games will be overnight, I don't see SNet carrying it.

TSN doesn't shut down overnight and TSN2 does show live Aussie Rules Football overnight, so it is possible TSN would carry it. Highly doubtful since I don't remember seeing rugby on TSN since before Sportsnet existed.

The wildcard in this might be CBC. Since CBC seems to be trying to acquire properties to put on their "amateur" sports channel (if it is ever launched), they have shown some rugby recently. Actually, I think outside of Setanta they are the only channel to have shown rugby in 2010. They showed the Canadian Championship leg of the Americas Rugby Championship. Granted, this was partly because it was held in Newfoundland (where they rarely televise events from) and occurred on Participaction Day. So I'm not holding serious hope that the CBC (or Bold) will carry the Rugby World Cup. But, you never know what they might do, as the CBC occasionally picks up events you don't expect them to.

The only channel that would even be on the radar for this would be Fox Sports World Canada. The only reason I could see them broadcast this is if they were getting worried about not fulfilling the rugby requirement of their broadcast license. Seems to me it does clearly indicate rugby as one of their programming choices. I'm not sure whether the CRTC dictates that if you name something as part of your programming options that you must show it. I would lean toward not, only that if you so chose to you could air it. Since it is largely a rebroadcaster of the US based Fox Soccer Channel, unless FSC shows it, they won't either.

I think best money would be on Setanta though.

As for the US coverage, I don't think NBC will be showing any of the games. Since again it occurs overnight (and NBC didn't even show the Olympics live overnight), it will be on Universal Sports. Though Versus might be part of the NBC family now, so it might be on there. Regardless, unless you have a grey market dish (and I don't know if Universal Sports is even carried on those), you won't find the US coverage in Canada.

Seems to me the only broadcast network I saw rugby on in 2010 was ABC. I think they aired a highlight show of the US Sevens tournament and I want to call it the College Rugby Championship. Though it may have been the US Super League Championship. Regardless, CBS, FOX and NBC all didn't air any rugby.

Sad state of rugby broadcasting as of late in Canada though. I remember when all of Canada's test matches were shown on Sportsnet. The National Rugby League from Australia's playoffs were shown on Spike TV and there were the occasional Super 12 matches on TSN. Even Fox Sports World Canada used to show international rugby. Now, you don't get anything outside of Setanta's huge rugby package and TV5 showing France and French League games.

NB Josh · 2011-02-03, 04:14 PM

NBC will air the final. Their press release explicitly said this. Universal Sports is available OTA from Buffalo and Seattle in Toronto and Vancouver respectively, I believe. NBC also aired the US College Rugby 7s Championship last year and will air the USA 7s next weekend. They are upping their commitment to the sport because of 7s inclusion in the 2016 Olympics. Having said that, I think we will see the final air on tape delay the next afternoon.

As for Canada, FSWC certainly won't have it. They don't have the resources to air such a big event. CBC might be interested, but I would also put my money on a Setanta/Sportsnet combo.

Didn't Spike only air NRL for the playoffs a couple seasons ago? It was a quick, last minute contract as I remember it. I think America One took over US rights to the NRL after that.

Shootmaster_44 · 2011-02-03, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NB Josh

NBC will air the final. Their press release explicitly said this. Universal Sports is available OTA from Buffalo and Seattle in Toronto and Vancouver respectively, I believe. NBC also aired the US College Rugby 7s Championship last year and will air the USA 7s next weekend. They are upping their commitment to the sport because of 7s inclusion in the 2016 Olympics. Having said that, I think we will see the final air on tape delay the next afternoon.

As for Canada, FSWC certainly won't have it. They don't have the resources to air such a big event. CBC might be interested, but I would also put my money on a Setanta/Sportsnet combo.

Didn't Spike only air NRL for the playoffs a couple seasons ago? It was a quick, last minute contract as I remember it. I think America One took over US rights to the NRL after that.

Ok I could've sworn it was ABC's Wide World of Sports umbrella that showed the Sevens. Either way, I think it was brought forth by the US Rugby Union as they had planned a Sevens league in the US to compete with the NRLUS. Of course it died as quick as it was planned.

Yes it was a quickly negotiated contracted that was on the heels on the plans for NRLUS. Of course, that never went any farther than Jacksonville Axemen from the USARL (the RL Superleague in the US) being offered a pro team. However, since then the amount of rugby on non-Setanta has disappeared largely.

As for Universal, I didn't realize it even had the strength to make it OTA to Canada. I wish that the CRTC would allow Universal to be added since they carry a lot of the oddball sports I enjoy.

Obed · 2011-02-12, 05:43 PM

Got to add that I am sooooo enjoying the IRB Rugby Sevens near wall to wall coverage from Vegas this weekend.

Bodes well for the RWC, just so long as they telecast live overnight and plan ahead to put a hold on all that daft paid programming.

Edit: of course free to air Six Nations would have been good too!

2011-01-15, 08:50 AM	#1
hercules130 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: La belle province Posts: 207	Rugby World Cup 2011 Is there any news yet as to who will carry Rugby World Cup 2011 in Canada? Or whether anybody will broadcast that tournament at all? South of the border NBC and its group will broadcast it, but I do not know to what extent.

2011-02-12, 05:43 PM	#6
Obed Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Scarborough Posts: 196	IRB Sevens on Universal Sports / NBC Got to add that I am sooooo enjoying the IRB Rugby Sevens near wall to wall coverage from Vegas this weekend. Bodes well for the RWC, just so long as they telecast live overnight and plan ahead to put a hold on all that daft paid programming. Edit: of course free to air Six Nations would have been good too! Last edited by Obed; 2011-02-12 at 05:53 PM. Reason: Six Nations wishlist

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2011-01-15, 10:28 AM	#2
NB Josh Veteran Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: New Brunswick - Shaw Direct Posts: 3,150	NBC will have the final, Universal Sports should have every other game. Not sure if it will be live (in the middle of the night) or on tape delay the next afternoon. For Canada, if I had to guess it will be on Setanta Sports. I could see Sportsnet or Sportsnet One airing Canadian games though.

2011-02-03, 12:32 AM	#3
Shootmaster_44 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Lloydminster, AB Posts: 234	Setanta carried the tournament last time around, so I would imagine it would be carried by them again. I can't see any other networks being overly interested due to the time difference. Sportsnet I believe shuts down at midnight (local time depending which one it is) and shows Sportsnet Connected until about noon. So since the Rugby World Cup games will be overnight, I don't see SNet carrying it. TSN doesn't shut down overnight and TSN2 does show live Aussie Rules Football overnight, so it is possible TSN would carry it. Highly doubtful since I don't remember seeing rugby on TSN since before Sportsnet existed. The wildcard in this might be CBC. Since CBC seems to be trying to acquire properties to put on their "amateur" sports channel (if it is ever launched), they have shown some rugby recently. Actually, I think outside of Setanta they are the only channel to have shown rugby in 2010. They showed the Canadian Championship leg of the Americas Rugby Championship. Granted, this was partly because it was held in Newfoundland (where they rarely televise events from) and occurred on Participaction Day. So I'm not holding serious hope that the CBC (or Bold) will carry the Rugby World Cup. But, you never know what they might do, as the CBC occasionally picks up events you don't expect them to. The only channel that would even be on the radar for this would be Fox Sports World Canada. The only reason I could see them broadcast this is if they were getting worried about not fulfilling the rugby requirement of their broadcast license. Seems to me it does clearly indicate rugby as one of their programming choices. I'm not sure whether the CRTC dictates that if you name something as part of your programming options that you must show it. I would lean toward not, only that if you so chose to you could air it. Since it is largely a rebroadcaster of the US based Fox Soccer Channel, unless FSC shows it, they won't either. I think best money would be on Setanta though. As for the US coverage, I don't think NBC will be showing any of the games. Since again it occurs overnight (and NBC didn't even show the Olympics live overnight), it will be on Universal Sports. Though Versus might be part of the NBC family now, so it might be on there. Regardless, unless you have a grey market dish (and I don't know if Universal Sports is even carried on those), you won't find the US coverage in Canada. Seems to me the only broadcast network I saw rugby on in 2010 was ABC. I think they aired a highlight show of the US Sevens tournament and I want to call it the College Rugby Championship. Though it may have been the US Super League Championship. Regardless, CBS, FOX and NBC all didn't air any rugby. Sad state of rugby broadcasting as of late in Canada though. I remember when all of Canada's test matches were shown on Sportsnet. The National Rugby League from Australia's playoffs were shown on Spike TV and there were the occasional Super 12 matches on TSN. Even Fox Sports World Canada used to show international rugby. Now, you don't get anything outside of Setanta's huge rugby package and TV5 showing France and French League games.

2011-02-03, 04:14 PM	#4
NB Josh Veteran Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: New Brunswick - Shaw Direct Posts: 3,150	NBC will air the final. Their press release explicitly said this. Universal Sports is available OTA from Buffalo and Seattle in Toronto and Vancouver respectively, I believe. NBC also aired the US College Rugby 7s Championship last year and will air the USA 7s next weekend. They are upping their commitment to the sport because of 7s inclusion in the 2016 Olympics. Having said that, I think we will see the final air on tape delay the next afternoon. As for Canada, FSWC certainly won't have it. They don't have the resources to air such a big event. CBC might be interested, but I would also put my money on a Setanta/Sportsnet combo. Didn't Spike only air NRL for the playoffs a couple seasons ago? It was a quick, last minute contract as I remember it. I think America One took over US rights to the NRL after that.