COC Unveils Plans For Amateur Sports Net, CBC To Challenge

The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) yesterday unveiled plans for its proposed Canadian Amateur Sports Network (CASN), a channel it "hopes will also be used to help fund aspiring Olympic athletes and give them a higher profile," but cable and satellite carriers "have already indicated they will fight the mandatory status request," according to Grant Robertson of the Toronto GLOBE & MAIL. CASN wants to charge C$0.60 a month per subscriber, and if approved the channel "could bring in as much as [C$70M] in guaranteed revenue each year based on mandatory carriage across the country." The COC "plans to contribute [C$100M], or roughly 20[%] of revenue, over the next seven years to amateur sport." COC CEO Chris Rudge said, "The cynic may say it's easy money, but it's a business model that's based on very altruistic purposes. We think it's a worthy cause. Hopefully the [Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission] will grasp that" (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 1/31).  Former WADA Chair Dick Pound, who is heading the COC's initiative to start the net, said, "This is a good opportunity to get a ... licence, which is there for broadcasts that are not commercially viable. Yet the amateur sport message is something that's good for all of us" (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 1/31).

COMPETITION: The CBC also has expressed its interest in creating an amateur sports channel, and Rudge admitted that the CBC plan "has thrown a wrench into the works." Rudge said it "certainly presents a conundrum. It's something we hadn't anticipated, but I expect the CBC to support us. From everything I can see, and I don't have the details, their bid is significantly different. It would appear (the CBC bid) is more of a direct competitor with TSN and Sportsnet than with us" (TORONTO STAR, 1/21). Pound said, "The CBC has only applied for an English-language licence and they want to include Toronto Raptors pro basketball games and soccer games (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 1/31).