The CFL and TSN have signed a new six-year broadcast deal through the '25 season that should be worth about C$50M annually to the league, though that number "could grow significantly as there will be incentives, ratings-based and otherwise, written into the contract," according to Dan Barnes of POSTMEDIA NEWS. The current agreement was scheduled to run through '21, but there was "apparently impetus from both the league and TSN to hammer out a long-term arrangement that functions more as a partnership than a rights deal, so it is believed the final two years were reworked and four more were added." If the deal "represents a new approach to domestic television rights, and includes previously untapped sources of revenue, it would stand as another example" of CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie’s "innovative leadership and stated intention to strengthen the league’s bottom line." TSN had the CFL "locked up for two more years, apparently at a somewhat lower rate, and by all accounts were satisfied with the ratings and what the product was doing for them in terms of driving ad revenue." Barnes: "So why extend a favourable deal? Well, without hearing it from anyone at TSN who was directly involved in the negotiations, how can this not be about the very real threat that global streaming companies pose to more traditional TV networks?" (POSTMEDIA NEWS, 9/7).
