The Brier ( French : Le Brier ), known since 2023 as the Montana's Brier for sponsorship reasons, is the annual Canadian men's curling championship, sanctioned by Curling Canada . The Brier has been held since 1927, traditionally during the month of March.
98-590: The winner of the Brier goes on to represent Canada at the World Curling Championships of the same year. The Brier is the best supported curling competition in terms of paid attendance, attracting crowds far larger than even those for World Championships held in Canada . Its current main sponsor is Montana's , a Canadian restaurant chain. "Brier" originally referred to a brand of tobacco sold by
196-476: A mobile app . On launch, TSN Go was available exclusively to Bell Satellite TV and Rogers Cable subscribers. It has since been expanded to other providers, such as Shaw . Following the announcement of Bell and Rogers' acquisition of MLSE, concerns were again raised by critics, speculating that Bell Media could attempt to acquire full rights to the NHL after CBC's current contract with the league expires following
294-504: A premium service, bundled in a high-cost package with movie channels such as First Choice and Superchannel , alongside competition with free-to-air sports broadcasts by CBC Television among others. To improve the prominence of the network, TSN sought to obtain the national cable rights to the National Hockey League —rights that, according to the league, were not sold under the current arrangement with CBC. However,
392-482: A 12-year deal to become the sole national television rightsholder of the NHL, beginning in the 2014–15 season . Critics considered Rogers' move to be a major blow against Bell and TSN, showing concerns for how the network could sustain itself without what is considered a key property in Canadian sports broadcasting. However, they also acknowledged the network's continuing rights to IIHF hockey tournaments (including
490-822: A 15% interest in December 2010. The deal closed on April 1, 2011, after the CRTC approved the sale on March 7, 2011 – the new company became known as Bell Media . After a longstanding speculation about TSN's interest in launching its own TSN-branded radio network (similarly to its U.S. counterpart ), TSN entered radio broadcasting with the launch of the first TSN Radio station, a relaunch of AM station CHUM in Toronto on April 13, 2011. Bell Media 's Bell Media Radio division already operated several sports radio stations elsewhere in Canada (most of which were branded as The Team ,
588-555: A cable provider which primarily serves the province of Quebec , was a notable hold-out for the new feeds. On October 13, a Monday Night Football game was left unavailable in English (due to a rained out MLB playoff game, RDS2 was able to carry the game in French) to Videotron subscribers because TSN5—the only feed it carried—was airing a regional Ottawa Senators/ Florida Panthers NHL game (a game which also attracted infamy for having
686-470: A feed to broadcast additional programming that could not be aired on TSN due to scheduling conflicts or other events. On August 29, 2008, the feed evolved into a new 24-hour channel, similar to ESPN2 , known as TSN2 . Upon its launch, TSN2 was legally considered a west coast timeshift feed of TSN, although soon after TSN2 was launched, the CRTC announced a proposal to remove genre exclusivity protections for "mainstream sports" and "national news" channels in
784-414: A format suited to its geography and demographics. Originally, nearly all teams regardless of ability or past performance had to qualify for each Brier, starting at the club level when more than one team from a club seeks to enter the playdowns. Today, member associations typically grant past champions and other strong teams automatic entry to the latter stage(s) of the playdowns. Until 2013, the champions of
882-511: A limited-time free preview. The service, which is comparable but not entirely equivalent to ESPN+ , initially includes Canadian rights to PGA Tour Live (acquired after Warner Bros. Discovery 's GolfTV ceased operations), the NTT IndyCar Series (previously on Sportsnet), the relaunching XFL , as well as various other properties such as La Liga and AEW Rampage which were previously available as bonus streams to subscribers of
980-517: A name introduced by previous owner CHUM Limited in its own failed attempt at establishing a national sports radio network), it was reported that Bell could theoretically relaunch these other stations under the TSN Radio brand in the future. Also in 2011, TSN acquired broadcast rights to the new Winnipeg Jets . TSN would establish another part-time feed, TSN Jets , to broadcast the games. Additionally, co-owned CFRW would also gain radio rights to
1078-510: A number of digital specialty channels in 2001; including a local version of ESPN Classic , the NHL Network — a network devoted to ice hockey and the National Hockey League , and WTSN —a channel dedicated to women's sports On August 15, 2003, TSN became one of the first two specialty television services in Canada (the other being fellow Bell property Discovery Channel ) to be available in high definition . TSN's first live HD broadcast
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#17327982131961176-525: A privately held consortium named NetStar Communications, the investors of which included a number of Canadian firms as well as ESPN Inc. , which held an interest of about 30 percent. The same CRTC regulations prevented ESPN from establishing its own separate Canadian sports network outright, so acquiring a minority stake in TSN became ESPN's alternative plan to get into the Canadian market. The Sports Network launched its website TSN.ca on October 1, 1995. In 1997,
1274-419: A reference to a program airing on "the TSN network" or simply "TSN" without disambiguation, it can normally be assumed that the program will be simulcast on TSN1, 3, 4 and 5. Their launch date was originally announced as September 1, 2014, to coincide with the 30th anniversary of TSN's launch, but was moved up to August 25 in order to accommodate multiple-court coverage throughout the 2014 US Open . Prior to
1372-478: A separate charge to a service provider. For example, until 2013, Rogers Cable customers were required to subscribe to the HD Specialty Pack add-on in order to receive TSN HD (whereas most other HD simulcast channels were provided at no additional charge). On many providers including Rogers, TSN1, 3, 4 and 5 were included in a single package when those feeds launched, but TSN2 was provided only as part of
1470-459: A separate higher-tier package. On May 6, 2014, TSN announced plans to launch three additional multiplex channels, for a total of five 24-hour national channels. The existing "TSN" service was replaced by four regionally-focused channels (referred to as "feeds")—TSN1, 3, 4, and 5—similar to the Sportsnet regional channels. All five channels are available nationally, but on most local providers,
1568-553: A separate licence, as did TSN's other now-defunct sports networks WTSN and the Canadian versions of ESPN Classic and NHL Network . The rights expired before the 2014–15 season, and were acquired by Sportsnet East . TSN re-gained the Canadiens' rights in 2017–18, with the games moving to TSN2. Alongside its live sports broadcasts, TSN also airs a variety of sports highlight, talk, and documentary-styled shows. These include: In connection with ESPN's minority ownership in TSN,
1666-631: A three-way tie with previous record-holders Russ Howard and Kevin Martin . His first victory took place on March 1, 2003, 15 years earlier. World Curling Championships The World Curling Championships are the annual world championships for curling , organized by the World Curling Federation and contested by national championship teams. There are men's, women's and mixed doubles championships, as well as men's and women's versions of junior and senior championships. There
1764-435: Is also a world championship for wheelchair curling . The men's championship started in 1959, while the women's started in 1979. The mixed doubles championship was started in 2008. Since 2005, the men's and women's championships have been held in different venues, with Canada hosting one of the two championships every year: the men's championship in odd years, and the women's championship in even years. Canada has dominated both
1862-566: Is also a joint venture of Bell Media (70%), also owned by BCE Inc. and ESPN Inc. (30%), itself a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company . TSN was established by the Labatt Brewing Company in 1984 as part of the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels. In 2013, TSN was the largest specialty channel in Canada in terms of gross revenue, with a total of CA$ 400.4 million in revenue. TSN broadcasts primarily from studio facilities located at Bell Media Agincourt in
1960-598: Is shown below. On August 15, 2003, TSN launched a high definition simulcast, branded as TSN HD , airing widescreen and high-definition feeds of programming when available. As virtually TSN's entire schedule is now broadcast in HD, the separate branding was dropped from on-air usage in 2013, and the HD feed is now letterboxed for standard definition viewers. All of the other TSN channels below have had HD simulcasts available since their respective launch dates. The French-language Réseau des sports and related channels operate under
2058-592: The 100th Grey Cup , TSN produced its own anthology of documentary films, Engraved on a Nation , focusing on stories related to the Grey Cup and CFL. In 2019, TSN revived the series with a second season, chronicling other major figures in Canadian sports. TSN is a major broadcaster of ice hockey in Canada; it holds rights to Hockey Canada tournaments, which includes the Allan Cup , Centennial Cup , Telus Cup and Esso Cup , as well as IIHF tournaments such as
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#17327982131962156-458: The 2011 Brier , there were no bronze medal games, so the third-place finishes listed in the table are for the teams that finished third in the tournament. Following the introduction of bronze medal games, which were played between the loser of the 3 versus 4 page playoff game and the loser of the semifinal game, the third-place finishes listed are for the teams that won the bronze medal games in each Brier. The bronze medal games were discontinued with
2254-442: The 2018 Brier . Only one skip, Brad Gushue , has won the Brier six times (2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023, and 2024). Four people have won the Brier four times as skip: A perfect game in curling is one in which a player scores 100% on all their shots in a game. Statistics on shots have been kept since 1980 (except for 1982). As of the 2024 Brier On March 5, 2018 Brad Gushue skipped the 114th win of his Brier career, breaking
2352-555: The 2019 NBA Finals with Sportsnet, which featured the Toronto Raptors winning their first-ever NBA championship. TSN aired the series-clinching Game 6, which saw an average of 7.7 million viewers as the most-watched NBA telecast in Canadian history. TSN acquired Canadian rights to Major League Soccer in 2011, airing 24 matches during the 2011 season that involved the league's Canadian clubs, Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC . Its slate expanded to 30 games in 2012 with
2450-689: The Action Canada Sports Network , the channel was launched by the Labatt Brewing Company on September 1 of the same year as The Sports Network, or TSN. The network was founded under the leadership of Gordon Craig , a former employee of CBC Sports ; alongside coverage of the then co-owned Toronto Blue Jays , TSN also reached a deal with ESPN (itself only 5 years old) shortly before launch to provide additional programs. Although reaching around 400,000 subscribers, TSN's early years were hindered by its initial status as
2548-652: The MCA Bonspiel to travel to Eastern Canada. In 1925, the Manitoba team played a number of exhibition games against local teams, while the 1926 team played in the Quebec Bonspiel. The visits were deemed popular enough for Macdonald Tobacco to move forward with sponsorship of a full national championship in 1927. The first Brier was held at the Granite Club in Toronto in 1927. Eight teams from across
2646-690: The Men's and Women's World Championships , the IIHF World Junior Championships (a tournament whose profile was notably raised by TSN), and the IIHF World U18 Championship . In 2020, TSN renewed its contract with Hockey Canada through the 2033–34 season. On July 21, 2021, the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) announced that Bell Media would hold its national media rights package beginning in
2744-456: The NCAA basketball tournament ) with multiple games occurring simultaneously. Although the expansion was discussed by TSN staff as early as 2012, critics considered the loss of NHL rights to Rogers (which had recently launched its seventh Sportsnet-branded television service with its acquisition of The Score, now Sportsnet 360 ) to be a catalyst for the move, as TSN attempts to defend its position as
2842-541: The Scarborough neighbourhood of Toronto , Ontario . Stewart Johnston currently serves as president of TSN, a position he has held since 2010. TSN's networks focus on sports-related programming, including live and recorded event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming. Licensed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on April 2, 1984, as
2940-412: The Toronto district of Scarborough . This oddity would become an inside joke between personalities on both networks, who commonly referred to jumping between the two networks as "crossing the parking lot." Following the sale, TSN began to closer align its on-air imaging with that of ESPN; the most prominent effect of these changes came with the introduction of a new logo similar to that of ESPN, and
3038-681: The Vanier Cup championship. The Hardy Cup coverage reverted to Shaw TV in 2014 while the Uteck, Mitchell and Vanier contests moved to Sportsnet, who acquired exclusive rights to CIS tournaments in May 2013. TSN splits rights to the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Toronto Raptors with Sportsnet , by virtue of the league's Canadian media rights being managed by Raptors owner MLSE. TSN alternated broadcasting
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3136-528: The 2008 season, TSN has been the CFL's exclusive broadcaster, airing all of the league's games, including the season-ending Grey Cup . In November 2019, TSN and the CFL signed a six-year media rights extension, which was reported to expire in 2025. The channel also previously held rights to the country's university football playoff tournaments, including the Hardy Trophy , Uteck Bowl , Mitchell Bowl and
3234-751: The 2013–14 season – using their ownership of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the NHL's highest valued franchise, as an impetus for such a coup. Concerns were also raised that such an arrangement could prevent wireless service providers other than Bell and Rogers from accessing its content; the CRTC had ruled in favour of Telus in a decision requiring Bell and other media companies to allow other competing wireless providers access to its content, and not exclusively tie it to their own service (as they had attempted to do with TSN Mobile TV). However, in November 2013, Rogers Communications announced that it had reached
3332-634: The 2021–22 season, with TSN holding rights to 30 regular-season games across the CHL's leagues per-season, as well as coverage of national events such as the Memorial Cup . From 1987 to 1998, and again from 2002 to 2014, TSN held national cable rights to broadcast the NHL in Canada. Under its most recent contract, TSN aired regular season games on weeknights and Sundays, including exclusivity on Wednesday nights, as well as various Stanley Cup playoffs games, as
3430-754: The Americas zone, eight from the European zone (via the European Curling Championships ) and three from the Asia-Pacific zone (via the Pacific-Asia Curling Championships ). For 2019, the number of teams from the Asia-Pacific zone will be reduced by one, and there will also be one less team from the zone of the bottom-placed team at the 2018 championships. The two slots will be allocated to teams from
3528-533: The Brier competition. In 1977, games were shortened to 10 ends, which is the current length for matches. Games had to be played in their entirety until the 1974 Brier, when the rules were changed to the present standard of allowing a team to concede defeat before the end of the match if they wished. The Brier would continue to be played at the Granite Club in Toronto through to the 1940 competition. After then,
3626-529: The Brier did not automatically qualify for the following year's Brier, and had to qualify again. However, beginning in 2014, following the precedent set by its women's counterpart, the Scotties Tournament of Hearts , champions now earn a bye representing Canada during the following year's Brier. For the three tournaments from 2015 to 2017, fifteen teams (ten provinces, three territories, Northern Ontario, and Team Canada) competed for twelve places in
3724-529: The Brier proper. The four lowest-ranked regions played a pre-qualifying tournament to open the Brier, with the winner advancing to the full round-robin . In this format's first year Nunavut declined to send a team, and the round was between the winners of Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and the Yukon. Beginning with the 2018 Brier, the event expanded to a sixteen team field, with the ten provinces, three territories, Northern Ontario, and Team Canada being joined by
3822-414: The Brier through their respective provincial championships, which are held every year and are open to any Canadian men's curling team consisting of Canadian citizens. The formats for these championships vary from province to province, but most entail a series of club, municipal, district and/or regional playdowns prior to the provincial championship. Playdown formats vary, with each member association choosing
3920-532: The Brier, and the ability to display their sponsors on their jerseys. The Canadian Curling Association ignored their demands, and when the Grand Slam curling series was instituted in 2001, many of the top teams in the country boycotted the Brier in favour of playing in the Slams. Curlers' demands were eventually met and the boycott ended in 2003. The dominant Brier team of the era, the " Ferbey four " did not boycott
4018-468: The Brier, and won four of five Briers during the era, while other top teams such as Kevin Martin 's boycotted the event. For the first fifty years, the Brier was sponsored by Macdonald Tobacco (later RJR Tobacco Company and now part of JTI-Macdonald Corporation). The name "Brier", in fact, came from a brand of tobacco being manufactured by Macdonald at the time (a brier being a small shrub whose roots are commonly used to make tobacco pipes). Macdonald
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4116-427: The CRTC began permitting TSN to offer an "alternate feed", which could be used to provide a regional opt-out of the main TSN service for programming that must be blacked out in the rest of the country. Alternate programming could make up a maximum of 10% of the TSN schedule—an average of 2.4 hours a day. In 2000, after ESPN blocked two attempts by the Canadian partners to sell NetStar to Canwest , CTV Inc. acquired
4214-462: The Canadian partners' shares. CTV Inc. was acquired by Bell Canada and The Woodbridge Company (publisher of The Globe and Mail newspaper) as part of the joint venture Bell Globemedia in 2001. As a result of its purchase of TSN, CTV would be forced to sell its regional sports network CTV Sportsnet , eventually selling it to minority shareholder Rogers Media . Following the acquisition, TSN would move its operations to CTV's Agincourt complex in
4312-566: The European Mixed and Canadian Mixed curling championships as the highest level of mixed curling in the world. In 2019, the World Qualification Event was introduced, to qualify the final two teams in the men's and women's championships. A mixed doubles qualification event will also be added in the 2019–20 curling season , qualifying the final four teams of the twenty-team mixed doubles championship. In 2020,
4410-556: The Labatt sponsorship ended, the original Brier trophy was brought back and the names of the winners during the Labatt era were engraved on it. Beginning in the 1990s, curling became more profitable, and the event would mostly be held in larger curling friendly markets (such as Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg and Saskatoon). At the same time, the World Curling Tour made the sport more lucrative, and curlers demanded cash prizes at
4508-545: The Macneill rink because the rest of his normal team could not make the trip. By 1928, games were shortened to 12 ends in length and the single Western Canada team was replaced by individual teams from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, increasing the total number of teams to 10 – seven provinces, two cities and the region of Northern Ontario. In the 1932 Brier, the cities of Montreal and Toronto were dropped from competition, but Northern Ontario kept its entry, and still remains
4606-612: The Scotch Whisky Association, a client of Houston's agency Public Relations Services Limited, which was looking to generate increased North American exposure for its products. The first three Cups were contested between men's teams from Scotland and Canada. The United States joined the Scotch Cup in 1961, and Sweden also joined the next year. Canada won the first six world titles, of which the legendary rink skipped by Ernie Richardson earned four. The United States
4704-573: The World Curling Federation and the Canadian Curling Association that Canada would host one of the tournaments annually each year, all of which are title sponsored by Ford of Canada. Canada began a streak of top two finishes in the men's tournament, and China won their first world title in the women's tournament in 2009. In 2008, a world championship for mixed doubles curling was created. Switzerland won
4802-538: The channel location previously occupied by TSN's primary service was filled by the appropriate regional feed. While major sports telecasts are simulcast across TSN1, 3, 4, and 5 to ensure national coverage, alternative studio shows and live events can also be split across the channels. The feeds carry a small amount of programming tailored towards their respective regions, including simulcasts of lunch-hour shows from TSN Radio stations in their relevant region, and regional NHL coverage. When TV listings and promotions make
4900-444: The competing Sportsnet chain of sports channels) with a 37.5% share each ( Larry Tanenbaum increased his ownership to a quarter of the company as well), in a deal expected to be valued at around $ 1.32 billion in total. The deal was completed in summer 2012, following the approval of Canada's Competition Bureau , the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (with regards to MLSE's television channels), as well as
4998-541: The competing field was expanded to ten teams, and Italy and Denmark were introduced to the world stage. Sweden, Switzerland, and Norway won their first titles in the following years, and Canada continued to win medals of all colours. In 1979, the first edition of the women's World Curling Championships was held. The championships were held separately from the men's championships for the first ten years. During this time, Switzerland, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany won world titles. Bronze medals were not awarded until 1985 for
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#17327982131965096-406: The country (even more so than in other participating countries), to the point that it is, alongside U.S. college football bowl games , regarded as a traditional sporting event of the holiday season in Canada. Due to CRTC regulations on the foreign ownership of broadcasters, Labatt was forced to sell TSN and RDS upon its acquisition by Interbrew in 1995. Labatt's broadcasting assets were sold to
5194-471: The country participated, representing Western Canada, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Northern Ontario , Toronto and Montreal. Games lasted 14 ends, and each team played each other in a 7-game round robin with no playoffs unless there was a tie for first. The first Brier champion was Nova Scotia, a rink skipped by Murray Macneill , with teammates Al MacInnes, Cliff Torey and Jim Donahue – who were normally skips in their own right, but were added to
5292-526: The deal, Woodbridge Company Limited, Torstar , and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan would together receive $ 1.3 billion in either cash or equity in BCE, while BCE would also assume $ 1.7 billion in debt (BCE's existing equity interest is $ 200 million, for a total transaction value of $ 3.2 billion). Woodbridge has since simultaneously regained majority control of The Globe and Mail , with Bell retaining
5390-810: The debut of the Montreal Impact in the league. TSN's channels broadcast a package of other regular-season games, the MLS All-Star Game , MLS Cup Playoffs and the MLS Cup . In January 2014, TSN announced that it would take over broadcast rights to Whitecaps games beginning in the 2014 Major League Soccer season , under a separate deal. These rights were renewed in 2017 as TSN reached a 5-year extension to its Major League Soccer broadcasting rights. However, these exclusive rights were not renewed further (TSN Would air non-exclusive rights to select game's beginning in 2023), as all MLS programming moved to
5488-408: The event would travel around the country, and would be played in all 10 provinces. Also at this point, rocks were coloured differently for each team and were matched to be of equal size. Play was discontinued between 1943 and 1945 due to World War II . After World War II, the event became more of a popular sporting spectacle across the country thanks to Macdonald Tobacco enlisting media outlets to cover
5586-570: The event's first sponsor, the Macdonald Tobacco Company . In 1924, George J. Cameron, the president of the W. L. Mackenzie and Company subsidiary of the Macdonald Tobacco Company , pitched the idea of a national curling championship to Macdonald Tobacco and was accepted. At the time Canadian curling was divided between the use of granite and iron curling stones , with the latter being used in Quebec and Eastern Ontario and
5684-566: The event. In 1946, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) began covering the event live across the country on the radio. By the 1960s, the CBC began showing curling on television, at first giving daily half-hour reports. In 1962, the CBC showed the tie-breaking playoff match up. In 1973, CBC began regularly showing live coverage of the final draw of the event. Today, TSN covers the entire tournament. CBC had covered
5782-476: The first nation from Asia to compete in the worlds, made their debut in 1990 at the women's championship, and later in 2000 at the men's championship. South Korea and China followed suit in the 2000s. Scotland won their first women's title in 2002, and the United States won their first women's title the next year. In 2005, the men's and women's championships were separated, and an agreement was made between
5880-562: The first world mixed doubles title, and proceeded to win four of the first five titles. Russia and Hungary won their first world curling titles in the mixed doubles championship, and New Zealand, France, Austria, and the Czech Republic won their first world curling medals. In 2015, a world championship for mixed curling was created, replacing the European Mixed Curling Championship and supplanting
5978-481: The format was changed to a double round robin preliminary round with a three-team knockout round at the conclusion of the round robin. The knockout round was removed for the next two championships. With the addition of more teams, a single round robin preliminary round with a four-team knockout round was implemented in 1971 . The championships occurring from 1968 to 1970 included three-team knockout rounds instead of four-team knockout rounds. The knockout round format
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#17327982131966076-421: The former being used everywhere else. The granite camp held the advantage, as Macdonald Tobacco's T. Howard Stewart, brother of company president Walter Stewart, supported the use of granites, and was able to influence the decision to use granite stones for the new national championship. Macdonald Tobacco further developed the concept, in 1925 and 1926, by sponsoring the winners of the "Macdonald Brier Trophy" at
6174-403: The heart as their identifying symbol as well. The Brier is currently contested by 18 teams. Most provinces and territories are represented by one team, with the exception of Ontario, which sends two teams (named Ontario and Northern Ontario ). Through 2014 the territories sent one team, but starting in 2015 all three territories were permitted to compete individually. Teams qualify for
6272-538: The highest-ranked non-qualified team on the Canadian Team Ranking System standings . The teams are separated into two pools of eight, each playing a round-robin, with the top four teams in each pool advancing to a second pool to determine the final four teams. The pools were tentatively slated to be determined by the CTRS standings as of December 31, 2017. As of the 2024 Brier Final Prior to
6370-487: The largest specialty television service in Canada in terms of total revenue. The launch date of these new channels were pushed up to August 25, 2014, in order to allow multi-court coverage of the 2014 US Open tennis tournament , which began the same day. TSN also announced that it would use these new channels to house regional NHL games beginning in the 2014–15 season, featuring the Jets, Maple Leafs, and Ottawa Senators . At
6468-515: The launch of the additional feeds, Bell executives stated that the expanded five-channel service would be offered for the same rate as was charged at the time for TSN and TSN2 together. Notwithstanding this claim, some providers, including Shaw Cable , have elected to charge extra for some of the new feeds. Most major Canadian television providers carried the new channels upon their launch, including Bell, Cogeco , Eastlink , MTS , SaskTel , Shaw , Source Cable , Rogers , and Telus . Videotron,
6566-429: The league's secondary rightsholder after CBC Sports. Its most recent contract expired at the end of the 2013–14 NHL season (following the 2014 NHL Draft ); Rogers Communications (owners of Sportsnet ) secured a 12-year contract for sole national rights beginning with the following season . TSN's then-parent company CTVglobemedia attempted to strike a similar exclusive deal in 2006 ($ 1.4 billion over ten years), but
6664-569: The leagues for each of MLSE's main sports franchises. The deal was expected to have a major impact on future broadcast rights for MLSE's teams, including the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors , as their ownership of the teams will offer enhanced coverage for the team through new platforms such as mobile television . In March 2014, TSN launched its TV Everywhere service TSN Go, allowing subscribers to TSN on participating service providers to stream TSN networks online or through
6762-499: The loss of national NHL rights, TSN's goal was to remain "THE source for all things hockey" through its analysis programs and regional coverage, and that this was not the first time that TSN had lost its cable rights to the NHL (having lost them to CTV Sportsnet for a period upon its launch in 1998). On May 6, 2014, TSN announced that it would launch three new channels— TSN3 , TSN4 , and TSN5 , in September 2014 to coincide with
6860-412: The lowest attendance of any Panthers game in team history). On October 16, 2014, Videotron president Manon Brouillette responded to complaints by subscribers surrounding the incident, and confirmed that it had reached a deal in September to carry the new feeds; the addition of TSN1 to the lineup was accelerated to October 20, 2014, to ensure the availability of that week's Monday Night Football game, with
6958-402: The men's and women's championships since their inception, although Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany ( West Germany ), Scotland, the United States, Norway and China have all won at least one championship. The World Curling Championships began in 1959 as the Scotch Cup. The Scotch Cup was created by Toronto public relations executive and former sports journalist Stanley D. Houston on behalf of
7056-462: The men's, women's and mixed doubles championships were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The World Curling Championships have been known by a number of different names over the years. Men Women The first two world championships, held as competitions between Scotland and Canada, were held as five-game series between the two nations. Upon the addition of the United States in 1961 ,
7154-596: The near future. As a byproduct of the decision, TSN would be allowed to use streamlined conditions of licence (legally referred to as a Category C license as of September 2011), which state that the service may offer " multiple feeds " consistent with their licensed programming format, without any restrictions on alternate programming. TSN was officially permitted to use these streamlined conditions of licence on February 1, 2010. On September 10, 2010, Bell Canada announced plans to re-acquire 100% of CTVglobemedia's broadcasting arm, including its majority control of TSN. Under
7252-578: The network has a long-term agreement with ESPN International for the Canadian rights to ESPN original and studio programs, including Pardon the Interruption , Around the Horn , Sunday NFL Countdown , NFL Live , Baseball Tonight , ESPN FC , and ESPN Films documentaries including the 30 for 30 series, among others, though it does not always air these programs simultaneously with their U.S. broadcasts. In 2012, as part of promotion for
7350-456: The network's 30th anniversary. TSN president Stewart Johnston described the expansion as an "important evolution" for the network, as it would allow TSN to make more efficient use of its portfolio of sports properties: the network promoted that these new channels would allow TSN to broadcast a larger amount of ESPN content and live events, particularly including expanded coverage of major events (such as Grand Slam tennis , curling tournaments, and
7448-469: The network's staff sought wider distribution for the channel as part of basic cable service; the CRTC approved the network's request for permission to allow TSN to be carried as part of a basic cable lineup. Mike Day, producer of TSN's daily sports news program SportsDesk lamented about the shift to basic cable and the larger audience it would bring, commenting that "one night you're doing a news show that potentially has an audience of one million people, and
7546-412: The new MLS Season Pass streaming service in 2023. On October 27, 2011, Bell Media and TSN announced that they had secured broadcast rights for FIFA soccer tournaments from 2015 to 2022. The rights include the 2018 FIFA World Cup , 2022 FIFA World Cup , the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup hosted by Canada and the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup . In 2021, TSN acquired the rights to La Liga , as part of
7644-440: The new World Qualification Event . The qualification event will have eight teams: the host country, one team from the Americas, two from Pacific-Asia, and four from Europe. As of 2024 World Mixed Championship The Sports Network The Sports Network ( TSN ) is a Canadian English language discretionary sports specialty channel owned by The Sports Network Inc., a subsidiary of CTV Specialty Television , which
7742-665: The new Jets. CFRW, along with Montreal station CKGM , also migrated to the TSN Radio brand on October 5, 2011. Additionally, Bell would also launch TSN Mobile TV, streaming versions of TSN and TSN2 offered through Bell Mobility 's Mobile TV services. On December 9, 2011, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan announced that it would sell its majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment to two major telecommunications companies; Bell Canada (TSN's main parent company) and Rogers Communications (owners of
7840-555: The next day the potential is five million people." In 1991, TSN acquired rights to the IIHF World Junior Championship , otherwise known as the "World Juniors", which were previously broadcast by CBC. TSN's coverage, along with the recent " Punch-up in Piestany " incident and a strong performance by Canada at the tournament in the mid-1990s, helped to significantly heighten the profile of the tournament in
7938-455: The only non provincial or territorial entry to this day. In 1936, Prince Edward Island and British Columbia were given entries. The Dominion of Newfoundland did not become part of Canada until after the 1949 Brier, so the team representing the new province of Newfoundland (later Newfoundland and Labrador) did not join the Brier until 1951. In 1975, a single combined team representing the federal territories of Yukon and Northwest Territories joined
8036-591: The popular World Junior Hockey Championships ), the Canadian Football League (who renewed their contract with TSN without allowing any outside bidders in 2019 and whose current contract lasts through 2025), and TSN's growing regional NHL rights portfolio, including the Maple Leafs—which would, beginning in the same season, air 26 games on TSN per season. In a series of Twitter posts by TSN personality Bob McKenzie , he explained that even with
8134-407: The re-branding of TSN's flagship sports news program SportsDesk as SportsCentre —a Canadian version (in both format and spelling ) of ESPN's SportsCent er . The CRTC, however, objected to plans to rename TSN as "ESPN Canada", citing concerns that it would make it appear that ESPN had de facto majority control, or at the very least that TSN was ESPN's Canadian affiliate. TSN also launched
8232-447: The regular TSN service. As is permitted for all Category C sports services, the TSN licence is permitted to have multiple channels, and currently encompasses all of the channels listed in the table below. However, unlike premium services like Crave , subscribers receiving one TSN channel are not necessarily automatically entitled to receive all additional channels, and in many cases they are (or previously were) only available by paying
8330-519: The remainder added on October 29, 2014. On November 27, 2016, a one-time overflow channel was used to broadcast a regional Ottawa Senators game due to conflicts with the 104th Grey Cup (which featured the Ottawa RedBlacks , and was being simulcast across all TSN regional feeds). The current TSN feeds, and any programming unique to each feed as per TSN's current TV schedules (subject to pre-emption by either ESPN or TSN due to live events),
8428-512: The same time, Dave Krikst created BarDown , a segment on TSN's YouTube page focused on attracting a younger audience. Made up of TSN producers Jesse Pollock, Corwin McCallum, Daniel Zakrzewski, Luca Celebre, and others, they post hockey-focused quizzes and beer league content. On January 13, 2016, TSN announced that it would present its first telecast in 4K ultra high-definition —a Toronto Raptors basketball game—on January 20, 2016. It
8526-517: The semi-finals and the finals up until the 2007–08 season. In 2013, Sportsnet and City began to offer coverage of the finals of the provincial playdowns in Manitoba, Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia as well. In 1977, Macdonald Tobacco announced it would no longer be sponsoring the Brier, and the 1979 event would be the last one titled the Macdonald Brier. A committee headed by the Canadian Curling Association (today's Curling Canada)
8624-474: The task was complicated by claims by CBC that it owned the cable rights to the NHL, along with the involvement of competing beer company Molson in Canadian NHL rights at the time. With the help of a Molson employee who was a friend of Gordon, a deal was reached between TSN, Molson, and the NHL to allow the network to broadcast games on cable. By December 1987, TSN had reached one million subscribers, but
8722-489: The teams that lost in the semifinals. Until 2017 format of the world championships used a twelve team round-robin preliminary round, after which the top four teams advance to a knockout round held using the Page playoff system. Starting in 2018 there are 13 teams playing round-robin preliminary round with top six advancing to a single-elimination knockout with top two receiving bye to the semifinals. This includes two teams from
8820-611: The teams' designated home markets. TSN has also occasionally broadcast the American Hockey League 's Toronto Marlies games, which are simulcast from Leafs Nation Network ; as with the Maple Leafs, the Marlies are owned by MLSE. TSN was credited for breaking reports surrounding Hockey Canada's settlement of a 2018 sexual assault case . TSN has broadcast Canadian Football League games since 1987. Since
8918-483: The women's tournament and 1986 for the men's tournament. Between 1989 and 1994, the bronze medal was shared by the semifinals losers. Beginning in 1989, the men's and women's championships were held together. Norway won their first world women's title. In 1995, Ford Canada and the World Curling Federation reached an agreement to make Ford the sponsor of the World Curling Championships. Japan,
9016-520: Was adjusted from single-elimination to the Page playoff system in 2005 . In the championships held from 1971 to 1985 , third place was awarded to either the team that lost in the semifinal of a three-team knockout round or the higher-seeded team among the losing teams of a four-team knockout round. A bronze medal game was added to the knockout round in 1986 , but bronze medal games were not held from 1989 to 1994, during which bronze medals were awarded to
9114-686: Was also responsible for introducing both the Brier Tankard trophy (originally named the British Consols Trophy after a brand of cigarettes), and the now famous heart-shaped patches awarded to the tournament winners. The patches were modeled after a small tin heart pressed into the centre of Macdonald tobacco plugs, along with the slogan “The Heart of the Tobacco.” The same heart appeared on tins of Macdonald pipe tobacco. Later, when other national championships were developed, many took
9212-401: Was followed by a slate of regional NHL games and other Raptors games in the format. On June 7, 2018, TSN announced that it would offer its channels as part of an over-the-top subscription service branded as "TSN Direct". By late 2022, the "Direct" branding was dropped. On January 12, 2023, TSN announced a separate direct-to-consumer service called "TSN+", which launched the same day with
9310-560: Was not successful. CTV acquired the rights to The Hockey Theme , which has been the theme song of Hockey Night in Canada for 40 years, after the CBC decided not to renew its rights to the theme song in June 2008 amid a legal dispute with its composer, Dolores Claman . A reorchestrated version of the tune has been used for hockey broadcasts on TSN and RDS since fall 2008. TSN continues to hold four regional, English-language rights contracts: These games are subject to blackout outside
9408-498: Was of a Canadian Football League game between the Montreal Alouettes and Hamilton Tiger-Cats —it was to occur on the same day, but was delayed to August 16 due to a major electrical power failure that occurred the day prior. Beginning in 2006, the CRTC officially allowed TSN to operate national secondary digital feeds with limited amounts of alternative programming. Following this development, TSN began to use such
9506-526: Was put in charge to find a new sponsor, which would end up being the Labatt Brewing Company . The event retained the "Brier" name, despite the word being the property of Macdonald Tobacco. However, with the Labatt sponsorship came some changes to the event, such as adding a new championship trophy and adding a TV-friendly playoff round after the round robin games. Labatt remained the title sponsor until 2001 when Nokia took over. That sponsorship only lasted four years before Tim Hortons took over, until 2024. When
9604-508: Was the first country to break Canada's streak, winning their first world title in 1965 . By 1967, Norway, Switzerland, France, and Germany were added to the Scotch Cup, and Scotland won their first title, while Canada finished without a medal for the first time. The tournament was renamed the Air Canada Silver Broom the year after that, and Canada strung together five consecutive world titles starting in that year. In 1973,
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