Judging by the number of tweets and emails I received this week - all very similar to the title of this post - I'd say a number of people missed the memo: The Canada vs St. Lucia game this Friday will not be televised.
I wouldn't count on the away St. Kitts and Nevis game either.
'But, but, but, I see that Rogers Sportsnet/SportsWorld/SoccerCentral is down there, why aren't they showing the game?'
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
According to Rogers agreement, as the official broadcast partner of the Canadian Soccer Association, they are only required to broadcast away games if a host feed is provided. In fact, the CSA had to pay out of their own pocket (to the tune of around $50,000 to $60,000 I'm told) to cover the costs of the Puerto Rico away game and ensure that it would be seen on TV. And, even then, that was only possible because Puerto Rico's Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel had the right broadcast infrastructure.
St. Lucia's and St. Kitts' stadiums aren't exactly, what you would call, modern. They make Swangard look like B.C. Place (or for regional illustration: Foote Field like Commonwealth, Lamport like BMO Field, Olympic Stadium like Stade Saputo...)
Even if the CSA was willing, and they did take a look at the logistics of a broadcast, the facilities would make it next to impossible to do a live broadcast.
There are those that will react to this news with the normal anger. 'Fuck the CSA, Fuck Rogers, Fuck Everyone' And to a point, that anger is justified. The standard, logic argument how will we ever grow the game here if people can't see it still reigns true and I encourage you to reach out to the CSA and Rogers and tell them (calmly, if you're so inclined) why it is important to see games like this in the future.
But I'll also encourage you to remember how far soccer has come in this country. There was a time, that I can still remember, that friendlies and even World Cup qualifiers weren't seen live, on tape delay or even reported on. Ask those among the Voyageurs, who have been around long enough, and they will tell you stories about watching Canada friendlies and World Cup qualifiers months, even years after they were played. Mostly on dubbed VHS tapes that were passed along, from one fan to the next, like soccer porn.
A number of the V's wear those stories like a badge of honor - a testament to how far they went to support Canadian soccer. They tell those tales, in the way today's fans will likely tell the next generation of how they hunched over keyboards furiously refreshing Twitter to check scores.
It sucks. And Canadian soccer fans still deserve better. But it's the stories that sustain us.
Tell us how far you went to support Canada, or the things you went through to get an illegal feed or broadcast of a Canada game.
Also, how you can 'watch' the Canada v St. Lucia game:
Follow the Canada Soccer Twitter for live updates
And the CSA YouTube channel is promising to have some coverage after the game