(Updated May 27, 11:10 a.m.) Sportsnet has clarified their broadcasting situation, telling Canadian Soccer News that CBC will be providing live coverage of the Women's World Cup, while Sportsnet will provide matches on tape delay. A Sportsnet rep also said that details of the Voyageurs Cup replay have not yet been confirmed. This story has been edited to reflect this new information.
No one knows for sure what's going to happen with the Voyageurs Cup final replay on July 2 as it relates to broadcasting. But ardent supporters of Canadian soccer are aching for the Canadian Championship to get as much mainstream attention as possible, in the hopes of garnering wider recognition for the tournament -- and, by extension, the sport.
That's why Sportsnet should sell, give or lend its broadcast rights for the replay to the CBC.
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For several years, the public broadcaster has been promoting its Soccer Day in Canada, a summertime offshoot of Hockey Day in Canada that puts the emphasis on the local, grassroots game, as well as showcasing a Canadian pro team in action. The event has traditionally taken place in early July, which would dovetail absolutely perfectly with a July 2 showdown for the Canadian championship. CBC, of course, has unparalleled reach coast-to-coast.
However, it's worth noting that CBC and Sportsnet will be sharing broadcasting duties for the Women's World Cup and, if CBC is covering all round-robin games live, are currently slated to show USA v. Colombia at 12 p.m. ET.
It's presumed, at this point, that Sportsnet will retain broadcast rights for the Toronto/Vancouver replay. However, that 12:30 p.m. ET kickoff time conflicts with a Blue Jays baseball game (1 p.m. ET). Considering the team and broadcaster are both owned by Rogers, you'd have to imagine the boys on the diamond would take precedence, which would see the Voyageurs Cup final shuffled off to Sportsnet.
This is where some teamwork between CBC and Sportsnet could do everyone some good.
Since they're sharing broadcasting rights to the tournament anyway, CBC could theoretically shift the USA v. Colombia game to Sportsnet (to be shown on Sportsnet One) while the CBC network would pick up coverage of Toronto v. Vancouver. Yes, a FIFA World Cup has much greater significance than a domestic cup final -- and if it were a WWC match featuring Canada, I'd probably be singing a different tune -- but as it is, getting widespread, mainstream coverage of TFC v. Whitecaps does more good for the game in this country than affording the same coverage to a round-robin game that doesn't involve a Canadian team.
Of course, another good solution would be CBC and/or Sportsnet leaning on the CSA to move the kickoff time from 12:30 p.m. ET to a later hour, possibly 4 p.m. ET. That would allow all events to be covered as originally scheduled, and allow fans in Vancouver to actually, y'know, watch the game.
We'll see what happens, of course. This is, for now, merely my theorizing and wishful thinking.
But when life hands you lemons (or a torrential downpour combined with a thunderstorm), you do your best to make lemonade. If CBC and Sportsnet are willing to work together, the completion of this year's Voyageurs Cup final could be some smooth lemonade indeed.
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