Buzzer beaters. Hail Marys. Game-winning overtime goals. These thrilling moments are happening across the country on a regular basis.
The problem is that, by and large, they are happening in front of small crowds, with little to no fanfare or mainstream media coverage.
Surfing through the TV guide on any given day, you are more likely to find poker or darts — often replays — on offer than you are to find a Canadian university sporting event.
This lack of appreciation is a problem that has plagued Canadian Interuniversity Sport for years. Ask most basketball or football fans in Canada about collegiate sports and they will almost surely tell you about the NCAA March Madness tournament in the U.S., or what teams are facing off in the Rose Bowl.
You’re unlikely to hear any talk about Canadian university athletics.
Canadians are overlooking a plethora of exciting sporting events in their own backyard.
The blame for this, however, does not lie squarely on the shoulders of the consumer. The television companies and the universities themselves bear some of the responsibility for the lack of recognition for Canadian varsity sports.
Graham Brown, the new chief executive officer of the CIS is working diligently at creating a foothold for the league in the Canadian sports scene through stronger marketing, much like he did previously for Rugby Canada as its CEO.
One of the best fixes would be to create a sturdier pact with TV broadcasters. There have been a handful of half-hearted deals in the past few years — most notably TSN’s coverage of Canadian university football’s Vanier Cup — but these agreements have typically been on a year-to-year basis and often only included playoff games.
This year there is a deal in place with Sportsnet where four regular season CIS football games are being broadcast, as well as the playoffs. This is a number that can and should go up.
As it stands now, television revenues for these games are not particularly lucrative. The TV executives must be willing to exercise patience and while this might seem like a big request, it is a move that could pay dividends in the long run.
With Brown’s marketing expertise and the quality content already there, the CIS could take really begin to take-off as a nationally significant spectacle.
Broadcasters could surely offer additional “game of the week” programming, the best matchup in the country each weekend during the football season.
Take the annual “Panda Game” for example. This matchup pits Carleton University against its archrival, the University of Ottawa. Since the game’s return four years ago, attendance has risen steadily, with a CIS regular season record 23,329 fans attending this year’s clash.
The Panda Game is a well-known tradition around Ottawa and is one of the beacons of hope for the potential marketability of the CIS.
University sport in Canada needs more rivalries like this, more head-to-head trophy games in which two schools face off every year for a chance to take home the hardware and retain bragging rights for the next 365 days.
More effort must be expended so that other games and sports can attract larger audiences — both in the stadium and via broadcasting.
Coaches and student athletes dedicate an incredible amount of time to their sports. It would be nice to see that time rewarded with more support from fans and schools alike.
It is unreasonable to compare Canadian university sports to their American counterparts, with their seemingly bottomless budgets and massive attendance figures.
But there is still a lot that can be done to improve the state of university sports in this country.
Much like the sports themselves, the solution will require a team effort.